A video package highlighting the recent moves Dixie Carter has made with the Hulk Hogan partnership and addressing the TNA roster kicks off Impact. The voiceover guy wonders whose career will be in jeopardy as more changes are coming to TNA.
We head to Mick Foley’s office where he is with Super Dave Osborne. The two talk about being on Dave’s show that will debut this Saturday on Spike. Foley says that Dave can book one match for tonight’s show, but he cannot book any title matches. Jay Lethal comes in and says that he understands that there a legend waiting to take him up on his challenge and he wants to know who it is. Borash says he will find out soon enough.
The Impact intro hits and we are welcomed to this week’s broadcast that will be headlined by a match between Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. Foley’s music then hits as he makes his way towards the broadcast table to join the booth for the opening match.
Match 1: Dr. Stevie vs. Abyss
At the table, Foley states that he wishes he was better informed about the signing of Hulk Hogan but is thrilled about it. As for the match, Abyss starts by clocking Stevie with a right and getting a quick two count. Stevie fights back and takes Abyss off his feet and scores a few near falls until Abyss gets him in the Black Hole Slam. As Abyss covers, the lights go out in the Impact Zone and both men are down when they come back on. Stevie then drapes his arm over Abyss for the pin fall.
After the match, Daffney slides a chair into the ring and Mick Foley decides to get involved and takes Stevie down to the mat. Foley grabs the chair and the lights once again go out and we see a fireball head towards Foley’s face. The lights come on and we see Raven in the ring and drives Foley down with the Evenflow DDT. Raven, Stevie and Daffney celebrate with each other in the ring as Mike Tenay runs down the history between Stevie and Foley.
After a break, JB is with Stevie, Raven and Daffney and Stevie says he is here to stay forever in TNA. Raven says Foley got in between him and Abyss, so Foley got burned. As for Abyss, Raven says the two of them are going to have some fun together. Quote the Raven, nevermore.
At the announce table, Mike Tenay and Taz talk about Sting’s future which leads to the announcement that Sting will have an exclusive interview next week on Impact in which he discusses Hulk Hogan, Dixie Carter and his future in TNA.
Match 2: Alissa Flash vs. Traci Brooks
Alissa starts the match by working over Traci’s right arm. Mike Tenay mentions that Traci has been handicapped since birth in her right arm. Alissa keeps on working over the arm and locks her in an arm bar submission to win the match by submission. After tapping out, Traci attacks Alissa from behind and has to be pulled off by the referee.
Match 3: Jay Lethal vs. Jim Neidhart (Black Machismo Invitational Match)
The Anvil is the first challenger to step up the Black Machismo’s Invitational match. The crowd gets behind Neidhart in the opening moments before Lethal takes him down with a double axe handle. Lethal continues to work him over until the Anvil counters with a power slam and picks up the pin fall victory.
A pre-taped interview between Lauren and Bobby Lashley is aired. Lashley begins talking about Steiner before a member of the production team tells him that he has to come to the production truck right away. Lashley sees footage of Steiner at the hotel and is planning on checking in to Lashley’s room where his wife is at. Lashley runs out of the truck and leaves the parking lot as a camera crew follows him.
Super Dave is in Foley’s office with JB and Dave says he is in charge of the show since Foley has been taken to the hospital. Dave says Borash knows all of the wrestlers and wants him to put together the best match possible in honor of Foley. Borash suggests the X Division and wants him to make a match that features them.
Match 4: The Beautiful People & Awesome Kong vs. ODB/Sarita/Taylor Wilde/Tara
Madison Rayne is worked over in the first few moments by her opponents until she tags in Lacey Von Erich and we head into a commercial break. We come back to see Sarita countering an attack by Velvet Sky and takes her down with a dropkick before tagging in ODB. ODB comes in and attacks everyone in sight before she is taken down by a clothesline by Lacey. Kong is tagged in and decimates her opponents before driving Taylor down with the Implant Buster for the pin.
Jeremy Borash has gathered all of the X Division stars and brought them into the office. Super Dave gives them a pep talk and tells them to risk their lives to put on a good match for Mick Foley. Super Dave wants to see the match of the century and tells them to get out of the office.
We see footage of Bobby Lashley arriving to his hotel room Lashley’s wife is fine in her room, however, Steiner attacks him from behind and busts a lamp over Lashley’s body. Steiner leaves the room saying that their baby has his eyes.
Kurt Angle comes out to the ring with a microphone and says that AJ Styles and Matt Morgan have taken him to the limit in the past few months and has respect for them. What he doesn’t have respect for is punks who attack him from behind like Desmond Wolfe. Angle says he has recovered from his attack and is back in the ring where he belongs. Angle promises to terminate his wrestling career at Turning Point.
