Match of the Debut - Truth & Consequences, Team Pacman

Ron "The Truth" Killings & Rasheed Lucius "Consequences" Creed (w/Pacman Jones) vs. AJ Styles & Tomko - TNA Tag Team titles match - TNA Bound For Glory (2007)

If there's one year of TNA that I actually watched and forgot about, it's 2007. I guess that's why I thought it was mighty odd that people were saying that Consequences Creed, now Xavier Woods, had already teamed up with R-Truth before the debut of Woods on Raw tonight. As it turns out, before Lethal Consequences (Creed's tag team with Jay Lethal that I do remember), Consequences Creed was the guy added to the team of Ron Killings and... yep, you guessed it, Adam "Pacman" Jones of American football shenanigans fame in TNA in 2007. Since Pacman Jones was technically still under contract with the NFL (he just happened to be suspended at this time), Pacman was not actually allowed to wrestle, which doesn't sound that bad except for the important and incredibly inane fact that he was one half of the TNA tag champions. I'm not going to say this was a poor decision by TNA; putting the title on someone who has never wrestled and happened to be the bad boy of football that week is nothing new. Titles with more prestige have been put on worse nobodies, but here Pacman wasn't even allowed to wrestle. That's where Consequences Creed came in, however, and thanks to Pacman in a way, Creed made a big enough impact in this match to be called back and eventually had a pretty solid run in TNA until 2010.

So here's to the silver-lining of Team Pacman in TNA circa 2007. Here's to Xavier Woods hopefully getting to stay on the main roster for good.

I should also point out that Pacman returned to TNA two weeks ago. Maybe WWE saw this and remembered Team Pacman for the first time since 2007 as well, and remembered that they have the better halves.

Match of the Day - The Legion of Doom return for the last time

Speaking of Warrior returns...

Rob Van Dam & Kane vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) - World Tag Team titles match - Raw (2003)

Eric Bischoff decides to "raise the bar" on Raw in 2003 by bringing in one of the greatest tag teams of all time - The Road Warriors (referred to as the Legion of Doom in WWF/E) - to face the tag champs at the time, RVD and Kane for one night only.

Unfortunately, this match would not only be LOD's last return match to WWE, but also Hawk and Animal's last Televised match as a team. Hawk passed away after years of battle with his personal demons and alcohol addiction a few months later.

But yes, they did looked a lot better than that last Ultimate Warrior return we just saw.

Match of the Day - Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie take out the trash at WM14!

Here's another great gimmick match from 90's era WrestleMania:

Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie vs. The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg) - first ever Dumpster match for the WWF tag team championship - WrestleMania XIV (1998)

Oh yes, the dumpster match!

After Chainsaw Charlie AKA 53 year old Terry Funk and his tag team partner, Cactus Jack were sent for a ride in a dumpster courtesy of the New Age Outlaws on Raw, the hardcore legends were certainly looking for revenge. So, what better way to get their revenge than by taking on the two young punks, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, in a special match featuring the very same type of trash container that Foley and Funk almost had their careers come to a crashing end in when they were pushed off the ramp on Raw 2 months prier. Despite the titles being on the line in this match, this wasn't about winning the gold for the hardcore legends. No, it was all about punishing Gunn and Road Dogg and then taking out the trash...

The result: Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack do end up taking out the trash big time with the help of the trusty forklift! But because they used a dumpster in the backstage area rather than the designated one for the match, the New Age Outlaws lobbied for the titles to be dropped. So, the next night on Raw the titles were contested in a cage match with the two teams from the dumpster match facing off one last time. The match ended with the New Age Outlaws getting their titles back thanks to the help of their new brotherhood: D-Generation X!

And yes, Mick Foley does take a huge bump, this time in the form of a ladder spot into the dumpster. There was no need for the ladder in this match other than for Foley to take a nasty bump from a high place once again.

