TNA Global Impact 2 Recap

The program opens with footage from last year’s Global Impact event.  This year TNA returns to Japan to compete with New Japan Pro Wrestling in an event where two World Championships were put on the line in front of 40,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome.

Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Alex Shelley meet with the press to promote the show.  Angle makes Masa Chono and Riki Choshu honorary members of the Main Event Mafia.

Shelley mentions that the Motorcity Machine Guns plan on taking the IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles back to Detroit, a city in shambles with the auto makers going under and the Lions becoming the worst football team ever.

Team 3D will be taking on Togi Makabe & Toru Yano in a rematch from last year’s event.  Brother Ray says they will beat them once again and take the IWGP Tag Team Championships back to the United States.

Match 1: The Motorcity Machine Guns vs. No Limit (IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship)
Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley use their quick tandem offense to gain the early advantage over Yujiro in the opening moments.  Some communication problems gets the Guns to run into each other and No Limit shows off their quick double team offense as they focus on Shelley.  The match then breaks down with Sabin diving through Shelley’s legs and crashing onto Naito on the floor as we head into a commercial break.

We return to the match to see the Motorcity Machine Guns working over Naito in the ring.  Sabin the locks Naito in a submission hold to slow down the pace of the match but Naito is able to get to the ropes to break the hold.  The Guns start to get a little lax in their onslaught, which allows Naito to fight his way back into the match to turn the tide.

Yujiro is tagged into the match and slams down both members of the Guns and picks up a two count on Shelley, who comes back with a pair of pin attempts of his own.  Shelley, however, gets a belly-to-belly suplex for his troubles and lands hard and awkward on his neck.

Both partners are tagged back into the match and Naito slams Sabin hard down on the mat.  No Limit then work together to wear Sabin down and is nearly pinned with a bridging suplex but he is able to kick out.  Shelley enters the ring to even out the double team and turns the match back into the favor of the Guns.

It doesn’t last long, though, as Shelley accidently hits Sabin with a clothesline.  Naito then slams Sabin onto the mat and goes for a moonsault, but Sabin rolls out of the way.  The Guns then hit a double super kick on Naito but he kicks out in time to keep the match going.

The Guns then hit an innovative double team move with Shelley hitting Sliced Bread and Sabin hitting a powerbomb at the same time.  Sabin holds Naito down for the three count to win the IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles for their first tag team title reign.

After the match, Alex Shelley is shown in a post match interview inviting No Limit to come to TNA and try to win their titles back.

Pre-match comments from Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle are aired in which they share their thoughts of competing in Japan and taking the Main Event Mafia global.

Match 2: Kurt Angle/Kevin Nash/Masa Chono/Riki Choshu vs. Giant Bernard/Karl Anderson /Takashi Iizuka/Tomohiro Ishii
The match starts out with all four members getting a bit of time in the ring against one another.  Karl Anderson is the last one in for his team and soon finds himself being worked over by both Masa Chono and Riki Choshu before Kurt Angle is tagged into the match.  Angle tags in Choshu who is lead over to the wrong side of the ring as they isolate him and work him over in their corner.

The match quickly breaks down as they all begin to take shots a Choshu but he comes back and levels Anderson with a patented lariat.  Nash and Bernard begin to fight on the floor as Angle comes into the ring and starts laying out everyone with German suplexes.  Angle then locks Anderson in an ankle lock and makes him tap out to win the match.

A video package highlighting Team 3D’s quest in becoming 21-time tag team champions inside the Tokyo Dome is aired.  Brother Ray also mentions that they are undefeated in Japan and have wrestled here for 12 years.

Match 3: Team 3D vs. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano (IWGP Tag Team Championship)
This match will be contested under hardcore rules.  Yano and Devon start the match in the ring and go back and forth until the champs hit Devon with a double suplex to gain the advantage.  Devon is able to tag in Ray shortly after and faces off against Makabe and they trade punches and chops as we head into a commercial break.

We return to see Ray take both Makabe and Yano down with a double clothesline but is unable to put the match away.  We see footage of what happened during the break where Makabe drove Devon down onto a chair with a piledriver to bust Devon wide open.  Back to the match, Team 3D hits the flying head butt on Makabe before Ray calls for the tables.

Devon slides a pair of tables into the ring but Makabe and Yano come back into the ring and send Ray through one of the tables.  Makabe goes for the cover but Ray is able to kick out.  Makabe and Yano set up the second table and looks to put Devon through it but Ray is able to prevent it and instead drives Makabe through the table with a power bomb.

Ray goes for the cover but Makabe is able to kick out and the champions again turn the tide of the match.  Makabe brings in a chain and he accidently nails his partner.  Team 3D then hits the 3D on Makabe to win the match and the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

Team 3D is seen celebrating in the ring with their newly won tag team titles as Global Impact comes to an end.

Quick Results
- The Motorcity Machine Guns defeated No Limit to win the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship.
- Kurt Angle/Kevin Nash/Masa Chono/Riki Choshu defeated Giant Bernard/Karl Anderson /Takashi Iizuka/Tomohiro Ishii by submission.
- Team 3D defeated Togi Makabe & Toru Yano to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

Starman’s Thoughts
Global Impact 2 was another solid show put together by TNA, even though it was a bit dated.  The show was taped in early January but gives some explanation on where the IWGP Tag Titles and IWGP Junior Tag Titles came from since they have been defended on multiple occasions this past year in TNA.

This broadcast was highlighted by the two tag team title matches, the first of which was the Motorcity Machine Guns taking on the team of No Limit.  The match was a lot of fun to watch as both teams got to show their stuff in the ring and gave us a flurry of fast offense and innovative moves.  It got me to think back to the glory days of the X Division and it is unfortunate that TNA doesn’t showcase wrestling in this way during their weekly Impact broadcasts.

Team 3D’s tag team match against Togi Makabe & Toru Yano wasn’t nearly as good as the first match, but it was still fun to watch.  It was billed as a hardcore match, although it did seem pretty tame when compared to some of the ones held on this side of the globe.  At any rate, this match at least showed the fans the start of Team 3D 21st title reign, which has now been upped to 23 since this event took place.

I will say that I was a little surprised that the tables were able to stand with the weight of Brother Devon on top of it.  Those tables looked pretty flimsy and cheap.

Like the first installment, Global Impact 2 was a refreshing change of scenery for TNA and put a little more focus on the wrestling aspect as opposed to the entertainment side of things.  I don’t think it was nearly as good as the first one that was headlined by Kurt Angle and Yuji Nagata, but it was still a great show.