Highlights of Mick Foley nailing Jeff Jarrett with a steel chair and Bobby Lashley making appearing at the end of last week’s Impact open the show. The voiceover guy wonders what else Foley will have in store for tonight.
Footage from earlier today is aired and Jeremy Borash is outside of the office when the board of directors is having a meeting. Jeff Jarrett offers no comment to Borash while Foley says that Jarrett cannot fire him as he is an investor and that it was just a friendly fight between the two. Foley says they will be closer than brother and tells Borash to have a nice day.
The Impact intro hits as we are immediately greeted by the music of the Main Event Mafia as they make their way down to the ring. Kurt Angle grabs a microphone and says there will be consequences for Foley after hitting him with a chair last week. Angle then says that he will sacrifice control of the Main Event Mafia to the person that pins him in the four-way match at Sacrifice if he can have a spot. Angle continues and says that he will employ a hostile takeover of take over Foley’s office and job for screwing with him last week.
Jeremy Borash is in the manager’s office with Mick Foley and Jeff Jarrett walks in and tells Foley to stay out of his sight. Foley wants Jarrett to have his back tonight as Angle is threatening a take over. Jarrett says he got himself into the mess and to get himself out of it.
Lauren is backstage with the Main Event Mafia who asks Kurt Angle what he is thinking to put leadership on the line. Angle says he is going to whip Foley’s ass and become TNA Champion. Scott Steiner is in the back and is angry with Jeff Jarrett and Angle calms him down by saying he is needed to get him into the four-way match. After Angle is in, Steiner can have Jarrett all to himself.
Match 1: Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Amazing Red & Suicide (Quarterfinal Tag Team Tournament Match)
The bell rings as Amazing Red and Alex Shelley fly around the ring in an fast paced, entertaining exchange. Chris Sabin and Suicide are tagged in and Suicide slams Sabin onto the canvas and then slams Red on the Sabin to pick up a two count. Sabin is quick to turn the tide and tags in Shelley as they toss Red far across the ring.
The Guns use their tandem offense to wear down Red but is able to comeback and make the tag to Suicide, who takes on both members of the Guns but the numbers game is too much for him. Amazing Red comes in to help his partner and takes Sabin down on the outside. Suicide then hits the Suicide Solution on Shelley to pick up the win.
Lauren is backstage with the Beautiful People who wants to talk about Madison Rayne’s stretcher match against Awesome Kong. Angelina Love says butts in and says that they can do anything they want and that they don’t sweat Kong. Velvet Sky gets up and says that they need to get ready for a funeral. Madison says that she hopes it’s not hers.
A video package highlighting Abyss’ addiction to pain and violence along with his time with Dr. Stevie is aired. Lauren is then seen backstage with Abyss and wonders why Dr. Stevie put Abyss in a match against an opponent who can use weapons. Abyss says that being hit repeatedly by weapons may make them. Cody Deaner and ODB, who is sporting a spiked braid hair-do, walk in and Deaner says he is ready to throw down once Abyss is ready to grow a set of balls. Abyss picks up Deaner and scares him before walking away.
We head to the announce table who runs down tonight’s card that will feature the British Invasion against the LAX in a quarterfinal tag team tournament match, a stretcher match between Madison Rayne and Awesome Kong and Kevin Nash & Booker T against AJ Styles & Samoa Joe.
A video package highlighting Kurt Angle’s arrival to TNA is aired. The voiceover guy says he came over to TNA to prove that he is the best wrestler in the world.
Mick Foley is backstage with the Motorcity Machine Guns and asks for their help to watch his back. Alex Shelley says they would love to help but they have issues of their own to deal with Suicide and finding out who it is. Mick Foley tells them that it is Al Snow but the Guns aren’t buying it.
Match 2: The LAX vs. the British Invasion (Quarterfinal Tag Team Tournament Match)
The LAX’s music hits but they don’t come out. We head to the back where we see Hernandez laid out and Brutus Magnus is walking away with his Feast or Fired briefcase. The British Invasion, Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus along with Rob Terry, come down to the ring as Terry Taylor is seen in the back telling Homicide to go out and compete.
