So this 'One Night Only' 3 hour PPV was filmed back in January 2013 however was aired on Friday 5th April. My opinion was that this show was a very good solid show which finally brought the spot light back on to the thing which got people talking and created buzz for TNA back in 2002 the X-Division by broadcasting the fine art that it is! It was a coming together of the; past, present and future of the X-Division with some comebacks from some of the greats to grace the division along with the returns of some fresh young talent which are going to be the bright future of the X-Division which I personally thought was a very good touch on the PPV.
In this article I have decided to go in some depth to show the talent that is the X-Division, you will see in depth analysis on the matches which took place at 'One Night Only' as well as a bio of each and every X-Division star showcased on this great event. So not only you will be getting the results and review of TNA One Night Only Xtravaganza, you will also learn everything you would want to know regarding the guys represent the X-Division at One Night Only. Hope you enjoy.
So yeah this 'One Night Only' PPV had it all, it had a vast range of matches, from matches such as;a 7 man X-Division cage escape match, X-Division tag matches, all the way to Ultimate X matches and No DQ match with two of the greats that being 'The Whole F'N Show' Rob Van Dam & the legend himself Jerry Lynn!
TNA One Night Only kicked things off with a video package of a range of X-Division moments which I thought was pretty cool along with a briefing of what the PPV is about. Throughout the PPV, TNA was also showing video packages of the top 10 X-Division moments spread across the PPV.
The first match that TNA started with was a 7 man cage X-Division Xscape match:
This match involved the past, the present and the future alright. The seven X-Division Competitors in this match saw returns of; Gut Check Winners, former X-Division Champions & stars along with TNA debut's. The rules of this match is that only two competitors are in the ring at a time, which they are allowed to change with other participants which are waiting between the ropes and cage and to eliminate an opponent they'd either score a pinfall or submission. Once they're down to the final two, to win the match it is the first to escape the cage.
The first participant was a 33 year old, former 2 time X-Division Champion returning to TNA called
Matt Bentley who debuted in 2003 and was last seen in TNA in 2007 however had a brief return in 2011 when he was un-successful in the X-Division tournament with the winner earning a TNA contract. Not only is
Matt Bentley a 2 time X-Division Champion, but he won his first X-Division title by winning the first ever 'signature match of the X-Division' Ultimate X in 2003. I should note that Matt Bentley was trained by his cousin and WWE Legend,
'The Heart Break Kid' Shawn Michaels.
The second participant to come out saw the return to TNA TV for 23 year old Gut Check winner
Alex Silva, Silva was successful on April 26th 2012 on his Gut Check challenge to earn a contract which he was then assigned to developmental OVW, Silva has made one appearance in TNA since then which was a match with fellow Gut Check winner
Sam Shaw back in November 22nd 2012 which Silva was unsuccessful to score the win.
The third participant to come down was 25 year old masked wrestler
Lince Dorado. Lince Dorado is new to TNA and the X Division and was looking to impress as he is best known for the Independent Scene's and this match could be the break he needs, the only ever time Dorado has been in TNA was in a dark match against X-Division great
Frankie Kazarian back in October 2012.
The fourth wrestler to make his way down to win saw another return to TNA TV of a second Gut Check winner
Sam Shaw. 29 year old Sam Shaw was a successful Gut Check participant back in 2012 which his chances were almost ruined as
Aces and Eights came down to give him a beating, Sam returned the week later in a loss to TNA X-Division star
Doug Williams however was still successful in getting a TNA contract by impressing the judges which he was then sent to development in OVW. He returned to make one appearance in TNA on November 22nd 2012 which he got a win over fellow Gut Check winner
Alex Silva. However prior to Gut Check, Sam Shaw had been in TNA once before, he debuted at Hard Justice 2010 using the name
'Lupus' in which he attacked
Tommy Dreamer in his match against
Raven, shortly after guest special referee
Mick Foley attacked 'Lupus' with a Mandible Claw, 'Lupus' had his first match against
Jesse Neal in a dark match in which he lost.
We saw that the fifth participant to come down to the cage was return to TNA for 28 year old masked wrestler
Puma also known as
T.J.Perkins which he doesn't use his mask. Puma first came on the scene at TNA in 2004 in TNA Xplosion tapings. Between 2004 & 2006 Puma had participated in International TNA tournaments and evnts such the Super X-Cup, International X Showcase and the World X-Cup. He then wasn't seen afterwards he Then made a brief return to TNA in 2007-2008 in which he participated in 10 man Ultimate X Gauntlet at TNA PPV Victory Road 2007 he then returned to action in the TNA World X-Cup's finals at Victory Road 2008. Puma has done things throughout his career round the Independent Circuit as well as Ring Of Honour and now making his return to the TNA ring.
The sixth participant a return of another former TNA star
Jimmy Rave, Jimmy never had any look in the X-Division in his past stint in TNA which was from 2007 up until 2009. He debuted in TNA as one part of the trio called
The Rock 'n Rave Infection teaming up with
Lance Hoyte &
Christe Hemme. Jimmy & Hoyte then became jobbers in the tag division as well as Jimmy jobbing in the X-Division. Jimmy Rave then, like Matt Bentley participated in a TNA X-Division tournament in 2011 for the chance to win a TNA Contract and like Matt was unsuccessful. Jimmy Rave has also been around the Independent Circuit like some of these competitors including being a part of
S.C.U.M along with people like
Matt Hardy &
Kevin Steen in his return to Ring Of Honour.
The final competitor in this match up was 35 year old
Christian York who is somewhat a veteran in ring who struggled to get his break, early in his career he had try-outs here and there as well as contracts here and there with WCW, WWF/E & ECW, all which he wasn't given his chance always in development until he was released from development when
Vince McMahon purchased WCW IN 2001. He then got a contract with TNA as a tag team with
Joey Matthews when TNA first started, later that year they were released from TNA. Since then York had been in the Independent Circuit for the whole of his wrestling career until he got his break. Christian York is a current TNA X-Division star as he was a winner the Gut Check Challenge on November 1st 2012 and a success story of the Gut Check after the veteran capitalised on the chance he had and has forever been impressing in TNA. He, like Shaw & Silva came back to open fight night at TNA on November 22nd 2012 in which he called out at time World Heavyweight Champion,
Jeff Hardy. He lost his match with Jeff Hardy however pushed the champ to the limit in which his TNA career had started there and then, he then went on to having two PPV matches both having the X-Division title on the line, first PPV match coming after beat
Kenny King and
Zema Ion in a triple threat #1 Contender for the X-Division title losing at Genesis to
Rob Van Dam and second PPV match losing at Lockdown in a triple threat match to Kenny King defending his X-Division title also against Zema Ion, one at Genesis and one a Lockdown. Despite the losses, Christian York is now a major player when it comes to the X-Division and will be always in consideration for X-Division title shots in the near future.
Things started off with Lince Dorado and Alex Silva both showing signs of athleticism. The match then goes to York and Dorado, with York being the stronger of the two.
It is then York and Puma, with the latter being very impressive. The match then saw all participants have their own spell in the match, with Bentley & Rave teaming up and working together giving beat downs on Christian York which then lead to all seven participants brawling in the ring.
Bentley came close to scoring the first pinfall. There is then a a very, very brief encounter with York and Rave, followed by York and Lince Dorado going at it which saw the first pinfall of the night as Dorado does a springboard dropkick and York bounces off the ropes with a boot to Dorado then finished him off for the 3 count with a brutal swinging neck breaker.
