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| have this funny jeff hardy image because what the fuck would i put here? |
This match was suggested to me after I asked snowboiiii on his Twitch stream today what match I should review for here, and he grabbed his recommended matches list, asked his chat to pick a random number, and picked a match from that which was actually available to watch on YouTube. That being Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss in a Full Metal Mayhem match from TNA's Against All Odds 2005. Now, I have no real idea why I chose to do this, but I did. So that's what you're getting.
For those unaware this is the second match in a series of bouts Hardy and Abyss would have from late 2004 all the way to Bound For Glory 2005, which also featured Rhino and Sabu in it for whatever reason that I am seriously forgetting right now. Yes, they'd go on to have matches in the 2010s but I've never watched those matches before so I'm personally not counting them. I did not watch any build up to this so I'm willing to admit that there's probably a lot that I'm missing out on, but the commentators explained that Abyss made his return to TNA after some period of absence, attacked Jeff Hardy and.... we have this match now! But you see, gracious emmo blog viewer, the real point of confusion comes with the added stipulation by authority figure (I forgot what the fuck his actual title was even though they said it) Dusty Rhodes. The match is not just a Full Metal Mayhem match (basically TNA's equivalent to a TLC for those who have never seen TNA before), but is also a #1 contenders match where the winner will face NWA World Heavyweight Champion (JeffJarrettLOL) on a future episode of Impact, but ALSO alongside the #1 contendership contract there is... an empty envelope! The wrestlers have to basically guess which envelope has the contract and which envelope has nothing in it.
Look. I'm not gonna say that the way that TNA will change or add a stipulation in a gimmick match is HORRIBLE, like how I vaguely remember a lot of the talk about TNA and their gimmick matches were from at least a solid core of wrestling YouTubers back then (no disrespect to any of them, ofc) because I do find certain instances of that like, say, The King of The Mountain match to be pretty enjoyable honestly. But I would be lying to myself if I didn't say that I heard this information be delivered to my ears by the commentators and actively paused my watching of this match to stop and think about who thought it'd be a necessary addition to the match and why. Another side note, I absolutely fucking love Abyss' presentation here. The entrance, the theme, the big ass chain he carries with him. It's all insanely good and tells me he is definitely gonna be a future subject on my Wrestlers I Like series. Jeff Hardy's theme here is... a TNA Jeff Hardy theme. It exists. Definitely nowhere as good as Another Me, but still.
Now, if you want my HONEST opinion on the actual match itself?
I don't hate it... but I'm also not sure if I really like it.
It would be simply untrue to call this match bad because there are some really good and nasty looking spots in there like Jeff's Poetry In Motion off a chair very early on, the ladder catapult spot where Jeff springs off the top turnbuckle and lands on one of the ladders to send the other end of it flying into Abyss' face. Hell, I even found enjoyment out of BOTH times that Abyss sent Jeff flying into a stack of tables, even if the second one was WAY more scuffed than the first one, let's be real. However, in general the match just felt... slow. They spend a lot of time setting up tables, setting up ladders, brawling on the outside... there's a part during the match after the first big Jeff Hardy Table Bump™ where, after slamming Jeff's face into the entrance way, instead of grabbing a ladder and actually trying to WIN the match, Abyss chooses to grab a table and set it up on the entrance way. Genuinely, I was internally fucking SCREAMING at my screen like "GET A LADDER!!! YOU HAVE ENOUGH OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!!!" Real shit, nobody in the match actually tries to use one of the ladders to attempt to grab the envelopes for like... I wanna say 14 minutes out of a nearly 16 minute match? Which is insanely goofy to me. I'm not sure if it's just a me thing but it always bugs me when a ladder match has barely any attempt to grab the item that's being held up. Anyways, obviously, the table was set up for a big Jeff Hardy stage dive that in terms of all the big Jeff Hardy dives that I've seen in my life was... just kinda middling to me? I think it was mostly the height of the dive which... wasn't very far even if the cameras and commentators really tried to make you think that it was a big deal. Like, I dunno, I suppose AT THE TIME it was a big deal because I'd imagine Jeff had not done anything like this in TNA yet, but looking back at this in nearly 2025 after already seeing that big iconic Bound For Glory 2005 dive off the stage it didn't give me the reaction that it was supposed to give. That's kind of the big thing with this, if you have not seen any of their other work then I think it would be understandable to say this match was good, but as someone who has seen as such.... I just think about how much I could be watching those other, BETTER matches right now. It's the room temperature water of Jeff Hardy and Abyss matches. Not bad, but you could have literally anything else at this current moment. But hell, I can give the match credit, I'd rate it over probably anything that 2024 TNA Jeff Hardy has done. Last little note is that the post match part where Jeff just gets extremely angry at the stack of tables he went through is incredibly fucking funny and everybody on the planet should see this.
