By Jason Powell

Dot Net Members will be listening to an exclusive audio review after TNA Against All Odds. You can score ad-free access right now and correspond with other members in the Dot Net Members' Forum throughout the show by signing up for membership by visiting Dot Net Membership Signup Page.

TNA Against All Odds
Aired live on pay-per-view
Orlando, Florida at the Impact Zone

The show opened with a shot of Jeff Hardy arriving at the building. He was approached by a cameraman, who mentioned the title match and asked whether tonight was his night. Hardy smiled and then entered an authorized personnel door... A video opened the show...

Pryo went off in the building. Mike Tenay introduced the show and was joined by Jeremy Borash on commentary. They did not acknowledge the absence of Taz and instead went into hyping the four-way main event. They also hyped that Sting would be at ringside in the four-way main event...

1. Zema Ion defeated Jesse Sorensen via countout in 4:20. Ion brought out a spray can and heeled it up. Sorensen brought out his football and wore a new "Property of Impact (Sorensen)" t-shirt. Sorensen went to ringside and signed the football for a young fan. Ion followed with his spray can and spoke with the fan. Sorensen punched Ion to start the match.

When Sorensen jumped out to a quick start, Ion headed to ringside to treat his hair with the hairspray. WWE broadcaster Josh Mathews understands him. Ion taunted the kid again and stole his football. Sorensen tried to dive on Ion, but he moved. Ion told the kid the football is his.

Sorensen eventually made it back inside the ring and was hit with a missile dropkick. He rolled to ringside and said something to the ref. Ion flipped onto Sorensen on the floor. Ion remained down and was counted out. The referee threw up the X symbol and trainers ran out to help while Ion gloated.

Powell's POV: It looked like Sorensen may have injured his shoulder on his dive to ringside, and the announcers also noted that Ion's knee struck Sorensen on his dive at ringside that followed. Both dives looked painful for Sorensen and it appeared to be a legit injury. The match never really got started, but obviously that's understandable given the circumstances. It's odd that the announcers haven't acknowledged Taz not being on commentary.

The announcers spoke at ringside and replayed the footage of Ion's knee striking Sorensen's head...

Backstage, Christy Hemme interviewed Bobby Roode, who said he walks in the TNA Champion and leaves as TNA Champion because he gets the job done. He questioned how many tries Hardy needs to take the belt from him. He said he beat James Storm for the belt and he's failed to take it back. Roode said he has no idea what Bully Ray's problem is.

Robbie E and Robbie T (Rob Terry) headed to the ring and hyped the Robbie E Invitational (open challenge). Robbie's heel mic work was greeted by the sounds of crickets. Shannon Moore's music played and he came out to a good reaction from the live crowd...

2. Robbie E (w/Robbie T) defeated Shannon Moore for the TNA TV Title in 9:35. Shannon took a nice bump off the apron and onto the guardrail early. Later, Moore hit a nice Asai moonsault on Robbie and tried unsuccessfully to pin him back inside the ring. Late in the match, Moore's momentum from a kickout took him toward Robbie T, who punched him. Robbie E capitalized by pinning Moore...

Powell's POV: I missed Mike Tenay stating that Taz was dealing with a loss in the family. Thanks to the readers who gave me the heads up on that. My condolences go out to Taz and his family. As for the match, the crowd liked Moore, but they didn't seem to care about the Robbie duo.

A video set up the Knockouts Title match...

3. Gail Kim (w/Madison Rayne) defeated Tara to retain the TNA Knockouts Title in 6:45. After five minutes of action, Tara went on the offensive. She hit a great top rope moonsault and came up selling a knee injury. The audio cut out. Tara set up for her finisher, but Gail fought out of it and performed a knee breaker. Gail followed up with her Eat Defeat finisher and scored the clean pin...

Powell's POV: An entertaining match. I'll take the injury story to set up the pin over the usual outside interference or something corny.

Backstage, Hemme interviewed James Storm about the four-way main event. He said they would be having a party in Orlando...

A video set up the tag title match...

4. Samoa Joe and Magnus defeated Matt Morgan and Crimson to win the TNA Tag Titles in 9:55. Crimson did some selling early and eventually made a hot tag to a fired up Morgan, who worked over both heels. Later, Crimson set up to spear Joe, who moved, causing Crimson to spear Morgan instead. Joe performed a snap mare on Morgan, and then Magnus followed up with a second rope elbow drop and scored the pin...