Homicide comes out and chases everyone out of the ring by swinging his briefcase around. The match starts as Homicide takes Williams down with a spinning neckbreaker. Magnus is tagged in and Homicide takes him down and holds his own against the British Invasion until the numbers game catches up with him.
Williams and Magnus work Homicide over until Homicide gets an opening after Magnus misses with a high risk move. The action breaks down as Magnus begins to distract the referee and Rob Terry assists the Invasion as they are able to put Homicide away with a double team European uppercut from the top rope for the pin fall.
Another Kurt Angle video package is aired and this time it focuses on 2007 and Angle winning numerous championships, including all three TNA championships at one time.
Match 3: Madison Rayne vs. Awesome Kong (Stretcher Match)
The match starts and Rudy Charles immediately sends Raisha Saeed and the Beautiful People to the back. Kong then quickly takes Madison down with a chokeslam before placing her onto the stretcher and Charles begins making a ten count but Kong isn’t done.
Kong drives Madison down with an Implant Buster and puts her back on the stretcher, but Kong still isn’t done. Kong picks Madison up and drives her down with an Awesome Bomb as the crowd chants “one more time.” Kong delivers for the fans and places her back onto the stretcher as this match is over with. TNA security then hauls Madison out of the ring on the stretcher.
The Motorcity Machine Guns make their way out to the ring with a microphone and calls out Christopher Daniels, who they claim is Suicide. Daniels comes out to the ring as Shelley runs down the facts. Daniels was fired by TNA 18 months ago and they wonder why both Daniels and Suicide have the same exact build and that people chant his name when Suicide comes out. Chris Sabin says that he wants Daniels to announce that he is Suicide.
Daniels says he doesn’t owe anyone an explanation and that Jeff Jarrett brought him back to TNA and he is going to do what he does best, and that is wrestle. Daniels then tells the Guns to ask Suicide himself who he is. The Guns keep on goading Daniels until Daniels nails them with punches. Daniels goes for the BME but the Guns clear the ring and run up the ramp.
Mick Foley is backstage with Samoa Joe who has a towel draped over his head. Foley is trying to get Joe to watch his back but Joe just walks away. Foley then grabs his cell phone to go to plan C.
Match 4: Cody Deaner vs. Abyss
In this match, Cody Deaner is allowed to use weapons and Abyss is not. Deaner and ODB come out with a garbage can full of items such as rakes and kendo sticks . Deaner first nails Abyss with a cookie sheet and a trash can lid, but it doesn’t phase Abyss but cuts him open. Abyss is able to block Deaner’s attack with a kendo stick and takes it away from him before taking him down with a chop.
Deaner backs into his corner and drinks from ODB’s flask and spits it into Abyss’ face. Deaner then nails Abyss repeatedly with the kendo stick before picking up a chair and nailing Abyss in the head with it. Deaner then takes a wrench out of his fanny pack but Abyss takes him down with a Black Hole Slam and picks up the pin fall.
Lauren is backstage with Daffney who says Dr. Stevie is the best psychiatrist she has ever been to. She then tells Lauren that she has something in common with Lauren as she laughs and walks away.
Jeremy Borash is with Booker T and Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia locker room. Borash asks if their issues from last week have been resolved but it quickly gets out of hand between Sharmell and Jenna Morasca. Kurt Angle gets in the middle and tells Booker to control Sharmell.
Matt Morgan comes out with a microphone and says he is about to drop a bombshell. Morgan says he is going to offer his services to the MEM. He says his offer is on the table for a limited time only and that they have to act fast
Lauren is backstage with AJ Styles and wonders if he and Joe are on the same page. Styles says he is different and he doesn’t even know who he is anymore. Styles says Joe better show up with his game face on and wants to see the Samoan Submission Machine to return.
Footage of Jesse Neal’s training with Rhino is aired. Neal compares Rhino’s training program with boot camp and Rhino says he is giving Neal tough love and it looks like he has the heart to succeed.
