2008 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pay-per-view event
The 2008 Against All Odds was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, which took place on February 10, 2008, at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, South Carolina. It was the fourth event under the Against All Odds chronology and the second event in the 2008 TNA PPV schedule. Nine professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card, four of which involved championships, while two matches were held prior to the event.
The main event was for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship with Samoa Joe as Special Outside Enforcer between then-champion Kurt Angle and the challenger Christian Cage. Angle ended up winning the bout, thus retaining the championship. Jay Lethal and The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) fought Johnny Devine and Team 3D (Brother Devon and Brother Ray) in a Six Man Tag Team Street Fight on the card. Lethal and The Motor City Machine Guns won the encounter. A Barbed Wire Massacre between Abyss and Judas Mesias was held at Against All Odds, which Abyss won. Booker T fought Robert Roode to a double countout in another highly promoted match for the event.
This is the first event to have matches featured from different arenas air on the same show. This event also marked the second time the Barbed Wire Massacre match type was used by TNA. Chris Sokol of the professional wrestling section of the Canadian Online Explorer rated the event a seven and a half out of ten, higher than the six out of ten given to the 2007 event's ranking by Chris Sokol.
Production.
Background.
The next installment in the Against All Odds chronology was announced in late-November 2007 to take place on February 10, 2008, at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Tickets for the event went on sale December 7, 2007. In January 2008, In Demand listed a preview regarding Against All Odds, which advertised the event would hold the second-ever Barbed Wire Massacre. The South Carolina Athletic Commission originally gave TNA permission to hold Barbed Wire Massacre, however they receded their blessing prior to the event. Due to this, TNA were forced to change the location of the bout from the BI-LO Center to the TNA Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. TNA taped the match between Abyss and Judas Mesias on January 22, 2008, at the tapings of the January 31 and February 7, 2008, episodes of TNA's television program "TNA Impact!". Consequences Creed taking part in a match prior to the show was promoted by TNA on their website. Due to poor ticket sales, it was reported TNA gave away several tickets for free. TNA released a poster featuring Abyss sometime prior to help promote the event.
Storylines.
Against All Odds featured nine professional wrestling matches and two matches prior to the event that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main event at Against All Odds was for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship with Samoa Joe as Special Outside Enforcer between then-champion Kurt Angle and the challenger Christian Cage. On January 6, 2008, at TNA's previous PPV event Final Resolution, Angle defeated Cage to retain the championship after Cage's alliance A.J. Styles attacked Cage, aligning with Angle and The Angle Alliance. On the January 10, 2008 episode of "Impact!", Management Director Jim Cornette announced that Cage, Joe, and Styles would compete in a Three Way match on the January 17, 2008 episode of "Impact!". Stipulations for the match were that the winner would get a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match against Angle at Against All Odds, however if Styles won he could choose instead of the title match to allow Angle to not have to defend his title for two months. Cage ended up winning the contest, thus becoming the number one contender. On the January 24, 2008 episode of "Impact!", Cornette announced that Joe would be the Special Outside Enforcer at Against All Odds due him being controversially disqualified during the match. Also connected to the storyline was the allegiance of former Christian's Coalition and The Angle Alliance member Tomko to either Cage or Angle. Heading up to the match, Tomko explained he was not on either's side, despite being one-half of the TNA World Tag Team Champions with Styles. On the January 31, 2008 episode of "Impact!", Tomko defeated Angle after interference from Cage. This resulted in Tomko and Cage seeming to be on the same page on the February 7, 2008 episode of "Impact!".
The main storyline in TNA's X Division revolved around Team 3D's (Brother Devon and Brother Ray) attempt to eliminate the X Division. This feud began on the October 18, 2007 episode of "Impact!" when Team 3D attacked The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin; MCMG) and proclaimed they were going to eliminate the X Division. MCMG went on to defeat Team 3D at TNA's Genesis PPV event on November 11, 2007. At the same event, Team 3D attacked and stole the TNA X Division Championship from then-champion Jay Lethal. On the November 15, 2007 episode of "Impact!", Johnny Devine turned on the X Division and joined Team 3D in their quest. Team 3D and Devine went on to defeat Lethal and MCMG in a Six Man Tag Team Tables Match at TNA's Turning Point PPV event on December 2, 2007. The two teams then faced again at Final Resolution in a Six Man Tag Team Ultimate X match, which Team 3D and Devine won. On the January 10, 2008 episode of "Impact!", Devine and Team 3D challenged Lethal and MCMG to a Street Fight at Against All Odds, with the stipulation that if Team 3D won the X Division would disband, but if Lethal and MCMG won they would regain possession of the TNA X Division Championship and the X Division would continue to exist. On the January 17, 2008 episode of "Impact!", Lethal and MCMG accepted the agreement but only after including that Team 3D would have to weigh less than 275 pounds in order to compete in their matches in TNA. On the January 24, 2008 episode of "Impact!", Devine defeated Lethal to become the new TNA X Division Champion.
