Victory Road Preview & Predictions

TNA is packing up the show and taking it on the road to the Reliant Arena in Houston, TX.  Three championships will be on the line, including the World Championship in a match between the champion, Samoa Joe, and local Houstonite, Booker T.  Added to the three title matches, the World X Cup Tournament will come to an end with the third and fourth rounds taking place at the event.  Here is a complete rundown of the card.

- Samoa Joe vs. Booker T (TNA World Heavyweight Championship)
- The LAX vs. Beer Money, Inc. (Fan’s Revenge for the TNA Tag Team Championship)
- AJ Styles/Christian Cage/Rhino vs. Kurt Angle/Team 3D (Fans Pick the Stip)
- World X Cup Tournament
- Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt
- Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong (TNA Knockout Championship)
- Gail Kim vs. Angelina Love

Samoa Joe vs. Booker T (TNA World Heavyweight Championship)
Booker T nearly won the World Championship during the King of the Mountain match last month at Slammiversary, but Kevin Nash stopped it from happening, allowing Samoa Joe to grab the title and win the match.  To prove to Booker T that he can beat him in the ring, Samoa Joe offered Booker a shot at the title at Victory Road.  Since then, there has been some tension in the relationship between Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash, while Sting has made his return and says he will be watching the match closely.

With all of the outside factors, there is a great possibility that there will be some sort of interference in this match.  My guess is that Nash will become involved and turn against Joe, however, Sting will be there to even the odds.  As for Booker, even with the hometown crowd, I don’t foresee him leaving Houston with the World Championship.

Starman’s Prediction: Samoa Joe to retain the World Championship.

The LAX vs. Beer Money, Inc. (Fan’s Revenge for the TNA Tag Team Championship)
The team of Robert Roode & James Storm looked like they had won the Tag Team Championship a few weeks ago on Impact, but Hector Guerrero was able to persuade the referee to change his decision as Storm used a belt wrapped around his boot to help win the match.  The match was restarted and the LAX was able to retain the titles but Roode & Storm were able to get the last licks in as they handcuffed the LAX to the ring ropes and lay a whipping to them with leather straps.

Shortly after the attack, Jim Cornette made this match a Fan’s Revenge Strap Match for the titles, where the ring will be surrounded by 12 TNA fans armed with leather straps.  Since then, Beer Money, Inc., has been on the losing end of things, which has killed all of their momentum.  With that said, since TNA likes to go against logic, although I’d rather see the LAX retain their titles, I have a sinking feeling that Beer Money, Inc. will upset the champs and steal the titles.

Starman’s Prediction: Beer Money, Inc. to win the Tag Team Championship.

AJ Styles/Christian Cage/Rhino vs. Kurt Angle/Team 3D (Fans Pick the Stip)
Kurt Angle has been accusing AJ Styles of sleeping with his wife and there has been a growing history between Team 3D and Cage & Rhino in the form of a backstage attack and putting one through a glass table.  At the start of the pay-per-view, fans will be able to log on to tnawrestling.com and vote for the match stipulation, which can be picked from a table match, a falls count anywhere or a Full Metal Mayhem (TLC) match.

Since tables are a part of the Full Metal Mayhem match, there really is no point in voting for the tables match, thus FMM should prevail.  As far as the match goes, I’d much rather see this multiple angle six-man tag match separated, but due to Kurt Angle’s neck injury, it was probably the best way to go.  Since this won’t settle much as far as the feuds go, I have to go for the heels to pick up the win in this one.

Starman’s Prediction: Kurt Angle & Team 3D to win in a Full Metal Mayhem match.

World X Cup Tournament
The final two rounds of the tournament will take place at Victory Road.  The third round will be a World X Cup Elimination match and the final round will be contested in an Ultimate X match.  Going into the third round there is a two-way tie for first between Team Mexico and Team TNA with 3 points each, while Team International and Team Japan are both hot on their heels with 2 points.

The third round winner will get three points and the winner of the Ultimate X match will be awarded four points, so every team has a chance to win the tournament.  Historically, Team USA (basically Team TNA), has won the event and it is a trend that I could possibly see continue at the conclusion of this tournament.  The only other team I could see having the possibility of walking away with it is Team International.

Starman’s Prediction: Team TNA to win the tournament.

Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt
After enduring a courtship with SoCal Val over the period of a few months, Jay Lethal and Val were set on having their wedding take place last month at Slammiversary.  It wasn’t all roses for the couple, however, as Lethal’s longtime friend and best man, Sonjay Dutt, interrupted the ceremony because he is also in love with Val.  Since then, the wedding between Lethal and Val has been postponed and Lethal has had a personal vendetta against Dutt, who plans on stealing Val away from him.

This feud appeared to be heading for big things but it stalled shortly after the wedding.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see SoCal Val being a detrimental part in this matchup and even turning on her fiancé and siding with Dutt.  Even with this feud going practically nowhere for the past month, I’m sure it is far from over.

Starman’s Prediction: Sonjay Dutt to get the win.

Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong (TNA Knockout Championship)
Having mowed down most of the competition in TNA, Awesome Kong started issuing a $25,000 Challenge to any female to step up into the ring and defeat her.  Out of all of the challengers, only one has come close and that one was Taylor Wilde.  Not satisfied with her loss to Kong, though, Taylor was able to defeat Kong’s manager, Raisha Saeed, to earn another shot against Kong, not only for the money, but for the title as well.

This past week on Impact, Taylor did the unthinkable and dethroned Kong by defeating her and winning the money and the gold.  Later on in the broadcast, Jim Cornette stated that there will be a rematch between the two at Victory Road for the championship.  Seeing as Taylor’s win against Kong was a fluke victory, I don’t see her being able to catch lightning in a bottle twice and defeat Kong again.  If she is able to retain, it will be via a disqualification but my money is on Kong winning the title back.

Starman’s Prediction: Awesome Kong to regain the title.

Gail Kim vs. Angelina Love
A few months ago at Sacrifice, Angelina Love interfered in a title match between Gail Kim and Awesome Kong that caused Kim to lose the match.  Over the course of the past month, we have seen a series of vignettes that showed the history between Kim and Love inside and outside of TNA.  Love says that Kim was mean to her early on in her wrestling career, while Kim thinks that jealousy is fueling Love’s hatred for her.

The Knockout division is one of the best things going currently in TNA, however, outside of Awesome Kong, there isn’t a strong heel presence among the women.  Love and her partner Velvet Sky can easily fill that void, however, they need some wins to help their credibility, and what better way is there than scoring a victory over the first women’s champion in TNA?

Starman’s Prediction: Angelina Love to win the match.

Overall, this is a very mixed bag of a pay-per-view.  TNA stumbled with the progression on a few of the feuds that even the fan interaction and participation won’t help much. There may be a few hidden gems in there, such as Lethal vs. Dutt and the Ultimate X Match, but this pay-per-view is easy to pass on.

As always, live coverage of Victory Road will take place on Gerweck.net at 8:00 PM EST.