TNA – Best of the X Division Vol. 2 DVD Review

October 31, 2006

Introduction

The opening video depicts Alex Shelley, Samoa Joe, Shark Boy, Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, AJ Styles, Petey Williams, and Sonjay Dutt as the main stars of the X-Division. Mike Tenay and Don West are the hosts. We start off by focusing on the AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe feud.

A look back at the near year-long war between Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels…

This is a really cool video package giving an overview of the entire feud. That is great because I have most of their matches on the PPV discs, so I don’t need them repeated here, and by having them clipped with new interviews and stuff it makes it feel totally new. This shows a lot of highlights from the Unbreakable three-way on 9.11.05, and the Elimination X match from Genesis on 11.13.05. Joe’s heel turn on Daniels was pretty awesome, but the crowd chanted “Joe” instead. They move on to the Joe vs. Styles match from Turning Point on 12.11.05. Next up is Joe defending the title against Daniels, and Styles ending the match by throwing the towel in for Daniels. The three-way rematch from Against All Odds on 2.12.06 is up next, which was about half as long as the first one but still pretty good. Next up is the Ultimate X match between them on 3.12.06, which I still haven’t picked up on DVD yet. This whole package goes on about half an hour.

MATCH #1: TNA X-Division Championship Match – Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe, TNA Impact 4.13.06

This is from the first episode of Impact on Thursday nights, and the match starts in progress. You know, I can see why they did that for TV, but on the DVD it should be here in full dammit. We open with Daniels already bleeding and Joe fully in control. They show some clips from before the match was on the air, which isn’t as good as having the whole match! The crowd is super hot because both guys are awesome, especially Joe. Speaking of Joe being awesome, he is physically dismantling Daniels here. Daniels fights back with a dragon screw leg whip and a new to the face. He charges in the corner and eats the STJoe. This leads to a commercial break, which of course is cut out here. Daniels fights back with a pair of enziguiris and a flatliner. A jawbreaker and a top rope clothesline follow, and then Daniels hits a huge hurricanrana off the top rope for two. Joe is able to fight back but Daniels sticks right with him. Blue Thunder Bomb by Daniels gets two. They trade slaps and Daniels actually takes the advantage with an STO. The Best Moonsault Ever gets two. Daniels sets up for the Iconoclasm but Joe gets the choke. Daniels breaks out of that and tries for a superplex but Joe counters that into a top rope Island Driver to get the three count and regain the X-Title at 16:00 (shown). I don’t think I can go four stars in good conscience because the full match isn’t there (and I would even be okay with the commercial breaks if the beginning was there). But what is here is really great and makes me realize how much I hate TNA Impact right now.
Rating: ***¾

Tenay and West are back to wrap up the first portion of this disc and introduce the rest of the X-Division stars that we’ll be seeing on the rest of the disc.

MATCH #2: Three Way Match – Petey Williams vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin, TNA Impact 10.1.05

All three of these guys were trained by the same people in the same area and have wrestled each other about a million times each. It takes Shelley about half a second to break a truce he and Petey set up. They start doing a series of spots that are too fast for me to keep up with. This is from the first episode of Impact on Spike TV, so I assume everyone wants to get all their stuff in. Everyone goes to the outside and Sabin hits a nice Asai moonsault on both guys and hits his shins against the guardrails. Ouch. We go to commercial and when we’re back Petey and Shelley are working together on Sabin. Shelley utilizes the skullfucker, not called as such by Tenay and West. Sabin makes a comeback but Shelley is able to slow him down. Petey goes for the Destroyer but a series of reversals prevents it from happening. Sabin eventually hits the Cradle Shock on Shelley to get the pin at 9:45. Petey attacks Sabin after the bell and hits the Canadian Destroyer. That was short but they packed a lot into it and it was a good match to have on their first night on the new network.
Rating: ***

MATCH #3: Three Way Match – Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries vs. Matt Bentley, TNA Impact 10.8.05