Theme results:

WrestleMania: WMXIV

Match of the Day - "The Nasty Boys are Cactus's toys"

The Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack (w/missing ear) & Maxx Payne - Chicago Street Fight for the WCW Tag Team Championship - Spring Stampede (1994)

Another one of those Nasty Boy street fights that goes out into the merchandise stand. According to WWE.com it's one of the best WCW matches of all time. What makes it better than the other street fights like this one in 1994? Was it Cactus & Payne? Was it the sheer brutality for '94? Was it the stiffness? Was it the table spot?

Maybe it was the Cactus Jack bump in perfect Mick Foley fashion (that has been well documented on this site) at that end there -  from the ramp to the floor - before getting whacked in the head with the shovel against his missing ear (Cactus lost it a month prier in German in his infamous match with Big Van Vader).

I didn't know the Nasty Boys were from Maine... It's spring time and they're still using snow shovels.

*Badabum tsch*

Match of the Day - Rock 'n' Sock Connection are in grave danger!

The Rock & Mankind (c) vs. The Undertaker & The Big Show - WWF Smackdown! (1999)

In yet another interesting tag team confrontation, the ever-popular, Rock 'n' Sock Connection of The Rock and Mankind took on the ever-evil team of pony-tail era Big Show and The Undertaker in the very first tag team "Buried Alive" match. That's right! A tag team member buried alive match.

The first and only tag team Buried Alive match in WWF/E was unlike other specialty tag team matches like a tag team cage match or a tag team tables match in that only one man from either team needed to be buried AKA thrown in a rectangular hole and "completely" covered by dirt. This is contrary to the cage and table matches where both team members must escape the cage (usually, if they don't want to go for a dumb pinfall or something like that) or both team members must be put through a table for the win.

The result of the match comes out to be a shocking turn of events as super heel, Triple H hits The Big Show in the "back of the head", as Michael Cole puts it, with his signature sledgehammer but then buries Mankind by himself for the team of The Big Show and The Undertaker to win the match and Mankind and Rock's tag team titles. An Ambulance immediately appears at the dirt mound to pick up Mankind, but as Triple H goes to help the EMT's by opening the Ambulance doors for them - a real jerk, let the EMT's do their job - out pops the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin! Austin then throws HHH in the back of the Ambulance and drives it out to the parking lot where Austin would then "commandeer" a semi and rams it into the Ambulance with HHH still inside...

Yeah, I know... all that on Smackdown!

This was back when SD! was essentially the blue version of Raw on Thursday nights.

Overall reaction: First, the bump that Mankind takes after being thrown from the stage to the grave looks super painful. Mick Foley was and forever will be known as the guy who could take the most punishment to his body and get right back up, but I honestly do not think that that poor man had to take so many falls to live up to the reputation he made for himself after Hell in the Cell #2. I mean we got it, Mick was unbreakable, but was repeatedly having him fall or thrown off of something really worth it at this point? Some may disagree. I however feel that Mick proved himself a worthy competitor even without the the scientific wrestling ability at this time in his career and didn't always need to be getting handcuffed and hit with a dozen chair shots or, in this case, taking a super hard bump for no reason. Yeah, no reason; the bump wasn't even necessary as the show was going to end with Triple H getting killed by Austin via vehicular manslaughter anyway.

Secondly, this is The Undertaker's first and only Buried Alive match where he is not buried alive. Undertaker, the only person who has wrestled in every one of this type of match in WWF/E (currently), was 1-1 coming into this match but thanks to HHH and only HHH, who wasn't even in this match to began with, buries Mankind for Taker's second win (believe it or not) and the only time Taker escaped un-buried.

