TNA: Sacrifice 2010 Review

Tara makes the ultimate sacrifice by putting her career on the line. I did my best with that.


Opening Match: Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley vs. James Storm and Robert Roode vs. Brother Ray and Brother Devon
The winners will become the #1 contenders for the TNA Tag Team Titles. Shelley snaps off a headscissors on Roode and hits a bulldog. He walks into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. The Motor City Machine Guns regain control with some double teaming. Storm connects with a knee on Sabin and Ray tags in. Team 3D work over Sabin until he avoids a middle rope senton and makes the tag. The MCMG continue with their stereo offense. Sabin lands a dive to the floor onto Storm. Roode clotheslines Shelley and Beer Money follow with a double team suplex. They isolate Shelley until he connects with an enzuigiri on Storm and tags out. Sabin comes off the middle rope with a hurricanrana on Roode and lands a plancha to the floor onto Storm. He catches Roode with a springboard tornado DDT. Team 3D hit a doomsday device on Roode. Sabin lands a springboard crossbody on Ray. Storm saves Roode from a possible 3D. The MCMG hit a frog splash-neckbreaker combination on Ray for the win at 13:13. This was a solid opener. The fact that a #1 contender match for the TNA Tag Team Titles even happened on pay per view makes me think that TNA is trying to take their tag division seriously. Then I look at who the champions are. Nevertheless, it’s good to see the MCMG pick up a win on pay per view. **¾

Match #2: TNA Global Title: Rob Terry © vs. Orlando Jordan
They start brawling before the bell. Terry dominates and doesn’t seem to be in a cheerful mood. Considering that this match is happening, I’m in the same boat. He clotheslines Jordan onto the entrance ramp and hits a running powerslam back in the ring. Jordan finds an opening to start working over the left leg. He misses a flying knee drop. Terry hits the Freakbuster to retain his title at 7:48. Terry seems to be trying, but he is entirely too constricted in the ring. Jordan didn’t add much of interest and this was the definition of a bland match. *
After the match, Jordan takes out Terry’s bad leg and slams his knee onto the title belt. Ladies and gentlemen…this feud will continue!
Ink Inc visit Team 3D in their locker room. They reassure Team 3D that they will defeat The Band for them. Ray takes offense and Devon tells him that he’s overreacting.

Match #3: TNA X Division Title: Kazarian © vs. Douglas Williams
They trade control early. Kazarian starts targeting the left arm until Williams pushes him off the top rope and into the entrance ramp. Williams hits a neckbreaker in the ropes but gets dropkicked off the apron. Kazarian lands a plancha to the floor and connects with a missile dropkick back in the ring. He adds a swinging neckbreaker and counters Chaos Theory with a close rollup. Williams falls victim to a slingshot DDT but recovers with a clothesline. Kazarian connects with a springboard back elbow. Williams powerbombs him into the turnbuckles and hits a unique shoulderbreaker. Kazarian answers with the Wave of the Future for a nearfall. Williams escapes an electric chair and hits Chaos Theory to become the new TNA X Division Champion at 13:52. This was a different style of match from the X Division but it was highly enjoyable. Although the early arm work went nowhere, the rest of the action was engaging and focused. They were good at teasing finishers down the stretch and managed to provide a believable nearfall. I’m not sure why Williams was stripped of the title in the first place if they were just going to give it back to him. At least the whole situation provided us with one of the better X Division Title matches in recent memory. ***
Desmond Wolfe and Chelsea are arguing backstage. Wolfe promises her that he will win her the ring tonight. He has never let her down and that won’t change tonight.

Match #4: TNA Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne © vs. Tara
If Tara loses, she must retire. Rayne back drops out of a powerbomb attempt and connects with a kick. They trade pin attempts and Tara hits a suplex. Rayne comes back with a flurry of offense but walks into a clothesline. Tara hits the Widow’s Peak but Rayne rolls to the floor. Back in, Tara lands a moonsault but misses a second one. Rayne hits an inverted overdrive to retain her title and end Tara’s career at 6:27. A little better than the usual Knockouts match but still not groundbreaking. They worked hard but there were still some sloppy moments throughout. There wasn’t an important vibe surrounding the match and this could have been handled much better. Still, this contest wasn’t offensive by any means. *¾
Tara gets a standing ovation after the match. She gives a speech…no, actually security escorts her from the arena. Stay classy TNA.
Christy Hemme is with The Band. Eric Young says the locker room is full of pretenders. He’s the only one cool enough to hang out with the likes of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Nash says that any two of the three members can defend the titles from now on. In other words, Hall and alcohol can now be reunited with a passion.
Match #5: TNA Tag Team Titles: Kevin Nash and Scott Hall © vs. Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal
Hall flicks his toothpick at Moore, who slaps him. Moore connects with a dropkick from the middle rope and follows with a spin kick. They both tag out. Nash eventually gets the better of Neal and The Band isolate him. He avoids a charge from Nash and makes the tag. Moore lands a flying crossbody on Nash and adds a rolling neckbreaker. Neal accidentally takes out the referee. Eric Young brings a kendo stick to the ring and gives it to Nash. Neal spears the kendo stick out of his hands. Young tries to involve himself but Brother Ray fights him off. Ray hits Neal with the kendo stick and Nash covers to retain the titles at 7:58. Let’s take a collective count of the happenings. Uninspired wrestling by The Band, interference, weapon shots, and a contrived ending. Sounds about what I was expecting. At the very least, Neal and Moore were made to look competitive. ½*