Aries has weird, terrible music here. Bentley has boobs joining him at ringside. The action starts off fast right away with everyone going for moves on everyone and no one gaining a clear advantage. Bentley hits a combination stunner/neckbreaker on both men and goes to work on Daniels. Daniels is still wearing that thing around his neck for whatever reason. Everyone does some more stuff and Aries hits a very dangerous looking reverse rana to throw Bentley to the floor. Daniels goes for an Arabian press but both guys move out of the way. All of a sudden Petey Williams comes down to talk to boobs, and Chris Sabin comes down to beat him up. Bentley hits a dive on both of them, and when Aries goes for one Daniels stops him and hits the Angels Wings to get the pin at 5:45. In a huge surprise, that was spotty but fun.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #4: Chris Sabin vs. AJ Styles, TNA Impact 11.26.05

Styles is the TNA X-Division Champion, but this is a non-title match. Sabin is himself a former two-time X-Division Champion. They do some mat wrestling mixed with flips early on. These two once had a killer 10-minute match in ROH back in June of 2003. We go to commercial and when we’re back both guys are moving quickly trading bit moves with each other. Styles takes the advantage and puts on a Muta Lock. Sabin takes the advantage with a dropkick to the face for a two-count. A cool sequence leads to Sabin putting on a version of the Border City Stretch. They trade forearms and both men are hitting hard. They simultaneously kick each other in the face and both men are down. Styles hits the springboard inverted DDT but Sabin kicks out at two. Samoa Joe comes out the entrance way to watch the match. Sabin hits a scary Liger Bomb for two. Sabin tries the Cradle Shock but it gets blocked and Styles goes for the Styles Clash. Sabin blocks it but Styles bounces back off the ropes and hits it to win the match at 6:52. That was as good as seven minutes is going to get, and I’d love to see these two get a semi main event and twenty minutes to really tear it up.
Rating: **¾

MATCH #5: Four Way Match – Petey Williams vs. Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin, TNA Impact 12.3.05

Shelley and Williams attack right away but Sabin and Aries fight them off. Aries and Sabin trade a few blows then decide to both dive onto Williams and Shelley outside the ring. The teamwork is short lived as Aries goes to work on Williams inside the ring. This one actually calms down to the point where guys are tagging in and out. Shelley is able to sneakily take advantage and he goes to work on Aries. He executes the skullfucker, called a “repeated scissors stomp” by Tenay. Williams tags himself in and now he beats up Aries. Shelley tags himself back in and he and Williams are experiencing dissension. Shelley hits a slingshot elbow drop for two. Aries makes the tag out to Sabin, and he cleans house on Shelley and Williams. Sabin busts out the Hurricane DDT on Shelley for two. Williams hits the Destroyer on Aries, but Sabin lands the Cradle Shock on Williams and gets the pin at 6:07. That was the usual X-division 4-way fun.
Rating: **½

MATCH #6: AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal, TNA Impact 2.4.06

This is pretty early into Letha’s tenure in TNA. The action starts off very fast and Lethal takes a sick suplex on the ring apron. Samoa Joe comes out to scout one of his opponents for the pay-per-view that was coming up. Styles tries for the Styles Clash but Lethal blocks it and hits a nice leg lariat off the middle rope for two. Lethal gets a little flurry of offense until Styles reverses something into a Styles Clash and it’s over at 2:30. That was super short but energetic enough.
Rating: *½

MATCH #7: Team USA Qualifier, Three Way Match – Alex Shelley vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Chris Sabin, TNA Impact 3.11.06

Shelley attacks Dutt right away but Sabin makes the save. The two babyfaces work together on the heel Shelley. Sabin is the first one to break the truce with a dropkick to the face. Larry Zbyszko is out watching this match. Shelley makes a comeback and goes to work on Sabin. He hits a pretty contrived face driver on both Dutt and Sabin simultaneously. That referee that dresses like a soccer referee comes out to distract from the match for some reason. There is still a match going on. Everyone gets some near falls broken up by one of the other guys. Sabin unloads on Shelley and hits the Cradle Shock to get the win and join Team USA at 4:59. That was what it was.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #8: International X Showcase, Four Way Match – Petey Williams vs. Puma vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Chris Sabin, TNA Destination X 3.12.06

