TNA Against All Odds & Victory Road 2011 review (DVD) ★★

Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
UK Certification 15 | UK RRP £19.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 360 minutes

Against All Odds 2011 ??

TNA's second pay-per-view event of the year proved to feel much like an extended episode of iMPACT! rather than a show that viewers had to exchange their hard earned money for. Disappointing matches, botched finishes and way too much talk greatly hindered Against All Odds. There wasn't a single match on the show that wasn't preceded by a participant running their mouth on the microphone or being interviewed backstage by Christy Hemme. Hey, you're supposed to build your rivalries on free TV for the pay-per-view pay-offs, not the other way round.

X Division Championship: Kazarian (c) vs. Robbie E. ??
In what I guess was technically the second match of the night since Robbie E. became the number one contender to the X Division Title by forfeit, after Generation Me were not able to attend the event and compete in their scheduled three-way bout due to travel issues, the man from the Jersey Shore got his opportunity at the gold right away in an impromptu championship match against Kazarian. It wasn't too bad for a match that was booked on the fly (Kazarian wasn't even supposed to compete on the show at all), but still fairly underwhelming as an X Division bout. It almost seemed as if TNA had adopted the slower pace of a WWE-style match. Kazarian retained the gold in predictable fashion with his reverse Tombstone Piledriver maneuver.

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Rob Terry, Murphy & Gunner vs. Beer Money & Scott Steiner ??
The feud between Fortune and Immortal raged on at Against All Odds with this six-man tag match that saw the in-ring return of Scott Steiner after an extended period away from the squared circle. I've never been much of a Steiner fan, one of the reasons being that he must be one of the absolute worst talkers in wrestling history. His outrageous, off-tangent promos can be unintentionally hilarious – much like his pre-match verbal assault (as least that's what I think it was) as seen here – but they've always made for outright embarrassing TV. He needs a translator. Or just keep him away from the stick.

As for the match itself, it was pretty generic for a six-man – not bad, but not good either. Big Poppa Pump dusted off the old Frankensteiner from the middle rope for the victory, pinning Murphy as a result.

Samoa Joe vs. D'Angelo Dinero ?
I remember when Joe was making waves in the X Division and putting on fantastic matches with the likes of AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels, not having very dull and uninteresting encounters such as this, the product of an astonishingly weak feud. And what was “Okato”, formerly known as Okada, doing in that whole Kato get-up from The Green Lantern? Pathetic, no? Joe took home the W after forcing a submission ala his nickname upon The Pope, who tapped out before any pressure whatsoever could be applied. The heel then feigned a handshake before a post-match beat-down that drew a miniscule and therefore utterly pointless amount of blood from the Samoan Submission Machine. Both men could do so much better, especially Joe.

Knockouts Championship – Last Knockout Standing: Madison Rayne (c) vs. Mickie James ?
Last Knockout Standing? Mickie James had some of the best women's matches of recent years when she was in the WWE, but since joining TNA, she's become a part of one of the most boring and botch-ridden female wrestling divisions in the industry today. In my eyes, the Knockouts in 2011 pale in comparison to when the division first got started, with the likes of Awesome Kong and Gail Kim tearing it up. And speaking of gimmick matches, remember when Kong and Kim had those no holds barred battles around the iMPACT! Zone? Those were main event-caliber matches. So, what happened? And why are they misusing talent like James? These two languished around the ring and the outside area for about 10 minutes before the unsurprising finish that saw Tara get involved and effectively cost James the match. It even went the WCW “memory loss” route twice when the referee began counting the women out when they were brawling around ringside, and when Rayne tried to pin her opponent. Hello, it was a Last Man Standing match. Sorry, Last Knockout Standing.

Rob Van Dam vs. Matt Hardy ??
Well, it was better than their match at Genesis at least, but that's not really saying much, is it? Hardy's gimmick shifts since he first left his brother's side in 2003 have been far from inspiring, let alone effective, and I just don't think he has the tools – or the package – to break out as a singles heel star away from the spotlight of the younger Jeff. The finish here was a little anticlimactic since it was handled so slowly before RVD nailed the Five-Star Frog Splash off the top for the win, and the first half of the match was lackluster. Things picked up towards the end but the early action prevented it from not being anything more but a half-decent match-up.

