Impact opens with footage of the Bound for Glory IV pay-per-view where Sting walked out as the TNA World Champion. Jeff Jarrett also won his match against Kurt Angle and announced after the event that it was “one and done” with his comeback and is stepping away from the ring once again.
The Impact intro airs as we are welcomed to the show that will feature Kevin Nash’s return to the ring against Consequences Creed and Mick Foley will have his farewell address, plus all of the fallout from Bound for Glory. We then get an update on Abyss’ condition and we are told that he was treated for burns and released, however, he will not be in attendance tonight.
Match 1: Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Sonjay Dutt & Sheik Abdul Bashir
Prior to the match, Don West announces that Jay Lethal will get his title match against Sheik Abdul Bashir next week in Las Vegas. The bell rings and Dutt tries to strut his stuff in the ring, however, it allows Chris Sabin to go on the offensive and he takes control of the match until he is finally tripped up by Bashir.
Dutt isn’t able to capitalize though as he tags in Shelley, who ends up being tripped up by SoCal Val on the outside. With Shelley out on the floor, Sabin enters the ring again and continues to attack Dutt. When Shelley finally recovers, he lands the frog splash on Dutt to score the pin fall.
The post-match celebration for the Motorcity Machine Guns is short lived, however, as Kurt Angle comes out to the ring and tosses them around and takes them out each with a clothesline. Angle then nails Sonjay Dutt an Angle Slam before grabbing a microphone. Angle says that nobody sneaks in a victory against him and walks away from wrestling. He then promises to pick apart every member of the TNA roster until he gets Jarrett back into the ring.
Jeremy Borash catches up with Kevin Nash and talks about his unexpected return at Bound for Glory. Nash said it wasn’t that unexpected as someone bought his airline ticket and said that this was 10-months in the making, which is when Samoa Joe disrespected both him and Scott Hall.
Footage of the Samoa Joe/Sting match is aired, putting extra focus on Kevin Nash’s involvement in the match. Sting’s music then hits as the new champion comes down to the ring. Sting says that Joe was the better wrestler at Bound for Glory and admits to biting off more than he could chew. Sting then says that he knew he was beaten after 10 minutes into the match, however, Joe decided to take it too far and it cost him the match.
Sting then says that there were a group of people who shook his hand after the match and there was also a group that didn’t and AJ Styles was one of the ones who didn’t. Cue the music and AJ Styles makes his way down to the ring. Styles tells Sting that if he would listen he would get the respect he desires. Styles says he is on the road and making a living as Sting sits at home. He then brings up the young talent that built TNA and tells him that if he doesn’t like it, he knows where the door is.
Sting then begins to reference AJ Styles’ upbringing until Styles slaps him across the face. Sting is willing to let it go, but Styles doesn’t want him to as they begin to brawl until they are separated by security. Suddenly, Mike Tenay says he is getting word that there is something going on backstage.
We head to the back and see Kurt Angle laying into Curry Man. Shark Boy and Eric Young try to save their buddy, but they don’t have much luck and security has to come out and also separate them.
Jeremy Borash is in Booker T’s locker room and asks him about his upcoming match against Hernandez. Booker talks about big game hunting in his country and calls “Gonzalez” a young punk who will easily beat. Borash then pushes the brief case and Sharmell says that the contents will be revealed next week.
Match 2: Hernandez vs. Booker T
Booker and Hernandez go back and forth in the opening minutes of the match until Booker finally takes control of the match and slows the pace down with a headlock. He then tries to follow with an axe kick, but Hernandez gets out of the way and takes Booker down with a clothesline.
Hernandez powers Booker around and picks up a couple of near falls in the process. Hernandez finally tries to put Booker away with a Border Toss, however, Sharmell causes a distraction and Hernandez puts Booker down. This distraction allows Booker to land a low blow on Hernandez before nailing him in the head with the briefcase. Booker then hits the axe kick for the win.
There is more commotion backstage as Angle is attacking the Rock n’ Rave Infection. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all. Angle stares down Christy Hemme for a bit before leaving. I guess security wasn’t too concerned about them either.
Lauren is backstage with Roxxi, who uses some words that aren’t allowed on television. Lauren tries to tell her to watch her language, but Roxxi doesn’t seem to care and tells Awesome Kong to bring it before sarcastically apologizing to Spike TV.
