Impact kicks off with the intro and we head into the Impact Zone where Abyss is walking to the ring with a microphone. A replay is aired from last week’s assault on Abyss from the hands of Mick Foley as Abyss informs us that he cannot compete tonight but wants answers. Foley complies and comes down to the ring with a barbed wire bat and is followed by security.
Foley wants to know exactly what he owes Abyss. Abyss says that he broke Foley’s picture by accident when he went into his office to get the barbed wire bat to help save Foley himself. Foley says he didn’t need his help and has never needed help at any point in his career.
Abyss says that he idolized Foley wanting to be like him and got into wrestling because of him. Abyss removes a bandage to show some stitches and says that that’s how Foley repays him. Foley brings out a new version of the Tweak & Tweet Connection photo as a peace offering and says that he had a new one made. He calls it a cheap imitation of the original and compares it to Abyss before busting it over Abyss’ head.
Foley begins walking back up the ramp and Abyss charges after him and quickly beats his way through the security as he heads after Abyss in the tunnel as we head into a commercial break.
We return to see Lauren in the back trying to get Abyss to calm down. Abyss just walks away as Lauren chases after him.
Match 1: Amazing Red vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Kiyoshi vs. Jay Lethal vs. Consequences Creed (Ladder Match)
The winner of the match will get an X Division Title match next week on Impact. The bell rings as Lethal and Creed go after the World Elite members and Amazing Red goes and slides a ladder into the ring. Amazing Red shows off his skills by taking both members of Lethal Consequences out and following by taking both World Elite members down with a dropkick. Red then begins to climb the ladder but Creed drives him down to the mat with a bulldog.
We head to the back where Abyss is still looking for Foley around the backstage area. Back to the ring, Bashir drops Creed before Lethal hits the Lethal Combination on Bashir and sets up the ladder. Lethal grabs for the contract but Red pushes the ladder down. Red then takes out all four of his opponents with some quick flash moves and then climbs the ladder and grabs the contract to win the match.
Jeremy Borash meets up with Amazing Red on the ramp who says he is going to enjoy his victory. Jay Lethal comes up to him and says that he stole the victory and shoves him before Creed steps in between the two. Abyss is then shown seen looking around for Foley some more as we head into another commercial break.
Jeremy Borash is backstage with Dr. Stevie and Daffney who says he has nothing to do with what happened between Abyss and Mick Foley. As far as Kevin Nash is concerned, he stole his money and Stevie will end Nash’s career.
Match 2: Dr. Stevie vs. Kevin Nash
Daffney distracts Nash momentarily which allows Stevie to go on the attack to get this match going. Stevie drives an elbow into Nash and goes for a pin fall, but only comes up with a count of two. Stevie locks in a submission move but Nash is able to power out and send Stevie to the canvas with a big boot. Nash then drives him down with a jackknife powerbomb and places a boot on his chest to pick up the pin fall.
Jeremy Borash is in the hallways with the World Elite as Eric Young says he is going to get an apology from Kurt Angle for what happened last week. The two sides meet in the Main Event Mafia locker room and Young says there is going to be a problem if he doesn’t apologize.
Young says they need the Mafia, but not as much as they need them as they are younger, faster and hungrier. Booker gets in Young’s face about it and Young tells him the leaders are trying to have a civil conversation and tells him to get behind Angle where he belongs. Young then tells Angle that he has a match against Matt Morgan tonight and is going to show him how he should have handled Morgan from the start.
The World Elite leaves the dressing room and Angle tells the Mafia that the foreigners have made the list and it is going to end tonight. He then tells the group to remember the big picture and doesn’t want anything screwing that up.
Match 3: Traci Brooks vs. Christy Hemme (Playboy Models Match)
Both are dressed up with bunny ears and tails for this match. The bell sounds and Traci goes on the attack and hangs Christy up on the ropes, which nets her a two count. Christy is able to fight her way into the match but misses with the FFG. Traci tries to take advantage of the situation but gets rolled up and is pinned. After the match Traci attacks Christy from behind and lays her out before leaving the ring.
We head to the back where Abyss has found Foley and the two are battling in the back. Abyss has Foley pinned down and is beating him as security come in and try to separate the two.
We head to a pre-taped interview conducted between Mike Tenay, AJ Styles and Sting. Styles said he gave Sting a shot at the title because he wants to know if he can beat him or not. Sting says that he has wrestled for 23 years and has taken on some of the biggest names in the business and that it is just another World Title match to him. Styles asks Sting if he is ready and if he is not that he should maybe think of not lacing up the boots. Styles then walks away from the interview.
