Against All Odds 2007: Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle Headlines a Good but Uneven TNA Card

Serotonin's Kazarian and Havok, accompanied by Maverick Matt, defeated Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt in the sole recorded pre-show match at Against All Odds 2007. This was a short tag opportunity for two X Division names before the main broadcast opened with LAX and Team 3D, rather than a featured championship match. The historical bout ledger identifies Kazarian as the wrestler credited with the fall; Dutt was the one pinned. Havok and Lethal were partners in the ring, not separate match finishers, and Maverick Matt's ringside presence should not be mistaken for an additional participant.

Kazarian pinned Sonjay Dutt after 5:14. Contemporary PPV play-by-play focuses on the televised matches, so claiming a detailed sequence of near falls or naming an undocumented decisive maneuver here would be false precision. The inherited C- / 5.8 reflects how little weight the short pre-show slot carried for the broadcast itself. SKIP on a pay-per-view-only viewing route, but preserve the confirmed winning side, actual pin victim and pre-show status in the match archive. The ledger is useful to someone researching how the Serotonin faction intersected with the X Division, not because it had main-card consequence.

The Latin American Xchange entered a non-title Little Italy Street Fight against Team 3D with Konnan watching from his wheelchair. The champions took advantage when the brothers were distracted by their rival at ringside, opening an extended brawl rather than a normal tag-match structure. Hernandez launched himself over the ropes into a steel-chair shot from Devon, and the weapons quickly turned ugly: Devon was cut with a pizza cutter while Brother Ray answered with a cheese grater. Members of the LAX-aligned Latino Nation entered the fray, but the brothers fought them away; Hernandez then drove Ray through a table.

After Team 3D survived the swarm and kept the fight going, Hernandez hit Brother Devon with the Border Toss and pinned him at 9:26. Hernandez pinned Brother Devon, not Ray, and the NWA World Tag Team Championship was not changing hands in this non-title fight. The inherited B+ / 8.2 rewards the pace, escalating weapon spots and a decisive finishing move, while the entourage intrusion makes the match less of a pure test between four wrestlers. WATCH for the table sequence and the final Border Toss, which give this rivalry a clear outcome before the rest of the card drifts into novelty matches.

Senshi and Austin Starr brought their X Division rivalry into a singles match after Starr had publicly dismissed Bob Backlund. Their contest was built on counter wrestling and disputed near falls rather than a championship stipulation. Each escaped multiple pin combinations before the deciding exchange, and the spectators split their support between the wrestlers. Senshi relied on strikes and quick positioning to escape the challenger's attempts, while Starr became increasingly frustrated at the official's interpretation. The preserved result gives Senshi the victory, even though the broadcast report notes that both wrestlers appeared to have their shoulders down during the cover.

Senshi was awarded the pin over Austin Starr at 8:21 despite the contested shoulder positions. Starr threw chairs afterward, called for the match to be restarted and confronted Backlund when the veteran came out. After Starr slapped him, Backlund put Starr into the Crossface Chicken Wing. The inherited B- / 7.3 reflects a solid counter-heavy contest whose most distinctive consequence occurred immediately after the bell. SKIM the disputed fall and post-match confrontation. Describing the decision as an undisputed clean pin or as a Backlund appearance within the match itself would misstate the finish and the sides.

Christy Hemme faced the wrestler billed as the Big Fat Oily Guy in a short Tuxedo match in the middle of Against All Odds 2007. The segment was presented as broad comedy rather than a competitive women's-division milestone. Hemme tried to strip the opponent's tuxedo while the crowd reacted negatively to the spectacle, and her opponent briefly trapped her underneath his weight. The available contemporary account documents the booking and the result but not a detailed chain of legitimate wrestling holds, so the analysis should not turn the stunt into a technical bout it never was.

Hemme secured the pin at 2:29 to win, after which Kip James appeared and berated her in a segment extending their on-screen conflict. He removed Hemme's top in the post-match angle, which should be identified as a separate character-driven moment and not the match's deciding stipulation or an unrecorded fall. The inherited D / 4.5 reflects the brief duration and its deliberate diversion from the sporting portions of the show. SKIP for a selective wrestling-focused rewatch, but keep the actual result, the opponent's billed identity and Kip James's after-the-bell involvement correctly classified.

Lance Hoyt met Dale Torborg in the Basebrawl spectacle, with Major League Baseball figures David Eckstein accompanying Hoyt and A. J. Pierzynski accompanying Torborg. The bout mixed its short wrestling portion with baseball guest involvement instead of building toward a technical finish. Pierzynski struck Hoyt with a chair while the official's attention was elsewhere, and Torborg covered him for an apparent win. A second referee saw the illegal shot, however, and ordered the match restarted, preventing the first count from becoming the official result. That overturned finish is essential to understanding why the historical ledger lists Hoyt as the winner.

During the restarted action, David Eckstein's brother Rick struck Torborg with a chair while the referee was distracted. Lance Hoyt pinned Dale Torborg after that interference, making Hoyt the official winner of the 5:04 match despite Torborg's earlier apparent cover. The inherited D+ / 5.0 captures the limited wrestling value of a guest-heavy novelty segment. SKIP on a focused rewatch, but the match file should explicitly distinguish Pierzynski's disallowed chair-aided pin from Hoyt's accepted cover; collapsing them into an uncomplicated Hoyt victory would omit the only meaningful finish detail.

