Monster's Ball match

A Monster's Ball match is a professional wrestling, hardcore match staged by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The name is derived from the 2001 film Monster's Ball.

The key premise of the match was that all contenders are sequestered alone in a locked room without light, food or water for twenty-four hours before the match. This stipulation is intended to induce extreme feelings of aggression in the competitors. Once released, the wrestlers fight one another in a no disqualification match, with the usage of weapons encouraged. Victory can be achieved by pinfall or submission, with the match ending as soon as one wrestler is pinned or submits (there is no elimination format). The locked away stipulation was simply forgotten about, however, and not mentioned since the sixth one. It is now simply a Street Fight, as the match has to end inside the Ring.

Due to the hardcore nature of the match, the Monster's Ball typically features numerous high spots. There has been a total of ten official matches, plus eleven occurring on TNA non-televised "house shows" and one match dubbed "Monster's Ball" by a non-affiliated company, although it featured TNA wrestler Abyss. There is apparently no set number of wrestlers although it is generally four. The smallest official match was a one-on-one match at Bound for Glory (2009) and Slammiversary VIII.

Match history

No.	Event, Date and Location	Match	Details
I	Victory Road (2004) November 7, 2004, Orlando, Florida	Monty Brown defeated Raven and Abyss	Brown pinned Raven after a Pounce through a table.
II	Bound for Glory (2005) October 23, 2005, Orlando, Florida	Rhino defeated Abyss, Sabu and Jeff Hardy	Rhino pinned Hardy after a Rhino Driver off the middle rope.
III	TNA House Show June 10, 2006, Wayne, New Jersey	Samoa Joe defeated Abyss and Rhino	(unofficial) Joe forced Rhino to submit with the Coquina Clutch.
IV	TNA House Show September 29, 2006, Richmond, Virginia	Rhino defeated Abyss[1][2]
V	Bound for Glory (2006) October 22, 2006, Plymouth Township, Michigan	Samoa Joe defeated Brother Runt, Raven and Abyss	Joe pinned Raven after a Muscle Buster. Jake "The Snake" Roberts was the Special Guest Referee
VI	Bound for Glory (2007) October 14, 2007, Duluth, Georgia	Abyss defeated Raven, Black Reign and Rhino	Abyss pinned Raven after a Black Hole Slam onto a pile of broken glass and thumbtacks.
VII	Bound for Glory IV October 12, 2008, Hoffman Estates, Illinois	Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) (with Jacqueline) (c) defeated Abyss and Matt Morgan, Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) and The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez) to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship	Beer Money, Inc. won when James Storm pinned Hernandez after Team 3D put him through a table with thumb tacks on top. Steve "Mongo" McMichael was the special referee.
VIII	Sacrifice (2009) May 24, 2009, Orlando, Florida	Taylor Wilde defeated Daffney (with Abyss and Dr. Stevie)	Wilde pinned Daffney after slamming her with a fireman's carry takeover on top of a garbage can. First ever Knockouts Monster's Ball match.
IX	Slammiversary (2009) June 21, 2009, Auburn Hills, Michigan	Abyss and Taylor Wilde defeated Raven and Daffney (with Dr. Stevie)	Abyss pinned Raven after Black Hole Slamming him onto a pile of thumbtacks. First ever mixed tag team Monster's Ball match.
X	Bound for Glory (2009) October 18, 2009, Irvine, California	Abyss defeated Mick Foley	Abyss pinned Foley after chokeslamming him onto a barbed wire board. Dr. Stevie was the special guest referee for the match.
XI	House show November 9, 2009, Nashville, Tennessee	Abyss defeated Rhino
XII	TNA Impact! May 3, 2010, Orlando, Florida	A.J. Styles defeated Abyss
XIII	Slammiversary VIII June 13, 2010, Orlando, Florida	Abyss defeated Desmond Wolfe
XIV	House show July 2, 2010, Brooklyn, New York	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss[3]
XV	House show July 23, 2010, Bloomington, Illinois	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss[4]
XVI	House show July 24, 2010, LaPorte, Indiana	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss[5][6]
XVII	House show August 13, 2010, Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss[7]
XVIII	House show August 14, 2010, Thibodaux, Louisiana	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss[8]	Mick Foley was the Special Guest Referee
XIX	House show September 16, 2010, York, Pennsylvania	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss[9]
XX	House show September 17, 2010, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss[10]
XXI	House show September 23, 2010, New York City, New York	Tommy Dreamer defeated Abyss[11]	Mick Foley was the Special Guest Referee
XXII	House show September 25, 2010, Rahway, New Jersey	Abyss defeated Tommy Dreamer[12]
XXIII	Bound for Glory October 10, 2010, Daytona Beach, Florida	Rob Van Dam defeated Abyss[13]
XXIV	House show October 15, 2010, Racine, Wisconsin	Tommy Dreamer defeated Abyss[14]
XXV	House show October 16, 2010, Dubuque, Iowa	Tommy Dreamer defeated Abyss[15]
XXVI	House show October 17, 2010, Hoffman Estates, Illinois	Tommy Dreamer defeated Abyss[16]	Mick Foley was the Special Guest Referee
XXVII	House show October 21, 2010, Grand Rapids, Michigan	Abyss defeated Sabu[17]
XXVIII	House show October 22, 2010, Cadillac, Michigan	Abyss defeated Sabu[18]
XXIX	House show October 23, 2010, Saginaw, Michigan	Abyss defeated Sabu[19]
XXX	House show October 24, 2010, Port Huron, Michigan	Abyss defeated Sabu[20]
XXXI	House show April 9, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Abyss defeated Tommy Dreamer[21]