After a commercial, Lauren catches up with Christy Hemme and asks about the Rock n’ Rave Infection. Hemme doesn’t want to talk and ends up running into the Beautiful People and Cute Kip. They talk about Hemme stealing their television time and how every little blemish on her skin will show up clear as day in high definition. Hemme fires back by giving them the finger which is retuned by a beat down before giving her the brown bag treatment.
Kurt Angle walks down to the ringside area and punches Dave Penzer before rolling him into the ring. Angle then begins beating him with his shoe before applying the ankle lock. Security and referees come into the ring, but they aren’t able to stop him. Jeff Jarrett’s music hits and Angle demands a rematch. Jarrett said it’s over and tells Angle to let it go. Angle then threatens Jarrett’s kids which drives Jarrett crazy and he has to be held back by security.
We are treated to a Bound for Glory video package just before Mick Foley comes down to the ring to make his farewell address. Foley says that his 23 years in wrestling was like being in his own theme park. Foley then says that the past few weeks have been an incredible thrill ride, but he can only be a special guest enforcer once and it is time to say goodbye.
A few of the wrestlers and referees met Foley on the ramp and say their goodbyes, however, Jarrett meets him at the tunnel and says that he cannot go out on these terms and asks for him to just have 10 minutes of his time to meet in his office.
We join the announce team who have Jim Cornette on the phone from Las Vegas. Cornette talks about Angle’s actions and books a match between Angle and Matt Morgan.
Match 3: Raisha Saeed vs. Roxxi
Jeremy Borash has taken over the ring introductions for the rest of the show after Dave Penzer was attacked by Kurt Angle. The match starts and Saeed is able to gain control early on in the match. Saeed finally misses with a missile dropkick which turns the tide of the match into Roxxi’s favor and she then turns her attention to Awesome Kong on the outside. After getting in a few licks on Kong, Roxxi returns to the ring and nails Saeed with the Voodoo Drop for the win. After the match, Kong enters the ring and levels Roxxi before delivering the Implant Buster.
Lauren is backstage with Matt Morgan and says he has a main event opportunity but his is more concerned on about how his partner is doing. Morgan takes the blame for what happened to Abyss.
Lauren is backstage with Christy Hemme who says that if she didn’t have to go to the hospital to take care of her boys, she would take care of the Beautiful People. Hemme then says that she will make sure she is “PMSing” next week and take care of them in Vegas. Mike Tenay and Don West then hype next week’s show like it is a pay-per-view event, which includes a “Hard Rock Hardcore Tag Team Text-Off Gauntlet” where the fans get to decide the order of the participants.
Jeremy Borash is backstage with an over-hyper Consequences Creed who tells Kevin Nash to bring his A-Game and promotes the Impact video game before saying “Creed’s coming.”
Match 4: Kevin Nash vs. Consequences Creed
Nash Creed is able to use his speed and tries to take Nash out at the knees, but Nash delivers a hard clothesline to turn the match into his favor. Nash then sends Creed down with the jackknife powerbomb and picks up the win.
Kevin Nash gets on the microphone and says the young generation of stars is either the most arrogant or the stupidest ones around. Nash then insults the fans and says that he is a genius. Nash then tells the fans that they better learn to love him as he is the best thing going today.
Jeremy Borash is outside of Jeff Jarrett’s office as Mick Foley is exiting and asking Jarrett if he is serious about their conversation. Jarrett assures him that he is. Borash meets up with Foley who says that he can’t discuss what went on but says that Jarrett had some good ideas. Borash speaks into the camera and promises to get some answers.
A video airs by AD/AM called “Cross the Line” to hype next week’s live show. Something tells me that this may end up being the new Impact theme song. It wouldn’t be that bad either, as it was catchy – more so than the lame new Smackdown music.
Lauren is backstage with Team 3D who try to vilify their violent attack on Abyss at Bound for Glory. Brother Ray then talks about the Monster’s Ball rematch at Las Vegas and say that they will bring sex, blood, rock n’ roll and tables.
Match 5: Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan
Morgan is able to show off his power and size in the early going of the match by knocking Angle down a few times. Morgan continues on the assault as we head into a commercial break.
