A recap of last week’s drama between Hulk Hogan/Abyss and Ric Flair/AJ Styles is aired. After being busted open by Styles and Flair, Hogan booked a tag team match between the four when Impact moves to Monday nights next week.
The Impact intro hits before AJ Styles’ music hits as Styles and Flair come out to the ring with a couple of girls each. Flair gets on the microphone and says they have had a week to think about what happened last week and calls Hulk Hogan out to the ring to apologize for their behavior. Hogan complies with Flair’s request and comes out to the ring with Abyss.
Flair offers one of his girls to Hogan for an apology but says Abyss gets nothing. Hogan wants nothing of the offer and goes on to say that he made a promise to never lace up the boots and wrestle in TNA but both Flair and Styles have forced him to do so. Flair fires back and says that he retired two years ago but is looking forward to facing Hogan in four days more than anything as he has never beaten Hogan on national TV.
Styles and Flair begin to leave the ring but they are stopped by Eric Bischoff, who says AJ Styles isn’t done quite just yet. Bischoff announces that Styles will be defending the TNA World Championship tonight in a four corners match against Abyss, D’Angelo Dinero, and Desmond Wolfe. Flair tried to protest the match but Bischoff told him to deal with it before walking away.
We join Mike Tenay and Taz at the announce table as they hype next week’s move to Monday night before sending it back to Jeremy Borash, who is with Desmond Wolfe.
Wolfe says he will do whatever it takes to win a match and he will be even more motivated with the TNA World Championship on the line. Wolfe says he won’t overlook Styles but he doesn’t need to beat him tonight as he can pin either Abyss or the Pope. Chelsea steps in and says the Hall of Fame ring on Abyss’ finger looks nice and requests Wolfe to get it for her so they both can leave with gold tonight.
Eric Bischoff is in the office talking on the phone laughing at the person on the other end about wanting to start a football league to compete with the NFL. Jeff Jarrett walks in and hands over his cooking tools and says that he served some of the best burgers in TNA last week. Jarrett wants to get back to business, though, and Bischoff says it is time to take care of business and hands Jarrett a plunger before appointing him as a TNA janitor. Jarrett says he will be the best TNA janitor ever and leaves the office.
Match 1: Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Generation Me vs. Beer Money vs. Hernandez & Matt Morgan (4-Way Tag Team Match)
The match starts and the Motorcity Machine Guns and Generation Me start out with a flurry of offense and quick tags. Hernandez finally tags himself into the match and tosses around Max Buck and Matt Morgan tags himself in and drives both members of Generation Me to the mat with a pair of choke slams. Morgan begins jawing at his partner about how to take care of business. Robert Roode tags himself in and James Storm nails Morgan with a superkick and Roode rolls him up for the pin fall.
Eric Bischoff is with Sean Morley and Slick Johnson and tells them that he wants to break Jeff Jarrett but he hasn’t just yet. He wants to put Jarrett in a match, a falls count anywhere match, and tells Morley that he can be found in the men’s room and wants him to get the job done. Morley and Johnson leave the office and go on the hunt for Jarrett.
Kurt Angle meets up with Hulk Hogan in the office and tells Hogan that he wants to take care of AJ Styles and Ric Flair for him on Monday night. Angle applauds Hogan for all of his contributions to TNA and says that he is needed in the office. Hogan says he needs to do this to and wants to be a part of it to earn respect for himself.
Footage of Mick Foley in etiquette school is aired. The teacher is showing him how to remove her coat, how to walk, and how to be a little more gentile.
Match 2: Sean Morley vs. Jeff Jarrett (Falls Count Anywhere)
Sean Morley and Slick Johnson enter the men’s room and Morley begins attacking Jarrett. Morley tosses Jarrett around the stalls a bit and stomps on him but Jarrett kicks out of a pin fall and he wants to know what is going on. Johnson informs Jarrett that he is in a falls count anywhere match and Morley begins crushing Jarrett’s left arm in the door before Morley finally pins Jarrett to win the falls count anywhere match.
Christy is with D’Angelo Dinero who says AJ Styles and Ric Flair tried to take him out a couple of weeks ago, but the Pope has arrived and he is sure they are not happy about it. Christy then informs the Pope about his match tonight and he says he has big plans for Lockdown, but will leave the Impact Zone tonight as the TNA World Champion.
A video package highlighting the British Invasion is aired. It runs down all of their title reigns and the turmoil in the group, which has lead to Rob Terry going out on his own.
Match 3: Doug Williams vs. Rob Terry
Rob Terry pushes Doug Williams down and begins to power him around to get this match started. Terry continues his dominance and drives Williams down with a choke slam to pick up the pin fall. Brutus Magnus then comes out and attacks Terry from behind before Williams joins in on the attack. The two then shake hands and leave Terry lying in the ring.
Jeff Jarrett is in the back with the trainer as Bischoff comes in who says Jarrett wanted a match and he got a match. Jarrett is sick of playing games and Bischoff says he will give Jarrett another match, in an actual ring, and that will take place tonight. As Bischoff leaves, Jarrett calls Bischoff a prick under his breath.
Mr. Anderson is seen walking in the back wearing wrestling gear like Kurt Angle as we head into a commercial break.
More footage of Mick Foley in etiquette school is aired. This time he is trying to walk with correct posture and has a book on his head. Foley then helps the instructor with her chair before learning how to properly eat at the table.
Footage of what happened between Mr. Anderson and Kurt Angle at Against All Odds is aired. Angle’s speech about his dog tags and Angle nailing Anderson with a steel chair last week is also shown.
Angle’s music hits as Mr. Anderson comes up through is entrance and is wearing a cookie sheet with ‘loser’ written on it, along with a singlet like Angle. Anderson mocks Angle by saying he is one of the most injury prone wrestlers in the industry and recounts many different imaginary scenarios where Angle has broke his neck.
Kurt Angle finally makes his way to the ring and the two get into a brawl with the real Angle dishing out most of the punishment. Anderson tosses someone’s drink into Angle’s face and then takes him down with the Angle Slam. Anderson then takes the necklace off Angle and leaves the ring with it.
Abyss catches up with Hulk Hogan and tells him about his childhood and how he got to see Hogan wrestle in Cleveland, OH. Abyss talks about how he now has Hogan’s power and can take care of AJ Styles and Ric Flair himself. Hogan says he knows Abyss can protect him and that they will do it together before embracing in a hug.
A video package featuring the Beautiful People and their issues with Angelina Love is aired. Footage of earlier in the day is aired where Angelina is doing a photo shoot and is attacked from behind by the Beautiful People. Lacey holds Angelina down as Velvet whips her with a belt. Lacey says that she thinks she has had enough but Velvet dishes out more punishment and says that now she has finally had enough.
After a commercial break, Angelina Love comes out to the ring and calls out Velvet Sky for what she did to her. Velvet comes out with her belt and Angelina chases after her and tosses her around the ringside area and beats her down before rolling her into the ring. Angelina then grabs the belt as the other two members come out to the ring. Lacey takes Angelina down with the Ugly Stick and hold her down as Velvet once again begins to lace into Angelina with the belt. The Beautiful People then stand tall over Angelina.
Bubba the Love Sponge walks into the office and he talks about their past and tells him not to wrestle next week or he might end up in a wheel chair. Hogan says he only has one more shot and that he has to but Bubba wants him to think of it.
More footage of Mick Foley in etiquette school is aired and shows him how to shake hands the proper way to say goodbye to a woman.
A video package that focuses on Kevin Nash and the Band is aired. Footage of the parking lot brawl from last week is shown and we are told that we will hear from Kevin Nash and Eric Young on Monday’s Impact.
Match 4: Tomko vs. Jeff Jarrett
Jarrett once again comes out with no music, pyro, or video, and is selling an arm injury from his falls count anywhere match earlier in the show. Tomko powers Jarrett around and focuses on the left shoulder but Jarrett connects with an enziguri to try to mount a comeback but Tomko puts an end to it with a hard clothesline. Tomko continues on the methodical attack but he cannot score a pin fall on Jarrett.
The crowd starts getting behind Jarrett and he is able to counter with a DDT on Tomko before laying some fists into Tomko in the corner. Tomko comes back with an atomic drop but Jarrett is able to counter the follow up with a rollup for the pin fall. Eric Bischoff is seen watching from a monitor and is visibly upset over Jarrett’s victory.
After a break, Eric Bischoff is talking with Hulk Hogan and he tells him that he is the brand behind TNA and wants Hogan to reconsider next week’s match as there is too much at risk. Hogan says he has been called out and it is a make or break deal for him. Hogan then says he can’t take any more discussion about it and Bischoff leaves him alone.
Match 5: Desmond Wolfe vs. D’Angelo Dinero vs. Abyss vs. AJ Styles (4-Corners Match for TNA World Championship)
The Pope is limping to sell his ankle injury, while Styles comes out with a Flair-like robe with a trademark Styles hood on it. The match starts with Dinero and Styles but the quickly tag in the other two. Abyss runs down both Wolfe and Styles before the match breaks down with all four in the ring. The Pope and Abyss then clothesline Wolfe and Styles out to the floor as we head into a commercial break.
We return to the match to see that all four are brawling on the floor. Styles and Dinero bring the fight into the ring and Styles focuses on his leg and Flair uses a steel chair on it as the referee is distracted. Styles puts Dinero in a figure four leg lock to continue picking apart the Pope’s leg and ankle but he won’t tap out. The referee, however, makes a decision to call the match and award the victory to AJ Styles.
After the match, Ric Flair and Desmond Wolfe enter the ring to continue attacking Dinero but Abyss comes in for the save. Flair, however, reaches under the ring and grabs a barbed wire baseball bat and nails Abyss with it. Styles and Wolfe continue assaulting Abyss until Hogan comes out and clears the ring after hitting Flair over the head and busting him open.
