Icons vs. Attitude (9/25 TNA Impact Recap)

Impact opens with a recap of Jeff Jarrett’s emotional speech from last week and the small cameo appearance made by Mick Foley.  The Impact intro then hits and we are welcomed to tonight’s show that will feature Sheik Abdul Bashir against Samoa Joe and a Loser’s Manager Leaves Town match between Beer Money and the LAX.  Plus, Booker T will take on AJ Styles in the main event.

Jeff Jarrett’s music hits as he comes down to the ring with a guitar in his hand.  Jarrett gets on the microphone as Mike Tenay says he has a major announcement to make.  Jarrett tells the crowd that TNA has signed Mick Foley and calls him the greatest acquisition in the history of the company and says that he will be in the Impact Zone next week.

Kurt Angle’s music cuts off Jarrett’s news as he comes down to the ring with a microphone.  Angle says that he has carried the company on his back for the past two years  turned the outhouse into a penthouse and calls both Jarrett and Foley “yesterday’s news.”

Jarrett apologizes for his comments from last week and tells Angle that he was able to get his gold medal back from AJ Styles and calls Angle a true American hero for winning the medal in 1996.  This generosity seems to confuse Angle as he tells Jarrett to get out of his ring.  Angle says he knows he is great and calls Jarrett a washed up failure and a quitter.  Jarrett gets in Angle’s face and says he isn’t a quitter and grants him his wish for a match at Bound for Glory.

Mike Tenay and Don West hype the two big matches already signed for Bound for Glory IV and next week’s arrival of Mick Foley as we head into the first match of the night.

Match 1: The Rock n’ Rave Infection vs. Matt Morgan & Abyss
Jimmy Rave starts out against Abyss and his chops have no effect on him as he quickly tags in Lance Rock.  Matt Morgan is tagged in and he takes Rock down with a cross body block and tosses Rave out to the floor before Christy Hemme causes a distraction giving the RnR Infection an opening.  It doesn’t last long as Morgan is able to make the tag to Abyss, who delivers a Black Hole Slam on Rock and a Shock Treatment for Rave.  Morgan is tagged back in and he gives the Hellevator to Rave and makes picks up the three count.

After the match, Team 3D comes out of the ramp and Brother Devon calls their victory at No Surrender a fluke.  Devon lists off their past accomplishments with winning tag team gold 20 times.  Brother Ray chimes in and makes the tag team invitational match at Bound for Glory a Monster’s Ball match.  Abyss doesn’t like the match and begins pulling his hair out in the corner.

The newest installment of TNA’s Rough Cut is aired and Roxxi talks about women and hardcore wrestling.  Terry Taylor says that he is conflicted with hardcore women’s wrestling while Roxxi thinks that it is something that could be embraced.

Lauren is standing by with Beer Money and Jacqueline and asks for their thoughts on tonight’s match.  James Storm says that Jacqueline has been in TNA since day one and she isn’t going anywhere.  He says that she completes Beer Money but Roode appears to be a little worried about it.  Storm promises not to lose her on his watch.

Match 2: Awesome Kong vs. Mercedes Steele
Kong comes out alone and is continually looking over her shoulder to see if Raisha Saeed is coming out of the tunnel but she doesn’t appear.  The crowd begins a “Kong’s gonna kill you chant,” as Steele tries to muster up some offense.  Kong runs her down as Saeed finally comes out with a pair of chairs.  Kong toys with Steele a bit before finally taking her out with an Awesome Bomb.

Raisha Saeed slides in the chairs and as Kong is about to deliver another Awesome Bomb to Steele on the chair, Saeed crushes Kong with a chair shot to the back before leveling her with a chair shot across the head.  Saeed removes her mask to reveal that it is actually Roxxi as she begins to lay into Kong before security comes in to break them apart.  The real Raisha Saeed then appears in the tunnel and has her arms tied together with rope.

Christian Cage is this week’s guest on Karen’s Angle.  Karen talks about the locker room being divided with the young stars going against the veterans and asks where Cage falls into this.  Cage says he falls somewhere in the middle as he said the younger stars aren’t household names and the veterans helped get them the exposure.

On the flip side, he can see where the younger guys stand by seeing some of the older stars not passing the torch and says that they need to use this as an opportunity to prove that they belong at the top of the business.  Cage won’t pick a side but says that he is like an unrestricted free agent and will keep a close eye on what is going on.