Lince Dorado is the first to be eliminated at 7:12 by Christian York. The second pinfall followed soon after as Sam Shaw ducks out of the way of a Puma kick and follows up with a back breaker which is then straight into a neck breaker for the 3 count. Puma is the second to be eliminated at 7:55 by Sam Shaw.
Bentley gets the bragging rights and steals the pinfall. Alex Silva is the third wrestler to be eliminated at 9:00 by Matt Bentley.
Jimmy Rave then mounts a lethal offence on Sam Shaw which then leads to a pinfall. Sam Shaw is the forth wrestler to be eliminated at 10:40 by Jimmy Rave.
Matt Bentley is the fifth participant to be eliminated on 12:30 by Christian York. Now it is down to the final two, it's Christian York vs Jimmy Rave.
Christian York wins and escapes the cage at 16:00
Christian York wins 7 man cage X-Division Xscape match over Jimmy Rave, Matt Bentley, Sam Shaw, Alex Silva, Puma & Lince Dorado.
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| Christian York in TNA |
I thought this was a very good match, especially to kick things off, 7 men inside a cage showing off what the X-Division is about. I thought it had a good range of competitors with the two former X-Division stars, one being a 2 time champion along with two Gut Check winners that are the Tag Team Champions in TNA's development OVW, two luchador style wrestlers show casing their skills in the X-Division wearing their traditional mask and TNA's own Christian York, who I believe was the suitable winner.
The second match on One Night Only was an X-Division tag team match:
This tag team match was 'Old School' vs 'New School', two X-Division wrestlers who have both been tag team champions up against to prospects for the future within TNA and it's X-Division. Before the match it started off with the 'New School' stars;
Anthony Nese &
Rashad Cameron back stage with
Jeremy Borash stating that they're the future of the X-Division.
One half of the 'Old School' tag team was a 40 year old, 2 time X-Division Champion, all the way from Reading England,
Douglas Williams. Doug started off in TNA making Xplosion appearances and X-Cup tournament appearances first in 2003 then in 2008. However it wasn't until 2009 till he claimed his place in TNA. He came on the scene as one third of
The British Invasion alongside
Magnus and
Rob Terry, in which Doug & Brutus held the IWGP Tag Team Championship and had also won the TNA Tag Team Championship. On January 19th 2010, Douglas Williams captured his first ever X-Division Championship and defended it for 3 months having been stripped of the title on April 18th 2010 due to him not being able to fly to America to defend it due to natural disasters, due to this
Frankie Kazarian was crowned new X-Division Champion, however Doug on his return stated that he never lost it and he's still champion which he proved the following month on May16th 2010 at Sacrifice. Doug then defended the X-Division title for four more months until he lost it in September 2010. Since this, Williams has had title shot's for the X-Division title however they proved to be unsuccessful for him. Doug Williams still appears on TNA television however he also a trainer and superstar in the development area that being OVW in which he is the current OVW World Heavyweight Champion.
The second half of the 'Old School' tag team was a former X-Division Champion, non other than 43 year old veteran
Kid Kash. Kash has had a successful career with various promotions starting with ECW which he had a five year stint with until the promotion went defunct in 2001. During this time Kid Kash held the ECW TV Championship by beating
Rhino, however he lost the title back to Rhino 14 days later.
In 2002 Kid Kash re-emerged in to wrestling by joining TNA where he started as a cocky obnoxious heel which was his first out of two stints in TNA Wrestling, the first lasting from 2002-2005. His first bit of gold in TNA came in 2003 when Kid Kash beat
Sonny Siaki for the X-Division Championship which he then defended for 77 days until losing it to
Amazing Red on March 31st 2004 when he and his partner
Lance Hoyte won a tag team tournament and won the TNA Tag Team Championships. This reign didn't last long as they lost the belts 14 days later to
D'Lo Brown &
El Gran Apolo. Kash & Hoyte then recaptured the TNA Tag Team Championship 7 days later with this reign proving to be more successful than their first TNA Tag Team Championship reign, They then held this tag team gold for 43 days before they lost them to
America's Most Wanted,
'The Wildcat' Chris Harris &
'The Cowboy' James Storm. A year later then TNA had released Kash because of month of criticism he was giving the company.
Kash then had a spell with the WWE which he won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in his first PPV match at Armageddon against
Juventude. Kash held the title for only 42 days as he lost it to
Gregory Helms at Royal Rumble, January 2006. After losing the title, he formed a tag team with Jamie Noble in search of the WWE Tag Team Championship, however he was unsuccessful in his quest to win more gold as he & Noble lost to the champs,
Paul London &
Brian Kendrick at Great American Bash July 2006. Shortly after Kid Kash's career in WWE came to an end. Four years later Kid Kash returned to TNA to take part in the ECW reunion show Hardcore Justice. In June 2012 Kid Kash was unsuccessful in a X-Division Tournament in TNA to win a contract however 1 month later, July 2011 Kash returned. Kash lasted just over a year in TNA before being sent back to the developmental show OVW in November 2012, 3 months later February 2013 Kid Kash and TNA had parted company. This meaning Kid Kash to date is no longer in TNA Wrestling.
The 'New School' X-Division came out starting with the return of 27 year old
Anthony Nese. Nese first appeared in WWE on July 7th 2011 where he participated in an X-Division showcase tournament which he was unsuccessful in. He then returned to TNA television on August 18th 2011 which he took park in a gauntlet match with the winner getting a shot at the TNA X-Division Championship, again Nese was unsuccessful. Was then taken off television again, however retuned in December 2011 where he would challenge
Zema Ion in a best of three series to determine the third and final opponent in the Genesis X-Division Championship match, Nese lost his first match, however came back and impressed everyone with getting the win over Ion. In the third match to determine who'd go to Genesis, Nese came out and impressed once more, however it wasn't enough as Zema would get the win and go on to Genesis for a title shot. Anthony Nese's final appearance in TNA was March 2012 in which he was involved in a no contest fatal four way match up with;
Austin Aries,
Kid Kash and Zema Ion, he was then released from TNA in May 2012.
The second half of the 'New School' tag team saw another return as 33 year old
Rashad Cameron came down to the ring. Rashad is best known for his Independent Circuit wrestling however in 2012 he made a tv appearance on WWE show Smackdown under the name of '
Jander Wachtler' in which he was involved in a 2 on 1 squash match which resulted a loss to
Ryback. Rashad's first appearance in TNA came on June 28 2012 as he was involved in an X-Division Championship tournament and he won his first round match and progressed to Destination X, which he failed to progress to the final having lost against
Sonjay Dutt.
The match started what seemed to be a babyface vs babyface however with spells from Kid Kash this soon changed as the real Kid Kash portrayed into this match. All competitors; Rashad, Nese, Kash & Williams all got their own spell throughout the match, Williams being the most impressive. However 'new school' brought their game and both Anthony Nese and Rashad Cameron showed what they had to offer to the X-Division and the current matchup. The match ended when Doug Williams hit Anthony Nese with the rolling chaos to get the three count on Nese on 13:00.
 |
Doug Williams
in TNA |
Me personally love the concept of the match that fact it had Kash & Williams representing 'Old School' of the X-Division & Rashad & Nese coming in to represent the 'New School' of the X-Division. Both teams showed what they can do for the X-Division by showing what they can do inside the ring. As stated in the report Douglas Williams was very impressive and was a excellent throughout the match with his partner Kid Kash, doing nothing more than an adequate performance in my opinion. Rashad & Nese took the most of their opportunity with TV time by putting on a good display with their high spots and continuously throughout the mate producing fast paced action. All four put on a really good tag match and 'New School' impressed me by keep up to pace with the veterans, both would be an asset to the X-Division with Rashad having great charisma which goes along well with his athleticism. Overall, a good tag team match.
