One of the complaints we’ve had on this website is that we don’t give much coverage to TNA. Well, since the company seems to be doing very little in the way of specialised/pay-per-view events and focussing on weekly television specials, we’re going to take a look back at some of the matches that TNA have made available from their “Xplosion” B-show.
Douglas Williams vs. Okada (TNA Xplosion, May 17, 2010 – viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psRTMoBiuqg)
We start with a match from the file marked “TNA Had Kazuchika Okada, and all they did was THIS”. Fortunately, he’s got a decent opponent in Douglas Williams, who was the X-Division champion at the time.
Okada starts with a waistlock attempt, but Williams goes for an armwringer instead, taking Okada to the mat and back up again with a wristlock. Okada reverses it by flipping out of the move, before connecting with a series of dropkicks on the X-Division champion. A flying forearm gets a two-count for Okada, but Williams fires back with a headbutt to the midsection followed by a European uppercut, and a short-arm clothesline sends Okada to the mat.
Williams bodyslams Okada, then lands a kneedrop for a two-count, before sending him face first into the top turnbuckle, but the pair butt heads in the middle of the ring. Both men get back to their feet to trade chops and European uppercuts, with Okada eventually taking down Williams with a diving clothesline. Unfortunately Okada then runs into the boot of Williams, but manages to catch Williams with an STO as the Brit comes charging out of the corner. That gets Okada a two count, and he follows up with a double foot stomp off the top rope, which looks weird as he tries to turn it into a missile dropkick in mid air.
Williams elbows out of a waistlock attempt, then bounds off the ropes for a sunset flip, but Okada sits down for a two count. Williams tries to regain the offensive with some forearms and European uppercuts, but Okada flips around into a backslide attempt, before catching Williams with a back suplex into a Uranage for a near fall.
Williams then goes for a piledriver, only for Okada to power out with a back body drop. Okada goes to charge at Williams, who sidesteps him as Okada gets nothing but the turnbuckle, and that leads to the Chaos Theory rolling German suplex that gets Williams the win.
A nice solid five minute match, that continues to underscore just how badly TNA dropped the ball when they had Okada! ***
Max Buck vs. Chris Sabin (TNA Xplosion, June 3, 2010 – viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niKhNn-2FwY)
Continuing the theme with TNA wasting talent, the Young Bucks were once in this company – and spent their time floating around the company’s tag and X-divisions with no progress. This was back when TNA were taking a page out of WWE’s book, and giving guys new names for the sake of copyright; so Matt Jackson became Max Buck, and Nick Jackson became Jeremy Buck, allowing TNA to brand the guys as “Generation Me” whilst still being able to retain the “Young Bucks” as a secondary moniker. This should be a good match, but given that the entire video is under six minutes – with entrances – you can see where this is going to head!
Sabin goes for an armwringer to start off with, but Max does a cartwheel out of it to reverse the hold, only for Sabin to return the favour with some flips and an armdrag to get himself out of trouble.
Max hits an armdrag of his own and ties in a headlock, as Sabin’s attempt to hit a back suplex to free himself comes to nought when Max backflips out and lands on his feet. Sabin hits the ropes and knocks Max down with a shoulder block, before rolling through as Max leapfrogs over him, only to walk into a headscissors that takes down the future TNA champion. A dropkick immediately thereafter only gets Max a one-count.
Max elbows out of a waistlock, but an attempt to build momentum off the ropes comes to a crashing halt as Sabin meets him with a knee to the midsection, sending Buck onto the floor, as Sabin follows up with a springboard plancha to the outside. Sabin rolls Max back in and gets a two-count, before ramming Max’s head into the top turnbuckle and choking him with a big boot in the corner.
In the centre of the ring, Sabin looks to go for a side Russian legsweep, but instead switches it into an Octopus hold, looking for a submission, which Sabin then rolls forward on to turn it into a pinfall attempt, getting a two-count in the process. Max tries to fight back, but Sabin traps him in the corner and chops him, before whipping him into the other corner and whiffing on what I guess was meant to be a flying elbow.
Sabin goes to the apron and tries a springboard move back into the ring, but he rolls through as Max sidestepped the attack, before being back body dropped over the top and down to the floor. Max follows up with a dropkick through the ropes, then skinning the cat to get back into the ring.