Lauren is standing by with the LAX and asks them for their thoughts on tonight’s match up.  Hector Guerrero says that they are family and they will not let each other down.  Guerrero goes on to say that blood is thicker than water and says some more things in Spanish before ending the interview.

Jeremy Borash is in Booker T’s locker room and asks for his thoughts about his match against AJ Styles.  Booker says he did more in his first six minutes in TNA than AJ Styles has done in six years.  He then warns Styles to keep his enemies close and his friends closer.  Borash then wonders what is in the briefcase he has been carrying around and Sharmell slaps his hands before Booker tells him to leave.

Match 3: The LAX vs. Beer Money, Inc. (Loser’s Manager Must Leave)
Homicide holds his own against James Storm and Robert Roode before tagging in Hector Guerrero, who comes in and gives Roode the Three Amigos.  Jacqueline comes in and hits Guerrero from behind before running out of the ring and up the ramp with Guerrero in hot pursuit.

After a commercial break, we return to see Beer Money in control as Storm is biting Homicide in the forehead.  The managers are still absent from the ring apron as Homicide nails a DDT from the middle rope before rolling into their corner to tag in Hernandez.  The big man comes in a tosses Beer Money around for a bit but the numbers game proves to be too much for him.

Some miscommunication between Beer Money gives the LAX the advantage.  Jacqueline and Guerrero run back into the ring and the confusion distracts the LAX but Hernandez is able to still take out Roode and Storm with a dive over the top rope.  Homicide follows up with the Gringo Cutter and he chases Jacqueline up the ramp as Roode nails Hernandez with Storm’s beer helmet.  The referee’s back was turned and didn’t see what happened as he makes the three count and Hector Guerrero must now leave the LAX.

Footage from earlier in the day is aired where Lauren is with Sonjay Dutt and SoCal Val where they are having a “love-in.”  Dutt and Val talk about Dutt’s rich father as they begin to sing John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance,” with the word “peace” changed to “us.”

Sting comes out to the ring and says that Jarrett is going to listen to him tonight.  Sting says he knows the real Jeff Jarrett and says that he is leaving out some details as Jarrett was the one who called him up and asked him to come out of retirement.  Sting says that he was also contacted by Vince McMahon but he decided to come to TNA, so money isn’t what fuels his desires.

Sting shows off some photos of older stars that brought him up, such as Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.  Sting says that Flair decided to make him a star because Sting showed him respect.  He goes on to say that Samoa Joe doesn’t know how to be a champion and he is going to take care of business at Bound for Glory.

We head to the back where Abyss is freaking out and Matt Morgan is trying to calm him down.  Abyss says that he promised his therapist that he wouldn’t use any more weapons.  Morgan says he needs to step up to his fears and gives him a motivational speech.

A preview of the Steel Asylum match is aired with footage from the last match at Sacrifice is aired.

Jeremy Borash is in the locker room with Samoa Joe, who apologizes to Kevin Nash and says that he is calm, cool and collected and waiting for his prey.  Joe says his match against Sting isn’t about respect, but fear of a man taking another man’s spot.  Joe says he is done screaming and making proclamations and will let his talking go on in the ring.  Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed stop by to thank Joe for all that he is doing and says that they will be there for him if needed.

Another Suicide vignette airs where he says it is time to escape from his own self destruction and show his face once more.  Patience, then payback.

Match 4: Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Samoa Joe (Non-title Match)
Joe tosses and powers Bashir around the ring in the opening moments of the match.  Bashir is finally able to duck out of the line of Joe’s attacks and heads straight for Joe’s knees.  Bashir finally misses with a high risk move and picks up the pieces before gaining a near fall after a back splash.

Bashir is able to turn the tide once again and continues to work on Joe’s knee.  Bashir’s offense is short lived, though, as Joe is able to slam him hard down to the mat and then finish Bashir off with the Muscle Buster.

After the match, Joe wants to show Sting his respect and he locks Bashir in the rear naked choke.  The referee’s come out to pull Joe off as Rudy Charles reverses his decision and awards the victory to Bashir via disqualification.

A video package highlighting AJ Styles is aired as we see him standing by with Jeremy Borash.  Styles talks about what Booker T said about friends and enemies and says that Booker isn’t going to drive a wedge between him and Christian Cage and tells Booker that he will see him in the ring.