Backstage Segment with Jeremy Borash and Samoa Joe
The camera's went back stage after the X-Division tag match where it saw a brief backstage segment from
Samoa Joe talking about the X-Division and what it did for him when he first got into TNA and about his main event match against
Austin Aries.
Was an okay promo for what it was, was good to see Joe talking about the match, and the X-Division rather than just being thrown in to a random main event. In my opinion its just even more reason why this guy needs to be pushed by TNA!
The third match of One Night Only was an X-Division singles match
This match started off with
Robbie E cutting an in ring promo, stating he was the best X-Division star ever and that there would be no X-Division if it wasn't for him.
Robbie E is a current TNA wrestler who first debuted in TNA Wrestling August 10th 2010. The 29 year olds first year consisted of 'The Shore' gimmick with
Cookie from Jersey Shore. November 2011, Robbie E won the X-Division title which he then held for 30 days before dropping it to
Jay Lethal. Cookie then departed TNA, which then led to Robbie E forming with
Rob Terry, who then went by the name
Robbie T. Robbie T was Robbie E's bouncer and for a year was helping Robbie E win matches. In November 2012, a year after winning the X-Division Championship, Robbie E won the TNA Television Championship from
Eric Young which he then held for 126 days which makes him the 6th out of 12 longest TNA Television Championship title reigns. Of late Robbie E has now split up with Robbie T as 'T' ended up turning face.
Chavo Guerrero then came out and interrupted
Robbie E, stating that the X-Division is originated from the Cruiserweight Division and that the Cruiserweight Division originated from Mexican Wrestling 'Lucha Libre'. Chavo then went on to saying it's because of his famous
Guerrero Family why the 'Lucha Libre', Cruiserweight Division and the X-Division exist because it was his grandfather
Gory Guerrero who was one of the Lucha pioneers. He also states he was a pretty good Cruiserweight Champion himself and challenges Robbie E to a match with
Joseph Park as the special guest referee.
The 42 year old veteran,
Chavo Guerrero is a current TNA wrestler and is no stranger to professional wrestling, even more so coming from a famous family as big as the
Guerrero Family. For those who don't know Chavo Guerrero is a third generation Mexican-American wrestler. Chavo started off wrestling in places such as Mexico and Japan however in 2006 he embarked on what was a 5 year career in WCW where had become a 2 time WCW Cruiserweight Champion and managed to win the WCW Tag Team Championship also.
Then with the WWE's acquisition of WCW, Chavo was one of the wrestlers who went along with the sale. This then led Chavo having a ten year career in the WWE including their rebirth of ECW. In Chavo's first three years in WWE, he was teaming up with his uncle, the late
Eddie Guerrero, known as
Los Guerreros, first time this being for 3 months, when they next won the titles ten months later, after Chavo returned for injury which they held the belt for just over a month. Shortly after Chavo turned heel and betrayed Eddie. Chavo then had his own success as a singles competitor having his own feuds, this leading to him being a 4 time WWE Cruiserweight Champion. His first reign came in 2004 at No Way Out, which he held the belt for 72 days, his second reign came 12 days later when he won the belt back, however 2 days after he lost the title to his father
Chavo Guerrero SR. His third reign lasted 37 days and came In 2005 where he won the belt at No Way Out 2005, 1 year after first winning the title. Chavo Guerrero's fourth a final reign came in 2007 once again winning it at No Way Out which now makes that the third time in four years that Chavo won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship at No Way Out and this reign lasted an impressive 154 days. In January 2008 Chavo managed to capture the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on the rebirthed ECW Brand by beating
CM Punk. Chavo then held the belt for 68 days until losing it to
Kane at Wrestlemania 24.
In June 2011, Chavo Guerrero was granted his release from WWE, one year late, July 2012 he debuted in TNA. October 2012, Chavo captured the TNA Tag Team Championship with
Hernandez which they then went on to holding the title for 103 days before losing it to
Bobby Roode &
Austin Aries. On TNA Impact 11th April, Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez have a chance to recapture the belts against Roode & Aries.
I didn't like the thought of this match when the promo was being cut, even more so that
Joseph Park was going to be the ref, just wasn't doing it for me. No doubt about it
Chavo Guerrero should have a run in the X-Division, however I wouldn't want him leading it for long as he's missing the excitement factor he may have had back in WWE, as to me he'll think it's all a given due to his family and well up against
Robbie E isn't the best match as I don't think much to Robbie as a performer, some people may have a different opinion on the two. This match didn't last too much, it was what it was, and on the 5:00 minute mark Chavo scored the three count by using his late
Eddie Guerrero tribute, the three amigo's followed by the frog splash.
 |
| Chavo Guerrero in TNA |
The fourth match at One Night Only was an Ultimate X match
For those who don't know what the Ultimate X match is, it's TNA's trademark match for the X-Division which has three or more participants involved. The structure to this match is that there are metal structures in all four corners going 15 feet high with cables from each corner, crossing and coming together in the middle where either a large red 'X' would hang or the Championship that is on the line. The idea of the match, is that to win the match you've got to climb up the structure and climb across the cables 15ft high over the ropes and grab whatever is hanging in the middle and then drop down to the ring, when both feet hit the match then you have won. The tagline which tends to be used for this match is 'no limits, no ladders' which means participants aren't allowed to get a ladder set up to win this match.
The first participant to come out was a former X-Division Champion, 26 year old
Zema Ion. Ion debuted in TNA back in June 2011 as he was a participant in the X-Division Showcase tournament with the winner gaining a contract with the company which he was unsuccessful with. However due to Ion impressing TNA officials, in July 2011 it was announced that Ion was the newest member of the TNA roster. A year into his career in TNA, Zema Ion finally capture the X-Division championship and became the first ever Filipino to win a title in TNA, to do so he had to win a tournament with the final being an Ultimate X match. A heel Ion defended his title time and time again, doing anything necessary to win, he went on to defending the title for 98 days before losing the belt to
Rob Van Dam.
Second participant that came out was 29 year old
Rubix, who is better known under the ring name '
Jigsaw' throughout the independent circuit. Rubix made his debut in TNA on June 2012 as he was entered in the TNA X-Division Championship tournament, however he lost to
Sonjay Dutt. He then got called back in for another opportunity in the tournament at Destination X July 2012, however again he lost in the fatal four way and didn't progress any further. However at the age of 29, something tells me tonight won't be the last that TNA or wrestling see's of Rubix, as in my opinion the only way is up for the young star.
