TNA Against All Odds Hits

Alex Shelley vs. Eric Young: A good opener. Nothing truly memorable about the match, yet both guys worked hard and it got the show off to a good start. The finish was puzzling, though, as Young bickered with the referee momentarily, which led to Shelley rolling him up for the win. That said, this was one of Young's best in-ring performances, and Shelley is always entertaining when he's given enough time.

Scott Steiner vs. Petey Williams: I enjoyed this match more than most viewers based on the feedback I've read. Don't get me wrong, I can't stand the way Petey continues to look like Steiner's mini. However, I am impressed by the way Steiner works hard and sells when he's in the ring with Williams. He doesn't do the classic big guy won't sell for the little guy crap that others have done in the past. Mike Tenay and Don West also did a nice job of setting up Petey's strategy and making it seem like his odds of winning increased the longer the match went on.

Booker T vs. Shane Sewell: This match was exactly what it needed to be. Booker played the cocky heel role nicely and dominated the match. Sewell made his comeback only to be derailed by Sharmell tripping him, which allowed Booker to hit his finisher and score the pin. The agents didn't give them more time than they needed and the match was fine for what it was.

TNA Against All Odds Misses

Sting vs. Kurt Angle vs. Brother Ray vs. Brother Devon: I had high hopes that the match would be a memorable brawl that would conclude with Angle regaining the TNA Title. I don't mind that they didn't switch the title, but the match was nothing special. This looked like a one match show coming in and that match didn't deliver the way I hoped it would. It wasn't an abomination or anything, but the big exchanges between Ray and Devon, and Sting and Angle didn't pack as much punch as I expected them to. Overall, a flat main event.

Overall show: This wasn't a strong lineup on paper. TNA seems to have taken the WWE approach of building up four pay-per-view events per year as truly special and making the others off-brand events. The only problem is that Bound For Glory is the only show that they've truly established as a major event. I felt like I was watching a house show last night. It was nice to see a straight forward show that was void of the "only in TNA" moments that I've come to expect from the company, but this show wasn't worth buying. Anyone who skipped the show has no reason to feel like they missed out on anything special. Given the state of the economy, TNA has to deliver better lineups and stronger shows if they expect fans to order their pay-per-view events.

Beer Money vs. Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed: Good effort from both teams, but the live crowd never got behind Lethal and Creed. TNA hasn't given viewers any reason to take the duo seriously. They won the tag titles in a glorified handicap match and went on to have the shortest tight reign in TNA history. They spent the first part of the match building to a hot tag to bring Creed into the match. However, when Lethal finally made the tag, the fans didn't pop. I hope the creative team doesn't try to convince themselves that this reaction is attributable to the show being held in front of the overexposed Orlando crowd. Lethal and Creed are not over. I've been saying for months that they need to give up on the Black Machismo gimmick. It's played out and it's time to move on.

Awesome Kong vs. ODB: Just a throwaway match rather than a showcase of the top two women in the division. Kong and ODB have never meshed well in the ring together, but I expected them to get more time and to put on a better match than this. I suppose it's possible that Kong's back is still giving her problems and that's why the match was so basic.

Abyss vs. Matt Morgan: I give Morgan credit for working despite undergoing shoulder surgery recently, but the match wasn't pretty. It was obvious that they were very limited in what they could do because of Morgan and it just felt like the match went on longer than it needed to under the circumstances.

Brutus Magnus vs. Chris Sabin: I must admit that the match was better than I expected it to be until the awkward finish. And I'm also impressed by the charisma that Magnus has shown during interviewers. Unfortunately, I can't get past that silly gladiator gimmick that feels like it's something leftover from the '80s. Then again, I felt the same way about the Umaga character when he debuted, and it turned out to be a solid act for WWE.

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