Victory Road 2010: Tag-Team Excellence Lifts a Deep, Ambitious Card

Douglas Williams defended his X Division Championship against Brian Kendrick in a stipulation that combined the hanging Ultimate X structure with the possibility of a submission victory. Williams tried climbing for the championship before either wrestler had established control, but Kendrick cut him down and pressed for the cobra clutch. Williams answered with a cravat, a flying European uppercut and a Gory special attempt; Kendrick countered the holds with forearms and an attack from the top rope. When Kendrick tried climbing for the X, Williams followed high onto the cables and both men tumbled back to the canvas. Williams then pulled climbing gloves from his trunks and attempted the overhead cable route himself.

Kendrick caught up with the champion and locked his legs around Williams as they dropped back to the ring. Williams fought free and countered with his own cobra clutch. Kendrick lost consciousness rather than voluntarily tapping; the referee lifted his arm three times and ruled the match over by stoppage, allowing Williams to retain after 10:03. The distinction between unconsciousness and a verbal tap is important: the submission route, not a successful climb, decided a match whose suspended-title structure might suggest otherwise. The B (7.6) reflects unusual tactical choices and a finish grounded in the rules, despite the stop-start climbing sequences.

Brother Ray faced Brother Devon and Jesse Neal in a three-way match built around the implosion of Team 3D. Ray ambushed Neal on the entrance ramp before the bell while Devon was shown trying to escape a locked backstage room. Ray dominated Neal in the ring, continuing to insult his former student, until a group led by Tommy Dreamer appeared in the audience. That arrival momentarily distracted Ray, and Neal used the opening to land a spear that nearly ended the contest. Shannon Moore then ran toward the ring to help Neal but inadvertently diverted the referee while Ray hit Neal with a chair, a familiar heel shortcut rather than a legal victory.

Devon finally entered the match and confronted Ray. He blocked Ray attempted cheap shot and attacked his former partner, but Neal charged into a spear and accidentally struck Devon instead. Ray immediately caught Neal with the Bubba Bomb and pinned him. The actual fall is Ray over Neal; Devon was neither the pin victim nor the winner. Dreamer, Rhino, Raven, Stevie Richards and Moore supplied ringside angles, not additional officially entered wrestlers in the three-way. The C (6.2) is appropriate for a short match dominated by a backstory and distractions, although the mistaken spear gives the feud a recognizable result.

Angelina Love challenged Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Championship with her wrestling career at stake. Love began aggressively, throwing Rayne with clotheslines and repeatedly attempting quick pinfalls. The champion escaped to ringside to break that momentum, then regained an advantage by raking Love eyes, landing a neckbreaker and using the ropes to restrict her. Rayne tried introducing a steel chair, but Love bicycle kick drove it back into the champion face. Their struggle established a plausible match that could have reached a pinfall, but the title-versus-career stipulation ultimately became decisive through an outside attack instead.

A black-leather-clad rider wearing a motorcycle helmet arrived near ringside and distracted Love. Rayne tossed the challenger out and the unidentified rider drove Love headfirst into the ring post. The referee disqualified Rayne because of outside interference linked to the Beautiful People. Under the explicitly announced championship condition, the title could change hands on a disqualification, so Love WON the Knockouts Championship despite never pinning Rayne. Rayne argued that the mysterious rider was not a Beautiful People member and left with her. The C- (5.8) acknowledges the memorable conditional title change but limits praise for a match whose decisive action came from an unidentified nonparticipant at ringside.

A.J. Styles and Kazarian, representing Ric Flair Fortune faction, arrived without knowing that Rob Terry and Samoa Joe were their tag opponents. Terry overpowered Kazarian early and Joe chased both heels at ringside before hitting an elbow suicida. Fortune finally isolated Joe through quick tags, using Styles Pelé kick and Kazarian running dropkick to slow his comeback. Joe fought through an attempted Styles Clash, turned an attempted aerial follow-up into a uranage and tagged Terry, who threw Kazarian across the ring and caught Styles with a delayed vertical suplex. The match emphasized the awkward contrast between two cooperating Fortune wrestlers and two physically dominant opponents assembled for the night.

As the action broke down, Joe set Kazarian up for the Muscle Buster. Desmond Wolfe, who was NOT a participant in the officially announced tag match, appeared at ringside and distracted Joe. Wolfe entered the ring and Terry struck him with a clothesline, but the interruption gave Styles and Kazarian time to double-team Terry with springboard offense and pin him. After the match Joe attacked Wolfe and delivered the Muscle Buster, a postmatch consequence rather than a deciding fall. The C+ (6.6) reflects lively bursts of power and athletic counters, undercut by the disruptive run-in and abrupt finish.

Hernandez and Matt Morgan fought inside a steel cage after months of trouble between the former tag champions. Morgan immediately tried reaching the exit, but Hernandez pushed him back into the cage, throwing him into the mesh and chasing him away from the door. Morgan countered by driving Hernandez into the metal himself and landing a Carbon Footprint while his rival was trapped against the ropes. At several points Morgan could have used the open door to escape and win; instead he went back to punish Hernandez. That decision kept the grudge alive even as it reduced the importance of ordinary pinfall attempts.