Street Fight: Bully Ray vs. Devon ??
In my eyes, these two are inseparable. They just don't have the goods on their own to have success as individual talents. They're no Edge or Christian, but they are one of the greatest tag teams of all time and have given us some fantastic matches over the last 15 or so years. But as a unit. Unless it's a gimmick match such as this Street Fight that can accommodate their rugged, smash-mouth styles in the ring, a Bubba Ray, Brother Ray or Bully Ray – whatever you want to call him – match against Devon Dudley isn't exactly going to create wrestling gold. Now this no disqualification bout was a long way away from being gold, but it wasn't too bad for what it was, although the conclusion may have been confusing for some. This match was originally scheduled to be Devon and his two sons competing against Ray, but just before the match, Brother Devon had a change of heart and requested that they stay backstage to avoid getting hurt at the hands of his opponent. As you may have expected, they decided to make an appearance anyway and became victims of the ruthless Bully Ray.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle ???
I could not stand this feud, but I did like some of the matches, namely this one. They had a better match two years prior at Genesis, but this was a solid match if not for a rather weak finish. Angle kicked out of The Stroke, a second one from the second rope, and then a chair-shot to the face, only to lose via a cradle? Okay, if you say so.

World Heavyweight Championship – Ladder Match: Mr. Anderson (c) vs. Jeff Hardy ???
So, Jeff Hardy's first-ever tenure in mainstream wrestling as a bad guy grants him his second run with the TNA World Title after a decent 20-minute Ladder match, albeit if his reign only lasted a couple of weeks. The botched ending blunted what would have been quite a powerful conclusion: Hardy grabbed hold of the belt while Anderson attempted the Mic Check from the top of two ladders set up next to each other, only to fall to the canvas while Hardy was dangling from the championship... for about two seconds. He must not have had a very strong grip as he too plunged to the mat. This was a fairly run-of-the-mill Ladder match with common spots, but even such a by-the-numbers contest is pretty solid when you've got metal ladders in the mix.

Victory Road 2011 ??

Victory Road was the very first three-hour pay-per-view event in TNA history back in 2004. It was the show that really turned the corner for the company and put them on the map. It, too, featured Jeff Hardy in the main event. But while that show will always be remembered for being a major part of TNA's lineage, fast-forward seven years and this particular edition of Victory Road will be remembered for one thing and one thing only: the closing match. It doesn't matter that the card had a few matches that were worth seeing, they'll always be overshadowed by the controversy of the main event, which is really quite unfortunate.

Falls Count Anywhere: Bully Ray vs. Tommy Dreamer ??
The 3D returned to drive the nail in the coffin of this match – and Bully Ray through a table – in the opening contest of Victory Road, after Devon interfered to assist Tommy Dreamer and help him pick up the win. Ray kicked things off by announcing that he had a chat with Eric Bischoff earlier in the day to change the match from your straightforward bout to a no disqualification, falls count anywhere deal, like anyone was expecting anything less from a singles match pitting these two against each other. Cue a bog-standard hardcore match with both Dreamer and Ray going around the iMPACT! Zone and fighting in the crowd, as well as taking weapons from their hands, such as a Minion plushy from the Despicable Me movie. Hell, the Innovator of Violence even dragged a blow-up doll from under the ring. I don't know what that was doing there.

Knockouts Tag Team Championship: Angelina Love & Winter (c) vs. Rosita & Sarita ?
This match was neither here nor there and the fans were definitely not into it. Nothing about this match screamed pay-per-view, more iMPACT! opener. New champions were crowned in Rosita and Sarita after Velvet Sky's interference backfired and caused Winter to be rolled-up when the referee was distracted. Earl Hebner proved to have his gaze taken away from the action for far too long, however, as Winter's shoulders were down to the mat for what felt like an eternity before he slid back into the ring to make the count.

First Blood Match: Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez ?
An even more badly-executed finish concluded this no holds barred encounter a month after their in-ring confrontation at Against All Odds. Morgan and Hernandez spent eight minutes dropping each other with big moves without barely even attempting to bust the other open. And then what do they do? They have a “fan” try and get into the ring before he's kicked away, therefore distracting the referee, a bunch of TNA officials and the Blueprint himself, allowing Hernandez to wrap a steel chain around his fist, only to miss when he pounced a moment later. Morgan used the chain himself and clocked SuperMex, who proceeded to blade in full view of a camera. But as the referee was climbing back into the ring “hurt”, Hernandez squirted fake blood all over his opponent's chest (thank the stars it wasn't ketchup). Yes, I know what you're thinking and it did indeed happen next: the ref saw the “blood” on Morgan and raised Hernandez's arm in victory, despite looking right at him and his bloodied forehead before he changed his view to the Blueprint. This was definitely the worst ending to a First Blood match that I have ever had the displeasure of watching.

