What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Sacrifice 2012. Can TNA continue the positive momentum, or will it positively suck? Let's find out and start the review.
Match #1: Samoa Joe and Magnus vs Christopher Daniels and Kaz; TNA Tag Team Titles
We open up the PPV with the tag team title match. Honestly, I wasn't very interesting going into this match. It mostly has to the with the fact that there is no storyline for this match. Kaz and Daniels have a storyline, but it has to do with AJ Styles and Dixie Carter. Because there is no storyline, I can see some people having no interest in this match. I'll be fair and say the match was great, but it would've been great if there was a little more build-up with the tag titles. Then again, this also proves how tag team wrestling is becoming the way of the dinosaur, extinct. WWE is very guilty of the same thing. As I mentioned, this was a pretty good match to open up the PPV. The finish comes when Kaz and Daniels do the High-Low, and we have new tag champs. I bet AJ and Dixie got some High-Low going on. You know what I'm saying?
As for the tag title change, it made the most sense. Joe and Magnus have nothing going on, while Kaz and Daniels are at least doing something. It just makes more sense to give the titles to someone who actually makes more weekly appearances than Joe and Magnus.
Winner via pinfall and NEW TNA Tag Champs: Christopher Daniels and Kaz
Match #2: Gail Kim vs Brooke Tessmacher; KO Title
Tessmacher is dressed up like Wonder Woman, only sluttier. Do you ever wonder what the hell Tazz is on? He says some of the most bat s*** insane stuff ever. Not only is it crazy, but it never seems to make any sense. I think he was talking about Tenay eating feet or enjoying someone eating feet. It also doesn't help when Tenay is so boring. I'm starting to think somebody else found Hardy's stash. Oh, I gotta stop making the Hardy/drug jokes. I've talked about how the commentary between Tazz and Tenay can be bad, but I think it gets worse during a KO match. They focus so much on sexual innuendos that the commentary is dead and silent. It's pretty bad. I'm talking the definition of bad. Michael Jackson would even say it's bad. They should take lessons from old school JR and King. That's how you make it work. The match was…..yeah, I got nothing. It was basic, but nothing amazing. Then again, some others would say there was something "amazing" about it, you know what I'm saying? Eh….EH…..EH? The finish comes when Gail gets a rollup on Tessmacher, but uses her feet on the ropes to get some leverage. Gail ends up stealing this match and is still the KO champion. This definitely opens the door for a rematch, which was the best option. I mean, it would be really stupid to do a title change or have Gail get the clean victory since they have been trying to make Tessmacher look good. At least the storyline is consistent with the action.
Winner via pinfall and still KO Champ: Gail Kim
Match #3: Devon vs Robbie E vs Robbie T; TV Championship
I gonna piss a lot of you off, but I'm doing it. CHAOS CONTROL…..
…..Devon wins with a rollup. I think I'm doing you a favor. Oh, and what's up with the noogie between the Robbies? That was almost insulting. And this is coming from someone who watches a fat man dance on a weekly basis. That really makes you think. If you like this match, that's cool; but this doesn't work for me.
Winner via pinfall and still TV Champion: Devon….abababababalalalala
Match #4: Jeff Hardy vs Mr. Anderson
As I mentioned in the Impact review this week, I really felt this was a rivalry forced from the very beginning. Well, we go from forced to a strange finish. The match was decent, but I can see why people didn't have a ton of interest for this match. There isn't much of a story between these two. They forced some friction between the two, and I think they only did it to put Hardy on the card. Not only that, but I almost wonder why TNA didn't make this a #1 Contender's match. Then again, after the way things went down, that was probably for the best. As I mentioned before, the ending to this was completely confusing. The finish comes when Hardy goes for the crotch, leg-drop attack, but Anderson counters into a rollup. Hardy makes the motion of kicking out, but the referee already made the three count. You can tell Hardy got his shoulder up, but the ref said otherwise. Anderson is the victor and everyone is standing around talking….