Hernandez tried a Border Toss but could not lift Morgan properly, then climbed to the top of the cage for a dangerous dive that missed. Morgan next retrieved handcuffs, restrained Hernandez to the ropes near the cage door and began climbing out over the top, mistakenly choosing a much slower escape. Hernandez broke the cuffs, accelerated toward the ropes and dove headfirst through the cage door, landing on the floor first to win. The B- (7.2) recognizes a finish built directly on Morgan arrogance and the cage escape rule. The detail is not that Hernandez pinned Morgan: his desperate jump through the door settled the match.

Jay Lethal met Ric Flair at Victory Road 2010 after repeatedly imitating the veteran’s mannerisms on television. The crowd split its support, while the match opened with Flair headlocks, Lethal dropkicks and a ringside clothesline that sent Flair over the top rope. Flair repeatedly used thumb-to-eye fouls to stop the younger opponent and chopped him in the corner. Lethal answered with a superplex when Flair climbed the turnbuckle, but missed a follow-up moonsault and injured his knee. Flair exploited the opening by chopping the leg and applying his Figure Four Leglock, using the ropes for leverage until referee Earl Hebner caught him and ordered a break.

An argument between Flair and Hebner allowed Lethal a rollup near fall. Lethal recovered with a handspring elbow and springboard crossbody while continuing to mock Flair signature poses. He then targeted Flair knee, dragged him to the middle and locked in a Figure Four of his own. Flair submitted after roughly twelve minutes. The match was not a pinfall or title change: the decisive result was a younger wrestler making the originator of the hold tap in his own submission. Lethal celebrated emotionally and dedicated the victory to his mother, providing a personal payoff to the rivalry. The B+ (8.0) credits a coherent intergenerational contest with a meaningful submission, not just an old star’s celebrity.

The Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money fought for the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship in Victory Road’s most elaborate team contest. James Storm and Robert Roode isolated Alex Shelley by attacking his midsection, using frequent tags while Chris Sabin waited for his opening. When Shelley finally tagged Sabin, the Guns surged with fast arm work, kicks and coordinated dives. Beer Money countered with a double-team knee attack and an Eye of the Storm setup, demonstrating why the teams could trade control without treating the title bout as a simple aerial exhibition. The finishing stretch became unusually complicated when Storm tried spitting beer at Sabin and accidentally blinded referee Brian Hebner.

Referee Earl Hebner entered while the first official was unable to see. Amid continuing reversals, Storm and Sabin each had an opposing wrestler pinned, and the two referees recorded simultaneous three-counts. With no decisive champion, officials restarted the match instead of awarding the belts on a disputed fall. The Guns immediately regained their pairing and landed another synchronized crossbody-and-DDT combination, securing the final pin and their first TNA World Tag Team Championship. The temporary double-count confusion is crucial to the recorded outcome: there was ONE official decisive victory after the restart, not two separate matches or a title change for Beer Money. A- (8.9) rewards both teams inventive cooperation and the recognizable finishing response.

Kurt Angle met D’Angelo Dinero as part of Angle announced attempt to move through the TNA contenders rankings after earlier title disappointments. Dinero answered Angle early mat control with hip tosses, strikes and a trip into the ropes, refusing to be reduced to a smaller opponent who could only survive suplexes. Angle responded with a buckle bomb and a belly-to-belly superplex, but Dinero continued attacking his upper body and escaped the early ankle lock attempts. Dinero hit a codebreaker late, prompting a genuine near fall and putting pressure on Angle to rely on his best finishing skill.

Angle survived, landed his Angle Slam and went straight back to the ankle lock after pulling down his straps. Dinero reached for the ropes but Angle dragged him away. Dinero converted the hold into a surprise rollup, then tried another; Angle reversed the second attempt into a fresh ankle lock and grapevined Dinero leg to remove the route of escape. Dinero submitted. The B+ (8.0) grades an athletic and purposeful exchange in which Dinero repeatedly avoided being caught before the final application, rather than treating the result as an ordinary Angle victory. The submission was the actual deciding finish, not a pinfall or automatic end of Dinero career.

Rob Van Dam defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson and Abyss in a four-way that spent its first moments establishing the giant as everyone common obstacle. Van Dam, Hardy and Anderson temporarily attacked Abyss together, but the alliance soon dissolved: Anderson tried to steal quick pinfalls and Hardy broke up Van Dam covers. All four wrestlers traded spectacular chances, including dives to the floor, a two-man superplex attempt and repeated counters to Anderson Mic Check and Hardy Twist of Fate. With three challengers, a near fall could disappear even when the champion was not the person breaking it up.

Hardy eventually landed the Twist of Fate and a Swanton on Anderson, only for Abyss to chokeslam Hardy onto the fallen Anderson. Abyss attempted to cover both men, but Van Dam entered from above with his Five-Star Frog Splash landing across the pile of opponents, then covered Anderson for the championship-retaining three count. The precise pin target is important: Van Dam pinned Anderson, not Abyss or Hardy, and only ONE title was defended. Abyss attacked the champion with his nail-studded Janice board afterward, but that post-match threat was not part of the decisive fall. The B+ (8.0) acknowledges the inventive pile-up finish and match complexity while recognizing how short the title showcase was for four featured wrestlers.