Dutt and Puma start it off with some lightning quick exchanges. Williams tags Dutt out and now its Williams and Puma. Sabin quickly tags in for Puma. All four men come in and hit some moves and the crowd is really getting into it. A1 is hanging out outside the ring, ready to help Williams if at all possible. The crowd really likes Puma, and from what little I’ve seen of him in TNA and ROH I like him too. They also like the heel Petey Williams though, so whatever. Dutt and Sabin have some nice exchanges. Dutt and Puma actually appear to be working together on Sabin, which is strange because Dutt and Sabin are fairly regular tag team partners around this time. They get the requisite dive spot in, but Puma puts a stop to it after participating in it. Tenay’s comparison of Puma to Spider-Man doesn’t seem at all apt. Tenay is weird. The crowd gets the “this is awesome” chant going. I wish Mark Briscoe was there. Meanwhile they are doing some pretty cool spots. Williams locks Puma in the sharpshooter but Dutt breaks it up. Dutt hits an inverted piledriver and the referee starts his count way too late and screws Dutt out of the win I say! Dutt tries the Canadian Destroyer but Williams knows how to reverse his own hold, and he hits one of his own on Dutt. Sabin tries a Cradle Shock but Petey tries the Destroyer but Puma hits a sweet blockbuster. Sabin recovers and hits the Cradle Shock on Puma to get the win at 14:57. That was a tremendously fun and spot-tastic, and makes me wish Puma would get a full-time gig there.
Rating: ***¾

MATCH #9: Six Way Xscape Match – Elix Skipper vs. Petey Williams vs. Puma vs. Chase Stevens vs. Shark Boy vs. Chris Sabin, TNA Lockdown, 4.23.06

Last year this match had four participants, now it’s up to six. Skipper walking across the top of the cage is still one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen in wrestling. Puma is very much not from Mexico, but he’s wearing a mask, so whatever. Sabin is the only one that was in last year’s match, giving him a distinct advantage. D’Amore comes over to the announce table to tell Tenay and West that he and Simon Diamond have made a deal to ensure that Williams and Skipper are going to be the last two in the ring. Shark Boy and Williams are going at it for a few minutes, until Williams tags Puma in. Puma does some flippy stuff, but then Sharky hits a top rope rana and a missile dropkick. Puma tags out to Skipper. Sharky continues to do well, hitting a bulldog off the cage. They then climb the cage for no apparent reason, and Shark hits a Russian Leg Sweep. Williams then gets tagged in and hits the Canadian Destroyer to eliminate Shark Boy at 5:02. Sabin comes in for the first time now. He and Williams do stuff together, and they know each other so well because they trained together and have worked together about a million times. Sabin tags out to Stevens. Williams goes for the Destroyer on him but it’s blocked. Skipper hits Sudden Death on Puma, and Sabin hits him with a leg lariat. Everyone’s down, and Stevens climbs to the top of the cage. He delivers a shooting star press and all four guys manage to not catch him, so I’m not sure why everyone is down because they didn’t take anything. Stevens tries to pin Williams, then Skipper, but Skipper instead hits the Sudden Death to get the pin at 8:53. Rudy Charles manages to confuse people on a fairly simple three count. What a clusterfuck. Williams takes advantage of Skipper and reneges on their deal by pinning him at 9:36. Diamond is pissed at D’Amore, but what do you expect. Williams gives Puma a catapult right into the Cradle Shock and Sabin pins Puma at 10:21. To win the match now you have to escape the cage. Sabin takes advantage and nails the hesitation dropkick in the corner. Sabin goes up and over, but D’Amore holds Sabin from reaching the floor. Williams is climbing over as well. Sabin knocks Williams’s head into the cage, and he falls conveniently right onto D’Amore’s shoulders, giving Sabin the chance to hit the floor first. Heaven forbid TNA do a finish not involving Scott D’Amore. That was more irritating than the usual TNA X-Division scrambled egg match, with blown spots and a stupid finish.
Rating: **

