TNA Hard Justice 2006

The roof … the roof … the roof is on fire!!!

1) Eric Young vs. Johnny Devine – 3
2) Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley – 4
3) Brother Runt vs. Abyss – 4
4) Samoa Joe vs. Monty Brown vs. Rhino – Falls Count Anywhere Match – 7
5) Gail Kim vs. Sirelda – 3
6) Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal vs. Senshi – 5
7) A.J. Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. LAX (Homicide & Hernandez) – 6
8) Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting – 1

Ok, so maybe that tag line wasn’t orignal, but it was pretty much handed to me so I had to use it. Anyway, Young and Devine had a pretty decent match but the smoke from the fire extinguishers really ruined any chance it had of getting a high score. I’m sure they’ll act like the match never happened and totally redo it on Impact. After a near 45-minute delay, the show resumed with Sabin and Shelley having a decent but forgettable match. The problem wasn’t the in-ring action, it was that the crowd was so totally dead after the delay, they never really got excited until the falls count anywhere match. Runt got destroyed, as was expected, in a pretty standard match that featured him going forehead first into a pile of tacks. The three-way match with Joe was fun to watch, albeit sloppy at parts. Rhino attempted a gore on the stage but Brown sidestepped him and he flew off and through two tables in a crazy spot. Joe topped it though when he STO’ed Brown through a table from the stage. This was a really fun match to watch. Gail and Sirelda should’ve been cut instead of the four corners tag as I probably couldn’t tell you a thing that happened during it. The best way to describe it would be … oh, what’s that word … ah yes … filler!

The second three way dance of the evening wasn’t as good as it could’ve been. I don’t know if it was because they were mailing it in because of the earlier mishap or what but nothing really seemed to click. Granted, there were some cool spots and Petey worked a new submission I’d never seen before. It worked and post-match saw the start of a possible program between Petey and Lethal. The best way to describe the tag title match would be to compare it to a bowl of soup. The bowl of soup itself is just fine, but once you add crackers and stir it up, it turns into a big ol’ bowl of mush and loses its flavor. Analogies aside, A.J. and Daniels looked to me to have been a little bit sloppy while LAX looked good. Hernandez, who goes about 6’2” and 275, did a sick plancha over the top rope in the highlight of the match.

As for the main event, it was quite possibly the single worst title match I think I’ve ever seen. There were about three stories going on during the match itself and constant blatant interference didn’t help any. The lame brawling in the crowd also said that TNA didn’t have faith enough in their two biggest stars to put on a decent title match. The inevitable Christian heel turn was so obvious that Stevie Wonder could’ve seen it. The pay-per-view as a whole will forever be remembered for the fire and nothing else. Overall, this was a much better effort than what TNA has been putting out lately, now let’s hope that they can actually have a pay-per-view with no mishaps.