Wolfe appears on the big screen from inside of a bar and says he isn’t at the Impact Zone because he knew Angle was going to go crazy this week. Wolfe says he is here to hurt him, make him suffer and end his career. He goes on to say that he is there in TNA to take his place. Angle tries to talk to him but Wolfe isn’t hearing what he is saying. Angle finally realizes what’s going on and turns around to find Wolfe behind him.
Angle ducks under a clothesline and takes Wolfe down with a series of punches. The fight goes out to the floor and Angle is relentless in his attack but misses with a chair shot. Wolfe counters with a DDT onto the floor and takes him out with a steel chair.
Super Dave joins the announce team to get a close look at the X Division match and promote his new show that will debut on Saturday.
Match 5: The Motorcity Machine Guns & Amazing Red vs. the World Elite
Sheik Abdul Bashir, Homicide and Kiyoshi represented the World Elite for the match. Super Dave mentioned that Homicide stole some stuff from the office while he was in there. The World Elite works over Alex Shelley in the opening moments before Homicide reveals that he stole Foley’s barbed wire bat. Security come out and takes Homicide away as the match continues in the ring.
Shelley fights his way back into the match and makes the hot tag to the Amazing Red. Red comes in and takes both of his opponents down with a series of quick moves before taking Kiyoshi out with a corkscrew dive over the top ropes. The Guns then work over Bashir in the ring and Shelley picks up the pin fall after a double team move.
Lauren is backstage with Desmond Wolfe who says he has followed Kurt Angle’s career since day one and is there to replace him. Wolfe says he is a younger, healthier, and better looking version of Angle. He says he left Angle just enough to crawl into the ring on Sunday so he can officially end his career at Turning Point.
Team 3D and Rhino come out to the ring with a microphone and Ray says life is about change and choice. Last week, Dixie Carter told the locker room to make a choice and he says that Team 3D are on board with her. Ray says he also made another choice by smashing Matt Morgan and Hernandez in the head with a steel chair and he is glad to have made that choice.
Ray says Rhino has been at them for weeks about how the younger stars are trying to take out the veterans in TNA and he now agrees with Rhino’s way of thinking. Ray says they will take the younger stars down and hold them down to make sure they keep their spots. Ray then calls out Morgan and Hernandez and they come out with microphones. Ray says earlier in the week they issued a challenge for a six-man street fight at Turning Point and wants to know if they have a partner yet.
Morgan says they don’t need another partner and are more than happy to do the job themselves. The music for D’Angelo Dinero hits and he comes out puts himself on their side and puts over his teammate before sealing the deal by saying the Pope has spoken.
Lauren is standing by with the British Invasion and Eric Young. Lauren says that the suspension has been lifted from the British Invasion and they will be in a match tonight against Beer Money in which if they lose, Beer Money will be added to the tag team title match at Turning Point. Doug Williams says they are a proud team and will do whatever is demanded of them. EY says this is why they are the way they are and says that they have no problem with Hulk Hogan and wants him to know that they have earned their spots.
A video featuring Hulk Hogan saying that TNA is the place to be is aired. Hogan says the wrestling business is about to be flipped upside down and that’s why he made the move.
Jeremy Borash is with AJ Styles who wants to apologize to Christopher Daniels for being accused of being his attacker since it is obviously is not him. Styles says they are not on the same page since Samoa Joe stirred the pot between the both of them and will not forget about being jumped three weeks in a row. As far as tonight’s concerned, he will show Joe that he is the best at what he does.
Match 6: The British Invasion vs. Beer Money (Non-title Match)
Beer Money quickly dumps the British Invasion out of the ring and the referee starts the 10-count but they get back in to the ring. Rob Terry comes out with a chair and Brutus Magnus sends him to the back because they don’t want to be disqualified. The Brits take control of the match a methodically wear Robert Roode down before Roode is able to make a hot tag. Storm comes in and takes out both Magnus and Williams as Beer Money gains the advantage.
Roode slides a chair into the ring and Storm tries to get the Brits to use it but they don’t fall for it. Beer Money then hits the DWI for the pin fall to earn a shot at the TNA Tag Team Championships at Turning Point. Lauren meets up with them on the entrance ramp and Roode says they will prove once again why they are the greatest tag team of all time on Sunday.
Jeremy Borash is in the locker room with Hernandez, Matt Morgan and D’Angelo Dinero. Hernandez says he doesn’t trust the Pope and neither does Morgan. Dinero says he gives them his word and doesn’t want to be held back like Team 3D threatened and he is going to put up a fight to earn his spot.