Monster's Ball I

The first Monster's Ball took place on November 7, 2004 at Victory Road (2004). It took a triple threat match format and included Monty Brown, Raven and Abyss.

The events leading to the Monster's Ball began on the September 29, 2004 episode of TNA Impact!, when then-TNA Director of Authority Vince Russo announced that a four man tournament would be held to determine the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, with the winner receiving a title shot against then-champion Jeff Jarrett at Victory Road. On the October 8 episode of Impact!, Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss and Monty Brown defeated Raven to advance to the tournament finals. On October 15, Hardy pinned Brown to win the tournament in a match that saw both Abyss and Raven interfere.

On October 22, both Raven and Abyss attacked Brown after he defeated a jobber in a squash match. This led to the Monster's Ball match being scheduled for Victory Road. On November 5, two days before the match, Abyss revealed to Brown that the sack which he had carried with him for the past several weeks was full of thumbtacks.

The Monster's Ball saw Brown pin Raven after Pouncing him through a table. In the course of the match, Abyss attempted to superplex Brown onto a pile of thumbtacks, but was instead powerbombed onto the thumbacks himself by Raven. The match was observed by a hooded figure, later revealed to be the returning James Mitchell.

Monster's Ball II

Monster's Ball II took place on October 23, 2005 at Bound for Glory (2005). It was a four way match that featured Abyss, Jeff Hardy, Rhino and Sabu.

The second Monster's Ball was scheduled after both Abyss and Sabu interfered in a match between Jeff Hardy and Rhino on the October 1, 2005 episode of Impact!. In the weeks prior to the match, Rhino defeated Sabu on October 15, while Abyss teamed with Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown to defeat Hardy, A.J. Styles and Lance Hoyt on October 22.

Rhino pinned Hardy to win the match following a Rhino-Driver off the middle rope. During the course of the match, Hardy delivered a Swanton Bomb onto Abyss, putting him through a table in the process, from a height of approximately thirty feet.