You can tell this was NOT the planned finish. Hardy and Anderson were confused and did a hug in the middle of the ring. Which makes no sense with how the match ended and how things were being built to this point. Some people would call this a major botch, but I call it a lack of communication. And when I say failure, I really mean failure. Somebody clearly screwed up. If anything, it was most likely the referee's fault. Who really knows if Anderson was supposed to win or lose this match? Then again, Hardy has been on a losing streak, so I think it made the most sense, story-wise, that Anderson would get this victory. Regardless, this was NOT planned very well.
Winner via screw up: Botchy McBotcherson
Joseph Parks is sitting with the Impact Zone. A "Joseph Parks" chant? Doesn't the Impact Zone have some sense of shame? Well, it doesn't really matter. Anyway, Joseph loves the audience and can't wait to see the Bully Ray match. If John Cena is the worst green ranger ever, than Joseph is the worst power ranger ever. You gain the ability to go from lawyer to a cliche monster. Yeah, that's a terrible transformation.
Match #5: Crimson vs Eric Young
Crimson issues an open challenge. The gutless referee starts to make another ten count, but EY shows up to accept the challenge. This was your typical, Crimson match. It does feel like Crimson has been wrestling the same match for the last year, don't you think? Anyway, Crimson hits the Red Sky and he remains undefeated. I think Crimson is starting to reach his comfort zone. He's talking a lot more and I'm actually getting interested in his character again. As for EY……..why…..just why? Why does he still grapple the referee? I think I know what can fix this…..
Noticing a theme in tonight's review?
Winner via pinfall: Crimson
Match #6: Bully Ray vs Austin Aries
I love Bully's promo before this show. He talks about being old school and using myspace. He says A Double has no chance of defeating him because he's small. So small. Anyway, I gotta get this out of the way. At this point of the PPV, I was on and off. Part it was interesting, but there was a lot of dull spots. Then again, it's usually around match #6 where you get to the meat of the PPV. Up to this point, you were enjoying appetizers and soft drinks, but now we are getting into the steak and lobster of the PPV….
Despite Tazz's innuendos and his British ramble, he did manage to pull in a good one-liner. Yes Bully, you're the guy on myspace. Hilarious. Anyway, this was a great match. I know people have other choices for their favorite matches this evening, but this was my favorite. In the early going of the match, A Double ended up falling on the outside of the ring. Aries took a really bad fall. Parts of Aries' back had purple spots on them. He would also end this match with his chest turning red. A Double took a lot of punishment in this match, and I don't think any of it was planned. I mean, who plans a legit injury? I think the wrestling world would have a lot more problems if they actually planned real injuries. The match told a great story. A Double was getting the crap kicked out of him, but he didn't back down. I think they told that part of the story very well. There was a moment where Bully pulled Joseph Parks from out of the audience. He would continue to assault him until A Double got back in the match. See, worst power ranger ever. The finish comes when A Double hits the Brainbuster (Which if itself, is a miracle), but he only gets a two count. Bully gets back up and attempts the Bully Bomb, but Austin counters and is able to lock-in Last Chancery. Bully taps out and A Double managed to pull it off. I didn't like the way the match ended. The series of events was fine, but it looked rushed. Despite the finish looking rushed, this was a great match. In fact, I'm willing to let go of the rushed finish because of how well this match stood out. Austin and Bully put on a great match and told a great story in the process. Great job by these two.
Winner via submission: Austin Aries
Match #7: AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle
AJ had an interview before this match. He purposely avoided talking about the Dixie Carter situation and only talked about his match with Kurt. AJ is a mad-man. He slams Kurt to the mat, and he gets to slam Dixie after the show. AJ is up for slamming anybody, isn't he? This was purely a wrestling match. There was a lot of near falls. Styles Clash, Angle Slams, innovative finishers and we still can't end it. Really, this was a fun match to watch. If you ignore that there isn't really a story between AJ and Kurt, this was pretty fun to watch. Yes, Kurt is probably making a face turn, and AJ is in the middle of something involving Dixie, but Kurt and AJ don't really have a rivalry or a motive for this match. I had to get that out of the way or else I would've gotten complaints. Then again, it wouldn't be the WrestlingNerd show if we didn't have some angry comments. Are….are these "Yes" chants? Daniel Bryan, what have you created?
Why did I even bother asking? Did I hear it? I don't think so, but I'm gonna count it….