Tara comes down to the ring to join the announce team for the upcoming Knockouts Title match.
Match 4: Awesome Kong vs. ODB (Knockouts Championship)
ODB and Kong exchange blows to start this match out. The two go back and forth until Kong is able to slam ODB down to the mat and picks up a two count on the champion. Meanwhile, Raisha Saeed gets in Tara face at the broadcast table and Tara goes after her but Kong grabs Tara by the hair. Tara drops down and hangs Kong up on the top rope and ODB quickly rolls her up and picks up the pin fall to retain the Knockouts Championship.
After the match, Tara gets in the ring as her and ODB get into a shoving match that quickly turns to blows. Awesome Kong then comes in and takes them both down and drives them down to the mat with a pair of Implant Busters.
Kurt Angle is seen warming up in the dressing room and his match against Hernandez is up next.
Match 5: Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez
Hernandez uses his strength advantage in the early going and sends Angle flying to the canvas after hitting a huge shoulder block. Hernandez hits the high vertical suplex but Angle is quick to come back with a German suplex. Angle begins to focus on Hernandez’ legs but Hernandez is eventually able to counter with a sit-out powerbomb. Hernandez then sets Angle up for a Border Toss but instead slams him on the mat and nearly picks up the three count.
Angle rolls out to the floor and Hernandez follows as they fight on the outside but are out too long as the referee counts to 10 and ends the match with a double count out. The World Elite then storm out and attack Hernandez as a couple of them attack Angle and head to the back.
In one side of the room, Homicide is screaming in Hernandez’ face about not joining the World Elite and is kicked between the legs by Eric Young. Meanwhile, Kiyoshi and Bashir are holding Angle down and Young is about to do the same to him but the Main Event Mafia breaks in and a brawl breaks out in the locker room. Security comes in and tries to put an end to the fighting as we head into a commercial.
SoCal Val is backstage with the Motorcity Machine Guns and say that they have some of the worst entrance music in the business and are going to audition musicians to find new music. Shelley says they will debut the new music next week over a new highlight video next week.
The Beautiful People come to the ring with a microphone and are a little more subdued than usual. Velvet Sky says that Angelina Love is no longer a part of the Beautiful People due to contractual issues. Sky says it is time for them to come clean to the Knockouts and to the fans and say that they were not proud of their actions over the last year.
Sky puts the blame on Angelina and Madison Rayne says that they turned them into monsters and were afraid to go against her orders. Madison says they want to show off their true colors and apologizes for their previous actions. She then invites Taylor Wilde and Sarita out to the ring to personally apologize to them and wish them luck in their title defense against them at Bound for Glory.
The Knockout Tag Team Champions come out to the ring as Velvet apologizes to them and the champs reluctantly shake their hands. The Beautiful People then attack Taylor and Sarita before a fifth woman enters the ring and puts a claw on Sarita. Mike Tenay informs us that it is Lacey Von Erich of the legendary Von Erich family as they beat down the tag team champs.
SoCal Val is backstage with Matt Morgan who says he has no interest in the battle between the Main Event Mafia and the World Elite. He says he is here to hurt people and will hurt Eric Young tonight before going after Kurt Angle at Bound for Glory.
SoCal Val is with the Beautiful People as Velvet Sky introduces us to Lacey Von Erich and says that the Beautiful People will be more fabulous than they already are. Lacey says hi to all of the knockouts and will continue to take the ugly out of TNA.
Match 6: Eric Young vs. Matt Morgan
Morgan quickly shoves down EY to start the match and quickly powers him around in the opening moments. Young, though, is able to land a missile dropkick to take control of the match but it doesn’t last long as Morgan levels him with a spinning clothesline.
Morgan rolls out to the floor and is attacked by a fan dressed as Abyss in the crowd. It is soon revealed to be Angle as he smashes Morgan with a chair. The match is tossed out as the rest of the Main Event Mafia come out to attack Young. The World Elite come out as another brawl breaks up and security have to come out and break things up once again.
Jeremy Borash is in the locker room with Bobby Lashley and Team 3D who are going to meet the British Invasion and Rhino in tonight’s main event. Brother Ray says they have a score to settle with the Brits and Rhino. He warns them that they will get the job done tonight as Lashley shouts out a testify.