It was
Kenny King who was the third participant. The 31 year old is the current TNA X-Division Champion having won the title from
Rob Van Dam on February 28th, therefore on the night that One Night Only is aired, 9th April 2013, King has held the belt for 36 days. Before coming to TNA, King was best known for his time in ROH, and before that being on the second season of WWE's Tough Enough. When in Ring Of Honour, Kenny King was the current ROH Tag Team Champion and vacated the title so he could leave for TNA. He made his debut in TNA Wrestling in 2005 and from 2005-2006 he didn't win a single match and was the jobber in the company at the age of 21. However ten years down the line, King is much more accomplished superstar and made his TNA return in July 2012 as he was in the TNA X-Division Championship tournament then beating
Doug Williams at Destination X, but lost in the final later that night in the Ultimate X match. Later that month, he returned to the X-Division as
Austin Aries handpicked him to face
Zema Ion for the X-Division Championship which he was unsuccessful with but since then he's been none stop climbing in TNA.
the last participant was
Mason Andrews, who is better known in the Independent scene at '
Scorpio Sky'. Andrews debuted in TNA in July 2012 to be apart of the TNA X-Division Championship tournament, which he lost his first qualifying match, however got brought back at Destination X in a last chance fatal four way qualifying match which he won. He then went on to beat
Kid Kash straight after the match, however lost in the Ultimate X final match. Andrews now appearing for the first time since then on TNA television, returning for TNA One Night Only.
 |
| King vs Ion vs Andrews vs Rubix, TNA One Night Only |
 |
| Kenny King, TNA X-Division Champion |
This match was very good, and fun to watch. All four participants showed great athleticism and showed the fans watching what the X-Division is all about. This match had all the wrestlers doing their own unique spots in the match first
Rubix showing what he can do,
Kenny King soon followed, then it was
Zema Ion's turn and then
Mason Andrews. With all four still looking to take down that X and win the match, leaving the fans wondering if it was going to be the X-Division champion to win the match or one of the other three participants who impressed on the night. The match came to a finish when Rubix scaled the ropes very fast and impressive and grabbed that X to win the match, however as he went to drop down to the mat to make it official, Kenny King came in out of nowhere, and caught him on his shoulders dropping to the mat and grabbing the X for himself, which resulted Kenny King the winner on 15:30.
 |
| Rubix, Wrestling Revolution |
I really liked this match, and the way Kenny King won, I think it was better than climbing up and grabbing the X himself, as his victory here suits the personality which he portraits so a very good job. Is good to see him get more experience of what the X-Division is all about and get a on air Ultimate X win under his belt. I also like Rubix, and up to now the guys outside of TNA & their development that being; Bentley, Rave, Dorado, Puma, Nese & Rashad, I want TNA to sign Rubix.
I not only Rubix apart of the TNA roster because of his unique look and cool mask, he was the most impressive for me showing he loves the high risk moves, fast paced and will keep the fans on the edge of their seats. Therefore I think he could be an asset to the X-Division on a weekly basis and could be an interesting wrestler to throw in the X-Division triple threat #1 Contenders match due to him having a good image and being a very exciting in ring performer.
Two Backstage Segment's
The first backstage segment was with
SoCal Val standing by with
Bad Influence,
Christopher Daniels &
Frankie Kazarian.
Bad Influence, being as cocky and egotistical as they normally are, gave a good solid backstage segment talking about their match later that night and talking about their opponents. Of late it is never boring, and quite fun to watch these two on the microphone, Daniels more so, but due to the brilliant gimmick and chemistry that these two have its a joy to watch them both, stick to their guns and keep their promo's at a good consistent standard.
It then went over to
Jeremy Borash who was standing with
Petey Williams &
Sonjay Dutt.
This was the return of Petey Williams, however due to this being filmed in January and not aired till April, we had already seen Petey Williams in ring return the night before, with his backstage return a week before that. None the less it was a rather excited, pumped up Williams interview, talking about how he's been training and wrestling and that fact he's been out of TNA doesn't mean he's lost a step. Still using the Maple Leaf Muscle gimmick, he used some odd choice of words, something relating back to him doing sit ups in his mothers womb, and push up's after he was given birth, rather strange but there you go. Sonjay Dutt with a solid promo also.
The seventh match was a tag team match, Bad Influence vs Petey Williams & Sonjay Dutt
The former TNA Tag Team Champions,
Bad Influence first to come out to the ring, that being
Christopher Daniels &
Frankie Kazarian.
Christopher Daniels is one half of the current tag team in TNA,
Bad Influence. Daniels at the age of 43 years old has been around for a while, being in TNA from day 1 back in 2002 whilst having spells in ROH from 2002-2011. Whilst being in TNA, Christopher Daniels has had a few gimmicks which didn't quite get over with the fans and be successful, first it was
Curry Man and then it was
Suicide who he and his tag team partner
Kazarian has at some point been. Regardless to this, there's no doubting Christopher Daniels talent and accomplishment as in ROH & TNA he has had a combined 15 championships. He is a 4 time X-Division Champion which put's Daniels legacy as one of the greatest X-Division superstars of all time. Daniels won his first X-Division Championship back in March 2005 at Destination X as he won the Ultimate X match. His title reign went on as one of the best the business has scene as he held the title for 182 days, finally losing the title at Unbreakable in one of the famous feuds of TNA
history in a match
AJ Styles won and also involved
Samoa Joe. This match is the only TNA match every to be rated 5 stars. 1 year after winning his first X-Division Championship at Destination X, he won the belt again by winning the Ultimate X match at Destination X, March 2006. This spell however lasting much shorter as he only had the belt for 26 days before losing it to the Samoan Submission Machine, Samoa Joe. In November 2006 Christopher Daniels won his third X-Division Championship holding the belt for 69 days before dropping it to
Chris Sabin. His forth reign came as Suicide where he and
Kazarian played this character, Suicide won the title on March 2009 at Destination X by winning the Ultimate X match. Suicide then held the belt for 102 days. This making Daniels holding the belt for a total 280 days which is the fifth longest in company history. Daniels is also an 8 time TNA Tag Team Champion, winning the belts three times with
Triple X;
Low Ki &
Elix Skipper using the 'free bird' rule with a total of 98 days. He held the belt once with
James Storm lasting 21 days. He then held it twice with
AJ Styles lasting 92 days. Then most recently held the belt twice with current tag team partner Frankie Kazarian a total 136 days the latest being 102 days which is Daniels best reign. Daniels is also a 2 time ROH Tag Team Champion and a former ROH World Television Champion. Daniels is probably the greatest wrestler which has been in TNA that has never won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship yet been in the company since day one.
Frankie Kazarian is the second half of the current TNA tag team
Bad Influence. Frankie Kazarian is another accomplished champion in TNA with a combined 8 Championships within the company, this being a 5 time X-Division Champion and a 3 time TNA Tag Team Championship. He started in TNA Wrestling in 2003 and lasted till 2005 before departing for the WWE. Since debuting 2003 up until 2005, Kazarian had been involved in the first ever Ultimate X match. Kazarian then won his first X-Division Championship, March 2004 as the title was vacated and he beat Amazing Red to become the new champion, this reign lasting 70 days before losing it
AJ Styles. Kazarian then got his second X-Division Champion by being a joint champion with
Matt Bentley as they both grabbed the championship at the same time in the Ultimate X match, they then lost the title in a 22-man Gauntlet match 14 days later. When he left for WWE in 2005 he was unbeaten after debuting in July, however only appearing on Velocity beating many of the current cruiserweight stars, however whilst still unbeaten Kazarian then asked to be released from WWE as they weren't planning on revamping the cruiserweight division. Kazarian then returned to TNA in 2006 and it wasn't till 2008 when he found gold once more as he won the his first TNA Tag Team Championship with
Eric Young which lasted 0 days due to Eric Young & his
Super Eric gimmick which led to
Jim Cornett vacating the titles. Kazarian's third X-Division title reign came as the Suicide gimmick, he and
Christopher Daniels shared as stated above.
Suicide's reign lasted 102 days. Kazarian then won the X-Division Championship on 2 more occasions the first coming April 2010 lasting 28 days and the second January 2011 which lasted an impressive 127 days. Frankie Kazarian is ranked 8th for the longest combined title reign with a total of 239 days. Kazarian's second and third spell as TNA Tag Team Champion came with current tag team partner Daniels. As previously stated, Bad Influences title two title reigns a total of 136 days the latest reign lasting 108 days.