Lauren is with Daniels who says through everything, he and Styles will still be friends, but when the bell rings there are no friends. Daniels says he is every bit the wrestler that Styles is and he knows it.
Match 7: Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (Non-title Match)
Samoa Joe plays a little cat and mouse with Styles to start the match before Styles takes him down with a dropkick in the middle of the ring. Joe recovers and begins beating Styles down with a series of punches before taking him down with a powerbomb. Joe then locks Styles in a STF and then a crossface but Styles will not tap out and makes it to the ropes. Joe comes back and levels Styles with a clothesline and gets a near fall before Styles finally counters with a Pele kick.
Styles begins to head to the top rope as Daniels comes out to watch the match. Styles begins to argue with Daniels and punches him off the apron as Joe comes from behind and applies the rear naked choke. Styles is choked out and referee Earl Hebner calls for the bell and awards the match to Samoa Joe. Joe then celebrates with the TNA World Championship as Impact comes to a close.
Quick Results
- Dr. Stevie defeated Abyss by pin fall.
- Alissa Flash defeated Traci Brooks by submission.
- Jim Neidhart defeated Jay Lethal by pin fall.
- The Beautiful People & Awesome Kong defeated ODB/Sarita/Taylor Wilde/Tara by pin fall.
- The Motorcity Machine Guns & Amazing Red defeated the World Elite by pin fall.
- Beer Money defeated the British Invasion by pin fall.
- Samoa Joe defeated AJ Styles by submission.
Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s show was the go home show for Turning Point, but it didn’t really seem like it. After watching it, I really think that Dixie Carter’s Twitter page and Super Dave’s new show on Spike got more promotion than Turning Point got. It’s a shame, too, as Turning Point looks good on paper.
Maybe TNA was taking a cue from WWE and Raw by bringing in a special guest in Super Dave Osborne. Super Dave booked one match on the show and provided some commentary, however, his wrestling knowledge – at least that of TNA – was very limited and seemed awkward. Who knows, maybe it was supposed to be that way as a way for Vince Russo to poke fun at the WWE for some of the guest host blunders they have had in the past couple of months. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if that was the case.
At any rate, the first hour of tonight’s show seemed to be all over the place and didn’t put too much focus on Sunday’s pay-per-view. For instance, we got the see a returning Raven take out Abyss and Mick Foley, Alissa Flash look dominate again with no real focus to her character, Jay Lethal lose to an aging legend and the first mention of Sting since he lost to AJ Styles at Bound for Glory.
All of these parts by themselves are not that bad. I love that Raven is back (again) and hope that it is for the long term. Alissa Flash looked dominate against Traci Brooks and I can’t wait until TNA gives her an angle to work with. Jay Lethal’s Invitational could be a lot of fun to watch with its trip down memory lane and I hope that it is the beginning of the end of the Machismo character. It is also good to hear that Sting is still alive and well and will be on Impact next week.
With that said, with the exception of the Sting announcement, none of these should have taken place a week before Turning Point. Start them earlier and give them time to build a bit. Don’t put them on three days before a pay-per-view to take away focus from the matches that have already been booked for the card.
Sting’s announcement was brief and provided a hook for viewers to tune in next week, so that can be forgiven. What cannot be forgiven, though, is the fact that it took until now to even mention Sting on Impact. Especially since it was the biggest cliffhanger coming out of Bound for Glory, their biggest PPV of the year.
The second hour of the show put a lot more focus into Turning Point and at least ended the show on a good note. For starters, we may have just witnessed a turn for D’Angelo Dinero. This couldn’t have come soon enough as his character is too likeable to be a heel. He also adds a ton of persona and mic skills to a pair of guys who may lack a bit in that department. The Pope’s reasoning also worked and made a lot of sense with him not wanting to be held down by Team 3D.
The Kurt Angle/Desmond Wolfe feud got even hotter with another brutal attack at the hands of Wolfe. Angle came across as smart by not falling into Wolfe’s trap but still got assaulted in the end. This feud has been great thus far and their match is one of the matches I am looking forward to the most at Turning Point.
Turning Point’s main event got a little heat generated tonight as a small rift has been set between AJ Styles and Daniels. They let us know that they are friends, but when the bell rings, they are going to put that all aside as they both have their eyes set on the same thing. Joe also gained some momentum going in to the match by choking out Styles in the middle of the ring. Paired with the mystery attacker, Styles looks susceptible to losing the title at Turning Point, which makes it all more intriguing.
All in all, I was a bit disappointed with tonight’s show and its lack of direction in the first hour. A show like this would be acceptable, however, not just mere days before a pay-per-view. Turning Point does look decent on paper, though, and I will have my thoughts about that later this weekend.