Monster's Ball III

Monster's Ball III took place on June 10, 2006 at a TNA house show in Wayne, New Jersey. It was a three way match featuring Abyss, Rhino and Samoa Joe. The match was won by Samoa Joe, who forced Rhino to submit with the Coquina Clutch.^{[citation needed]}

Monster's Ball IV

Monster's Ball IV took place on September 29, 2006 at a house show in Richmond, Virginia. It was a one-on-one match between Abyss and Rhino. The match was won by Rhino following a Gore through a table.^{[citation needed]}

Monster's Ball V

Monster's Ball V took place on October 22, 2006 at Bound for Glory (2006) in Plymouth Township, Michigan and featured Abyss, Brother Runt, Raven and Samoa Joe with special guest referee Jake "The Snake" Roberts. This match was very brutal within the opening minutes, as it saw Abyss throw Brother Runt into the crowd where they threw him back over the guard rail. It also saw Abyss and Runt going up to the balcony where Abyss Chokeslammed Runt off it then jumped down with him. But Abyss took some pain when he took out the tacks and it backfired when Samoa Joe back splashed him onto the tacks. Joe pinned Raven after a Muscle Buster.

Monster's Ball VI

Monster's Ball VI was announced on October 4 and took place at Bound for Glory (2007) on October 14, 2007 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. The participants were Raven, Rhino, Abyss and Black Reign, where Abyss finally won his first Ball after being unsuccessful in the last five. He pinned Raven after a Black Hole Slam onto a pile of broken glass and thumbtacks. It is worth noting that announcers Mike Tenay and Don West referred to this Monster's Ball as the fourth that TNA has put on, seemingly excluding the two which happened at the house shows.

Monster's Ball VII

Monster's Ball VII took place at Bound for Glory IV and is the first ever Tag Team Monster's Ball match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. The teams in the match were Abyss, who would be appearing in his seventh Monster's Ball match, and Matt Morgan, Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon), The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez), and Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm), who were the champions. Halfway through, Abyss was taken out by being double-chokeslammed through a flaming table. The match ended when 3D put Hernandez through a table with thumb tacks on it, with Beer Money, Inc spitting beer in Devon's face and stealing the pin to retain the titles.

Monster's Ball VIII

Monster's Ball VIII took place at Sacrifice 2009 and was the first ever TNA Knockout Monster's Ball match. In the match, Taylor Wilde defeated Daffney, who had Abyss and Dr. Stevie in her corner.

Monster's Ball IX

Monster's Ball IX took place at Slammiversary 2009 and was the first ever mixed tag team Monster's Ball. In the match Abyss and Taylor Wilde defeated Raven and Daffney. Abyss pinned Raven after both he and Daffney were slammed onto a pile of thumbtacks.

Monster's Ball X

The tenth Monster's Ball took place at Bound for Glory, where Abyss faced Mick Foley in a match refereed by Dr. Stevie. Abyss pinned Foley after chokeslamming him on a barbed wire board and counting the pin with the hand of the unconscious Stevie.

Monster's Ball XI

The eleventh Monster's Ball match took place in a House Show in Nashville where Abyss faced off 'The War Machine' Rhino. The match saw Abyss win by pinfall.

Monster's Ball XII

The twelfth Monster's Ball took place on the May 3, 2010, edition of Impact!, where A.J. Styles defeated Abyss via pinfall.

Monster's Ball XIII

The thirteenth Monster's Ball took place on June 13, 2010, at Slammiversary VIII, where Abyss defeated Desmond Wolfe, when Wolfe's valet Chelsea turned on him.

Monster's Ball XIV

The fourteenth Monster's Ball took place on July 2, 2010, at a TNA House Show in Brooklyn, New York, where Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss after a splash over thumbtacks.^[22]

Non-TNA Monster's Ball

The twelfth Monster's Ball match (although not a "real" Monster's Ball match as it was unassociated with TNA) was announced by John Cena Sr. (father of John Cena), president of the Massachusetts-based Millennium Wrestling Federation on its MWF Xtra online show to take place at their Night of Champions show (eight days prior to WWE's PPV of the same title) on June 21, 2008 at Good Time Emporium in Somerville, Massachusetts. Todd Hanson, who replaced Makua in the match, defeated Abyss, Rick Fuller and Brian Milonas to win the match and retain his MWF Heavyweight Championship.^[23][24] Through TNA's working relationship with Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (TNA), Verano de Escándalo on July 31, 2011, hosted a Monster's Ball match, where Chessman defeated Abyss, Extreme Tiger and Joe Líder.

