By Jared Silberkleit - Simply put, there was absolutely no reason for TNA Sacrifice 2011 to be broadcast as a PPV. The company made no effort to hype up or promote the show, and the whole show felt like a thoughtless, routine edition of their TV show. None of the matches were particularly long and, for the most part, all ranged from average to below average. This was a very piss poor show that is almost guaranteed to be one of the most forgettable PPVs in recent memory, unless by the end of 2011 it is still in contention for a Worst PPV of the Year award.

1.    Mexican America vs. Ink Inc.

This wasn’t a great choice as an opener. It was pretty much the usual from these teams, nothing special. Shannon Moore and Anarquia start with some quick back and forth action, with both men going for arm twists and wrist locks. Moore fights out of a wrist lock, but Rosita distracts the referee and Hernandez is able to tag in. Moore avoids a charging Hernandez in the corner and tags in Jesse Neal, who comes in with some elbow strikes and a belly to belly slam. Hernandez tags in Anarquia, but Neal counters a scoop slam attempt and tags in Moore. Moore hits a diving cross body off the top for a near fall before Anarquia ends up stuck in the apron, allowing Moore to pound away at him on the outside. Moore then hits a springboard asai moonsault to Hernandez on the floor. Sarita scores a cheap shot on Moore while the ref isn’t looking, and Anarquia stomps him in the ring. Hernandez tags in and gives Moore a Sammartino backbreaker. Hernandez hits a shoulder block before tagging his partner, who scores a near fall. Anarquia and Moore are both up top, and Moore is able to send Anarquia to the mat before hitting a very sloppy diving twisting moonsault to a standing Anarquia. Hernandez and Neal both get tags, and Neal comes in as a house of fire. Neal hits a leaping double sledge and a dropkick before scoring a near fall with a cross body on Hernandez. Neal escapes the Border Toss, but Hernandez is able to hit a Dominator for the win after some more interference from Rosita. Just an okay opener that felt a lot like a TV match. Moore and Hernandez can be very sloppy at times and Anarquia’s offense is really one dimensional and boring. Match Time: 9:39     Star Rating: **1/4

Jeff Jarrett then came out with Karen for a promo. He tried to explain that Karen had a terrible leg injury suffered by slipping on one of her kids’ action figures at home. He talked about x-ray footage for proof and said the mixed tag match tonight was off. Mick Foley then came out and said that the x-ray was of a guy’s foot and basically said the match was still on. Of course he piped in the “wrestling matters” slogan, which anyone who regularly watches TNA knows is total BS.

2.    Robbie E vs. Brian Kendrick

Kendrick worked most of the match in his robe. He sits in the ring meditating at the start, but quickly goes to work with a sliding kick and a dive to the floor. He meditates again as Robbie comes back into the ring, but then drop toeholds him into the corner before hitting a dropkick. Kendrick hits a second rope diving lariat before having a confrontation with Cookie on the outside. Kendrick tosses Robbie back into the ring, but Robbie knocks him off the top rope, sending him to the floor. Kendrick comes back inside and Robbie goes to work, choking him with his boot and wrenching his neck. Kendrick looks to be bleeding from the mouth. Robbie applies an arm bar and clotheslines Kendrick to the outside before hitting a suplex on the floor. Cookie chokes Kendrick with his boot while Robbie distracts the ref. Kendrick sends Robbie into the apron and throws the robe in his face in the ring. Robbie launches Kendrick into the corner but Kendrick hits a dropkick for the win out of nowhere. This came off as nothing but filler and was hard to take seriously with both men’s goofy gimmicks. The robe also impaired Kendrick’s ability to work throughout the match. Match Time: 6:42     Star Rating: *3/4

