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This week we are going Around The Ring with Konnan, continue our streak of classic matches from Victory Road, and an exclusive match between Trey of The Rascalz and Daga, as seen on AAA and Lucha Underground programming.
Trey vs. Daga
Daga is out to interesting techno-rap music. Trey is uncharacteristically alone for this matchup. Daga was last seen on some episodes of Impact earlier this year during their Mexico tapings. He will be at United We Stand on April 4, participating on Team Lucha Underground in an inter-promotional battle. The bell rings and both men circle each other before entering some chain wrestling. The crowd wants Daga to break Trey’s wrist as he gains the advantage. Ruthless. Daga hits a picture perfect dropkick to knock down Trey for a quick one count. Josh Mathews is calling this match solo, unfortunately. Daga whips Tery into the corner as he backflips off of the top and nails a sweet combo including a step up rana and dropkick of his own. Daga is sent outside and Trey meets him with a big dive as we head to commercial. Daga hits a pop-up GTS into a clothesline for another one count. Daga slows down the pace for a minute, hitting Trey with some echoing chops. Trey knocks Daga down with some quick kicks and follows up with a stomp to the back of the head. Strike exchange in the middle of the ring, with the crowd cheering for Daga. The Rascal kicks Daga down and heads to the top, only to fake him out sending him crashing into the buckle, as he nails a unique slingshot blockbuster for a near fall. Daga places Trey onto the top rope for a superplex attempt, but Trey slips out and traps Daga’s head and hits a superkick. He follows up with a superkick against the turnbuckle and a 619. Trey stays up top, rallying the crowd before nailing a Meteora against the downed Daga for the 1-2-3.
This was a fun sprint with some unique offence from both men in front of a hot crowd. Josh actually did pretty well calling this one alone, which is not an easy task. I would like to see Daga become a more frequent member of the roster as he would be a good addition to the X-Division with performances like this. Good match.
Around The Ring with Konnan
Konnan is the guest this week, which is another entertaining guest. Konnan looks back on his days in WCW, partying with people like Rey Mysterio and Juventud when they would head to Sin City. He also reminisces about his childhood in Miami, as well as his boxing career in the Navy. He attributed part of his success in wrestling, to wearing bright colours inspired by Miami Vice in a time when Luchadores were sporting bland colour schemes. They close things as Scott D’Amore yells at people to be quiet off camera as they film pre-tapes. Fun interview, especially if you’re a Konnan fan like myself.
We are getting another Victory Road classic match, this time stemming from the 2012 edition. Last week we saw Matt Hardy clash with AJ Styles, and this time we will look back at his brother, Jeff against Kurt Angle. These were arguably the two most popular wrestlers in the company and in typical TNA fashion, none of their matches were as big of a deal as they should have been. This is during Jeff’s redemption saga, following the controversial events surrounding the previous year’s instalment of this event. The Impact Zone is going crazy for the Charismatic Enigma as he circles the building until his music loops. The bell rings and we enter a collar and elbow tie-up. Jeff gets the advantage early, leaving Angle flustered outside of the ring. Jeff continues to get the best of Angle, and he heads outside once more, sending us to a commercial break. Angle gets caught with a knee to the gut, but comes back with a rake to the eyes. He loses control quickly when Hardy uses his speed against the Olympic Gold Medalist. They brawl on the outside. Angle gets a small opening when Hardy lets his guard down, allowing him to neutralize the dynamic offence. Mike Tenay sounds like he is about to fall asleep. They trade moves and Angle heads outside for the fourth time. They brawl outside again, with Angle taking a nasty tumble into the steps. Hardy looks to fly off of them, but whiffs on Poetry in Motion into the guardrail. Angle breaks the count and continues to attack the injured leg. The action slows down in the ring, with Kurt working his ground attack. Angle hits a big belly to belly suplex as we head to another commercial. Jeff attempts a Twist of Fate but Angle counters with his trio of German suplexes. Angle stalks Hardy for an Olympic Slam but Hardy slips through for a Twist of Fate stunner. Hardy climbs to the top rope but is met by Angle for a huge belly to belly from the top. Near fall. Angle pulls the straps down and applies the Ankle Lock. Hardy catches Angle with a Twist of Fate for a classic Kurt Angle near fall. He runs to the outside dazed as Hardy follows. Ringside, Hardy bashes Angle’s head into the steps three times and goes up top once more. Angle climbs up again but gets sent down, only to get his knees up on a Swanton attempt from Hardy. He follows up with an Angle Slam for a near fall. The crowd chants “This is Awesome” as Kurt chokes Hardy with his own armband. Hardy slips out of another Angle Slam attempt and connects with a Twist of Fate, sending both men down. Hardy comes back with a long-range Swanton Bomb, nailing Angle. He pins him immediately but Kurt rolls through for a pin attempt of his own, coming up victorious as he grabs the ropes on the ref’s blind side.
This was a textbook Kurt Angle match. The finishers, near falls, and superhuman no-selling is no surprise to one that has witnessed a Kurt Angle bombfest of the past. With that being said, the crowd ate this match up, rooting for Jeff Hardy every second they could. Commentary told a good story here, acknowledging the opposite skills of Angle and Hardy but couldn’t match the energy in the building. Not only did we continue the streak of Victory Road matches, but also another case of awkward finishes. This sloppiness was excusable but Angle’s immediate no-selling of a long distance Swanton was tough to get over. With this criticism, it was still a very good match between two big stars in front of a hot Impact Zone, which isn’t easy to achieve. This was a weaker match in the series but still very fun.
We get a recap of Johnny Impact’s great heel turn on Brian Cage from Impact Wrestling to close the show.
This was another good episode of Xplosion and a good way to spend an hour if you’re an Impact fan.
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