Match #6: Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss
If Wolfe wins, he will gain control of Abyss’ ring. If Abyss wins, he will gain control of Chelsea for 30 days. Abyss attacks during Wolfe’s entrance. Chelsea tries to leave but the referee stops her. Wolfe tries a crossbody to no avail. Abyss connects with a series of clotheslines. Chelsea distracts him, allowing Wolfe to send him to the floor. In the ring, Wolfe works over the left shoulder until Abyss hits a side slam. Wolfe responds with a DDT but falls victim to a chokeslam. Chelsea provides a distraction as Wolfe grabs brass knuckles. Wolfe punches Abyss with the brass knuckles for a nearfall. Abyss hulks up and hits the Black Hole Slam for the victory at 10:05. I feel that the stipulations actually hurt them here. The camera panned to show Chelsea every twenty seconds and her interference became old quickly. Wolfe did a good job of continually going back to the targeted shoulder and this match wasn’t as bad as it could have been. **
Christy Hemme is with Mr. Anderson. He describes himself as a Jeff Hardy fan and is pretty hilarious. He says that he has his own following…Anderson’s Assholes. They will drown out the creatures of the night. Anderson will bring home the win tonight. Effective promo, as usual.
Match #7: Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson
It’s a brawl from the start. Hardy misses a clothesline and rolls to the floor. Anderson sends him into the apron and maintains control in the ring by blocking a corner dropkick. Hardy comes back by sending Anderson onto the entrance ramp. Hardy utilizes a chair to leg lariat him back into the ring. They exchange punches and Hardy hits a bulldog. Anderson blocks a gourdbuster and hits a finlay roll. He follows with the Mic Check for a two count. Hardy responds with a successful gourdbuster and the Twist of Fate. Anderson goes for a finlay roll from the middle rope but Hardy fights out of it. Hardy lands the swantan for the win at 13:58. This was a LONG fourteen minutes. They wrestled a pretty basic match with a couple of impressive spots sprinkled in. However, the action was largely uninspired and thankfully their personalities were enough to gain the crowd’s interest. Anderson’s control period was lifeless and even the finishers down the stretch had no sense of urgency behind them. Technically fine, but nothing I would ever watch again. **¼
Anderson offers a handshake after the match but Hardy declines.
Christy Hemme is with AJ Styles and Ric Flair. Styles calls Rob Van Dam a fluke and says that he will be getting his title back tonight.
Jeff Jarrett’s music hits but no one comes out. Cameras show Sting attacking him backstage. Jarrett is busted open. Sting throws him into some lockers and attacks him with his bat. They make their way to ringside. Jarrett gets blood on ~!THE FORMAT!~ in the process. Do something Bischoff, do something now! Mike Tenay, enraged at his bloody format, wants an explanation for Sting’s actions. Sting utilizes steel ring steps to continue his attack. He’s clearly trying to remove Jarrett’s left shoulder from its socket. Sting throws Jarrett into the ring, leading to…
Match #8: Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett
Sting hits the Scorpion Deathdrop for the victory at 0:13. I’m not sure why this was even a match. If that’s the case, AJ Styles should hire attackers to brutalize RVD before their title match. So what, the match can still happen! Okay, enough of my smart attitude. This was effective storyline-wise, but TNA didn’t deliver one of their advertised big matches tonight. This would have been fine to do on a quality pay per view. However, looking at the card thus far, it needed all the help it could get.

Match #9: TNA World Title: Rob Van Dam © vs. AJ Styles
They stall for two minutes. I don’t know why that’s significant, but I was just sitting here not typing anything. RVD clotheslines Styles to the floor. They brawl around ringside and RVD lands a moonsault off the entrance ramp. Ric Flair gets involved and Earl Hebner sends him to the back. Instead, Flair joins commentary. Styles sends RVD into the guardrail and lands a dive to the outside. In the ring, Styles controls until RVD connects with a springboard thrust kick. He adds a superkick and monkey flips Styles out of the corner. RVD misses the Five Star Frog Splash and gets caught with a springboard clothesline. Styles connects with a pele kick but falls victim to a northern lights suplex. RVD connects with another thrust kick and but finds knees on rolling thunder. Styles locks in a torture rack and follows with a rack bomb. They trade pin attempts and both connect with a clothesline. They exchange strikes and RVD tries more quick pin attempts to no avail. Styles springboards into an inverted DDT but misses a 450 splash. Flair tries to approach the ring but Jay Lethal stops him. Lethal applies a figure four on the entrance ramp. RVD blocks a superplex and lands the Five Star Frog Splash to retain his title at 24:47. I’m glad that TNA gave them nearly twenty-five minutes to show what they could to do together. Although it took awhile to get going, they had good chemistry and delivered some nice back and forth action. The finishing stretch was engaging and the whole Lethal appearance wasn’t needed. It choreographed the finish and took away from the match as a whole. Nevertheless, this was the match of the night by far and went a long way in legitimizing RVD’s title reign. ***½

Overall: Sacrifice 2010 continues the mediocre run of pay per views for TNA this year. The booking ended up constricting a majority of the matches and Hardy/Anderson just didn’t come through. On the bright side, there were two worthwhile matches on this show. Kazarian and Williams had a unique X Division Title match while the main event delivered as expected. Still, neither of those matches are good enough to warrant purchasing a replay or even buying the DVD. TNA needs to figure itself out. We’re in May and they haven’t produced a pay per view that needs to be watched. I can safely recommend skipping this show.