3.    TNA Women’s Knockout Championship match: Mickie James(c) vs. Madison Rayne

An additional stipulation was that if Mickie won, Tara was free from her contract with Madison and she was free to work by herself in TNA. Tara’s music hits before they even touch, and Madison gets out of the ring to yell at her. Mickie hits a baseball slide, but Madison is able to toss her into the steel steps. Mickie reverses an irish whip in the ring, but Madison hits a hanging neckbreaker with Mickie’s feet on the ropes. Madison yells at Tara again, and Mickie hits some punches. Madison hits a hangman’s neckbreaker and both girls are down. Madison gets the loaded glove from beneath the ring, but Tara rips it off of her. Madison rolls up Mickie and hooks the shorts, but Mickie kicks out. Mickie makes a comeback with some clotheslines, but she misses Madison with a diving Thesz press and takes out the ref. Mickie counters Madison’s finisher before Tara enters the ring with the loaded glove on. They teased that she didn’t know who to hit, but eventually knocked out Madison with a punch with the glove. Mickie covers and the ref wakes up to count 3 to end it. Not much in the way of wrestling here and the finish was telegraphed a mile away. The only good thing about this is that the endless Mickie/Madison feud looks to be over. Match Time: 6:49     Star Rating: *

4.    TNA X Division Championship match: Kazarian(c) vs. Max Buck

After about an hour, we finally got our first good match of the evening. Max and Kaz lock up at the start and trade wrist holds before Max hits a shoulder block followed by a leap frog and a kip up by Kaz. They then begin a nice mat wrestling exchange before they get to their feet and Kaz backflips out of a back suplex attempt. Kaz applies a headlock and Max escapes, only for Kaz to come back with a sitout neckbreaker out of the corner. Kaz ends up on the outside and Max hits him with a leaping kick through the ropes. Back in the ring, Max hits a boot to the head and a jawbreaker. He chokes Kaz against the ropes before both guys trade punches. Max takes Kaz down and keeps him grounded with a chin lock. Kaz is able to get up and drive Max into the corner, where he hits a huge gutwrench superplex off the top. Kaz hits some clotheslines and a spin kick, but Max sends Kaz into the corner and charges. Kaz catches a leaping Max and slams him before hitting a springboard twisting leg drop for a near fall. Max counters the Fade to Black to start a nice sequence of counters, during which Kaz hits a kick to the head. Max counters the Fade to Black a second time and hits a buckle bomb before scoring a near fall. Max hits a spike DDT with Kaz’s feet on the top rope and hits a 450 splash for a near fall. Max slaps Kaz and tries for a suplex, but Kaz hits a front suplex on the ropes and kicks Max in the head, leaving Max hung up on the apron. Kaz then hits a crazy running sunset flip powerbomb over the ropes and off the apron to the floor. Max scores a near fall with a cradle back in the ring and counters the Fade to Black, but Kaz hits a shining wizard for the win. Nice story with Max countering the FTB numerous times, forcing Kaz to improvise. Easily match of the night, though it could have used another few minutes. Match Time: 11:19     Star Rating: ***1/4

5.    Abyss vs. Crimson

This was a pretty bad match, about as bad as it looked on paper. Abyss hits a knee to the gut at the start and whips Crimson into the corner, but Crimson is able to hit a dropkick and a clothesline to the floor. Abyss pulls Crimson out by his feet, but Crimson is able to rebound with some elbow strikes and sends Abyss into the guardrail. Abyss avoids as charging Crimson, who connects with the post. Abyss hits some punches and throws Crimson. They return to the ring, where Abyss runs into Crimson in the corner and wrenches at his head for a long time. They do a double clothesline spot and both are down. Crimson hits a punch and a leaping clothesline before hitting some knees to the head and scoring a near fall. Crimson charges in the corner, but Abyss avoids him and hits a chokeslam for a near fall. Abyss grabs Janice and the ref gets scared and runs out of the ring. Abyss swings and misses, and Crimson hits a spear for 2. That should have been the finish. Abyss kicks a charging Crimson, but Crimson counters the Shock Treatment and hits a double arm DDT. Abyss hits a weak Vader Bomb for a near fall, but when he charges Crimson in the corner, Crimson avoids him and hits a sitout chokebomb for the win. It’s good that Crimson got the win here, but the match was terrible. It went a little bit longer than it needed to and was very clunky and boring for the most part. Abyss sucks and Crimson needs experience. Match Time: 10:42     Star Rating: *1/4