Match 5: Booker T & Kevin Nash vs. AJ Styles & Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe doesn’t show up during the ring introductions but the match goes on as planned. Booker T starts out against Styles and is taken down by a dropkick before he tags in Kevin Nash, who comes in and powers Styles around. Nash and Booker then use frequent tags to wear down Styles but Styles is able to dump Booker out to the floor and takes Nash down with a flying forearm. Bobby Lashley is seen walking in the backstage area as Samoa Joe finally makes his way down to the ring as we head into a commercial break.
When we return we see footage of Styles and Joe arguing during the break as the MEM is able to take back control of the match. We return to the live match and see Joe come in and take down both Nash and Booker. Joe begins beating down Nash on the floor as Jenna Morasca hops on the apron to distract the referee. Sharmell then slides in the Legends Championship and Booker knocks out Styles to get the pin fall to win the match.
After the match, Styles and Joe argue in the ring as Styles asks Joe why he is acting like this.
We then see Mick Foley talking to an unknown person who seems to want a big contract as Foley says he has beaten the best and even headlined WrestleMania. Foley wants to have someone watch his back and tells the person to hide in the closet and wait for Kurt Angle to come into the office.
A final Kurt Angle video package is aired and it focuses on the formation of the Main Event Mafia. The voiceover guy says the Mafia is the most powerful faction in wrestling today.
We then see Angle backstage storming into the management office and tells Mick Foley that he is going to beat his ass. Mick Foley says he is trying to finish up a contract for a huge new superstar coming in to TNA. Foley tries to give a verbal cue to the hidden star but nobody comes out. Angle takes Foley down as Foley asks why Angle is so angry. Angle says Foley hit him with a chair last week and Foley says he can do the same to him one time to make it even. Since there is no steel chair in the office, Foley says he is going to make a call to get a steel chair brought into the office.
As Foley makes his call he turns and hits Angle with the cell phone. Foley then crawls to the closet and pulls out Mr. Socko and applies the mandible claw. The lights then go out as we see a man wearing Scott Steiner’s hood standing in the office. The hood is removed to reveal that it is none other than Sting as Impact comes to a close.
Quick Results
- Amazing Red & Suicide defeated the Motorcity Machine Guns by pin fall.
- The British Invasion defeated the LAX by pin fall.
- Awesome Kong defeated Madison Rayne in a stretcher match.
- Abyss defeated Cody Deaner by pin fall.
- Booker T & Kevin Nash defeated AJ Styles & Samoa Joe by pin fall.
Starman’s Thoughts
Impact seemed to have fallen flat this week after several stealer weeks of television broadcasts. Tonight featured too many gimmicks, too many attempts at comedy and too much Kurt Angle. I’m going to forgo discussing all of that and instead focus on two other things that stuck out to me tonight.
One thing that stood out tonight was the tag team tournament matches. The matches themselves were your basic tag team wrestling match, however, I was surprised that both the Motorcity Machine Guns and the LAX lost their matches against throw together tag teams. Having both teams lose was totally unexpected to me.
Like I stated last week, I am not a fan of established teams losing to throw together teams. With that said, having the tournament progress this way could possibly add to the it by shining a light on others aside from the standard tag teams in the division. Plus, it looks like there are other plans in store for both the LAX and the Motorcity Machine Guns.
The only thing I would have wished that TNA had done would to have given the fans a video package focusing on these new teams. Most of them are familiar faces from the past but a little background as to why they are together would have helped tremendously, especially as most of them are moving on to the semi finals.
The other aspect of tonight’s show that stuck out to me was Matt Morgan’s offer to the Main Event Mafia. This also was unexpected but could have a huge payoff. For months Morgan has been going off about being the blueprint for the star of the future, however, he has also been saddled with a series of bad storylines to work with. Morgan has the potential to be a huge star and this angle could be the one that actually elevates his status.
We will all have to take a wait and see approach to see how it all develops, but I am excited to see Morgan actual get something decent to work with.
Who did sting hit with the chair? Was it mick foley or kurt angle ?