X Division Championship – Ultimate X Match: Kazarian (c) vs. Robbie E. vs. Max Buck vs. Jeremy Buck ???
It's been eight years since TNA debuted the incredible spectacle that is the Ultimate X match. The problem is, this was the 24th since inception making it the most overused match in company history. As innovative as it is, just like the Ladder match, there comes a time when you've seen it all, and that time is definitely upon us as far as Ultimate X goes. That's not to say that this was a bad match, however, as it was perfectly decent for what it was, but there was no innovation, just the usual spots: dropkicks on competitors dangling from the wires; power moves in the same situation; a leg drop from beside the championship. Ultimately (no pun intended) nothing we haven't seen before. That said, it was still an enjoyable 15 minutes of fast-paced action that saw Kazarian retain the X Division Title.

World Tag Team Championship: Beer Money (c) vs. Ink Inc. ???
I've never warmed to Shannon Moore over his relatively insignificant tenures in both WWE and TNA, but his effort in this tag team match put him up in my estimation. This was one of the best tag bouts I've seen in a while and I particularly enjoyed the dynamic in Ink Inc. where Jesse Neal was very respectful of both Robert Roode and James Storm, but Moore on the other hand could not have cared less about them. This was especially poignant post-match, when, upon Neal shaking the hands of the victorious champs, Moore spat Storm's beer into their faces. Good action throughout.

AJ Styles vs. Matt Hardy ???
Whoa, another solid match on what started out as a very weak and disappointing pay-per-view. Hardy looked like he was in the best shape of his life for this one and pulled out one of his best singles performances of his in years. He had more chemistry with Styles than Rob Van Dam back at Against All Odds, that's for sure. Ric Flair was in Hardy's corner and got involved on many occasions, even electing to poke the Phenomenal One in the eye right in front of referee Earl Hebner's face, not that he seemed to notice, but it didn't have much of an effect on the outcome of the contest as Styles knocked Flair off the apron with a Pele, proceeded to deliver the same acrobatic kick to Hardy, and then crashed down on top of him from the top rope with the Spiral Tap, a move he hadn't pulled out for quite a long time. This match also featured Styles sliding underneath the guard rail to counter an Irish Whip. Yep, literally underneath. Amazing.

World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender's Match: Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam ??
TNA is apparently the king of bad finishes and this match was a perfect example of this unfortunate “royalty”. A double count-out? Really? Ugh, alright. This was an OK match but the finish really hurt its overall impact. There are better ways to parlay into a three-way championship match as took place in the main event of Lockdown, but apparently those backstage didn't seem to think so. The fans certainly did, vocalising their lack of appreciation for the scrappy ending when it was all said and done.

World Heavyweight Championship – No Disqualification Match: Sting (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
Since I started writing reviews – and this is including professional wrestling, feature films, television, video games, books and mixed martial arts shows – I don't believe I have ever given a rating of anything less than one star. Heck, I don't even award half-stars, no matter what. It's just not what I like to do. Until now. No matter which way you look at this, Victory Road's main event was quite probably the worst main event in professional wrestling history, and if not, certainly in TNA's near-decade-long history. In no condition to compete, either through drugs or alcohol or whatever, Hardy was taken down by the Scorpion Death Drop from the defending champion Sting in 88 seconds flat after a little spiel from Eric Bischoff, which was clearly a masquerade for informing both wrestlers of the change of plans. Ironically, the pre-match Tale of the Tape shown before the Charismatic Enigma stumbled down to the ring, clearly incapacitated, read “No excuses for Jeff Hardy tonight”. How true that turned out to be. This was just a horrible way to end the show. I really do hope that Hardy can sort himself out, if not for Jeff Hardy but for his family, friends and enormous fanbase.

EXTRAS ??? The first disc is accompanied by post-match interviews with the likes of Kurt Angle, Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson, plus Before the Bell: Against All Odds, a behind the scenes feature. Victory Road on the other hand includes the Before the Bell pre-show, post-match interviews, and a compilation of action from the show to the soundtrack of All I Want by A Day to Remember, the official theme song of the event.