2010 New Years Knockout Eve (12/31 Impact Recap)

The Impact intro kicks off the show and we are welcomed to tonight’s special holiday edition of 2010 New Years Knockout Eve in which we will crown a new #1 contender for the Knockouts Championship in a three round tournament.  Tonight’s broadcast will also feature the top three matches of 2009, which are Desmond Wolfe against Kurt Angle from Turning Point, AJ Styles vs. Sting at Bound for Glory and AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels at Turning Point.

Match 1: Madison Rayne vs. Hamada (Knockout Tournament Round 1)
Hamada starts off the match by working over Madison’s arm.  Hamada then walks the ropes and tries for an arm drag, but she messes it up and Madison takes control of the match.  Madison picks up a few near falls after hitting a neckbreaker but Hamada gets back into the match with a hard kick to the face.  She then puts the match away with the Hamada Driver for the pin.

Christy Hemme is backstage with Tara who says there is a lot of tough competition in the tournament but she is certain that she will walk out with the championship this Monday night on Impact.  Tara also says she will be introducing the top three matches of 2009 and that the matches will be uncut and unedited.

Match 2: Traci Brooks vs. ODB (Knockout Tournament Round 1)
ODB spits the contents of her flask in Traci’s face before knocking her down to the canvas.  Traci tries to fight back but ODB takes her down to the mat with a bulldog and she begins to focus on Traci’s arm.  Traci fights back and takes ODB down with a spear which gets the crowd behind her.  Traci follows by taking ODB down with a clothesline but ODB comes back with a TKO for the pin fall.

Christy Hemme is with the Beautiful People and Velvet Sky says that Madison couldn’t win the match or else she would have had to face her.  Instead she just softened Hamada up for her.  Lacey Von Erich brings up Lauren and said she was fired after hitting her two weeks ago.  Madison gives Christy a warning that they can also do the same to her.

Match 3: Roxxi vs. Velvet Sky (Knockout Tournament Round 1)
Sky goes right on the attack and gets a two count after hitting a bulldog.  Velvet locks Roxxi in the octopus before she gets out and Roxxi kicks Velvet down to the ground.  Roxxi follows with another boot to the face but she isn’t able to keep Velvet down.  Roxxi then hits the Voodoo Drop for the pin fall.

Jeremy Borash met up with Roxxi ringside who says she is happy to take out some of the trash in the Beautiful People.  Roxxi then says that she has respect for Tara and cannot wait to meet her in the ring.  Lacey Von Erich then runs down the ramp and attacks Roxxi from behind with her ugly stick and leaves her lying on the ground.

A video package highlighting Jeff Jarrett’s time in TNA is aired.  Jarrett’s return to TNA is revisited as the voiceover guy wonders if deep wounds will cost Jarrett the company he loves.

We join Tara who introduces the third best match in TNA, which was Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle at Turning Point.  The match was Wolfe’s TNA PPV debut and he set his sights on Kurt Angle.  We go into that match in its entirety, minus a couple of spots missing due to commercial breaks.  Angle, of course, won the great match after making Wolfe tap out to a triangle choke.

A Before the Bell clip of Hulk Hogan joining TNA is aired.  Hogan talks about the press conference at Madison Square Garden and the media rounds he made after the partnership was announced.  Focus on Monday night’s live show against the WWE is aired and Hogan ends by saying the TNA is going to change wrestling and the fans will have a choice.

Match 4: Daffney vs. Awesome Kong (Knockout Tournament Round 1)
Daffney goes right after Kong’s legs but it doesn’t stop Kong as she begins to power Daffney around the ring.  Kong begins to take out Daffney’s legs but and finally puts her away with the Implant Buster for the pin fall.

Christy Hemme is with the Knockout Tag Team Champions and they say they will be defending their titles against Awesome Kong and Hamada on Monday night.  They will, though, be in a match tonight to show why they are the tag team champs.

A video package highlighting the Final Resolution pay-per-view is aired.  The voiceover guy says that 2009 was a year of surprises and returns and says 2010 will bring us the next evolution in the art of professional wrestling.

The British Invasion come out and the announce team is confused as to why they are here on New Years Knockout Eve.  They join the announce team as the Knockout tag team match is up next.  The British Invasion say they are out there to scout the Knockout Tag Team Champions.

Match 5: Lorelei & April Hunter vs. Taylor Wilde & Sarita
Sarita and Taylor quickly work over Lorelei before she is able to tag April into the match.  April and Lorelei begin working over Taylor with quick tags in and out.  Taylor is able to get to her corner and tag in Sarita who makes quick work out of her opponents.  Sarita and Taylor then put the match away with a double team moonsault for the pin fall.

Tara introduces the number two match of the year, which also took place at Turning Point – the 3-way match between Styles/Joe/Daniels II.  The instant classic match is played in its entirety, minus the commercial breaks, and saw AJ Styles successfully defend the TNA World Championship after pinning Samoa Joe.

A video package that focuses on Mick Foley’s paranoia with Hulk Hogan is aired.  Foley says that the two will have some quality face time come January 4th.