Hogan continues on the attack as security fills up the ring to try to calm him down but Hogan tosses them around. He finally stops for a moment as Flair exits the ring and Hogan gets on the microphone and says that is just a sample of what will happen to him in four days. The Pope gets on the microphone and says he doesn’t want to wait four days and tries to get them to come in the ring right now but security holds them back as Impact comes to a close.
Quick Results
- Beer Money defeated the Motorcity Machine Guns, Generation Me, Hernandez & Matt Morgan in a 4-way tag team match by pin fall.
- Sean Morley defeated Jeff Jarrett by pin fall in a falls count anywhere match.
- Rob Terry defeated Doug Williams by pin fall.
- Jeff Jarrett defeated Tomko by pin fall.
- AJ Styles defeated D’Angelo Dinero/Desmond Wolfe/Abyss in a 4-Corners match by submission to retain the TNA World Championship.
Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s show was all about hyping Impact’s move to Monday nights by selling the huge tag team match between Hulk Hogan & Abyss against Ric Flair & AJ Styles. The four had a great confrontation in the ring to kick off the show and everyone, from Kurt Angle to Bubba the Love Sponge to Eric Bischoff to even his tag partner Abyss, tried to talk Hogan out of it, but to no avail. To give one last hard sell to the match, Hogan left Flair a bloody mess as Impact came to a close.
I’m not really feeling this tag team match as I’m not looking forward to seeing either Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair compete in the ring, but I can see TNA’s motivation behind it. There is no doubt that Hogan and Flair are huge names and can easily bring in casual fans. Thankfully, they have paired the two up with two of their own stars in AJ Styles and Abyss, who I am hoping will account for a majority of the ring time.
Although I am not looking forward to seeing Hogan or Flair in the ring, I did like what they did throughout the show by having people try to talk Hogan out of the match. It doesn’t take much to see how hard it is for Hogan to even walk around, but by having people show concern about his well being, it raises the danger/importance of this tag team match.
I also cannot believe that I am writing this, but it was a nice touch to have Bubba the Love Sponge on tonight’s show. It was hard for me to buy Angle’s sincerity when he was trying to convince Hogan not to wrestle. Bubba, though, has a past with Hogan and his sounded more believable. With that said, I do not want to see Bubba on TNA television in any other role aside from that what he just did on tonight’s show. In fact, if he never is seen again, I’d be happy.
Aside from the tag team match scheduled for next week’s live show, it was announced that we will also hear from Kevin Nash and Eric Young who want to speak out about the Band. Also next week, well… that’s pretty much all they hyped. For a show going head-to-head against the competition, TNA may have wanted to hype a little more than that.
Tonight’s main event wasn’t anything to write home about, but it did add a little more fuel to the AJ Styles/D’Angelo Dinero match at Lockdown. With all of the hype surrounding next week’s tag team match, Styles/Dinero has been pushed to the background a bit. I feel this gave it a little something to at least carry it over a bit without totally forgetting about it.
It was also nice to see that the Pope did not submit to the figure four no matter how much pain he was in. I do wish, though, that he would have gotten a little more face time on this week’s show prior to the main event. In my mind, TNA needs to build him up a little more before he challenges for the World Championship at one of their bigger shows of the year. A small promo isn’t going to cut in the minds of many fans.
The tag team champions showed us some signs of dissention between the two of them. This seems to happen all too often with tag teams in TNA, but in this case I can’t be any happier. Both Matt Morgan and Hernandez were getting decent singles pushes and then got paired together, which killed their momentum. Ironically, they were in a four way match with three other great tag teams, any of which I’d love to see hold the belts. Hopefully, Morgan and Hernandez lose the titles, battle each other and then go their own ways in the near future.
The Global and X Division Champions were both in action tonight… in a match against each other. There is a bit of history between Rob Terry and Doug Williams as they we both part of the British Invasion, but I still cannot understand the reasoning behind having Terry destroy Williams in no time flat. Yes, Terry is a huge monster, but Williams is a champion in his own right. A champion should never be buried in a match that quickly, and it’s not like they couldn’t have had Brutus Magnus be the sacrificial lamb.
In another questionable moment, TNA has yet again given the Samoa Joe abduction a passing mention. I believe Taz brought it up during the main event and said that nobody has heard from Joe since he was put into that van two weeks ago. Maybe they’ll surprise us with something on Monday’s live show, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Eric Bischoff once again made me chuckle by bringing up a not-so-subtle reference to the XFL. Too many jabs like this could get quickly annoying, though, so they should space them out a bit. I’m sure a reference to the WBF will be coming in no time.
Finally, I will be making the switch with Impact to Monday nights and will be covering the shows live on Gerweck.net. Feel free to follow along with me and email me your thoughts as the show goes on.