31 year old
Sonjay Dutt was the first to come out to the ring. Sonjay Dutt must be the must be the most complete X-Division superstar TNA have had that hasn't won the X-Division Championship. Sonjay Dutt debuted in TNA Wrestling back in 2003 and stayed till 2009. In this time he had many feuds within the X-Division however as previously stated he failed to ever capture the illusive title yet having so many opportunities to do so. In 2009 it was announced that Sonjay Dutt had left TNA and returned to the Independent Circuit. In June 2012 'The Original Player From The Himalaya' Sonjay Dutt returned to TNA. The reason being, he was involved in the TNA X-Division Championship tournament, winning his qualifying match, then winning again at Destination X however losing in the Ultimate X match and failed to once again win the title. Since then, throughout 2012 and going into 2013, Sonjay Dutt again was in and around the X-Division, challenging
Zema Ion for the X-Division Championship and challenging
Kenny King for the X-Division Championship and once again, Sonjay Dutt failed to capture the title he's spent a total of 6/7 years trying to capture.
Then 31 year old
Petey Williams made his first return in TNA as this was filmed in January, however due to it not being aired till April 2013, Petey had already made what seemed to be his return on Impact Wrestling. Petey Williams is a former 2 time X-Division Champion and started his TNA career on February 2004 as part of
Team Canada at the age of 23. 6 months into Williams TNA career he won his first X-Division Championship by winning a 22-man Gauntlet by beating
Amazing Red in the final. Petey Williams surprisingly had one of the best title reigns in the company as he held the championship for 158 days which is the second longest single title reign. After his time with Team Canada and having various feuds. In 2007 through to 2008, Petey Williams aligned with
'Big Poppa Pump' Scott Steiner. Steiner took Williams under his wing putting him through several tests before giving him the chained head gear that Steiner famously wore, this creating the Maple Leaf Muscle gimmick and gained the nickname 'Little Petey Pump'. During this time Williams won his second X-Division Championship and yet again had one of the longest reigns in the X-Division history, this being 152 days which he held the title for this being the forth longest single reign to go with his second longest. This gave Williams a combined reign of 310 which makes him the second longest superstar to hold the title due to his two reigns this only being 28 days behind
Chris Sabin who has four title reigns which is very impressive on Petey's behalf.
 |
| Bad Influence, Kaz & Daniels |
This match was a very good match with all four participants having their own spells of dominance in the match which was mostly ground based with a lot of double team moves and mat wrestling. This worked very well for me as the past couple of matches have been all high flying, risk taking, diving moves, especially with this match coming from the back of the Ultimate X match. The start of the match, you would have think
Petey Williams &
Sonjay Dutt were tag team partners with good team work, which if my memory is correct these two superstars have never teamed up with one another before. However they still dominated the early stages of the match, at one point Petey Williams hitting
Frankie Kazarian with a sharpshooter and Sonjay Dutt applying an octopus style submission on
Christopher Daniels both in the middle of the ring. Both of them not looking like they've lost a step and in great in ring shape.
Bad Influence shortly after managed to gain control of the match showing why they are one of the best tag teams in the industry at the moment and why they have been champions in the past. Then Bad Influence managed to get the victory with Christopher Daniels hitting the BME (Best Mounasault Ever) on Sonjay Dutt, then Kazarian being the legal man got the pinfall on 12:00.
After the match had finished, Bad Influence then started assaulting Sonjay Dutt in the middle of the ring, however due to bad communication, Kazarian hit Daniels with a clothesline, which led to Petey Williams getting back in the ring to give the fans what they've wanted to see throughout the match. Petey Williams grabbed Kazarian and delivered a lethal Canadian Destroyer! This received a great pop from the crowd as Daniels had to carry Kazarian out. Welcome back Petey Williams!
This was an excellent match and at the moment the best match of the night by far, with the pairing of Petey Williams & Sonjay Dutt for the first time they both impressed, Petey on his debut was faultless, which was his actual TNA return despite Thursday 5th TNA episode. Bad Influence have really impressed of late, as they've stepped their game up to another level and are being enjoyable to watch now that they've got away from the AJ Styles angle. Again Petey Williams made his return a great one, showing that he was raring to go and that he was really pumped for the match which was shown prior in his backstage interview. Was great to see the destroyer come back too, the fans seemed to be happy when Petey hit it on Kazarian.
Bad Influence and Petey/Sonjay was excellent and I don’t recall Petey & Sonjay ever teaming together but they did work well together. After several matches with lots of dives (especially Ultimate X) they held back on the dives with this one and worked mainly with double team moves and mat wrestling.
Bad Influence is just flat out great right now and Petey seemed be pumped for his return and it showed. It was good for them to let Petey hit the Destroyer after the match to make the crowd happy too.
The sixth match of the night was a No Disqualification match, RVD vs Jerry Lynn!
Rob Van Dam was the first of the competitors to come out to the ring with 42 year old being one of the most accomplished and decorated wrestlers on the TNA roster at that time and one of the most accomplished ever to step foot in to TNA Wrestling. At the time of the filming for One Night Only, RVD was on the TNA roster however in late March 2013 it was announced that RVD was released from TNA and he is now allegedly resigning for WWE. RVD has been extremely successful in his career, this being in ECW, WWE & TNA being a champion on 21 occasions. RVD's great career started off in ECW back in 1996 up until 2001. His first belt in ECW, was the ECW World Television Championship which he held for an amazing 700 days, defending the title on 121 televised occasions this being the longest reign in the championships history. RVD only then lost the title due to a legitimate injury which then the company made him relinquish the title. This means RVD was the ECW World Television Champion from April 4th 1998 and then had to relinquish it March 4th 2000. During his time being the ECW World Television Champion, two months after winning the title, RVD then won the ECW Tag Team Championship with
Sabu. They held the belts for a total 119 days before losing them to
The Dudley Boyz. They then regained the belts 2 months after losing them, holding the belts for 125 days this time before again losing them to The Dudley Boyz. This makes RVD & Sabu the most successful tag team in ECW history. Despite only two reigns with the championship they're the 5th most successful championship after holding the belts for a combined 244 days.
RVD then went to WWE as part of the ECW Invasion, which led to a very impressive and successful career in WWE which lasted from 2001 to 2007. With only 6 years in the company RVD became an; ECW World Heavyweight Champion, WWE Champion, 2 time World Tag Team Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, European Champion, 4 time Hardcore Champion and a 6 time Intercontinental Champion. The first championship RVD won in WWE came 13 days after debuting and was the Hardcore Championship which he held for 22 days and then lost it to
Jeff Hardy, he won the belt back of Hardy 6 days later and in his second reign he held it for another 22 days before losing it
Kurt Angle, which minutes later, RVD won the title back holding it for 90 days before losing it to
The Undertaker, his forth reign came when beating
Tommy Dreamer on Raw, August 2002 and unified it with his Intercontinental Championship.
