TNA: Cross the Line (Boxset)

TNA Wrestling is currently a very exciting place in the world of wrestling. Two factions have formed: Main Event Mafia and the Frontline. MEM is five former & current world champions and they are a deadly combination not seen since the heyday of the NWO. They want to teach respect to the other faction known as the Frontline, composed of TNA Originals and young upstarts who have worked their tail off and believe that the MEM should step aside and pass the torch to them. However, one forgets what led to these two factions forming. Three pay-per-views that happened from July 2008 to September 2008 laid the groundwork of the current state of affairs in TNA. Victory Road, Hard Justice and No Surrender.

Victory Road 2008 – July 13th, 2008. In the blistering heat of Houston, Texas, two events were firmly on the minds of the TNA fans. The World X Cup and whether Samoa Joe could truly show he was a credible World Champion. Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt were also intertwined in a brutal war over their mutual love interest: So Cal Val. In the tag team division, LAX (Homicide & Hernandez) was trying to ward off Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) for the gold. Taylor Wilde was fresh off beating Amazing Kong weeks before the women’s Knockout title and Christian Cage, AJ Styles & Rhino were busy dealing with Kurt Angle and Team 3d.

The World X Cup matches, one a 12 man elimination affair and the other a 4 way Ultimate X match proved to be the highlights of the evening. Excellent wrestling and skills proved you didn’t have to be a top name to put on 2 awesome matches. A special consideration should be sent to Yoshino (Speed) of Team Japan for the show he put on in the 12 man elimination match. His ability to last through the entire match and taking shot after shot is something that can be appreciated time and time again. Samoa Joe also proved he deserved to be World Champion as he laid out Booker T before his hometown audience. Sting showed up at the end of the match to restrain Joe but had to get involved when words were not enough.

Hard Justice 2008 – August 10th, 2008. Trenton, NJ was home to Hard Justice with the action still being just as hot. Samoa Joe was still dealing with Booker T but had moved the action to a six sides of steel match with weapons. Kurt Angle and AJ Styles had a score to settle since Kurt was convinced that AJ had slept with his wife Karen. Beer Money had another shot at LAX for the tag gold and Lethal & Dutt were still fighting over So Cal Val. The X-Division Title was back into focus as well with Petey Williams defending the gold against newcomer: Consequences Creed.

Despite being a newcomer, Consequences Creed proved he belonged as he took Petey to the limit and came within a hair of the title before Sheik Abdul Bashir interfered. Beer Money finally captured the title from LAX and Lethal won back some revenge against Dutt. Sting would show back up in the Styles and Kurt Angle match as he laid out Styles in the post-match celebration. However, the climax of the show came when the lights went out in the Booker T & Samoa Joe affair. The lights flickered back on and Samoa Joe had a guitar in hand as he clocked Booker T to score the pinfall. Most thought this was a sign of Jeff Jarrett returning to the squared circle.

No Surrender 2008 – September 14th, 2008. This was the first TNA PPV to come to Ontario, Canada. Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt were still battling for So Cal Val. However, this appeared to be the last match since it was a ladder match for her heart with an engagement ring placed on a pillow was held high above the ring. The X-Division title was to be decided in a triple threat match with Petey Williams defending the belt against Creed and Sheik Abdul Bashir. LAX was looking to recapture the tag gold against Beer Money and former MMA participant Frank Trigg was looking to take down AJ Styles. The main event pitted Samoa Joe against three combatants in a 4 ways to glory match against Kurt Angle, Christian Cage & Booker T.

The four ways to glory match was a classic despite Booker T not making the match due to Hurricane Ike which affected the gulf coast and Booker T’s home: Houston, Texas. The other standout match wasn’t even a major feud with Abyss & Matt Morgan scoring the pinfall on the legendary Team 3d. Sonjay Dutt was able to get the ring as So Cal Val showed her true colors and cost Jay Lethal the ladder match. Bashir stole the X-Division title and Samoa Joe again proved why he is one of the best TNA World Champions ever. This would set itself as the catalyst to the Samoa Joe and Sting World Title match and the evolution of the Main Event Mafia and the Front Line feud.

Most of the matches in the three pay-per-views were of high caliber. The World X Cup matches as well as singles match between AJ Styles and Kurt Angle were easily in top consideration for the TNA match of the year. Furthermore, the tag division was strong with great participation from Beer Money, LAX & Team 3d. Samoa Joe looked like a worthy champion for the three ppv’s and the X-Division stayed strong. The women’s knockout division matches were much better than anything that could be seen in the WWE women’s division. Even comedy matches like the Rock n Rave Infection vs the Prince Justice Brotherhood from No Surrender were enjoyable and didn’t wear out their welcome.

