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TNA WRESTLING - GLOBAL IMPACT IN JAPAN DVD
When the Global Impact special
aired in mid January on
Spike TV, the fan response was generally positive, But
many fans were left wanting more. The classic Kurt Angle Yuji
Nagata battle had taken up most of the one hour special, and
many fans had hoped to see more of the events matchups and
surrounding events. So TNA listened to the demand and has put
together a very impressive DVD release in TNA Wrestling :
Global Impact in
Japan
The DVD begins with 40 minutes of
Pre Show Interviews, which is basically a documentary on how
the event came to fruition, the importance of it to TNA as a
company, and the importance of it to the wrestlers involved. Six
Wrestlers are featured here, starting with Jeff Jarrett who
looks at the history of New
Japan Pro Wrestling and how the event came to be, He also
touches on the Japanese fans love for the sport in comparison
to american fans. Jarrett also recounts his career experience in
Japan, and later talks about how and when
he brought TNA to
Hulk Hogan
Kurt Angle is up next as he begins
his second day of his time in Japan. In typical Angle fashion
right now, he spends much of his interview talking about how he
beat Brock Lesnar for the IWGP title, and that he is the true
champion as opposed to being the second champion
or third champion. (Note : Angle has since lost the title.)
Christian Cage then talks about
the travel aspect of wrestling in
Japan. Including what he and the boys do on the long
flights, whether jetlag becomes an issue, and how hard it is to
leave early on New Years Day. Cage also looks at the history of
NJPW, more specially at the Tokyo Dome, Finally he spends time
on his experiences in
Japan including a funny story of how one day he was
walking the streets and a Japanese fan tapped him on the
shoulder and proceeded to do a dead in imitation of Cage and any
other wrestler Cage requested for a half hour period of time.
Petey Williams spends a moment
talking about the Japanese fans and what he would be doing if he
wasnt a wrestler.
Brother Devon gets some rare solo interview time and talks about his match preparation, the history of 3D in Japan, and getting the tables.
Finally we get
The Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels, who was fired
from TNA as part of the Feat or Fired match stipulations, but
they would pass his appearance off as a previously agreed to
commitment that TNA had to honour. Daniels spends time on
whether he gets nervous before a big match in
Japan and talks a lot about what he expects from his
match against Wataru Inoue.
The battle between TNA and New
Japan then begins as Don West and Mike Tenay bring you
into the Tokyo Dome for the full length matchups between TNA and
New
Japan stars. There is optional Japanese commentary for
the wrestling action, Ring announcing is bi lingual, but much of
the hype videos in between the matches are only in Japanese.
First up is a 6 match tag with
Christian Cage, AJ Styles, and Petey Williams taking on Milano
Collection AT, Minoru, and Prince Fergall Devitt. Styles wins
the match with a styles clash on Milano Collection AT after
about 15 minutes of quick paced action.
Next we have Christopher Daniels
vs Wataru Inoue for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship. Inoue
ultimately retains with a cross legged brainbuster after about
13 minutes of action, and we then get to see the traditional
Japanese presentation of a trophy to the champion.
3RD Match sees Abyss
taking on Manabu Nakanishi. This is a solid battle between the
two men that quickly spills to the outside of the ring, we get
some thumb tacks and a brawl, and ultimately Nakanishi defeats
Abyss with a overhead german suplex into a bridge after about 6
minutes. Kind of short, looked like Abyss got his shoulders up
before the three but nonetheless its a Nakanishi victory.
Team 3D vs Togi Makabe & Toru Yano
Its a hardcore tag team battle between these two teams, with
3D scoring a pinfall victory after about 15 minutes of action.
The semi main event then features
The Steiner Brothers (TNA) taking on Tomko and Giant Bernard
(NJPW) with the IWGP Tag Team Titles on the line. Before hand,
Jeff Jarrett makes an appearance, he addresses the crowd and
takes a seat at ringside to watch as the TNA witness for the big
match up. As you could expect Jarrett does not stay on the
sidelines the entire match, as when the ref is knocked down, The
Steiners call for Jarrett to enter the ring, guitar in hand and
knock Tomko out once and for all to give TNA the
win, but NJPW star Yano jumps the ring and Jarrett hits him
instead, Tomko and Bernard regroup
as the ref revives and retain their titles with The Magic
Killer finisher.
Poor Bernard then gets cut off of
the DVD as he began to cut a promo and instead we now get the
Yuji Nagata / Kurt Angle battle. This part of the DVD plays out
the exact way it did on TV, with English hype video and
commercial interuptions during the match. As youll recall Kurt
Angle retains his title with the Ankle Lock after about 20
minutes.
The 6 matches and hype videos run
2 hours, and much like what people are saying about TNA house
shows, these matches are just solid wrestling action. But the
DVD isnt done yet, it then moves onto feature another Japanese
tradition, of immediate post match press conferences. With the
exception of Christopher Daniels, All the TNA stars press
conferences are shown, and interesting to note that even Abyss,
still with mask, but with hair tied back, answers the presss
questions, in total another 36 minutes of footage.
Even after all that were still not
done yet. We then get a 7 minute featurette on the culture of
Japan, This is mainly about the different foods of
japan as you get to see Tomko, Bernard, Christian and
Bubba Ray enjoy some raw liver, And The Steiners enjoy some
sushi.
Like I said off the top of the
review, this is a impressive DVD package from TNA, it is very
well put together and gives you a full outlook of the companys
time in Japan. Because of that Id highly recommend
picking this DVD up, its TNA action at its best.
TNA Global Impact in
Japan is now available on DVD from TNA Wrestlings Home
Video Collection. For more info head on over to
www.tnawrestling.com
or
www.shoptna.com
, and to read my previous DVD reviews head on over to
www.maineventradio.com/reviews.htm
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