The second-ever Barbed Wire Massacre was promoted for Against All Odds between Abyss and Judas Mesias. The feud for this match began in mid-2007 when Abyss' former manager Father James Mitchell returned and began a storyline with Abyss. Mesias made his debut on the September 13, 2007 episode of "Impact!" attacking Abyss at the request of Mitchell. After months of inactivity, Mesias returned on the December 13, 2007 episode of "Impact!" attacking Abyss. At Final Resolution, Mesias defeated Abyss with help from Mitchell. On the January 24 episode of "Impact!", Mitchell finally announced his reasons for feuding with Abyss, that he was Abyss' father and Mesias was Abyss' half-brother in the narrative. TNA promoted a Barbed Wire Massacre match between Abyss and Mesias at Against All Odds sometime after this.
At Final Resolution, the team of Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks fought the team of Booker T and Sharmell. The storyline behind this encounter involved Sharmell coming to the defense of Roode's manager Ms. Brooks, who Roode verbally abused on the December 13, 2007 episode of "Impact!". After the encounter, Roode accidentally punched Sharmell in the face, resulting in a storyline fractured jaw which sidelined her from appearing for the promotion and upsetting her real-life husband Booker T. Following the event, Roode fired Brooks and higher her replacement Payton Banks on the January 10 episode of "Impact!", setting up a match between the two at Against All Odds. TNA promoted a match between Booker T and Robert Roode heading into Against All Odds.
Two matches taking place at Against All Odds revolved around the Feast or Fired cases won at Turning Point by B.G. James, Petey Williams, and Scott Steiner. On the December 13, 2007 episode of "Impact!", James was revealed to hold a future TNA World Tag Team Championship match with a partner of his choice, Williams' case was shown to hold a future TNA World Heavyweight Championship match, and Steiner's case held a future TNA X Division Championship match. During the segment, Steiner switched his case with Williams prior to the contents being revealed. This created a storyline between the two leading up to the January 31, 2008 episode of "Impact!" when Steiner teamed with Williams to face The Rock 'n Rave Infection (Jimmy Rave and Lance Hoyt). During the contest, Steiner stole Williams' case, bashed Williams with it, and left the arena. On the February 7, 2008 episode of "Impact!", Cornette announced that Steiner and Williams would face at Against All Odds in which the winner would gain both cases. In the weeks following the December 13 episode, B.G.'s Voodoo Kin Mafia tag team partner Kip James inquired on when B.G. would announce his tag team partner. Finally, on the January 17, 2008 episode of "Impact!", B.G. announced his choice was his real-life father Bob Armstrong. On the January 24, 2008 episode of "Impact!", B.G. and Armstrong announced they would use their title shot at Against All Odds. TNA later promoted A.J. Styles and Tomko versus B.G. James and Bob Armstrong for the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the event.
Event.
Two matches were held prior to the event. The first was a tag team match pitting Jackie Moore and newly named Traci Brooks against WTPT disjockeys The Rise Guys (Skip and Mattman), which Moore and Brooks won when Moore gained the pinfall. The second was also a tag team match, in which the team of Sonjay Dutt and Consequences Creed defeated The Rock 'n Rave Infection (Jimmy Rave and Lance Hoyt) after Creed gained the fall on Rave.
Miscellaneous.
The event featured employees other than the wrestlers involved in the matches. Mike Tenay and Don West were the commentators for the telecast. Jeremy Borash and David Penzer were ring announcers for the event. Andrew Thomas, Earl Hebner, Rudy Charles, and Mark "Slick" Johnson participated as referees for the encounters. Crystal Louthan, Scott Hudson, and Borash were used as interviewers during the event. Besides employees appearing in a wrestling role, Jackie Moore, Raisha Saeed, Jim Cornette, Father James Mitchell, Sonjay Dutt, SoCal Val, and Karen Angle all appeared on camera, either in backstage or ringside segments.
Preliminary matches.
A.J. Styles and Tomko defended the TNA World Tag Team Championship against the team of B.G. James and Bob Armstrong in the opening match. It lasted seven minutes and forty-five seconds. B.G. and Armstrong were accompanied to the ring by United States Military officers. B.G. was injured in storyline after Styles hit him in the leg with a dropkick during the contest. Tomko and Styles won the match after they performed their signature tag team Tornado–Plex maneuver forcing B.G. into the mat to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship.
Traci Brooks fought Payton Banks in the second bout, lasting five minutes and seven seconds. Brooks won the bout after gaining a pinfall with a schoolgirl pin. After the match, Banks attacked Brooks.
The TNA World Heavyweight and TNA X Division Feast or Fired Title shots were fought over in the match between Scott Steiner and Petey Williams. Its duration was nine minutes and twenty-four seconds. Williams gained a near-fall during the bout by using a schoolboy pin. Near the end an unknown woman entered the arena and stood on the ring apron to distract Williams. This allowed Steiner to perform a powerbomb on Williams, thus winning the encounter and both cases.
Eric Young defended the TNA World Beer Drinking Championship against James Storm, who was accompanied by Jackie Moore, in the fourth encounter. Moore interfered in the bout helping Storm twice. The first ended when Young performed a suplex on Moore and Storm at the same time. The second involved Moore distracting the referee, at which time Rhino made his return from an injury and entered the ring to perform his signature Gore maneuver on Storm, giving Young the victory at seven minutes and forty-nine seconds to retain the TNA World Beer Drinking Championship.
The TNA Women's Knockout Championship was defended by Awesome Kong, who was accompanied by