Powell's POV: I liked the finishing sequence a lot. The inadvertent spear from Crimson on Morgan should also give them something to bicker over if the idea is to have them feud. Joe and Magnus have developed on-screen chemistry quickly.

Backstage, Hemme interviewed Bully Ray, who chased away Hemme with some trash talking so that he could deliver his promo. He said he has the numbers of Storm and Hardy, and he's in the head of Roode like no one else has ever been. Ray said everyone thinks he's the dark horse, but he's a thoroughbred and the favorite...

5. Austin Aries defeated Alex Shelley to retain the X Division Title in 15:05. Tenay noted that Jesse Sorensen had been taken to a hospital for evaluation. There were dueling crowd chants early on. The Shelley fans seemed to outnumber the Aries fans. Shelley wanted to dive on Aries at ringside, but Aries hid under the ring twice. Shelley was finally able to perform the suicide dive he'd been looking for at 8:20.

Aries caught a Shelley kick attempt and came back with an offensive flurry of his own that led to a near fall. He went for his finisher at 9:50, but Shelley blocked it. They exchanged big blows with Aries getting the better of it with a spinning punch. Later, Aries performed a Death Valley Driver on Shelley on the ring apron. Tenay did a nice job of selling it by talking about Shelley's injury history and how hard that area of the ring is.

At 12:00, Shelley made his comeback and hit Sliced Bread. The ref counted the three, but immediately pointed at the hand of Aries, who had grabbed the bottom rope at the last moment. At 13:10, Aries hit his brainbuster finisher and covered Shelley, who kicked out to keep the match going.

Shelley came back with a small package for a near fall of his own. Shelley fired away with a two kicks and scored another really good near fall. A loud "this is awesome" chant broke out. Shelley went for Sliced Bread, but Aries pushed him off and slammed him down to the mat. Aries followed up with a brainbuster and then locked in Last Chancery for the submission win...

Powell's POV: A very good match and easily the best of the night thus far. The closing minutes were great with strong, believable near falls for both men. Aries continues to be the most entertaining all around performer in the company.

Backstage, Hemme interviewed Jeff Hardy, who had some wild face paint on. He said his back and neck have seen better days, but he sees gold...

A video set up the A.J. Styles vs. Kazarian match...

6. Kazarian (w/Christopher Daniels) defeated A.J. Styles in 18:45. Rapid fire action to start with Styles in control for the most part. There was an odd spot with Styles leaping early on a leap frog. He just grabbed Kazarian's head and threw him to ringside. Kazarian went on the offensive later and received encouragement from Daniels at ringside.

Tenay noted that Kazarian appeared to be tormented by being forced to do what Daniels was asking of him. The announcers consistently questioned what Daniels could possibly be holding over Kazarian. At 10:00, Daniels did a nice job of working up the ringside fans with his heel antics. Inside the ring, Kaz caught Styles with a nice one-foot dropkick.

At 11:35, Styles came up limping a bit and performed a facebuster-type move on Kazarian for a two count. Daniels pounded the mat, which helped make up for the lack of crowd activity. Kazarian caught Styles with a kick and followed up with a dropkick for a near fall at 12:40.

At 13:50, Kazarian jumped over the top rope and performed a neckbreaker on Styles on the ring apron. Borash reminded fans that the ring apron is the worst place to land, which was a story they told earlier in the night.

At 18:00, Styles was getting the majority of the offense when he went to the middle of the top rope. Rather than dive on Kazarian, he backflipped onto Daniels at ringside in a real crowd pleasing moment. Styles went back in the ring, but Kazarian caught him with Fade to Black and scored the clean pin...

Powell's POV: The match suffered from not having a real heel in the ring. Kazarian is sympathetic since he's being forced to face Styles against his will, so the fans have no incentive to boo him. It's a shame because Styles and Kazarian worked really hard, yet it felt like the match went longer than it needed to as a result of the crowd's lack of reaction. They didn't really forward the story as far as what Daniels is holding over Kazarian, but the clean finish was an unexpected plus.

Backstage, Hemme interviewed Eric Bischoff and Gunner. Bischoff said Gunner would most likely destroy his son. He said that as a father, he feels responsible for putting him in this situation. He acted like he was getting choked up while he spoke about the pressure that Garett must have felt trying to fill his shoes. He offered Garett and Hulk Hogan a chance to throw in the towel. Gunner held up a towel and said Hogan would need it... A video set up the match...