References

1. ^ "TNA Live Events (2006)". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/tnalive/_2006/. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
2. ^ "Profile Abyss". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/a/abyss.html. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
3. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-07-02). "7/2 TNA Results: Brooklyn, NY". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1278123782. Retrieved 2010-07-03. 
4. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-07-24). "7/23 TNA Results: Bloomington, Illinois". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1279990744. Retrieved 2010-07-24. 
5. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-07-25). "7/24 TNA Results: LaPorte, Indiana". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1280069199. Retrieved 2010-07-25. 
6. ^ "7/24 TNA results in LaPorte, Ind.: Interesting night with rain at outdoor venue, Abyss vs. Hardy, Nash works around injury". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2010-07-25. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Arena_Reports_10/article_42698.shtml. Retrieved 2010-07-25. 
7. ^ Donlon, Jamie (2010-08-13). "8/13 TNA results in Baton Rouge, La.: Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss, Morgan vs. Pope, Nash vs. Jarrett". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Arena_Reports_10/article_43101.shtml. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
8. ^ G., Kyle (2010-08-14). "8/14 TNA results in Louisiana: Monster's Ball, Jarrett vs. Nash comedy match, Lethal vs. Styles". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Arena_Reports_10/article_43121.shtml. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
9. ^ Kurtz, Greg (2010-09-17). "9/16 TNA results in York, Pa.: Samoa Joe vs. Kaz, Hardy vs. Abyss Monster's Ball, matches in the rain". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Arena_Reports_10/article_43848.shtml. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
10. ^ Hale, Jack (2010-09-18). "9/17 TNA results in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: Hardy vs. Abyss, Machineguns vs. Ink, Inc., Joe, Jarrett, Styles". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Arena_Reports_10/article_43859.shtml. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
11. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-09-24). "9/23 TNA Results: New York City". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1285328352. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
12. ^ Martin, Adam (2010-09-26). "9/25 TNA Results: Rahway, New Jersey". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1285514106. Retrieved 2010-09-26. 
13. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-10-10). "Caldwell's TNA Bound for Glory PPV results 10-10-10: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV - Angle vs. Anderson vs. Hardy, "they" reveal". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnappvs/article_44417.shtml. Retrieved 2010-10-10. 
14. ^ Croyle, Joel C. (2010-10-16). "10/15 TNA Results from Racine, WI". PWInsider. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/51858/1015-tna-results-from-racine-wi.html?p=1. Retrieved 2010-10-16. 
15. ^ Martin, Adam (2010-10-17). "10/16 TNA Results: Dubuque, Iowa (Photos inside)". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1287295383. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
16. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-10-19). "10/17 TNA Results: Hoffman Estates, IL". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1287536266. Retrieved 2010-10-19. 
17. ^ Martin, Adam (2010-10-22). "10/21 TNA Results: Grand Rapids, Michigan". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1287721552. Retrieved 2010-10-22. 
18. ^ Ryan (2010-10-24). "10/22 TNA results in Cadillac, Mich.: Styles vs. RVD main event, Machineguns vs. GenMe, Monster's Ball, three TNA titles defended". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Arena_Reports_10/article_44748.shtml. Retrieved 2010-10-24. 
19. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-10-24). "10/23 TNA Results: Saginaw, MI". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1287934066. Retrieved 2010-10-24. 
20. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-10-25). "10/24 TNA Results: Port Huron, Michigan". Wrestleview. http://www.wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1287983635. Retrieved 2010-10-25. 
21. ^ Wellek, William (2011-04-09). "4/9 TNA in Pittsburgh, Pa. Quick results on Angle vs. Jarrett in Angle's hometown, Monster's Ball match, Kazarian & Traci". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Arena_Reports_10/article_49195.shtml. Retrieved 2011-04-10. 
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Links

• Victory Road review
• Bound For Glory review
• TNA press release: Monster's Ball 2: Coming To "Bound For Glory"
• TNA house show review
• MWF XtraApril 2008 (during which John Cena Sr. announces Monster's Ball VII)