Christy is backstage with ODB who says she was the Knockout Champion two weeks ago and still should be the champion.  Tonight, she will win the tournament and get her belt back.

Match 6: Roxxi vs. Hamada (Knockout Tournament Semi-Final)
Roxxi’s midsection is taped up after suffering the attack from Lacey Von Erich.  The two go back and forth in the opening minutes until Hamada sets her sights on the injured ribs.  Hamada stomps on Roxxi’s back from off the top rope and nearly puts the match away with a top rope hurricanrana but Roxxi is able to kick out of the pin attempt.  Roxxi gets back into the match and gets a series of near falls but Hamada is able to counter an attempt at a Voodoo Drop with a roll up and scores the pin fall.

Match 7: ODB vs. Awesome Kong (Knockout Tournament Semi-Final)
ODB slams a bottle of booze in the ringside area before attacking Kong on the entrance ramp.  The fight continues in the ringside area and Kong tosses ODB into the steel steps before the two trade chops and blows.  The match finally makes it inside the ring where ODB tries to take Kong down with a series of shoulder blocks but to no avail.  Kong then takes ODB down with a series of clotheslines and tries to crush ODB in the corner but ODB pulls the referee in the way.  ODB then smashes the empty bottle of booze over Kong’s head and picks up the pin fall.

Tara introduces the top match of 2009 which took place at TNA’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, Bound for Glory.  AJ Styles defended the TNA World Championship against Sting, both of whom helped each other out in the past to keep going in the wrestling business.  The match is played in its entirety with Styles winning with a springboard splash to retain the TNA World Championship.  The ending of the match where Sting addresses the crowd about the possibility of retirement is also aired.

A video package highlighting Sting is aired in which he says seeing Hulk Hogan in TNA has brought on spark and Dixie Carter has been the driving force of him staying in TNA, but nothing is for sure for Sting.  Mike Tenay and Taz wonder if Sting will return to TNA and hype Monday’s show.

Match 8: Hamada vs. ODB (Knockout Tournament Final)
Hamada goes on the early offensive and nearly pins ODB after landing a tornado DDT.  ODB heads to the outside to regroup before getting back into the ring and taking a boot to the face.  ODB is able to turn the match into her favor by hanging Hamada in the ropes and begins stomping on her as we head into a commercial break.

We return to see ODB still in control as she picks up a few near falls.  ODB then locks Hamada in a bear hug but Hamada fires back with a kick to the face when the hold is broken.  The two then trade blows before Hamada picks up a near fall after connecting with a flying cross body block, however, ODB comes back with a jawbreaker as we see Awesome Kong coming down the ramp with a table.  Referee Slick Johnson gets other referees to come out and send Kong to the back as Hamada connects with another kick to the head.

The match goes out to the floor as the table Awesome Kong brought out is still set up.  Hamada positions ODB on the table and heads to the top rope and does a moonsault but ODB rolls off the table as Hamada crashes through it.  ODB rolls Hamada into the ring and ODB hits the TKO for the pin fall and wins the tournament to become the #1 contender to the Knockout Championship.

Jeremy Borash meets up with ODB in the ring and tells her that she will her title shot against Tara this Monday on Impact.  ODB promises that she will be taking her title back and send Tara back to where she came from.  Tara comes out to the ring and slaps ODB across the face before the two get into a brawl.  Security and referees come into the ring and split them up.

A video package highlighting some of the action in 2009 is aired as the final Impact of the year comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Hamada defeated Madison Rayne by pin fall.
- ODB defeated Traci Brooks by pin fall.
- Roxxi defeated Velvet Sky by pin fall.
- Awesome Kong defeated Daffney by pin fall.
- Taylor Wilde & Sarita defeated Lorelei & April Hunter by pin fall.
- Hamada defeated Roxxi by pin fall.
- ODB defeated Awesome Kong by pin fall.
- ODB defeated Hamada by pin fall.

Starman’s Thoughts
A day late, but that’s what happens when TNA decides to put on a four hour show on New Year’s Eve.  At any rate, it was nice to have this special edition of Impact with the focus put on the Knockouts Division with a #1 contender tournament.  With that said, it was unfortunate that this was sandwiched in between Final Resolution and the live show on January 4th as there was little follow up to the PPV and it killed a bit of the momentum going in to the live show.

The top matches of 2009 were a nice added bonus on the show with three really great pay-per-view matches being aired.  I have nothing bad to say about the match selection and was more than delighted to see the two matches from Turning Point once again.  In years past, though, TNA had spliced in footage of the wrestlers talking about the match up and I wish that would have been added here.  I would have loved to hear the thoughts on Styles/Joe/Daniels II and the Angle/Wolfe match.  Like I said, it was a nice bonus but I wish there was a little more to it than just rewatching these great matches.

TNA will kick off 2010 with a bang this Monday with a three hour live edition of Impact.  As with the other live Impact in the past, I will be covering the show live as it happens on Gerweck.net.

Happy New Year everyone.