Find the Ring, Save the Love (7/31 Impact Recap)

Impact opens with Jeremy Borash sitting with Booker T and Sharmell in their locker room.  Booker says that tonight will be a special night as he will give Samoa Joe a personal tour of his six sided ring of steel and weapons.  He then says that a personal friend will be there with them but Booker doesn’t say who that friend is.  Borash asks if it is Sting, but Booker doesn’t respond to his question.

A special Impact video game intro airs as we are welcomed to the show that will feature the special tour, a Knockout tag team match and a number one contenders match to the tag team titles, which is up right now.

Match 1: Beer Money, Inc. vs. Christian Cage & Rhino
Even the intro videos are filled with video game footage tonight, which is actually a nice way to promote the game by showing actual footage interlaced with the wrestler’s intro video.  The match begins and both Rhino and Cage work over Roode and pick up a near fall in the early part of this match.  Roode is finally able to tag in Storm, but he doesn’t fair well against the War Machine.

Cage enters the match and delivers a neckbreaker from the middle rope and gets a near fall, but Storm is able to kick out before the three count.  Roode makes a blind tag into the match but Cage is able to take out both Roode and Storm and send them out to the floor.  While they are all on the outside, Storm spits beer into Cage’s face and Rhino sends him crashing into the guard railing as we head into a commercial break.

We return to the match to see Roode and Storm working together against Cage, however, Cage is able to land a desperation DDT on Roode as they both make it to their corners to tag in their partners.  Rhino comes in and cleans house against his opponents and nearly picks up the win but his pin fall is broken up by Roode.

Brother Ray comes down and causes a distraction and Johnny Devine comes in with a kendo stick and tries to use it on Rhino, but he misses.  Storm, however, picks up the stick but is gored before he gets a chance to use it.  Rhino goes for the pin but Roode pulls Earl Hebner out of the ring as Brother Devon comes out but is double teamed by Rhino and Cage as Jacqueline gets involved which causes a distraction for Roode to get in a couple of shots with the kendo stick.  As Hebner is tied up with Jacqueline, Team 3D land the 3D on Rhino, which allows Storm to pick up the win.

After the match, Cage gets on a microphone and says that Team 3D has screwed them for the very last time.  Cage then challenges them to a New Jersey Street Fight at Hard Justice, to see who finally ends who.

Lauren is backstage with the Rock n’ Rave Infection and Christy Hemme, who hypes her the six-man tag match with the RnR Infection and Johnny Devine against the Curry Man, Shark Boy and Jay Lethal.  Hemme also says that the three of them are living their gimmick as rock stars.

Match 2: Johnny Devine/Rock n’ Rave Infection vs. Curry Man/Shark Boy/Jay Lethal
The Rock n’ Rave Infection and Devine go on the attack before the bell rings but their advantage doesn’t last long as Mike Tenay and Don West state that Jay Lethal will face Sonjay Dutt in a chain match at Hard Justice.  The heels are able to gain control over the match against Curry Man and they even pick up a pin attempt.

Curry Man is able to make the tag into Jay Lethal, who comes in and cleans house against all three of his opponents before this match breaks down with all six in the ring.  Shark Boy dives over the top rope and takes out the RnR Infection on the floor as Jay Lethal counters the Devine Intervention with the Lethal Combination to pick up the win.

After the match, Jay Lethal asks SoCal Val to come into the ring.  Lethal drops down to one knee and is about to ask for his hand in marriage and notices that she is no longer wearing their engagement ring.  Val claims that she must have lost it as Lethal flips out and says that she probably didn’t want to marry him in the first place.  A distraught Lethal leaves Val standing in the ring alone.

Jeremy Borash is backstage with CMT’s Lance Smith as Super Eric comes into the picture.  Eric talks about the relationship between Lethal and Val and says “find the ring, save the love.”  Super Eric goes out to help save their marriage as Smith looks on in disbelief.

After a commercial break, Borash meets up with Samoa Joe and tells him about the personal tour that Booker promised to give him later on tonight.  He hopes that Sting will be there waiting in the cage as well as there will only be one person walking out of it, and that is Samoa Joe.  A video package highlighting the history between Joe, Booker and Sting is aired as Mike Tenay and Don West talk about wanting to hear directly from Sting on the situation.