match rating:
★★★.15
For those unaware this is the second match in a series of bouts Hardy and Abyss would have from late 2004 all the way to Bound For Glory 2005, which also featured Rhino and Sabu in it for whatever reason that I am seriously forgetting right now. Yes, they'd go on to have matches in the 2010s but I've never watched those matches before so I'm personally not counting them. I did not watch any build up to this so I'm willing to admit that there's probably a lot that I'm missing out on, but the commentators explained that Abyss made his return to TNA after some period of absence, attacked Jeff Hardy and.... we have this match now! But you see, gracious emmo blog viewer, the real point of confusion comes with the added stipulation by authority figure (I forgot what the fuck his actual title was even though they said it) Dusty Rhodes. The match is not just a Full Metal Mayhem match (basically TNA's equivalent to a TLC for those who have never seen TNA before), but is also a #1 contenders match where the winner will face NWA World Heavyweight Champion (JeffJarrettLOL) on a future episode of Impact, but ALSO alongside the #1 contendership contract there is... an empty envelope! The wrestlers have to basically guess which envelope has the contract and which envelope has nothing in it.
Look. I'm not gonna say that the way that TNA will change or add a stipulation in a gimmick match is HORRIBLE, like how I vaguely remember a lot of the talk about TNA and their gimmick matches were from at least a solid core of wrestling YouTubers back then (no disrespect to any of them, ofc) because I do find certain instances of that like, say, The King of The Mountain match to be pretty enjoyable honestly. But I would be lying to myself if I didn't say that I heard this information be delivered to my ears by the commentators and actively paused my watching of this match to stop and think about who thought it'd be a necessary addition to the match and why. Another side note, I absolutely fucking love Abyss' presentation here. The entrance, the theme, the big ass chain he carries with him. It's all insanely good and tells me he is definitely gonna be a future subject on my Wrestlers I Like series. Jeff Hardy's theme here is... a TNA Jeff Hardy theme. It exists. Definitely nowhere as good as Another Me, but still.
Now, if you want my HONEST opinion on the actual match itself?
I don't hate it... but I'm also not sure if I really like it.
It would be simply untrue to call this match bad because there are some really good and nasty looking spots in there like Jeff's Poetry In Motion off a chair very early on, the ladder catapult spot where Jeff springs off the top turnbuckle and lands on one of the ladders to send the other end of it flying into Abyss' face. Hell, I even found enjoyment out of BOTH times that Abyss sent Jeff flying into a stack of tables, even if the second one was WAY more scuffed than the first one, let's be real. However, in general the match just felt... slow. They spend a lot of time setting up tables, setting up ladders, brawling on the outside... there's a part during the match after the first big Jeff Hardy Table Bump™ where, after slamming Jeff's face into the entrance way, instead of grabbing a ladder and actually trying to WIN the match, Abyss chooses to grab a table and set it up on the entrance way. Genuinely, I was internally fucking SCREAMING at my screen like "GET A LADDER!!! YOU HAVE ENOUGH OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!!!" Real shit, nobody in the match actually tries to use one of the ladders to attempt to grab the envelopes for like... I wanna say 14 minutes out of a nearly 16 minute match? Which is insanely goofy to me. I'm not sure if it's just a me thing but it always bugs me when a ladder match has barely any attempt to grab the item that's being held up. Anyways, obviously, the table was set up for a big Jeff Hardy stage dive that in terms of all the big Jeff Hardy dives that I've seen in my life was... just kinda middling to me? I think it was mostly the height of the dive which... wasn't very far even if the cameras and commentators really tried to make you think that it was a big deal. Like, I dunno, I suppose AT THE TIME it was a big deal because I'd imagine Jeff had not done anything like this in TNA yet, but looking back at this in nearly 2025 after already seeing that big iconic Bound For Glory 2005 dive off the stage it didn't give me the reaction that it was supposed to give. That's kind of the big thing with this, if you have not seen any of their other work then I think it would be understandable to say this match was good, but as someone who has seen as such.... I just think about how much I could be watching those other, BETTER matches right now. It's the room temperature water of Jeff Hardy and Abyss matches. Not bad, but you could have literally anything else at this current moment. But hell, I can give the match credit, I'd rate it over probably anything that 2024 TNA Jeff Hardy has done. Last little note is that the post match part where Jeff just gets extremely angry at the stack of tables he went through is incredibly fucking funny and everybody on the planet should see this.
match rating:
★★★.15
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