Thirdly, no Buried Alive match has ever been won cleanly. What I mean by this is that almost every match out of the five Buried Alive matches that have taken place, an individual/individuals has interfered and buries the loser completely. In the first Buried Alive (officially won by The Undertaker but often forgotten), The Executioner played by masked Terry Gordy comes out to save Mankind from the grave and buries The Undertaker all the way to the top with the help of the heels (including HHH no less); in the second Buried Alive match, Taker vs. Austin, Austin gets help from Taker's baby brother, the Big Red Machine, Kane; in this Buried Alive match, Triple H buries Mankind (who was already buried in the first BA match) all by himself; in the 2003 Buried Alive match between Taker and Mr. McMahon, Kane (now unmasked kane) once again interferes and buries Undertaker whole with the crane digger; and in the last Buried Alive match at Bragging Rights 2010, Kane buries Undertaker for the third time with the crane thanks to the interference by NEXUS.

Just thought I'd spread a little history today, I guess.

Match of the Day - Road Dogg gets his a-double-crooked-letter handed to him by Bradshaw

The new Age Outlaws (c) vs. The Acolytes - WWF Royal Rumble (2000)

Speaking of tag teams in 2000, here's two of the all time greatest tag teams, The New Age Outlaws and The Acolytes (soon to be starting their own protection agency as APA). With Road Dogg and Badd Ass Billy Gunn and their charismatic attitudes and The Acolytes with their brute strength, these two teams didn't need tables, ladders, and chairs to prove they were great. Dogg and Gunn did need the help of their friend X-Pac to win this match however.

This match is mostly memorable for the fact that Bradshaw, a competitor who didn't know his own strength, supposedly knocked out The Road Dogg not once but twice during this match. The New Age Outlaws would still retain the titles after the ref bump and interference by Pac, but just to watch Bradshaw and Faarooq manhandle James and Gunn like they were The Roadie and Rockabilly again, man, really made The Acolytes look tough.

Maybe I'm just bias because this was about the time I really started to get into the WWF but RR 2000 has to one of the most memorable Royal Rumbles in the history of Royal Rumbles. And that's tough for even me to say because I've seen every Royal Rumble until RR 2009.

This Royal Rumble as featured the debut of Tazz in WWF, The spot hungry Hardy Boyz taking on the wood hungry Dudley Boyz in the first-ever tag team tables match, the swimsuit contest where Mae Young flashes her "puppies", the forgettable Chris Jericho vs. Chyna feud moment when Hardcore Holly was also involved, The unforgettable return of Cactus Jack 2000 vs. Triple H in the street fight where Hunter gets a piece of plywood stuck in his leg, and the Royal Rumble match that The Rock wins and Taka Michinoku takes a hilariously painful looking bump.

Match of the Day - TNA gives you more bang for your buck in 2010

The Motor City Machine Guys vs. Generation Me - TNA Final Resolution (2010)

From what it looks like here, TNA almost had a real X division and tag team division as they once did in the early days of NWA:TNA. Of course, they had to take a page out of WWF's tag team division circa 2000 with the TLC match to end a somewhat decent feud and display some sweet spots to get the job done.

2010 was TNA's biggest turning point (the literal sense of the word not the PPV) as Hulk Hogan took over along with Eric Bishoff who decided to get rid of the six-sided ring and kickstart the X division again. 2010 was also the year The Young Bucks were signed to a TNA contract and went by Generation Me or Gen. Me.

Shorting after upsetting The MCMG's to win their debut match, they would than again take on Shelley and Sabin in a match at Final Resolution. Along with the chance to capture the World Tag Team titles, The Young Bucks, now named Jeremy and Max Buck, also had the chance to show everyone that TNA had actually picked up a damn good tag team. A young team that resembled another brother group that once dominated the tag team division with aerial maneuvers and ladders, The Hardy Boys.

Oh yeah, did I mention that this was a "Full Metal Mayhem match" - TNA's version of the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs oh my! match but putting much more emphasis on things made of metal? Well it was...

Despite this match/feud actually being one of TNA's better moments at this time, Gen. Me didn't stick around for much too long after this match ended and their tag team days started to look numbered. These two talented brothers didn't want to put up with the terrible storylines they would have had to go through rather than just wrestling and keeping the good name (cough cough) of TNA's tag team division and X division alive.

Can't say I blame 'em.