Borash is backstage with Kevin Nash who wants him to talk to Samoa Joe.  Joe says he is upset due to the sneak attacks at the hands of Sting as Nash says he has his back and they need to have a plan.  The two then head off to form said plan.

Booker T comes out to the ring, which has the Six Sides of Steel around it with weapons hanging from the cage walls and throughout the ring.  Booker invites Samoa Joe to come out to the ring and promises him that the lights will not go out.  Samoa Joe comes out and warns Booker that if he gets into the cage he will beat his ass before entering the cage.

Samoa Joe brandishes a weapon as Kevin Nash quietly locks the cage door behind him.  Joe then attacks Booker by sending him face first into the cage a few times as Sharmell comes out, but she is quickly taken to the back by Nash.  Suddenly, a black bat repels down into the ring, which Booker grabs and uses to lay out Samoa Joe in the middle of the ring.

Another vignette for Sheik Abdul Bashir aired where he talks about America’s problems.  He blames the American people for the troubles that face this country and says that the American people are bound to repeat history as they have no history of their own.

AJ Styles is standing in the Six Sides of Steel and calls out Sting.  Styles says that he has been defending him but everyone wants to know what is going on with him.  Styles then says that three coincidences with the black bat is doubtful and wants to know why he is hiding.  Styles call him a coward as the lights then go out and we hear Sting’s music, however, Kurt Angle appears in the ring and delivers three Olympic slams to Styles.

Jeremy Borash is in the locker room with the Beautiful People and they are arguing with Shark Boy and Curry Man who are looking for SoCal Val’s engagement ring.  Shark Boy wants to do a full body cavity search but they are rejected as they say they have to get a match to get ready for.  They then talk about if “she” is ready for tonight’s match.  Borash asks who “she” is, but they tell him that they will find out soon enough.

Lauren is backstage with Petey Williams and Rhaka Khan.  Lauren asks how he prepared for his match against Consequences Creed tonight and Williams thinks he is just another challenger that TNA is throwing at him.  Williams says that Creed hasn’t beaten anyone and hasn’t proven himself yet.

Match 3: Consequences Creed vs. Petey Williams
Hermie Sadler joins the announce booth for this match up, who compares Creed to a young NASCAR driver.  Creed and Williams go back and forth and Creed is able to pick up the first near fall in this match.  Creed leaps off the top rope and lands a bulldog on Williams but Williams is able to eventually knock Creed out to the floor and follows with a diving hurricanrana onto the floor.

Williams rolls Creed back into the ring and works him over for a bit until Creed counters with a kick to the face.  Rhaka Khan distracts the referee but Creed is able to send Williams flying into her sending her off the apron and onto the floor.  Creed then misses with a top rope leg drop as Williams sets up for the Canadian Destroyer, but Creed counters into a pin fall and picks up the win.

Shark Boy and Curry Man are backstage with the LAX and are still looking for Val’s ring.  Salinas tells Shark Boy that they are not thieves as the rest of them shout over each other like usual.  Curry Man shows off his gang symbols but Homicide tells him to leave.  Super Eric comes into the picture and tells them to get back to the headquarters as there has been a big break in their case.

Lauren is backstage with AJ Styles who is holding an ice pack to the back of his neck.  Styles says that he will be the first person to greet Sting once he comes out of hiding.  As far as Angle goes, he wants a Last Man Standing match and promises that Angle will not get up for it.

Jim Cornette joins the broadcast team and hype the Hard Justice pay-per-view by running down the current card.  Cornette says that Team 3D accepted the New Jersey Street Fight against Christian Cage & Rhino and that we will see a rematch between Petey Williams and Consequences Creed for the X Division title.

Part two of Karen’s Angle with Kaz is aired next and they talk about Kaz’s return to TNA in 2006.  Kaz says that he made the most out of all of the opportunities that TNA gave him but he is full of guilt now after losing the Ultimate X match at Victory Road.  Kaz says that he has met with TNA management and after this interview he will no longer be on the TNA roster.  He then thanks the wrestlers and fans as Karen hopes that he returns one day.

After the interview segment was over, Tomko appear on the set and tossed around the furniture and says that he will be in her face each and every week to make her life a living hell and tells the camera man to turn off the camera.

Lauren is in the locker room with Kevin Nash and asks what is going through Sting’s mind.  Nash says that for some reason he has gone to the dark side as Samoa Joe enters the picture and says he is going to go into the rafters and break every bone in his body.