RVD first won the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania 18 when he beat
William Regal, he went on to holding the belt for 35 days. He then won it the second time in May 2002 which he then held the title for 63 days after beating the late
Eddie Guerrero. Whilst holding the title, RVD also won the European Championship after beating Jeff Hardy which led to RVD unifying the European Championship with the Intercontinental Championship. His third reign came at SummerSlam 2002 where he beat the late
Chris Beniot, this is when a day later he won his forth Hardcore Championship which he unified these two belts. He won his forth intercontinental Championship September 2003 after beating
Christian, which he held the belt for 28 days, before losing it to
Chris Jericho, however
Stone Cold Steve Austin came out and ordered the match to be restarted which then brought RVD's fifth reign of the title, this time lasting 48 days, this time getting the win over Chris Jericho. RVD's last reign as the Intercontinental Champion came April 2006 when he beat
Shelton Benjamin at Backlash, however he lost it back to Shelton 15 days later. Rob Van Dam is the 21st greatest Intercontinental Champion out of a total of 70 as during his six reigns he has held the belt for a combined 211 days.
 |
Rob Van Dam in WWE 2006,
the current WWE & ECW Champion at that time. |
In 2006 Rob Van Dam was holding the money in the bank contract for the WWE title, which he decided to cash in on June 11th 2006 at ECW One Night Stand and beat
John Cena where he then held the belt for 22 days before losing it July 3rd 2013 to
Edge in a triple threat on Raw. Surprisingly Rob Van Dam never won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, however he finally accomplished this in the ECW Brand Rebirth within WWE. When the brand was recreated by WWE in June 13th 2006,
Paul Heyman awarded Rob Van Dam with the first reign of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship for his success at winning the WWW Championship. This made Rob Van Dam the only person to hold both the WWE Championship and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at the same time. His reign however only lasted 21 days and lost it to the
Big Show on ECW, July 4th 2006.
 |
RVD & Booker T in WWE,
World Tag Team Champions |
RVD has no doubt about it had a brilliant singles career in WWE, but he has also tasted tag team gold on three occasions. His first tag team success come on March 31st 2003 on Raw when he and
Kane won a three way elimination tag match for the WWE World Tag Team Championship against The Dudley Boys and champions
Chief Morley &
Lance Storm. RVD & Kane went on to holding the belts for 76 days before losing them at Bad Blood to
La Resistance. RVD won the belts for the second time, this time teaming with
Booker T. Booker & Van Dam won the belts on February 16th 2004 beating
Evolution's
Ric Flair &
Batista. The pair held the belts for 35 days before dropping them back to Evolution. On March 22nd 2004, RVD was then drafter over to Smackdown and it wasn't before long he formed a tag team with
Rey Mysterio. The pair won the WWE Tag Team Championship on December 9th 2004 and held the belts for 35 days before losing them.
As you can see Rob Van Dam has achieved so much in his 7 year career in WWE which came to an end when he left due to family reasons, his wife suffering with cancer. RVD then returned to WWE for a surprise one off in the 2009 Royal Rumble.
 |
RVD in TNA,
World Heavyweight Champion |
On March 8th 2010 it was announced the RVD was the next star to join TNA Impact Wrestling which he has on one occasion each been the TNA X-Division Champion as well as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. 1 month in his career with TNA, RVD became the TNA World Heavyweight Champion on April 19th 2010 beating
AJ Styles to do so. He then went on to defending the championship for 113 days before he got savagely destroyed by
Abyss in August 2010, which he was then forced to vacate the title. He then returned in September, feuding with
Immortal and Jeff Hardy, however failing to recapture the TNA World Heavyweight Championship which he never lost. After a couple of years of feuding without and failing to capture anymore gold in TNA, Van Dam became the X-Division Champion in the first time ever, winning the belt at Bound For Glory 2012 by beating
Zema Ion. He then held the belt for 137 days before dropping the belt to
Kenny King.
 |
RVD in TNA,
X-Division Champion |
In March 2013, after losing the TNA Championship, we didn't get to see much of RVD and in an interview outside the company he spoke in past tense regarding TNA, few weeks later it was announced his departure and things stands, its seems like he's going to reignite his WWE career.
Jerry Lynn, the 49 year old veteran wrestling his last match on TNA ever as he was on his retirement tour to wrap up his impressive 25 year career. In December 2012, Jerry Lynn was described as "one of the most underrated workers of the last quarter century" by sports journalist Dave Meltzer. Lynn started gaining recognition from a larger audience 7 years into his career as he advanced from wrestling in Independent promotions and signed for WCW in 1995. Lynn was wrestling in WCW's cruiserweight division, working with people such as
Dean Malenko, the late
Chris Beniot &
Eddie Guerrero,
Chris Jericho and
Sabu. In 1997, Jerry Lynn was laid off with an injury which resulted in
Eric Bischoff firing him.
 |
Jerry Lynn in ECW,
ECW World Heavyweight Champion |
Lynn didn't waste no time and soon joined ECW in 1997 starting off with a great feud with
Justin Credible. Lynn was then involved in a ECW Television Championship match with tonight's opponent
Rob Van Dam, which Lynn won as the ref awarded him the win when the time ran out. However Lynn asked for a five minute extension to the match to determine the real winner, which turned out to be RVD who defended his title. This then sparked the amazing feud which has been on and off for the past 16 years creating some of the greatest matches in ECW history and some of the greatest high flying hardcore matches. In October 2000, Jerry Lynn won his first ECW World Heavyweight Championship by beating Justin Credible, Lynn lost the title after holding for 35 days.
Due to ECW'S bankruptcy in 2001, Lynn went across to the WWE and debuted April 29th 2001 on Heat where he beat
Crash Holly for WWE's Light Heavyweight Championship which he held for 37 days before losing it to
Jeff Hardy. After losing the title, Lynn again crossed paths with Rob Van Dam this time in a WWE Heat ring where they had a notable match. In February 2002, Jerry Lynn had been released by WWE.
Upon being released by WWE, this started Jerry Lynn's TNA career where he helped to build not only the X-Division Championship but the company itself. His TNA career saw him become a 2 time X-Division Champion and a 2 time TNA Tag Team Champion. His first bit of gold came July 2002 where he won the tag belts with
AJ Styles, they successfully defended the belts for 42 days. 7 days upon losing the tag belts, Jerry Lynn then captured his first of two X-Division Championship's by beating
Low Ki. Lynn defended the title for 49 days until he had to vacate the belt on October 9th 2002 due to an injury.1 month later, Lynn recaptured the belt by beating former partner AJ Styles for him to become a 2 time X-Division Champion. Lynn held the belt for 35 days before losing it to
Sonny Siaki. Lynn then became a 2 time TNA Tag Team Champion when he teamed up with fellow X-Division wrestler,
Amazing Red. These two defended the belt for 21 days before losing it to Triple X. In 2004 Lynn suffered an injury which then saw him become a TNA road agent. However came back to wrestle in an ECW Hardcore Home Coming Show. Then from 2005-2007, Lynn made appearances in TNA, both as a road agent and wrestling in X-Division matches.
From 2008-2012 Jerry Lynn was involved at ROH, becoming ROH World Heavyweight Champion holding it for 71 days after beating
Nigel McGuiness, ending his 545 day reign.
Lynn again has made appearances in TNA from 2010-2012, again wrestling with Rob Van Dam in brutal hardcore matches, both crossing paths on several occasions. Now tonight he has returned for that one last match with Van Dam and that one last match in TNA.
So here we had it on One Night Only, we got to see
Rob Van Dam and
Jerry Lynn have one more match, the two have been feuding all over the world, in the different promotions which they've been in together and for one last time, as Jerry Lynn set to retire, we had Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn, and what a send off from TNA for Lynn by having this last match as part of his retirement tour.