7. Gunner (w/Eric Bischoff) defeated Garett Bischoff (w/Hulk Hogan) in 12:25. Hogan got the big pop for his entrance. Garett performed an arm-drag and dropkick combo, but the timing was off a bit on the latter move. Gunner dominated most of the action while Garett sold. Garett came back by putting Gunner over his shoulder and dropping him down face first.

Eric Bischoff got involved at one point. Hogan took care of him with a big punch. Gunner worked over Garett's neck consistently down the stretch. Gunner went for a neckbreaker, but Garett held onto the ropes. Hogan stood up on the ring apron and teased throwing in the towel, but Garett told him not to. Gunner DDT'd Garett and pinned him...

Powell's POV: Garett has to work on his punches. They were the majority of his offense, but it looked like he was keeping his hand open during the windup and it looked awkward. He didn't embarrass himself in the ring given his experience level, but it felt like an indy match that just happened to have star power in the corners. It was good to see Gunner go over clean. The worst thing they can do with Garett is shove him down the throats of viewers even more than he already has been.

Tenay and Borash spoke about the match at their perch. Tenay put it over as a "gutty" and "amazing effort" by Bischoff. Borash said Garett will have to take some time to recover from the abuse he took during the match...

Backstage, Hemme interviewed Sting, who said he's the special enforcer because he wants to make sure all four men are on their best behavior... A video set up the main event... Tenay and Borash ran through the tale of the tape, which actually included the height, weight, and finishers of each man before Tenay took it in the usual bullet points direction...

Hemme handled the in-ring introductions for the main event. Ray called her a skank and introduced himself. Before the bell, Roode asked Ray to work together "just like old times." Ray glared at him and didn't respond. Roode continued to plead with him. Ray finally nodded, but then went to ringside.

8. Bobby Roode defeated James Storm, Bully Ray, and Jeff Hardy in a four-way to retain the TNA Title in 15:10 with Sting as special enforcer. The match started with Storm and Hardy working over Roode while Ray stood with his arms crossed at ringside.

Tenay announced that Sorensen had sustained a neck injury and was still being evaluated. Tenay promised further updates on Sorensen at the TNA website throughout the week. Borash said fans could also follow Dixie Carter's Twitter page.

Ray entered the match at 2:10 and clotheslined both babyfaces. He tried the same move on Storm and Roode a short time later. The former Beer Money tag team members performed a double suplex. They teased doing the "Beer Money" bit, but Roode punched Storm, who quickly went on the offensive.

At 9:45, they performed the tower of doom spot with Ray on bottom, Storm and Hardy in the middle, and Roode taking a suplex from the top. The crowd chanted "holy shit" even though it was a fairly routine spot. Hardy hit Ray with a Twist of Fate at 10:35.

The referee was bumped a short time later. Ray hit the Bubba Bomb on Hardy and had him pinned, but the ref was out. Sting just tried to wake up the ref rather than count. Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on Hardy, but the ref was still out. Roode speared Hardy. Storm hit Roode with the Codebreaker and followed up with the Last Call superkick.

Later, Roode grabbed the TNA Title belt. Sting entered the ring and took the belt from him. Roode repeatedly dared Sting to hit him with the title belt. Roode spat in Sting's face. Sting swung the title belt at Roode, who ducked, causing Sting to strike Hardy with the belt.

Roode told Sting to count. Sting reluctantly dropped to his knees and slowly counted the three while showing a look of anguish on his face. Roode demanded that Sting give him the belt and raise his hand. Sting begrudgingly complied as Roode smiled and gloated...

Powell's POV: We were so close to going through an entire show without a ridiculously contrived finish, but they just couldn't do it. Granted, we've seen worse from TNA, but that was still a big letdown of a finish. Why wouldn't Sting count Ray or Hardy's pin attempts, yet was willing to count for Roode? Sting was so upset that Roode spat in his face that he counted the pin, presented Roode with the belt, raised his hand, and never attacked him afterward? Whatever.

The first two hours of the show were very entertaining. Garett vs. Gunner just didn't belong in the semi-main event slot regardless of who was in their corners, and the main event was a big letdown thanks in large part to that finish. Please tell me they're not going to give a four-way rematch away on Impact this week. I'll have more to say in the member exclusive audio show tonight, along with my thoughts on the Vince Russo situation. Thanks for following along with my review tonight.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: