Retro Review: Match Ratings, Podcast Notes, From TNA Unbreakable 2005

Opening

• There’s an unfunny football parodied intro video that goes on way too long. “Are you ready for some wrestling!?” about 10 months after WWE did it.

3LK defeated Diamonds in the Rough
4.5/10

• Wow. Diamonds in the Rough. Well, Elix Skipper was at least. It’s almost weird to see the six sided ring again.
• This is a total cluster. Konnan gets the win with a face jam. Yeesh.

Austin Aries defeated Roderick Strong
7/10

• Ah, I remember this. The first time I’d seen either one of them, even though I’d heard of both. They get ROH chants.
• Aries’ facial hair hasn’t changed a whole lot since 2005.
• Strong catches Aries mid air with a back breaker, then press slams him into the buckles.
• Crowd is hot for this. Aries catches Strong with a couple of big clotheslines and the pendulum elbow.
• Fireman’s carry gutbuster into a nasty knee from Strong. This was a style not a lot of guys were working in TNA at the time, despite the X division.
• Austin Aries wins with a 450 splash. This was an outstanding match, and holds up 13 years later. 

Monty Brown & Kip James defeated Apolo & Lance Hoyt
5.25/10

• Monty Brown was such a great promo. It’s weird to see Shane Douglas as a backstage interviewer, but he’s pretty good at it. Kip James comes and argues with him.
• Billy Gunn has a ripoff “Ass Man” theme, and Monty has his ripoff “Down with the Sickness” theme.
• Apolo and Hoyt. Lance Hoyt was over in the Impact Zone and used to party with people there. He finally put it together years later in KES. He hadn’t yet. He had so much growing to do. 
• Early to mid 2000’s is by far the worst fashion era in pro wrestling. 
• This was a real era of just putting off Monty Brown over and over again. One of the brightest stars they could have ever had. There were a lot of people that TNA brought in with a look that didn’t pan out — Apolo, Trytan, Rob Terry, etc. — Monty Brown did.
• Hoyt’s strikes aren’t good here. Monty Brown hits him with an AlphaBomb, which is a very cool back suplex turned into a swinging side slam.
• Apolo gets some offense, but eats a Fameasser. Gunn (Kip James) is on the receiving end of a wild moonsault from Hoyt, who soon eats the ringpost.
• Miscommunication between Gunn and Brown. Brown hits the pounce anyway and pins Apolo.

Chris Sabin defeated Petey Williams
7/10

• All of Team Canada is a good promo, besides A1, who doesn’t talk. Kind of wild that everyone else is still wrestling at a high level.
• AAA screwed over TNA by booking Shocker too far away, so Petey stepped up. The announcers say “TNA Management” 300 times on this show.
• This is the division that kept me interested in TNA. West and Tenay do a great job of keeping their pace up when Sabin and Petey’s slows down.
• Williams applies the Sharpshooter after some fast back and forth action.  Sabin answers with a great turnaround tornado DDT.
• There was an insane inverted Infrared, which we never see for obvious reasons, as Sabin almost DIED.
• Petey applies another not so great Sharpshooter. The Harts seem like the only people who always apply it well.
• Crucifix Bomb and a fireman’s carry into the buckle from Sabin! Wow, sick. Williams gouges Sabin’s eyes to get out of the latter though. A blinded Sabin almost hits the Cradle Shock on the ref, but gets Petey for the win. This was really good. 
• Matt Bentley, the cousin of Shawn Michaels returns and superkicks Sabin. He wants an Ultimate X match at BFG. He also superkicks Williams.

No DQ Match
Abyss (w/ Father James Mitchell) defeated Sabu
7.25/10

• Father James Mitchell was a great promo, but I think too much of a Sullivan throwback for the era.
• Sabu chair assisted, clotheslines Abyss over the top rope. 
• Sometimes Sabu looks like trash, and then sometimes Sabu pulls out a performance like this. A triple jump tornado DDT.
• Abyss belly to belly suplexes Sabu over the top rope, through the tables! Abyss smoothly kicked the chair out of the way before. This is some high level hardcore wrestling.
• I cringe at the heaving chair shots
• Atomic Arabian facebuster through a table that actually folds SABU in half too! WOW. 
• Mitchell distracts Sabu and Shock Treatment hits but Sabu kicked out!
• Thumb tacks are laid out, but Sabu cracks Abyss again with a chair. Sabu goes for another triple jump moonsault, but Abyss catches him with a Black Hole Slam for the win.
• This is one of the best executed hardcore matches I’ve seen.

