There are signature matches intrinsically linked to a certain performer, or one marquee display that carried entire event, but rarely does any single contest define the entire legacy of a promotion like the main event of Unbreakable 2005 did for TNA/Impact Wrestling. To this day, you can find athletes, bookers, and fans alike that remain amazed of what AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Samoa Joe accomplished on this night, and it was fortunate for TNA that this three-way tango lived up to the hype, because the build to everything else on the card was mediocre at best. The largely forgotten "Chris Candido Memorial Cup" ate up most of the airtime between Sacrifice and Unbreakable, and while the attempt to honor the memory of Candido was touching, the single-elimination tag team tournament ended up as something of a waste of time. TNA's decision to throw together each team out of spare parts meant most of the duos had no experience working together, and it became an array of singles matches. The only team that was booked to function well were Sean Waltman and Alex Shelley, who, to the shock of no one, won the whole enchilada on the go-home Impact! to earn a tag title match, but after spending all that time developing this new relationship and establishing Waltman as a fringe main event heel, he vanished. Waltman was a no-show on the day of Unbreakable, and TNA would have to quickly shuffle plans.
- TNA Unbreakable 2005 comes to you from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida, with Don West and "Iron" Mike Tenay on the call. It takes place on the four-year anniversary of 9/11 (there's a graphic at the start of the broadcast that links the name of the show to the tragedy), and features an opening video package centered around football, with a terrible Howard Cosell impersonation and the Monday Night Football theme blaring.
- Our opening contest is another opportunity for the 3 Live Kru to run roughshod, as the revived trio pick up an easy win over the Diamonds in the Rough. The match is outrageously short for a six-man tag, and Skipper, Young, and Simon Diamond get almost nothing going their way, save for a Matrix dodge by Elix. Konnan throws his shoe at Young, before pinning him with an X-Factor.
- Thankfully, the abbreviated bell time of the opener doesn't carry over to the following match, as Austin Aries and Roderick Strong duke it out, furthering the current working relationship between Rinr of Honor and TNA by damn near stealing the show. Aries is all over the place, going strike for strike with Strong and nailing his elbow drops and splashes. Strong almost wins it with a flurry of offense, as Aries runs into a gutwrench backbreaker, gets dropped into a nasty gutbuster and recklessly thrown into the corner, but the Sick Kick by Strong can't finish it. Aries is able to get one step ahead of Strong in the closing moments, lifting Roddy up for the Brainbuster, and putting on the finishing touches with his 450 Splash. Those wild bumps by Aries turned this one up a notch, he is an incredible talent.
- On the pre-show earlier in the night, Monty Brown declared his intention to challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound For Glory next month, which triggered a showdown between Brown and Jeff Jarrett, who is at the highest level of annoyance after Rhino refused to give up his title shot, and is certainly not about to allow another of his minions to get ahead of him in line. Kip James kept the peace between Jarrett and Brown, for now, though Monty is intent to do his own work, which he demonstrates while tagging with Kip against Apolo and Lance Hoyt. Monty gets in his licks against Hoyt, hip attacking Hoyt's back and dropping the big Texan with suplexes, before Kip makes things dicey by accidentally knocking Monty off the apron. That almost costs the pair the match, as Apolo stings Kip with a superkick, but Monty has no problems sorting out the mess his partner created, pulling Kip out of the way before pouncing Apolo out of his boots to end it. I do love me some Monty Brown, so seeing him moving towards being that wild destroyer he was pre-Jarrett is extremely exciting, although mixing it up with the aimless Hoyt and Apolo won't do for too much longer.
- Chris Sabin was intended to be squaring off with a newly heel Shocker at Unbreakable, as the two had a falling out after reaching the Candido Cup finals, but AAA altered Shocker's booking at the last minute, leaving him unable to back to Orlando on short notice. Petey Williams is called up as the fill-in, as he and Sabin re-ignite their hostilities in a see-saw battle. Both men have counters for days, and every attempt at either the Canadian Destroyer or the Cradle Shock comes up empty. Petey turns to the Sharpshooter, and Sabin nearly paralyzes his opponent with a Razor's Edge into the corner, a terrifying bump that I never need to see again. Petey somehow still has a neck after that, and almost manages to pull victory from the jaws of defeat, blinding Sabin with an eye gouge, but he can't avoid the Cradle Shock forever. Sabin gets the three count, but neither man walks out truly victorious, as they both eat a superkick from Matt Bentley, setting the stage for Ultimate X at Bound For Glory.
- Sabu and Abyss tangle in a No Disqualifications match up next, an environment that typically plays to both of their strengths, though this was almost entirely skippable. The spots are slow paced and too contrived for my tastes, with Abyss standing and watching like a dummy as Sabu runs through his chair-assisted springboard spots. Sabu elevated it somewhat with his table bumps, and the Black Hole Slam onto thumbtacks was delightfully devilish and a convincing finish, but this was far too tame.
- Even watching the product week-to-week, I'm not sure I can explain to you why Jeff Hardy, who been laser focused on Jeff Jarrett since his return last month, is wrestling Bobby Roode here on pay-per-view, though their singles match does eventually end up furthering the Hardy/Jarrett rivalry by the ending. Before Jarrett's involvement, this was an adequate, clean match, with Roode as the ring general, smoothly working through his arsenal and putting over Jeff's signature offense. Roode's leap to the top rope and subsequent overhead suplex was a gorgeous piece of wrestling, and I loved the way he sold Jeff's flatliner, with momentum carrying his legs up in the air. Jeff fights off the meddling Petey Williams, but the hockey stick brandished by Team Canada ends up in the mitts of Jarrett, who shatters it across Hardy's back. Hardy is pinned by Roode, who continues his deliberate elevation up the card.
- Alex Shelley's reward for capturing the Candido Memorial Cup is going it alone in a four-way tag match against America's Most Wanted, The Natural, and Eric Young and A-1 of Team Canada, who are defending the NWA tag titles. Shelley has no fear and mixes it up with the champs in a handicap situation for a few minutes, before his chances are ruined by Johnny Candido, Chris' younger brother, who interjects himself into the match, just to take a low blow and be pinned by EY. I have no idea why that was legal, a member of the crowd should definitely not be allowed to randomly participate in an on-going match, and Johnny immediately going down deflated the Impact Zone, who went wild for the absurdity of the moment. The rest of the match is a slog, as Team Canada slow the action down to a glacial pace, working over James Storm. Chris Harris briefly livens it up with a hot tag, but another hockey stick attack gets him pinned by Young. The champions antagonize Jimmy Hart during the final showdown against The Naturals, which costs them, as Hart shoves EY off the top, and A-1 takes the Natural Disaster.
- Rhino and Raven harken back to their ECW and WWF days in a wild brawl over the NWA title, that sees baking trays, kendo sticks, steel chairs, pizza cutters, and staplers all get utilized. The two hardcore vets hold nothing back, and Rhino ends up a bloody mess, with an ugly gash on his forehead courtesy of the aforementioned pizza cutter. "The Man Beast" attempts to atone for past mistakes by tossing in a shopping cart, but in a replay of Backlash 2001, he crashes into it attempting a Gore, though the visual wasn't anywhere near as impressive as the front of the cart remained solid this time. Jeff Hardy gets Jeff Jarrett back for the hockey stick, as he snatches the "Ten Pounds of Gold" away from the former champion, who was sneaking in to cost Raven the match, and the champion retains after both Jarrett and Rhino are planted with the Raven Effect. This was nothing spectacular but stiff as all get out, and a step up from that Backlash encounter.
- Main event time, as Christopher Daniels must defend the X-Division title against both Samoa Joe and AJ Styles in the only TNA match to ever receive 5 stars from Dave Meltzer. Regardless of however you feel about Meltzer and his much-maligned rating system, it's still a monumental achievement in a time where such praise was scarce, and it's absolutely well-earned. This was 22 minutes of frenetic action, kicking off with a legitimately hilarious moment of Joe and Styles aggravating Daniels by kicking him, and then blasting off from there. There's crazy dives from AJ, facial surgery via palm strikes and kicks by Joe, and insane spots layered on top of each other, with next to no downtime. AJ's Spiral Tap to break up the Coquina Clutch, springboard Shooting Star Press to the floor, and incredible hurricanrana after being monkey flipped were all highlights, as was Joe's twisting suicida and double overhead superplex. Daniels is somewhat left in the dust by his two counterparts, who are capable of so many more impressive feats than he can muster, but he plays an essential role taking offense, and playing up a few of the bigger moments for the camera. It comes down to AJ and Daniels, as the two real-life besties are able to thwart the Samoan menace, with AJ wearing down Joe with, of all things, a Torture Rack, and then is able to stop a pinfall exchange by manipulating Daniels' legs to set up a Styles Clash in a gorgeous piece of technical wrestling. That won't do it, as Joe expends the last of his energy breaking up the pinfall, then crashing and burning as Daniels sidesteps a dive. The champ is in perfect position to play the ultimate opportunist, bringing AJ up for the Angel's Wings, but Styles gets both arms hooked to hold Daniels down with a back bridge to begin a fifth reign as X-Division champion. Everything about this rocked, from the strikes to the elaborate spots to those last few minutes where signature moves took over, and the fire of the Impact Zone bolstered it's case as a true classic. Watch this match.
9/10
Unbreakable's weakest moment, was, unsurprisingly, the tag title match which was set-up for a failure after the tournament did little to impress, but just about everything else was on point. That being said, this card could've been King of the Ring 1995 level bad up until the main event, and still get a high score from me, there was no way to ruin anything about that match. As stated in the intro, I think for many fans, any positive aspect of TNA's legacy relies on Daniels, Joe, and Styles, and they delivered an impeccable masterpiece.
- Henry
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