MATCH #10: World X Cup Tournament – Hirooki Goto & Minoru Tanaka vs. Alex Shelley & Sonjay Dutt, TNA Impact 4.27.06

Petey Williams and Scott D’Amore are at the commentating table. D’Amore announces that Petey Williams and Eric Young will be joined by Tyson Dux and Johnny Devine. Shelley dominates the Japanese competitors in the early going. He and Dutt are working well together. Tanaka recovers and goes after Shelley’s knee as the crowd chants “USA.” Jerry Lynn and Team USA Captain Chris Sabin are watching the match backstage. Shelley steals Jimmy Jacobs’s senton bomb and tags out to Dutt. Dutt is on fire on both Goto and Tanaka. Dutt and Shelley continue to gel as a team, despite past disagreements between them. Goto hits an Angle Slam on Dutt but Shelley breaks it up. Shelley gets back in and hits the Sliced Bread #2 and Dutt hits a standing shooting star press to give Team USA the win at 6:28. That was a fun little tag team match and Shelley looked like a total star. USA is the first team in the World X Cup to score points, as they get two for that win.
Rating: **¾

MATCH #11: Four Way Match – Jay Lethal vs. Alex Shelley vs. Shark Boy vs. Senshi, TNA Impact 5.25.06

The crowd chants “Low Ki,” which is Senshi’s former name from various independents. Senshi and Lethal got for a minute, then Shelley and Boy tag in. That doesn’t last long as Senshi comes in and goes to work on Boy, who comes back by biting. Senshi doesn’t respond kindly, so he starts hitting kicks. They hit the requisite Tower of Doom spot. Everybody gets some spots in and Senshi hits the Warrior’s Way (top-rope double stomp) on Lethal and he gets the pin at 5:00. That one didn’t do much for me.
Rating: **

MATCH #12: Six Way Elimination Match – Senshi vs. Shark Boy vs. Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal vs. Alex Shelley vs. Sonjay Dutt, TNA Slammiversary 6.18.06

This is an elimination match that will determine the rankings for the X-Division, with the winner receiving an X Title shot. Senshi is a former champion (when he was Low Ki), and so is Petey Williams. Shelley has his ever-present camera with him to record the action. Petey and Sharky start it out. They do the usual for a few minutes, and Sharky blocks the “Oh Canada” by biting the Team Canada Captain. They go outside the ring for a second and then back in and Shark Boy tags in Jay Lethal. They double-team Petey to get a near fall. Lethal hits a few moves then Petey cuts him off and tags Senshi. I think Senshi is a phenomenal athlete, but most of the time I just don’t care for anything about the guy, from the way he walks to the moves he does to the sound of his voice. I do think that TNA could really do something with him though if they could remove their heads from their anuses long enough. Senshi tags in Shelley for the first time to a noticeable pop. Shelley and Lethal exchange moves for a bit and then Lethal tags in Sonjay Dutt. He does his high flying stuff as Tenay and West fawn all over him. Shelley thankfully breaks up the stupid sprinkler, and then awesomely rakes Dutt’s nuts on the top rope. TNA needs to push this guy hard. To prove my point, he puts his hand down his pants and then tags Shark Boy on the face. Everybody comes in for no reason to execute a “six-pack suplex;” how very contrived of them. When that’s over we’re left with Dutt and Sharky in the ring. Sharky goes for the Dead See Drop but it’s countered. He hits a neckbreaker instead and goes up for a top rope elbow drop but that misses. Dutt hits a standing shooting star press to eliminate Shark Boy at 10:34. Shelley comes in and goes to work on Dutt. Lethal makes a blind tag and nails Shelley with a missile dropkick. Shelley reveals a new move that he stole from Dragon Gate and then hits a brainbuster. He goes for Jimmy Jacobs’ top rope senton but hits nothing but knees, and Lethal hits the Dragon Suplex to eliminate Shelley at 12:22. The remaining four competitors all get in the ring now. They hit their big moves to the outside of the ring. Lethal and Petey are back in the ring and Lethal hits a sweet leg lariat. He goes up for a diving headbutt and misses, which gives Petey the chance to hit the Canadian Destroyer and Lethal is gone at 14:32. Petey and Senshi seem to be working together a bit on Dutt until Senshi makes a blind tag and cuts of Petey with a clothesline. Senshi goes to the top but Petey stops him. Petey tries a sunset flip powerbomb but it’s blocked. Dutt hits an inverted DDT on Petey, leaving him prone to the yelling double stomp off the top rope by Senshi and Petey is gone at 17:04. We’re down to two men now. Dutt hits a nice rana off the top rope. I’m really starting to hate how every rana or headscissors is “snapped off,” something about that phrase really irritates me. Anyway, Dutt hits a DDT on Senshi for two. Senshi comes back with a double stomp while yelling like a girl. He goes for the Ki Krusher but it’s reversed by Dutt into a neckbreaker. Dutt goes for the Hindu Press but hits knees and Senshi hits the shotgun dropkick, also while screaming like a girl. He sets Dutt up in the Tree of Woe to hit the double stomp from the top rope to win the match at 19:29. I’ve never liked that move because the guy just sits up waiting to take it. At any rate, that was a solid X style match with everyone hitting their moves right on and all clean eliminations, so there’s something to be said for that.
Rating: ***¼