If you are aware and a fan of the RVD & Jerry Lynn feud then you may not think this is their best match, however with an ageing Lynn, and RVD isn't getting any younger, this match was still very good. The match showed that RVD was actually engaged and enjoying himself, as of late we've not seen that from him, and well Jerry Lynn kept up with the match expectations as both competitors didn't hold anything back.
 |
Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn
at One Night Only |
The match started with both trying out a few grapples, you could sense the mutual respect that they had for each other and it wasn't long before RVD went to get a steel chair to use to Lynn as RVD was in control in the early stages. They both soon started doing moves involving the guard railings which was getting a decent pop from the crowd which was showing their enjoyment of the match. Then came a table, RVD once more going under the ring to get a table. Then Lynn gained control and decided he wanted a second table set up, one being outside and the other inside of the ring. Both wrestlers then having spells, showing what they can do we neither wrestler being in control of the match until Jerry Lynn power bombs Van Dam on to a chair from being RVD being stationed on the top rope, this only getting a 2 count. We then saw RVD fighting back cheering to the crowd before being speared through a table he set up in the ring by Jerry Lynn. Van Dam soon after, missed a five star frog splash and hit nothing but a steel chair, RVD then regained control when he kicked Jerry Lynn of the top rope through the table Lynn set up outside. Van Dam then got the win on Lynn by scaling more or less the full of the ring to hit the five star frog splash.
After the match, RVD showed his respect and appreciation as soon after him celebrating the win both then hugging in the middle of the ring, showing their mutual respect with a slight bow to each other with the full of the X-Division roster at the event along with referees and TNA officials coming out to applaud both RVD but more so Jerry Lynn, with
Al Snow and a few others bowing on the ramp to Jerry Lynn. A great send off from TNA for Jerry Lynn in my opinion, with Lynn finally on the ramp with those that came out, having his hand raised by two referees and applauded by the rest.
I enjoyed this match, it may not have been their most brutal, bloodiest or OMG moment match however it was very solid. Both Lynn and RVD brought their game to put on a good match which the crowd was engaged with and a great match to send Jerry Lynn off with his retirement tour and his last ever match in TNA. Got to see a few tables and a few chair shots and a few moves which showed vintage RVD and vintage Jerry Lynn. I thought it was a good move on TNA's behalf with everyone coming out to give Jerry Lynn a standing ovation even when it wasn't the main event. Enjoyed this match overall.
Backstage Segment with Austin Aries and Jeremy Borash
Aries was backstage with
Borash talking about how he isn't surprised that TNA called on him and
Samoa Joe to be the main event to showcase the X-Division as they're two of the best stars in the business and that they both used the X-Division as a springboard into the World Championship scene.
Backstage Segment with RVD & Jerry Lynn
A respectable segment backstage following their match,
RVD &
Jerry Lynn are talking about the past feud's with each other and that this is not a retire come back thing for Lynn and that he is retiring for good. RVD says that many stars have tried being the next Jerry Lynn and that 0 have done this. RVD then leaves Lynn to talk alone to the camera. Lynn then basically saying thank you and good bye to wrestling, TNA and his fans.
The main event of One Night Only was Austin Aries vs Samoa Joe
So here it was the match to end a spectacular and very impressive night, and what better way to do it that two of the best wrestlers not only to grace the X-Division but used it as a stepping stone to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and become one of the best talents that TNA has seen over there 11 Year existence.
Austin Aries was the first competitor to come out for the main event. The 34 year old first got recognition to a bigger audience when he was with the independent company ROH where he became a 2 time ROH World and a former ROH Tag Team Champion. Aries first of two stints in ROH went from 2004 to 2007. His first bit of gold in ROH was the ROH World Champion which he won in December 2004, which also meant he had ended tonight's opponent
Samoa Joe's record longest title reign. Aries himself held the ROH World Championship for 174 days before eventually dropping it to
CM Punk. Aries then went over to TNA full time having been on their books from 2005 however was still doing live shows for ROH. This was his first of two stints in TNA where he lasted only two years and wasn't as successful as he is now. Aries was released from his contract with TNA in 2007 after he requested it following a suspension he received from the company. This then led to Austin Aries & ROH part 2 starting from 2007 and leading up to 2010. Aries got his second ROH World Championship on June 2009 after beating
Jerry Lynn, this making Aries the only person ever to hold the ROH World Championship twice. His second reign as champion proved to be even more successful than his last after he held the belt for 245 days before losing it to
Tyler Black, who you all may know him as '
Seth Rollins' of the WWE group
The Shield.
In June 201, Austin Aries returned to TNA to compete in the TNA X-Division Showcase tournament which he won therefore got a contract with TNA. In his second stint in TNA, he brought back his 'A Double' gimmick thus making him a heel. It wasn't before long before Aries capture gold in TNA, as in September 2011, Aries beat
Brian Kendrick to become the TNA X-Division Champion for the first time in his career. In Aries title reign he changed the X-Division, for the better as it was due to him there's new stipulations imputed for future Destination X PPV's. Austin Aries held the X-Division Championship for 298 this making him the longest reigning X-Division champion of all time, and the third best to hold the longest combined reign. Austin Aries changed the X-Division by cashing in his title so he could go on to face
Bobby Roode for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but before doing so he and
Hulk Hogan came to the agreement that whoever is holding the X-Division Championship at Destination X, has the chance to cash the belt in for a title shot at the PPV.
At Destination X 2012 Aries successfully cashed in his X-Division Championship and beat Bobby Roode, ending Roode's 256 day reign as champion which is the longest reign in TNA history. Aries held the championship for 98 days before losing it to
Jeff Hardy at Bound For Glory 2012 and failing to recapture it on a couple of occasions, with Jeff Hardy always coming out as the victor.
Aries then went for his third piece of gold in TNA as he and Bobby Roode decided to join forces and beat
Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez to win the TNA Tag Team Championship in Manchester, England on January 25th 2013. Since then he and Roode have been tag champs however will be defending the belts on 11th April 2013 against Chavo & Hernandez in a two out of three falls.
 |
Samoa Joe, X-Division Champion
In TNA |
Then came out the 34 year old Samoan Submission Machine
Samoa Joe. Samoa Joe has had a successful career up to date with ROH & TNA. He was in ROH from 2002 up until 2007 and was wrestling in TNA from 2005 up until now where he still an active member of the TNA roster. Whilst in ROH, Samoa Joe became a former ROH World Champion and a former ROH Pure Champion. He first won the ROH World Championship in March 2003. This led to the greatest title reign the company has ever seen with Samoa Joe holding the belt for 21 months, 645 days to be exact. Samoa Joe is regarded by many fans that it was he, not
CM Punk who built ROH, both crossing paths many times when Joe was champion in amazing feuds which lead to three title defences, the second of the three was the CM Punk vs Samoa Joe five star rated match. Joe finally lost the title December 26 2004 to Austin Aries. In may 2005, Joe then captured the ROH Pure Championship beating
Jay Lethal, he went on to holding the championship for 112 before losing it to ROH legend
Nigel McGuiness.