6.    TNA World Tag Team Championship match: Beer Money(c) vs. Matt Hardy and Chris Harris

This was a little bit disappointing, but on this show that equals the second best match on the card. They tease that Harris will start the match with James Storm, but Harris instantly tags to Hardy. Hardy beats on Storm in the corner for a bit, but Storm comes back with a neckbreaker and a knee drop before tagging in Robert Roode, who hits a knee drop of his own. Harris gets a tag and punches Roode, but Roode comes back with a punch, a chop, and a leaping shoulder block. Hardy is in, but takes some clotheslines and a slam from Roode. Storm tags in and hits Hardy with some punches, but Hardy is able to knock Roode to the floor and take advantage after Harris spits beer in Storm’s face. The heels go to work, with both men whipping Storm into the corner before Harris hits a bulldog. Hardy gets a near fall and stays in control for a bit, but Storm comes back with a kick and a codebreaker. Roode hits a clothesline to Harris and dives off the second rope with a blockbuster. Roode hits a fisherman’s suplex, but Harris hits a full nelson slam for 2. Hardy hits a diving elbow drop to Roode’s back and applies a bear hug. Roode gets up, but both men are down after a collision. Both men tag their partners, and Storm slaps Harris before hitting some punches, clotheslines, and a Thesz press followed by more punches. Storm skins the cat and hits a spike DDT. Hardy ends up on the floor, and when he comes back in, Storm hits a spinning reverse DDT out of the corner. Hardy hits a side effect, but Storm comes back with a lungblower. Storm counters the Catatonic from Harris but takes a spinebuster. Roode hits a spinebuster to Harris and Beer Money hit a double suplex to Hardy. They set Harris up for the DWI, but change their mind and finish him off with the Death Sentence, America’s Most Wanted’s old finisher. It was a decent tag match with a good story to it, but the fact that Harris returned on the GO HOME SHOW meant this match had almost no buildup and perhaps that is why the audience wasn’t reacting too much to this. Harris and Hardy are both very sluggish and not in the shape that they once were, but Beer Money’s offense held it together. When I heard Harris was coming back to TNA I was hoping for the Wildcat, but it looks like we’ve got Braden Walker instead. Match Time: 13:52     Star Rating: **1/2

7.    No Disqualification match: Tommy Dreamer vs. AJ Styles

Why is this No DQ you may ask? Beats me. This was every TNA street fight match you’ve ever seen. AJ targets Dreamer’s arm early and wrenches at it, but Dreamer eventually fights back with a knee to the gut and stomps AJ in the corner. A little bit of back and forth before AJ hits a kick that sends Dreamer to the floor, which AJ follows with a slingshot plancha to the outside. They fight around the ringside area and Dreamer ends up crotched on the guardrail. They then do the lengthy crowd brawl that TNA always does in this type of match. Dreamer is in control when they finally get back to ringside, and he grabs a kendo stick and trash can as AJ gets a table. AJ hits Dreamer with the table while falling backwards before he tosses Dreamer shoulder first into the ring post. AJ sets up the table halfway so he can run up and jump off with a forearm smash. Dreamer hits a DDT and tries to stab AJ with a fork, but AJ blocks and hits an enzuigiri followed by a trash can shot to the head. AJ sets the table half-up again and hits a Pele kick. Bully Ray then interferes and hits AJ with something, possibly a chain, before Christopher Daniels comes down to chase him away. Dreamer then hits a sloppy piledriver through the table to get the win. This was just there to build to a match between AJ and Ray, which honestly won’t be worth the lengthy build. Total garbage match here and one of AJ’s most forgettable PPV matches. Match Time: 13:02     Star Rating: **1/4