Match 7: The British Invasion & Rhino vs. Team 3D & Bobby Lashley
Beer Money joins the broadcast team for tonight’s main event. The match starts and Brutus Magnus goes on the attack but Brother Ray takes him down with a big clothesline before tagging in his partner. Doug Williams is also tagged in and Devon slams him down to the mat before hitting a leg drop and getting a two count.
Devon tags in Bobby Lashley and he takes Williams down with a high back drop and follows with a backbreaker. Williams is sent out to the floor as his team tries to regroup for a moment and Rhino is tagged into the match. Lashley also tags in Devon but a distraction allows the Brits to trip up Devon and crotch him into the ring post.
The British Invasion and Rhino cut off the ring and use quick tags to work over Devon and wear him down while trying to pick up the pin fall. Devon, however, is able to comeback and choke slam Magnus before crawling to his corner and tagging in Lashley.
Lashley comes in and slams everyone down in the ring and spears Rhino in the corner of the ring. Lashley then hits a running power slam on Williams but the three count is broken up. The match then breaks down and Devon is able to hit a flying head butt on Rhino before Lashley locks in the submission choke on Williams and picks up the victory.
After the match, Bobby Lashley shakes hans with the fans as Team 3D shares a beer with Beer Money. As Lashley is walking up the ramp, Lashley is attacked from behind by Samoa Joe who locks in the rear naked choke as Impact comes to a close.
Quick Results
- Amazing Red defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir, Kiyoshi, Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed in a ladder match to earn a shot at the X Division Championship.
- Kevin Nash defeated Dr. Stevie by pin fall.
- Christy Hemme defeated Traci Brooks in a Playboy Model match by pin fall.
- ODB defeated Awesome Kong by pin fall to retain the Knockouts Championship.
- Kurt Angle and Hernandez fought to a double count out.
- Eric Young and Matt Morgan fought to a no contest.
- Team 3D & Bobby Lashley defeated the British Invasion & Rhino by submission.
Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s show was a departure from the norm as some of the standard aspects of Impact were gone, such as the show’s title, any sort of match rundown and no video package introduction. Instead we headed right into things with a battle between Mick Foley and Abyss that spanned several segments and a faction war between the Main Event Mafia and the World Elite that spanned several segments. Both had to be separated by security several times as the security guards seemed to be working overtime tonight.
I enjoyed the war of words between Foley and Abyss that started tonight’s show. I think it would have helped a little more if Foley’s relationship with Abyss was given more time to grow, but even so, a feud between these two was a logical step. It is easy to see that Abyss is modeled off of Foley and his personas and I am looking forward to seeing what kind of things these two can bring out of each other when they battle in the ring. It got off to a quick start but it should be an entertaining ride.
Much like the Abyss/Foley feud, the friction between the Main Event Mafia and the World Elite started way too soon. Didn’t these two factions just join forces not too long ago? At any rate, these two groups went at it for a majority of the final hour of the broadcast but I am not quite feeling it as of yet. There isn’t much appeal of two warring heel factions going at it in my mind. I hope something good is just around the corner for this angle to give it a little something more than just pull apart brawls between the two groups.
I hope I wasn’t the only one that was surprised that the Amazing Red won the ladder match for the X Division Title shot. A logical step would have been for one of the World Elite members to get it since they have been feuding with the MEM and Samoa Joe is the X Division Champ. I am glad to see that Red won it and in a decisive manner no less. Since returning to TNA, Red has been stuck in the background so hopefully his time to shine is coming up once again. Hopefully he isn’t mowed down by Joe next week to quickly put an end to this push.
It should come as no surprise but the Beautiful People just isn’t the same without Angelina Love. I am happy that TNA is continuing the group without her and I am excited to see where it goes with their newest addition in Lacey Von Erich. In her brief appearance Lacey seemed comfortable on the microphone, which could help the group in Angelina’s absence. I can’t wait to see her wrestle in the ring and hope that she lives up to the Von Erich name.
While I am on the subject of Knockouts, did it seem weird to anyone else that Traci Brooks, who is having her photo shoot with Playboy promoted on television, lost her match against a former Playboy Playmate in Christy Hemme. Kind of an odd way to promote a photo spread. Maybe it’s just me, though.
Anyway, next week should be a big week for TNA as we also get an hour long Global Impact 2 special that airs after Impact. Here’s to hoping that this edition of Global Impact is as good as the one that aired last year.