Match 5: Booker T vs. AJ Styles
Christian Cage comes out prior to the match up to get a good view of this one.  The bell rings as these two go back and forth in the opening minutes of this match.  Styles tries for the first pin fall and only picks up a count of one.  Styles tries for another early pin fall after landing an ensuguri but only gets a two count as we head into a commercial.

We return to see Booker nail Styles with a big kick to the head and he is in control of this match up.  Booker lays into Styles with a series of chops as Cage looks on from the entrance ramps.  Booker drives Styles down hard with a spinebuster, but it isn’t enough to put Styles away.

Styles begins to fight back and takes Booker down with a flying forearm, but Booker is able to kick out of a pin attempt and again after a Pele kick.  Booker then drops Styles with a knee to the gut and Styles inadvertently runs into Earl Hebner and takes him out.

Sharmell comes into the ring with the briefcase and is about to hit Styles from behind, but Cage runs into the ring and grabs the case from her.  Booker then pushes Styles into Cage, which sends Cage out to the floor, and nails Styles in the head with the case.  Hebner recovers to make the pin fall and Booker T steals the victory.

Cage looks on with a concerned look on his face as Mike Tenay and Don West wonder what he is thinking and what side he will go on.  Styles and Cage get into an argument as it appears that Styles is blaming Cage for his lost.

One final push for Mick Foley Impact debut is aired and the voiceover guy says that we won’t believe what he has to say next week on a monumental edition of Impact as this week’s broadcast comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Matt Morgan & Abyss defeated the Rock n’ Rave Infection by pin fall.
- Awesome Kong defeated Mercedes Steele by pin fall.
- Beer Money, Inc. defeated the LAX by pin fall in a Loser’s Manager Must Leave match.
- Sheik Abdul Bashir defeated Samoa Joe by disqualification.
- Booker T defeated AJ Styles by pin fall.

Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s show is exactly how Impact should be like going into their biggest event of the year.  It seems that they were firing on all cylinders tonight as the promo work was stellar once again and the matches, although short, were a lot of fun to watch.

Both Sting and Jeff Jarrett have been showing an new found fire and intensity on the microphone as of late that I am actually interested in what they have to say for once.  Furthermore, others such as Brother Devon and James Storm are even upping their game and delivering the goods on the mic as well.

I haven’t heard Devon talk that much in a long time and it was a refreshing change from always hearing Brother Ray.  James Storm, on the other hand, did great what his part and it was nice seeing that they were making such a big deal of the manager vs. manager match that went on tonight.

TNA did a wonderful job hyping that match, as well as hyping Mick Foley’s Impact debut that will happen next week.  At first, I thought it was a mistake to keep Foley from appearing at the set of tapings, however, with Jeff Jarrett returning to the fold, it was actually a smart move on their part.

They let Jarrett’s return cool down before bringing in another huge name, and for that I applaud them.  Both Jarrett and Foley coming in at the same time would have lessened the impact that each brought to the table.  I’m not sure what Foley will be doing upon his arrival, but I can honestly say that I am looking forward to it.

I have begun to notice recently that Raisha Saeed has been wearing more and more makeup around her eyes as of late.  This got me to thinking that her outfit could be used to hide another person in it.  In my mind, there would have been no better way to reintroduce Gail Kim into the Knockout fold had she resigned with the company than to see her take out Kong while hiding behind Saeed’s burka.

A couple of days after I was thinking about this, Roxxi hides herself in Saeed’s outfit and takes Kong out with a couple of chair shots.  Not exactly what I was envisioning, but it worked nonetheless.  Although, I will have to say that my thought was a lot better than what happened on the screen.  Oh well, at least it looks like Roxxi is getting her due in the Knockout division.  Too bad the Knockout Championship won’t be on the line when she eventually faces off against Kong.

Finally, I want to give a shout out to my team, the Minnesota Twins, for the three game sweep against the Chicago White Sox to take control of the American League Central.  The final game in the three game series actually took precedence over Impact this week and it was a game for the ages.

The game had all of the excitement of a playoff game or World Series game and it even gave me goose bumps at times.  Hopefully, with three games left in the season, the Twins will be able to hold on the first place and win another division championship en route to take on the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.