MATCH #13: TNA X-Division Championship Three Way Match – Samoa Joe vs. Senshi vs. Sonjay Dutt, TNA Impact 6.22.06

Senshi earned this title shot by winning the last match I reviewed, and Dutt gets this shot by being second place I guess. That doesn’t make any sense to me, but this is TNA we’re talking about here. Joe has been the champion since 4.13.06, and this is his third defense. Senshi goes after Joe right away, but Joe kicks him down and then Dutt takes a turn. Eric Young is in the crowd to distract everyone from the match at hand. The battle spills to the floor and Joe hits Dutt with the Ole Kick. Senshi and Joe go back in the ring and they cut to commercial. Back from the commercial and Dutt is still down outside the ring and Senshi is going after Joe’s leg. Dutt comes back in with a high cross body block on Senshi for two. Joe grabs Dutt in a choke outside the ring (Dutt is inside) and Senshi knocks Joe off the apron with a dropkick. Scott Steiner hits Joe in the head with a chair while the referee is preoccupied with the guys in the ring. This allows Senshi to hit the Warrior’s Way and win the title at 9:26. I understand the need to get the belt off Joe without having him lose, but the unfortunate reality is that it makes the new champion look weak right out of the gate. It was a pretty decent match though.
Rating: **¾

MATCH #14: TNA X-Division Championship Three Way Match – Senshi vs. Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal, TNA Hard Justice, 8.13.06

Petey Williams earned this match by winning a #1 Contender’s match, and I have no idea what Lethal did to earn his shot. Noticing a pattern here? Senshi has been champion since 6.22.06, and this is his second defense. The high spots are brought on early on. Williams has a legdrop that’s almost as contrived as Jerry Lynn’s. This is a typical “one guy lays down while the other two fight” kind of three-way. I’m just not getting into this at all. Williams tries a sharpshooter and Senshi hits Black Magic to break it up. Lethal recovers and hits the Lethal Injection for a near fall. Williams avoids the diving headbutt from Lethal and hits the Canadian Destroyer, allowing Senshi to dropkick Williams out of the way and pin Lethal himself to retain the title at 10:34. That was a pretty dull three-way with little heat and no flow.
Rating: **

MATCH #15: Six Man Tag Team Match – Johnny Devine, Alex Shelley & Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt, TNA Impact 8.17.06

The babyfaces dominate early with some high flying goodness. Shelley acts like a general jerk The faces hit three dives to the floor, and in the ring Earl Hebner attacks the referee. Am I the first one to say “who the fuck cares about Earl Hebner and that referee guy?” Dutt takes control and dominates all three of his opponents. It breaks down now with all six guys in the ring. Order is restored for about 30 seconds before everyone gets back involved. Devine gets caught in the ring with he babyfaces and Sabin hits a springboard legdrop on Devine to get the win for his team at 8:02. That was pretty disjoined and not all that engaging.
Rating: *¾