TNA Victory Road (2008)
Houston, Texas 7/13/08
1.) World X Cup Road 3 - Elimination Match - Team Japan vs. Team Mexico vs. Team International vs. Team TNA: ****1/4
I'm not going to bother listing the guys involved, because it's basically a Four-Way with Three guys on each team. This was an awesome opening match. A little bit of sloppiness here & there, but it was overall fast paced & very entertaining. The way the standing's worked was that the first team fully eliminated would get no points, while the next team gone would get one, the next got two, and the winners (Team TNA in this case) got three.
2.) Angelina Love vs. Gail Kim: **1/2
I think it shows the strength of the Knockouts Division at the time that they were confident enough to put two Knockout's Matches on this show. This match itself was decent for the time it was given. Love & Velvet Sky jump Gail Kim afterwords but she is able to get away.
3.) Grudge Match - "The Guru" Sonjay Dutt vs. "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal: **
This came about after Dutt professed his love to SoCal Val at the Val/Jay Lethal wedding at Slammiversary the month prior. It was ok, though things felt kind of crammed, mainly due to the time it got.
4.) TNA World Tag Team Titles - Fan's Revenge Lumberjack Match - LAX vs. Beer Money: **3/4
James Storm & Robert Roode formed a tag team & started whipping people all around the iMPACT Zone with belts/straps, so we get this match, the second of it's kind. Hector Guerrero & Salinas while Beer Money (I believe) had Jackie Moore, but I'm not sure (she may have chickened out & not come down to ringside for fear of getting whipped by the fans but idk). They played up the Lumberjack stuff pretty good but it ended up taking away from the match. Fine for what it was.
5.) TNA Knockouts Championship - Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong: **
Raisha Saeed is with Kong here. An ok match. Not as good as the other Knockout's Match, but mainly because this was about 5 Minutes.
Afterwords, Saeed & Kong beat down Wilde until Abyss of all people makes the save as Kong & Saeed retreat. Abyss carries Wilde to the back.
6.) World X Cup Final - Ultimate X Match - Naruki Doi (Team Japan) vs. Volador Jr. (Team Mexico) vs. Daivari (Team International) vs. Kaz (Team TNA): ***1/2
The winner of this match gets Four Points for their team. The way the standings are up to this point, every team is still in it. While it only got about 10 Minutes, it was still very good, not one of the best Ultimate X Matches, but still good. The memorable moment is Kaz hitting a leg drop from the top of the trusses onto Daivari, who was hanging near the center of the X. But this allows Volador Jr. of Team Mexico to pick up the win & the World X Cup.
The winning team gets interviewed post-match as a distraught & disappointed Kaz looks on.
7.) Full Metal Mayhem Match - Team 3D & Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles, Christian Cage & Rhino: ****
It was great to see an AJ Styles/Kurt Angle feud....unfortunately it was over something stupid (Karen Angle...long story). There is nothing on the line here, so the first Pinfall/Submission wins it. This was very entertaining. I'm a sucker for these type of matches, so I really enjoyed it. Fun stuff here.
8.) TNA World Heavyweight Title - Samoa Joe vs. Booker T: **3/4
Booker T had slowly turned heel in the past few months and is now getting a World Title Shot in his hometown of Houston, Texas. The match was going fine, then there was some silliness with Sting, Joe beating up people, and Sharmell (Booker T's wife, who was at ringside) counting the pin in the ring, leading to her & Booker T making off with the World Title. The finish was just....confusing. Really hurt the match.
Overall: 8.0/10
This was sort of a tale of two cards. One the one hand, you had three really good to great matches on here, those being the X Cup & Full Metal Mayhem Matches. While the Fan's Revenge Match was entertaining, the rest of the Mid-Card was very average and the finish of the Main Event left a sour taste in my mouth. But overall, it was a fine show. I actually really wanted to see this one, and I'd say I got my money's worth with the Top 3 Matches I already mentioned.
I should also note that I did not get this alone, as this was apart of (I believe the first) Cross-The-Line Triple Pack, which also includes the 2008 Editions of Hardcore Justice & No Surrender.
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