Sabin crawls under the bottom rope as Max leaps over the top rope and onto the apron, before Max goes up top and misses with what looked to be a double stomp attempt, rolling through into the corner, where he got the knees up to block an onrushing Sabin. Max hops to the top rope and hits a corkscrew Blockbuster on Sabin for a near fall.
Max goes up top and is caught by Sabin, only for a few elbow strikes to send him back to the mat. A second attempt is more successful, and Sabin catches Max in the tree of woe, allowing him to hit a running dropkick to the midsection. Sabin goes to the outside as he waits for Max to get up, then connects with a springboard tornado for the pin.
An enjoyable match that briefly threatened to enter the Young Bucks territory of “too much, too quickly”, but the trend of TNA having good talent but giving them precious little time – either on Xplosion or the main Impact show – continues here. ***
Daffney vs. Raisha Saeed (TNA Xplosion, May 5, 2009 – viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI3vjkOJH6g)
Switching to TNA’s “Knockouts” here, as we see how TNA handled a one-time “Future Legend”. Raisha Saeed was the product of TNA repackaging Cheerleader Melissa, a long-time staple of the women’s wrestling scene. Saeed mainly worked as a manager/associate of Awesome Kong, but was billed as a Syrian and wore a niqab (veil) for her matches. Yep, take an American whose whole career was made on her portraying an attractive cheerleader, and cover her up. Only in TNA!
Speaking of “only in TNA”, Don West veers into the path of racism when describing how Saeed has helped Awesome Kong retain her title “just like those people always have”. Okay then!
Saeed starts the match by shoving Daffney into the ropes, with Daffney ducking a clothesline before cartwheeling into the corner. Another spot of rope running follows, and Daffney locks in a single leg rolling crab after it looked like Saeed had just tripped over. Saeed makes the ropes, before pulling Daffney into the turnbuckle as she tried to regain the advantage.
Saeed stomps away in the corner, before using the hair to toss Daffney across the ring – and it’s around this time I’m hitting mute as Don West gives Jerry Lawler a run for his money in the creepy commentator of women’s wrestling matches sweepstakes. Saeed gets a two count from a simple scoop slam, but Daffney blocks a strike and hits a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall of her own.
Daffney tries to continue the assault, but Saeed picks her up and places her on the top turnbuckle. An attempt at a tornado DDT by Daffney is blocked, as she lands on her feet before Saeed takes her down and locks in a Boston crab submission. It’s actually more like a Lion tamer, and Saeed cranks up the pressure on Daffney’s neck by sitting down whilst holding the move, folding her foe in half.
Daffney escapes the hold, but gets slammed to the mat again, before Saeed goes for a surfboard to keep up the pressure on the back. Daffney does power out of it, only to get tossed back to the mat as Saeed ties up her legs in a STF-setup style en route to a curb stomp that gets the fake Syrian a near-fall.
Saeed whips Daffney hard into the turnbuckle, but misses with an elbow attempt, and runs into a spinning wheel kick and a bulldog which gets Daffney a near fall. Daffney continues the pressure with a series of clotheslines, as a European uppercut drops Saeed in the corner, which sets her up for an elbow drop from the second rope for another two-count.
Daffney looks to go for a Fisherman’s suplex, but Saeed fights out of it; however Daffney blocks another suplex effort from Saeed and connects with a swinging Fisherman’s suplex at the second time of asking for the win.
Just like the majority of Xplosion matches, this was a good short match, but really would have been better had it gone another 3-4 minutes, so that the comeback wasn’t so abrupt. **1/2
Jesse Neal vs. Jethro Holliday (TNA Xplosion, June 24, 2009 – viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mDypEWk1Wo)
Going back to another TNA effort to make a young star, with a former military hero taking on the former Trevor Murdoch. Neal is still in his rookie phase here, wearing a plain grey sweatshirt whilst his “gear” comprised of shorts and sneakers. To put some perspective on the time period this took place in, TNA hadn’t yet moved away from their six-sided ring, and they’d just celebrated their 7th anniversary.