8.    Jeff and Karen Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle and Chyna

The crowd was into this more than any other match on the show. Angle starts with Jeff at the start, taking control with some headlocks before hitting a suplex. Angle tags in Chyna, Jeff bails, and the ref tells Karen she has to enter. She doesn’t want to, and Jeff comes back in to attack Angle, so Chyna has to go back on the apron (Huh?). Angle hits an elbow strike and a powerbomb before applying the Ankle Lock, but a Karen distraction allows Jeff to hit a chop block. Jeff slaps Angle in the face from the outside and comes back in to hit a top rope cross body. Angle comes back with some clotheslines, a belly to belly suplex, and the trio of Germans. Jeff counters the Angle Slam with an arm drag and hits an enzuigiri, but Angle counters the Stroke with the Ankle Lock. Jeff counters out of that, but takes an Angle Slam for 2. Chyna then comes in and falls down hitting a powerslam and hits a mistimed suplex to Jeff. Lovely. She runs into Karen in the corner and hits her with a Pedigree. She gets Karen in the Ankle Lock as Angle does the same to Jeff. Both the Jarretts tap out to end it. I guess this was somewhat entertaining but it was a bit too one sided for it to really be that good of a match. Angle and Jeff did fine but Chyna, to put it mildly, showed her ring rust. Not sure whether or not this will end the feud but I am sick of it and I have a feeling I’m not the only one. Match Time: 10:16     Star Rating: **

9.    TNA World Heavyweight Championship match: Sting(c) vs. Rob Van Dam

Mr. Anderson is on commentary, since he will face the winner at Slammiversary for the title. This was yet another lackluster PPV world title match in Sting’s championship reign. It was almost identical to their match from Slammiversary last year minus the Jarrett interference. Sting applies a headlock and gets a sudden cover for a 2 count before both guys stall for a few minutes. Once that’s done, RVD rolls up Sting for a near fall and hits several kicks in the corner. RVD tries for a running kick but Sting sends him over the ropes to the floor. Sting charges and crashes into the guardrail, and RVD attempts a twisting leg drop but catches his leg on the guardrail. Sting targets the leg and they have a LONG crowd brawl. Both guys whip each other into a wall and fight through the crowd. Sting winds up at the bottom of a staircase and RVD jumps onto him. Once they get back to the ringside area the ref decides to start counting them out. RVD clips Sting’s leg and gets in the ring, hitting a single leg dropkick off the top. He attempts Rolling Thunder but Sting misses and he hits his leg on the ropes. Sting hits some clotheslines, but RVD kicks a charging Sting and tries for the Five Star Frog Splash. Sting avoids it and gets a near fall with a roll up before hitting a botched Scorpion Death Drop for the win. A complete nothing main event but I’ll give them a little bit of credit for RVD selling the leg. This will lead to Sting vs. Mr. Anderson at Slammiversary which is almost certain to be worse than this match. Match Time: 12:47     Star Rating: **

Overall PPV Rating: 4.5/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit and I am from Orange, CT. I am a huge pro wrestling fan and follow all kinds of promotions such as WWE, TNA, ROH, PWG, CHIKARA, Dragon Gate USA, and anything else I might come across. I am a huge supporter of independent wrestling and I feel that it provides a true alternative to the mainstream promotions and also showcases a lot of innovation and hard work. Aside from wrestling I am also a really big fan of football, baseball, hockey, and MMA. I have also written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for over two years.

Tagged with: Anarquia, Apron, Backbreaker, Belly To Belly, Contention, Cross Body, Elbow, Hype, Ink Inc, Moonsault, Ppvs, Referee, Rosita, Sacrifice, Sammartino, Shannon Moore, Sledge, Springboard, Twists, Wrist Locks

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