We return to the match to see that Morgan is still in control and he picks up a two count after a cross body block from the top rope. Angle heads to the outside to regroup for a moment and is finally able to take control of the match. Angle works over Morgan’s leg and knees but Morgan is able to make a comeback. Morgan nails Angle with a couple of clothesline and then levels him with the big boot, but it isn’t enough to keep Angle down.
Angle is able to comeback with an ankle lock, but Morgan is able to escape and drives Angle down with the Hellevator. Morgan goes for the cover but Angle is able to kick out. Morgan tries from another Hellevator but Angle escapes and counters with an Angle Slam for the pin fall.
After the match, Angle continues to work over Morgan’s leg until Abyss limps out to the ring wearing regular civilian clothes. Angle backs off Morgan and slowly walks out of the ring until Abyss turns his back. Angle then runs back into the ring and attacks Abyss.
In the parking lot, Jeremy Borash chases after Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley to ask find out what is going on between them. Jarrett says that they are talking politics and Foley says that they are going to Vegas to make a major announcement. Foley says it isn’t about a new acquisition or a new video game, but something that will shake the foundation of the wrestling world. Foley then says “what happens in Vegas will be shared with the rest of the world.”
Quick Results
- Motorcity Machine Guns defeated Sonjay Dutt & Sheik Abdul Bashir by pin fall.
- Booker T defeated Hernandez by pin fall.
- Roxxi defeated Raisha Saeed by pin fall.
- Kevin Nash defeated Consequences Creed by pin fall.
- Kurt Angle defeated Matt Morgan by pin fall.
Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s broadcast was a good end to Bound for Glory and transitioned nicely into the hype for next week’s live show and the Turning Point pay-per-view. Plus, it even had a few surprises here and there.
First off, I was surprised to hear that Kevin Nash acknowledged the fact that someone purchased his plane ticket to go to the pay-per-view on Sunday, so it wasn’t a surprise to everyone. Nash then followed by stating the cause of his actions stemmed from Samoa Joe’s promo about him and Scott Hall at last year’s Turning Point event. More often then not, things such as that are overlooked and I was glad to see that brought back in… just as long as they don’t bring Scott Hall back in.
Another surprise was the fact that the Motorcity Machine Guns finally won a match tonight and won it decisively. Of course, Kurt Angle came out and quickly pummeled them, but a win is a win, right? Angle would then continue to wreck havoc on the rest of the young talent and even Dave Penzer, who suffered a nasty bump on the face. Check out tnawrestling.com to see a photo of that.
TNA also had the hype machine rolling for next week’s live edition of Impact from Las Vegas. This is the first time that Impact has occurred outside of the Impact Zone in Orlando, plus it is a live event, so it should be treated like a big deal. There are a lot of big matches set up, plus there are a few extras such as Mick Foley’s announcement and Booker T revealing the contents of the briefcase, that will make this Impact stand out from a standard episode. With competition from a World Series game that could end up being against two unlikely teams, it needs all of the hype it can get.
Speaking of hype, it seems that Jim Cornette was already in Vegas scoping things out. I hope I wasn’t the only one who thought of Lee Marshall’s road report when this was going on.
On a serious note, even with all of the hype and surprises with tonight’s show, I will say that I was getting a bit annoyed with the abundance of profanity and obscene gestures in the show. Now, I can swear a lot and I don’t mind profanity in general, but tonight it seemed to go a little overboard. If TNA was known for being edgier, then it wouldn’t bother me as much, but this really seemed to come out of nowhere.
Since I am on the topic of excess, maybe I haven’t been paying much attention, but does everyone seem to be sporting new tattoos as of late? Please correct me if I am wrong, but I just noticed Sonjay Dutt’s tattoo on his right arm at Bound for Glory and Kevin Nash even seemed to have something I didn’t recognize on his right arm as well. Hernandez is another one that recently had some more ink done on his back. You know, with the sad state the economy is in, I guess one area that is still thriving is the tattoo industry.
One final thing before I go, I will be providing live coverage of next week’s Impact on Gerweck.net, so feel free to follow along as I recap the show. Too bad I don’t get Spike TV in HD where I live.