A.J. Styles and Rhino fought a Motor City Chain match that began with the wrestlers connected at the wrists and keys hanging from poles on opposing corners. They wrestled over the hardware instead of following ordinary singles rules. Rhino scored a spinebuster and attempted to get a key, but Styles took the nightstick off the other pole and used it to regain control. Styles retrieved a key, freed himself from his end of the chain and landed a frog splash. He then shortened Rhino's remaining tether by fastening the chain to the ropes, taunting him with the key until Rhino answered with a Gore and freed himself as well.

Rhino tried to end the fight by arranging a table against the corner and setting up another Gore. Styles stepped out of the way, sending Rhino crashing through his own table. Styles pinned Rhino at 15:07 immediately after that collision; the winning move was the missed Gore and table crash, not an ordinary Styles Clash. The inherited A- / 8.5 recognizes how the chain, keys and weapon choices were used to create actual changes in control across the match. WATCH for the unusual chain mechanics and the counter-finish, which gave the rivalry a documented result without retroactively pretending it was a straightforward clean singles match.

Chris Sabin defended the X Division Championship against veteran Jerry Lynn, whose experience forced the younger champion to adjust his rhythm. In an early exchange Lynn anticipated Sabin's in-and-out-of-the-ring tactics and stayed clear when Sabin dived over the top rope looking for him. Sabin regained control by targeting Lynn's back, deliberately interfering with the veteran's ability to set up the Cradle Piledriver. Lynn recovered with dropkicks and looked increasingly likely to land his signature move; Sabin responded with a powerbomb and close pin attempt as the match passed through several contested near falls.

Lynn went for the Cradle Piledriver again at the finish, but Sabin blocked it and trapped him in a pin while using the ropes for extra leverage. Sabin pinned Jerry Lynn at 13:33 to retain the X Division title, then taunted Lynn from the aisle with the championship belt. The inherited A- / 8.6 reflects the veteran-versus-young-champion dynamic and the sustained back-and-forth, even though the deciding cover wasn't fairly obtained. WATCH for how Sabin's earlier back work undermines the Piledriver attempts and leads to a rope-assisted win rather than a clean finisher.

James Storm and Jacqueline Moore faced Petey Williams and Gail Kim in a mixed tag that continued two parallel disputes. Storm and Williams started with a series of heavy strikes and reversals; Storm briefly controlled the action with his Eye of the Storm before Williams fought out and went after Moore when she tagged in. Kim entered to answer Moore's attacks with dropkicks and a rapid comeback, eventually gaining a position to roll Moore up. The match had enough time for both pairs to be involved rather than reducing Kim and Moore to ringside seconds, though neither feud was resolved by a title opportunity.

The finish came when Storm struck Gail Kim during her cover, and Jacqueline Moore pinned Gail Kim in the recorded 8:49. It was Moore, not Storm, who got the credited fall. After the bell, Storm threatened Williams with a beer bottle and the winning team attempted further punishment, until the returning Chris Harris, wearing an eye patch, drove off his former partner. The inherited C+ / 6.8 reflects an adequate mixed tag that served as a vehicle for Harris's return. SKIM the finish and post-match save, which were more consequential than the unremarkable early exchanges.

Sting and Abyss continued their bitter rivalry in a Prison Yard match with James Mitchell at ringside and a small jail cell hanging over the ring. The rule was not a pinfall or a referee's submission decision: one wrestler had to force the other inside the cell and lock the door. Abyss used weapons and Mitchell's timely interference to slow Sting, at one point planting his opponent through a table after Sting became distracted. Sting rallied with the Scorpion Deathlock on Mitchell and then fought back toward the cage structure. The stipulation gave their fight an actual goal beyond another chair-heavy street brawl.

Sting arranged a barbed-wire-covered board across a table, climbed with Abyss and drove him down through it with a powerbomb. He then carried the wounded rival to the cage and Sting locked Abyss inside the prison cell for the official win in the recorded 11:57. No wrestler was pinned, and Mitchell's involvement never made him a third legal participant. The inherited B+ / 8.0 recognizes the dramatic wire-and-table climax and the clear stipulation-specific conclusion, while the interference prolonged their existing feud. WATCH the last minutes; describing this finish as a routine Scorpion Deathlock submission would rewrite the rule of the match.

Christian Cage defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Kurt Angle after Tomko was ordered away from the champion's corner. Samoa Joe, who had earned an interest in Angle's title chase, watched from the entrance area rather than entering as a third competitor. Angle and Cage traded holds and near falls through the recorded 19:02, with the challenger's ankle lock and Angle Slam attempts contrasted against Cage's counterattacks. A clean competitive resolution looked increasingly unlikely once Tomko returned and Scott Steiner appeared, drawing Joe away from his chair and into a fight that carried the outside participants toward the back.

In the ensuing confusion the referee was knocked down. Cage used a concealed steel pipe to strike Angle, then hit the Unprettier. Christian Cage pinned Kurt Angle and retained the NWA title. Joe, Tomko and Steiner affected the finish but were not legal match participants, and Angle did not tap to Cage's move. The inherited A- / 8.7 rewards the sustained championship exchanges and the growing centrality of the Angle-Joe rivalry; the interference narrows the value of the final fall as a competitive test. WATCH the full main event for the way the two men's ring work leads into a distinctly tainted championship retention.