 |
Samoa Joe in TNA 2007
X-Division & Tag Team Champion |
Samoa Joe finally got his chance in TNA in June 2005, and it was clear he was destined for greatness after going on a 18 month unbeaten streak, including having a 5 star match with
AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels. Joe has had ton's of success other than the 5 star match and a 18 month unbeaten streak, this being championships. In TNA Joe is a; former TNA World Heavyweight Champion, 4 time TNA X-Division Champion, TNA Television Champion and 2 time TNA Tag Team Champion, this makes Joe the 3rd Triple Crown Champion and is the 3rd and most recent Grandslam Champion. It wasn't long into his TNA career that he found his first piece of gold, this being in December 2005 when he beat AJ Styles. Joe held the belt for 91 days before losing it Christopher Daniels. He then recaptured the belt of Daniels 29 days later to become a 2 time X-Division Champion, this reign lasting 70 days before losing the belt in a 3 way dance to
Senshi and
Sonjay Dutt with Senshi pinning Dutt, therefore Joe still unbeaten. In June 2007 Joe won his third X-Division title by beating Jay Lethal only to lose the belt 54 days later to
Kurt Angle who Joe had a massive feud with in 2007 and the person who ended Joe's 18 month undefeated streak. The match which Joe lost the X-Division Championship saw Kurt Angle's TNA World Heavyweight Championship & IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on the line with Samoa Joe putting his X-Division Championship and both TNA Tag Team Championship belts on the line, with the winner taking all. This made Kurt Angle the only ever person to hold every active title in TNA. Samoa Joe's fourth and final X-Division Championship to date came in August 2009 where Joe beat
Homicide. Joe lost the championship to
Amazing Red 50 days later.
 |
Samoa Joe in TNA 2008
World Heavyweight Champion |
At Lockdown 2008, Samoa Joe won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first and only time to date in his career by beating Kurt Angle in a cage match, again feuding with Angle and Main Event Mafia. He defended the championship for 182 days before losing it to
Sting and has since failed to recapture the championship. In 2007 Joe won the TNA Tag Team Championship, teaming up with Kurt Angle, however due to match stipulations, Joe decided to hold the belts alone. He held the belt for 28 days before losing the belts to Kurt Angle. In February 2012, Samoa Joe won his second TNA Tag Team Championship, this time having an actual partner, that being
Magnus. These two held the belts for 91 days before losing them to
Bad Influence.
Samoa Joe then became a grandslam champion when he captured the TNA Television Championship holding the belt for 70 days, successfully defending the belt against people like
Mr.Anderson,
Rob Van Dam and feuding and defending it against Magnus. Joe lost the belt when he got cheated by
The Aces & Eights and lost the title to
Devon.
Joe is currently feuding with Aces & Eights and part of
Team TNA.
This match was very good and following their solid promo's on selling the X-Division it didn't disappoint and was once again, another good match between
Joe and
Aries. From the start of the match Austin Aries, just worked on the knee's of Samoa Joe, which if you didn't know Joe you'd think he'd be the type to get Aries to ground him. But this isn't the case, Joe like's the big moves and dives as much as the next star of the X-Division. Due to Aries working on the knee throughout the match, it gave him an edge as Joe really sold this injury by letting it effect some of his moves as his injury showed for the entire mate. For example when he was setting up one of his spots later on in the match he couldn't do it because of the knee injury slowing him down, he also went for the dive, and failed due to the knee injury he was selling. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all Aries and Joe's injury, as Joe is a great technician using a range of his moves including his vicious jabs and other strikes. Joe looked like he was going to end this match on the 18:00 as he set Aries up for the muscle buster, however Aries countered it with a roll up and 3 count for the win.
Joe/Aries have had some wars over the years and tonight’s match was no different, and while it wasn’t their best work it was damn sure good. They both put over the X-Division before their match with strong promos as well and really did an excellent job of telling the story during the match that Aries was taking the knee out from the bigger Samoa Joe. That’s kind of a unique story to tell in this type of match because you would think the much bigger Joe would try to ground the quicker, lighter Aries. Aries worked on the knee the entire match and to Joe’s credit he sold it the entire match. When he went for the dive he couldn’t get it off because of the injury. When he set up for one of his spots late in the match he couldn’t get it done because of the knee slowing him down. In the end Aries snuck out the win in a great effort from both guys to give us a clean finish to a really fun PPV.
 |
Austin Aries when he was X-Division Champion
whilst challenging for the
TNA World Heavyweight Championship |
So there we have it ladies and gentleman, TNA's One Night Only Xtravaganza PPV. I though this was a brilliant PPV which showcased all the talent that is the X-Division, we've seen former champions, former stars, new stars and development stars all mixed up in a range of X-Division matches. My favourite match would have been both;
Bad Influence vs
Petey Williams &
Sonjay Dutt, along with
Austin Aries &
Samoa Joe. The stars involved also did very good promo's which I was please with seeing. The wrestler not on the current TNA roster which impressed me the most was
Rubix, this guy was amazing and TNA need to move swiftly and get him in the X-Division full-time.
 |
| AJ Styles, TNA X-Division Champion |
I must say there is a few wrestlers which I would have liked to have seen which have been a force in TNA's X-Division, one of these being
AJ Styles who in my opinion is the X-Division and has held the title a record 6 times which is only matched by
Jay Lethal, someone else I would like to have seen. I understand why Styles wasn't on the show due to his current storyline in Impact Wrestling which is a shame really and with Lethal he wouldn't have been available due to his ROH commitments I imagine.
I would like to have seen
Chris Sabin at the event but due to his injury he wouldn't be able to wrestle. In my opinion it would have been cool to have Sabin on TNA television showing that he is doing well and possibly talk about if he is going to be coming back to TNA since he has had back to back bad knee injuries. Chris Sabin has held the X-Division title on four occasions which has helped him have the longest combined reign for the title which is 338 days.
Three more participants which I thought would have been great to see would have been
Amazing Red,
Alex Shelley &
Low Ki two more great stars of the X-Division which have done wonders for the company. Red being a 3 time X-Division champion with his longest reign lasting 106 days and his combined reign equalling 122 days. Alex Shelley a former X-Division champion on only one occasion that lasting 63 days however he has had a successful tag team career with
Chris Sabin where they adopted the X-Division style which made them successful and not only one of the best tag team's in TNA history but at the time of their existence they were regarded as one of the best current teams the industry had. Shelley's reason's of not being in the event would be that he is currently wrestling in New Japan Pro Wrestling where he and
Yujiro Kushida are the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions which they've held the belts since November 11th 2012. I am unsure why Amazing Red who was originally scheduled for one night only did a no show. Rumour has it that Red pulled out days before the event was to be filmed and rumour has it the reason behind it was to try and secure a contract with WWE. The third former X-Division star I was disappointed to see is the Low Ki, or as some people may know him as '
Senshi' or '
Kaval'. Low Ki is a former 2 time X-Division Champion, first winning it under the name of Low Ki and only holding it for 14 days. His second reign however was a lot more successful as he won it under the name of Senshi, this time holding on to the belt for 125 days. He also had success in the tag division as his team
Triple X who used the freebird rules held the belt on three occasions, with the combined reign of 98 days.
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| Rockstar Spud, TNA Wrestling, British Boot camp. |
Regarding the new talent of the X-Division, dubbed 'New School'. I was disappointed in not seeing British Wrestler & first TNA Boot Camp Winner,
Rockstar Spud. Spud is currently in the developmental area as the OVW Television Champion, however due to it being filmed in January I now understand why he wasn't there but for all you TNA & X-Division fans, it won't be too long until the 30 year old Englishman, Rockstar Spud becomes an X-Division favourite and I for one is looking forward until he returns to TNA Television and grace the X-Division due to his incredible charisma and in ring ability.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed doing so. I not only hope this article has given you a good idea of what the event was about and what happened but I hope this has given you a better insight on the X-Division and the superstars that have mastered this fine art.
Please feel free to leave your comments and thoughts of this article and keep an eye on our blog for more articles. Thank you.
Kurt Johansson
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