Neal’s actually wrestling in his sweater, and immediately takes a boot to the gut, followed by a punch as Holliday beats down on the rookie to start things off. Neal fires back, and whips Holliday into the ropes, but another rookie mistake is made as Neal telegraphs a back body drop attempt, and instead gets a stiff kick to the head for good measure. Holliday goes in for a front facelock to keep Neal grounded, and although Neal does fight out of it and gets a headlock of his own on Holliday, he’s quickly shoved into the ropes.
Neal ducks a clothesline and takes down Holliday with an armdrag, then clotheslines Holliday in the corner, but that advantage is brief as he runs into an elbow. Holliday whips Neal into the ropes and connects with a Sky High powerbomb, and rolls him through into a Boston crab, only for Neal to grab the ropes – whilst punching the camera in the process!
Neal connects with a jawbreaker to stun Holliday, then avoids the charge into the corner, before taking down Holliday with a series of right hands and clotheslines. A bodyslam downs Holliday, which may well be Neal’s first wrestling move of the entire match, but he then runs straight into a spinebuster. Holliday then enters unchartered territory by climbing to the top rope, and lands a flying bulldog off the top to get the win in what was virtually a squash. **1/2
Bad Bones vs. Christopher Daniels (TNA Xplosion, match taped February 01, 2014 – viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJ4AsgPmoA)
We end our run through TNA’s home of five minute matches, with a bout from TNA’s 2014 tour of the UK, I actually saw this one live, but hadn’t gone back to see it on TV. Until now.
Bad Bones is a German wrestler who has performed mostly throughout Europe, but has had matches for the likes of CZW in the past. He’d been used for two matches on this tour, the other being a sixty-second squash from Samoa Joe on an episode of Impact (also taped at Wembley Arena).
Bones gets the predictable heel response that any German wrestler would in England, and that reaction only strengthens when Christopher Daniels comes out with his Bad Influence teammate Kazarian, dressed as the British Bulldogs, complete with a stuffed Bulldog “Matilda” on a leash. Bad Bones looks on in bemusement as the self-proclaimed “Best Coast Bulldogs” rename themselves the “Dynamite Kaz” and “Daniels Boy Smith” for one night only.
“Daniels Boy” gets jumped at the bell by Bones, with a clothesline as “Dynamite Kaz” exits the ring with “Matilda”. Bones continues to beat away on Daniels, charging the shoulder into the corner, before whipping Daniels into the opposite corner and following up like a battering ram with a headbutt to the midsection.
Daniels gets a couple of knees to the midsection to fire back, but another clothesline from Bones takes him down, getting a two count out of it all. Bones cinches in a rear chinlock, and we go to a non-existent commercial break in the middle of the hold (I guess because WWE does it, right?)
Back from “commercial”, Bones is on top of Daniels, as the German gets another near fall following a leaping body splash, before continuing the assault with two running forearms into a cornered Daniels, and a diving dropkick that sends Daniels to the mat. That only gets a two count for the German, who goes back to the rear chinlock, before a sitout suplex takes Daniels back to the mat. As Daniels sits up, Bones goes to the top rope and looks to hit another dropkick, but Daniels rolls out of the way, meaning that the German gets nothing but mat.
Bones tries to charge into the corner to attack Daniels, but the veteran moves out of the way, before connecting with a forearm coming off the ropes. Daniels kicks out an attempted back body drop, then hits an STO to take Bones down. Daniels lifts Bones onto the top turnbuckle, sending the German to the mat with the “Fall From Grace” that gets him another near-fall.
The two trade blows in the middle of the ring, with Daniels blocking a “boo/yay” spot and firing back with a series of palm strikes, but Bones catches a boot and fires back with a stiff knee to the head, before dropping Daniels across his knee with a suplex-come-backbreaker. Daniels just about escapes, and manages to escape an attempt at a Blue Thunder bomb with some elbows, before colliding with Bad Bones in the middle of the ring.
Daniels recovers from that elbow shot to give Bad Bones the British Bulldog tribute running bodyslam, before leaping up the turnbuckles to hit the BME (Best Moonsault Ever) for the win.
This was a pretty entertaining match, if only for Daniels’ and Kazarian’s cheap pop-getting ring attire. After having Bad Bones win an online poll, only to lose in 60 seconds on Impact, they needed to do something to rehab him, and although he was never going to beat a contracted talent, this was as good as you were going to get. ***
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