There were problems though. My main beef with the three events could be summed up in a few matches. First, Victory Road while having awesome X-Cup Matches had some of the most confusing booking decisions. Those decisions seemed to center around TNA catering to the Houston crowd. Not only did LAX squash Beer Money (however Beer Money would capture the belts in subsequent PPVs) but they felt the need for Booker T to not get pinned in his hometown. Add that madness to the fact that Booker T also covered Samoa Joe for a mock pinfall with Sharmell counting the 1-2-3 after Sting laid Joe out.

Another problem with the PPV was behind the Sonjay Dutt & Jay Lethal feud. The two men involved were capable of much better matches and the booking made little sense as did the So Cal Val heel turn. The Chain / Black Tie match Hard Justice was truly a statement in all what was wrong with the feud. Half the match centered around falling over each other as they tried to rip off their tuxedos and pants. The other matches between the two simply carried on too long and were at the mercy of whatever gimmick was decided upon for the match.

However, the real mess of the ppv was the attempt at a MMA match between Frank Trigg and AJ Styles @ No Surrender. Trigg has no business in a wrestling ring and it showed here as he wasn’t even pulling punches when grappling with AJ who developed a puffy eye during the match. The crowd relentlessly booed and AJ gave Trigg an obvious receipt for the damage he suffered with some well-timed kendo stick shots post-match. Trigg had problems even before this PPV when he provided some color commentary in the AJ/Cage/Rhino vs Angle/Team 3d match at Victory Road. It was one of those rare moments where commentary brought down the match so far that we could not appreciate the action inside the ring. Thankfully we haven’t heard from Frank since.

Video
The action is presented in 1.33:1 Fullscreen. Though I wish they would have made the jump to Widescreen like WWE has, the matches looked good (especially the Knockouts). Moves looked good and there were no problems in the presentation. Satisfactory performance here.

Audio
The audio is provided in 2.0 English or Spanish Dolby Digital. Again, I’m wishing for 5.1 Dolby Digital but we unfortunately did not get it. The commentary team of Don West & Mike Tenay is adequate and brought a good voice to the wrestling booth. The Spanish announcing team was also just as good. The action was fun to hear and nothing sounded weak or without intensity. Plenty of shattered tables and high-flying moves on display here.

Special Features

All Discs

• Automatic Trailers: There was a slightly different order to the trailers on the three discs but they consisted of the following: Best of TNA 2007, TNA Lockdown 2008, Best of the Bloodiest Brawls, Scars and Stitches, TNA Slammiversary 2008, TNA Knocked Out, TNA Impact Video Game, & Kurt Angle: Champion.

Victory Road 2008

• Booker T’s Crib 9:39: Words can not express how over the top this 9 minutes of pain were. Booker T is rich and portrayed as a jerk, that’s all you need to know.
• Victory Road Music Video 3:40: A quick video of the action at Victory Road. A nice highlight package.

Hard Justice 2008

• Filthee Music Video “AyAyAya” 4:19: Some rap group I’ve never heard of make up words for a solid four minutes. It’s awful.

No Surrender 2008

• Talent Interviews 6:10: Some talks with the top TNA stars like AJ Styles. Good stuff but far too short and lacking personality.

Final Thoughts
When I attended the Houston pay per view Victory 2008, I knew immediately upon exiting the arena with my new AJ Styles t-shirt that I wanted one more thing from the event. The dvd. Not only to find our signs (Samoa Joe for New Hometown Hero) but to relive the event time and time again. TNA has done a great service in provided this PPV with two others to provide a very tidy and bargain of a box set. These three ppv’s provide a backdrop for the current angles and feuds that are going on in TNA as we speak. There are tons of great matches and the action is superb. Despite issues such as the Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt matches or the Frank Trigg disaster, there is little here to frustrate the faithful wrestling viewer. I also think this is an excellent pack of dvds to entice those who might have never watched a TNA event before. So feel free to drop this in a wrestling fan’s stocking this Christmas. It is even right priced at roughly $20, a mere $5 more than the average ppv on dvd. Recommended.

Match Listing:
Victory Road 2008 (7/13/2008):

World X Cup Semifinals:
Curry Man, Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin vs. Taichi Ishikari,Yoshino and Milano Collection AT vs. Rey Bucanero, Averno and Ultimo Guerrero vs. Doug Williams, Tyson Dux and Alex Kozlov

TNA World Championship:
Samoa Joe(champion) vs Booker T

Hard Justice 2008 (8/10/2008):

X-Division Title Match:
Petey Williams (champion) vs Consquences Creed

TNA Championship Six Sides of Steel Weapons Match:
Samoa Joe (champion) vs Booker T

No Surrender 2008 (09/14/2008)

The Rock & Rave Infection vs Prince Justice Brotherhood

Four Ways to Glory: (trimmed to three)
Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle vs Booker T (removed due to weather) vs Christian Cage