I'm really loose with that counter. The finish comes when Kaz and Daniels show up and they do a chop block on AJ. Kurt hits the 35th Angle Slam of this match, but still a two count. He finally locks in the Ankle Lock and AJ taps out. After the match, Kaz and Daniels attack AJ, but Kurt helps out AJ and the bad guys retreat. There isn't a ton of motivation going into the AJ/Kurt match, but they were able to get somewhere during the match and afterwords. Again, I think they found a way to tell a decent story in the ring, despite that this has more to do with AJ/Dixie. I will be interesting to see if Kurt will get involved with this storyline of if he will go do something else.
Winner via submission: Kurt Angle
Match #8: Robert Roode vs RVD; Ladder match for the TNA World Title
I wonder if RVD and Ryback get their gear from the same guy? Can you still call it the Double R Spinebuster when he goes by the name Bobby Roode? This was a decent ladder match. I have seen better ladder matches, but this was still fun to watch. RVD was bleeding from his elbow. It was pretty brutal. Not the strongest match of the night, but it was definitely one of the watchers. There was a really noticeable mistake during the match. RVD jumped from the top rope and tried to land on the ladder, but one of his feet ended up going through the ladder. It looked pretty bad. I think I twisted my ankle from that one. After that, Roode starts to climb another ladder. RVD tries to get back into it, but Roode kicks RVD off the ladder and into a steel chair. RVD tries to kick the ladder, but Bobby ends up pulling down the world title. Roode is still the world champion, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Bobby is still one of the hottest things in TNA and it makes complete sense for Bobby to still be the champ. I still think Bobby will be the champion going into Bound for Glory. That's my prediction for the time being. As for RVD, he did exactly what I expected him to do. It was able to fill-in for a month and deliver a decent match. My best guess is for Mr. Anderson to get the next shot. They might be able to milk another RVD/Roode match, but Bobby did win in pretty clean fashion. It's not really necessary.
Winner and still TNA World Champion: Robert Roode
Overall Impression:
So, how did Sacrifice measure up? Not too bad. While the first five matches had their ups and downs, the final three matches is what sold the PPV. Then again, who really bought this PPV because of the Tessmacher/Gail match? No, you were more interested in the last 2-3 matches. I think those matches really made this PPV stand out. In fact, I would say this was TNA's best PPV of 2012. I would say Aries/Bully was the match of the night. It told a great story and it was interesting to watch. AJ and Kurt delivered a good match, despite not having much of a story. The ladder match is what I expected, and it was pretty fun. The undercard was pretty underwhelming for tonight's show. In fact, that's what hurt the show. It took a while until you got to something you were looking forward to. Until you got to that point, you had to deal with a pointless TV title feud, a tag team match that had no story (but still a good match), EY, and a heavy amount of miscommunication between Hardy and Anderson. Still, I was able to have some fun with this PPV. If I have to give TNA Sacrifice 2012 a score on a scale of 1-10, I would have to give it a 6 out of 10. I don't do decimal point scoring and 5 is considered average on here. A 6 out of 10 might be a little generous, but I was really going back and forth with a 5 or 6. A 6 out of 10 is what I would consider slightly above average. While the show did start off a little rough, the final three matches made it worthwhile. That's three TNA PPVs where they have shown an increase. TNA is showing signs of heading in the right direction, but I keep thinking they are going to throw up a stinker at some point. I know I shouldn't think that way, but there was a point in 2011 where TNA started to put together consistent PPVs, but ended the year pretty poorly in the PPV department. Again, I want to see this company head in the right direction and I hope they can continue this trend…..Despite some people thinking I'm just here to bash TNA. If I was gonna do that every week, I wouldn't even bother reviewing the company, but I do it because I'm a fan of pro wrestling. I even find myself interested in what TNA has planned for Impact. In fact…..CHAOS…..naw, I'll wait a few days. That's gonna do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. If you enjoyed any of this nonsense, please go back and check out some of my other articles, which are still in their insane glory. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show. See you next time.
My grading system:
1-3: They wrote this crap?
4-6: Slightly below/above average
7-9: Very good show. Highly recommended
10: It's perfect
WrestlingNerd's Official score of TNA Sacrifice 2012: 6 out of 10
I'm going to watch TNA for the first time in a year thanks to this review.
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