Match 4: Matt Morgan vs. Sal Rinauro
Morgan totally dominated Rinauro, who is wearing shorts on one leg and pants on the other.  Morgan takes him down with the Hellevator and picks up the pin fall.

Morgan grabs a microphone and calls out Tomko for picking on females but says that he probably can’t hear him since his head is so far up Kurt Angle’s ass.  Tomko comes out and the two stare off until the come to blows as security enter the ring and separate the two.  Tomko begins to leave but comes back once Morgan turns his back and attacks him from behind, but Morgan is able to level him with a big boot and a Hellevator.

Jeremy Borash is backstage with the Price Justice Brotherhood as they are looking at video from last week and see that Sonjay Dutt stole SoCal Val’s engagement ring.  This will be continued next week.

Jeremy Borash is backstage with Team 3D and Beer Money, Inc.  Brother Ray says that they are now the best of friends as they realized that they are all scum bags.  He then says that they four of them will be teaming together next week and they will be facing Cage,Rhino and the LAX in an eight-man no disqualification match.  Brother Ray then promises that someone will be going through a table next week… maybe even a glass table.

A TNA Rough Cut segment is aired and this time it is about Taylor Wilde and how she has come up as an underdog.  Bill DeMott is part of the package as well and was happy for her when she won the title.  A couple of the Knockouts didn’t like her winning the title and that she now has a title on her back.

Match 5: The Beautiful People vs. Gail Kim & Taylor Wilde
Taylor Wilde holds her own against the Beautiful People in the ring at the start of this tag team match.  Kim is tagged in and works over Angelina Love until Velvet Sky pushes her into the ring post to turn the tide for her team.  As we head into a commercial break, we see Samoa Joe heading up into the rafters.

We return to see the Beautiful People still working together to wear down Gail Kim.  Kim is able to crawl over to her corner to tag in Wilde, who takes out both Love and Sky and nearly picks up the pin fall.  All four are in the ring but Love sends Kim flying out to the floor and levels Wilde with a big boot.  Wilde, however, is able to make a comeback and with the help of Kim, pins Velvet Sky with a sunset flip.

The battle between these two teams continues as Awesome Kong comes down to the ring with a purpose.  Wilde and Kim try to team up against the big woman, but Kong takes them both down with a double clothesline.  Kong then takes them both out with an Awesome Bomb as ODB runs into the ring with a bottle in her hand.  Roxxi also comes out with a chair and chase Kong out of the ring as the Beautiful People leave with Kong and Raisha Saeed.

Samoa Joe continues to search in the rafters and we see a crow on a ledge as Impact comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Beer Money, Inc. defeated Christian Cage & Rhino by pin fall to become the #1 Contenders to the Tag Team Championship.
- Curry Man/Shark Boy/Jay Lethal defeated Johnny Devine/Rock n’ Rave Infection by pin fall.
- Consequences Creed defeated Petey Williams by pin fall.
- Matt Morgan defeated Sal Rinauro by pin fall.
- Gail Kim & Taylor Wilde defeated the Beautiful People by pin fall.

Starman’s Thoughts
To me, it almost seemed like TNA didn’t even really try tonight.  I did like that several Hard Justice matches were set up or touched upon and the Impact video game footage interlaced with the regular video footage was a cool addition.  Other than that, the matches seemed to pretty much be filler and the majority of the time was devoted to backstage and interview segments.  Not enjoyable backstage segments either, but things like the Prince Justice Brotherhood looking for SoCal Val’s engagement ring that she lost a week ago before her fiancé even noticed.

Maybe I missed something early on, but I was not under the impression that the Knockouts tag team match was going to be the main event of the night.  About an hour into the broadcast, I started to think to myself what exactly the main event was going to be and soon found out that it was the Beautiful People against Gail Kim & Taylor Wilde.  The Knockouts are great, but a regular tag team match with nothing on the line isn’t exactly what I would consider main event worthy.  At least Awesome Kong made her return and is back into the fold but any focus whatsoever seemed to have been lost during this show.

Seeing as the main event was a let down, I figured there would be more to the show as Samoa Joe set out to find Sting in the rafters.  What Joe found, though, was a crow hanging out on a ledge.  Impact then comes to a close.  I can’t think of anything else to say about that except it was a huge disappointment.  And that basically sums up this show in a nutshell.