Bobby Roode defeated Jeff Hardy
4.75/10

• Jeff Hardy is over, and it’s nice to look back and see him moving well.
• Roode works over the back of Hardy.
• Whisper in the Wind from Hardy, then a Flatliner that Roode takes like a psycho.
• Petey Williams knocks Hardy off the top rope. There are more distractions, but Hardy gets a Twist of Fate on Roode and jumps off the top rope onto both members outside.
• Petey goes for a Destroyer, but gets back body dropped onto the floor. This allows Jarrett to crack a hockey stick over Hardy so Roode can win.
• Way too much interference here.

TNA Tag Team Championships
The Naturals (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Team Canada, America’s Most Wanted and Alex Shelley & Johnny Candido
5/10

• I remember this because Johnny Candido’s tighty whiteys were hanging out. He only had a few matches before this, including a WWE dark match where he teamed with Damian Adams (Deonna Purrazzo’s trainer) against Rotten & Mahoney.
• Shelley looks like he robbed Prince Iaukea’s wardrobe. 
• The story is Sean Waltman no-shows this and Alex Shelley is left short-handed. Due to the dynamic of the match, he’s not at as much of a disadvantage. This was after the Chris Candido cup. 
• Johnny Candido jumps in after some good action, but he’s not very good and gets pinned quickly.
• Storm kills Eric Young with a spinning reverse DDT out of the corner and an Eye of The Storm.
• There’s a lot of ring barricade spots. Eric Young is cracked by a super kick after a go-behind. 
• For some reason, Harris is hanging EY upside down in a suplex forever in a match that has a bunch of other people in it. He appropriately gets eliminated by a hockey stick to the back. 
• Eric Young shoves Jimmy Hart to the floor. He was 62 at this point.
• Hart knocks Young off the ropes and the Naturals win with Natural Disaster.
• I’ll be honest, this was a mess. And TNA shows people holding “A1” bottles after he lost.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Raven’s Rules Match
Raven (c) defeated Rhino
5.75/10

• This is a bunch of weapon shots. Rhino is busted wide open.
• Raven has the ankle lock applied.
• Rhino was never in better shape than this run. 
• A stapler to the head of Rhino, then a running knee and a bulldog from Raven. This match fit for the time, but after watching Slammiversary 2018, this hardcore match is falling flat.
• Cassidy Riley, a disciple of Raven’s tries to interfere, but it backfires.
• Raven powerbombs Rhino through a ladder. For some reason, the ref counts a nearfall. Rhino’s shoulders are on a ladder, not the mat.
• See-saw spot gets Rhino back in the game. A drop toe hold into a shopping cart takes him out of it, though.
• Jeff Jarrett, who for some reason didn’t wrestle on this show, tries to interfere and gets DDT’d after Jeff Hardy stops him. So does Rhino. Raven retains.

X-Division Championship
AJ Styles defeated Christopher Daniels (c) and Samoa Joe
10/10

• This match and Raven/Rhino are why I ordered this PPV. 30 bucks for a broke 20 year old was a lot to ask, and this main eventing set the tone for something special to me. These were three guys that I saw as people who should have been in the world title picture.
• Styles and Joe get a great reaction after kick-contesting Daniels. 
• Styles feeds Daniels to Joe for a big uranage. Styles then gets caught and suplexed into the corner.
• Daniels knocks Joe out, and follows with a suicide dropkick, and a split legged moonsault to the outside. Styles trails them with a springboard shooting star.
• Daniels monkey flips Styles, who huracanranas Joe. 
• Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch on Daniels, but Styles comes off the top with the Spiral Tap!
• Daniels ends up getting a crazy Death Valley Driver on JOE! 
• Styles and Daniels battle outside, but Joe flies over the top rope with a corkscrew tope!!
• Joe throws both men off the top rope with a high crotch! Muscle Buster on Styles, powerslam on Daniels as he tries to use the title. Joe messes around and gets the title kicked into his face.
• Daniels with one of the best Blue Thunder Bombs of all-time, but it gets a two. A BME gets broken up by Joe, but then Daniels nails Joe with a Roll of the Dice.
• Styles’ signature reverse DDT lands on Daniels, but the Fallen Angel is right back with a superplex.
• A Samoa Joe Powerbomb into an STF on Daniels sets up a spot where you can hear them talking to each other. 
• Big Pele Kick on Daniels, then Styles goes nuts with a torture rack powerbomb on Joe! Then a Styles Clash (a really smooth one) on Daniels, but Joe breaks it up.
• Joe is sent outside, leaving Daniels and Styles to slug it out. Styles counters an Angel’s Wing for the pin.
• Daniels holds on to it and causes himself to get pinned and he’s mad. Normally a crowd would drop here, but they loved it.