TNA recently re-launched their Xplosion program giving the show a whole new look.  Updates includes a whole new announce team of Jeremy Borash and Taz, new theme music by the rock band Taproot, and an updated logo.  It will also feature exclusive matches not seen anywhere else.

Xplosion currently airs in international markets but rumors have been going around stating that SpikeTV has picked up the show and will add it to the Thursday night TNA lineup.  A lineup that may go from just one 2-hour show, to a total of three shows filling a 4-hour block.

As of now, Impact is the only show that airs on Thursday nights from 9-11PM EST, but SpikeTV will soon be adding Reaction, which is set to air after Impact.  Reaction aired a pilot episode last April while Impact was still on Monday nights and is set to premier on July 15 at 11PM EST following Impact.

If the news about SpikeTV picking up Xplosion is true, the rumored time slot for Xplosion is 8-9PM EST on Thursday nights, which comes just before Impact.  This would mean that Xplosion would be the lead in for a 2-hour Impact broadcast, which would be followed by an episode of Reaction.

If SpikeTV is trying to brand their Thursday nights as TNA Thursday Night, then they would have succeeded.  However, for the average wrestling fan, four hours of original programming in one sitting is too much.  Hell, I found it hard trying to sit through a 4-hour WrestleMania event.

I will give TNA credit as Reaction is like no other wrestling show as it focuses on the characters and storylines as opposed to wrestling.  A program like that is tolerable after a two hour Impact broadcast as it is different and can be effective to follow up on what happened on Impact.

Having a 1-hour wrestling program lead in to your flagship 2-hour wrestling program might be asking too much for fans to take it all at once.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all for TNA adding another hour of programming as I feel that they could benefit from it.  But having it come all at once is overkill and will easily burn out fans who will instead tune out.

Personally, I would much rather see Xplosion take over Impact’s original time slot of 11PM EST on Saturday Nights, or even late night time slot on Wednesday nights.  Hell, even a 8PM EST lead in to WWE Raw on Monday nights would be an upgrade.  Basically, anything would work aside from tacking on an extra hour on Thursday nights.

Whatever does happen in the end, I will be covering any and all shows TNA broadcasts on SpikeTV.  It just seems that my Thursday nights may be busier than usual if this plan comes to fruition.

Footage of the Slammiversary pay-per-view is aired, which includes RVD retaining the TNA World Championship against Sting and the TNA debut of Tommy Dreamer.

Eric Bischoff is in his office where he says the TNA championship committee met earlier in the day and due to personal issues with Scott Hall, the Band has been stripped of the TNA Tag Team Championship.  Bischoff wishes him luck with his personal issues and states that they will be holding a tournament to crown new champions, which starts tonight.

Match 1: The Band vs. Ink Inc. (TNA Tag Team Championship Series)
Kevin Nash and Eric Young don’t look too impressed with having to compete in the tournament to regain the titles they were stripped of.  The two attack Ink Inc. as they come into the ring and Young picks up a near fall on Jesse Neal before tagging in Nash.  Nash and Young work over with quick tags and wear him down but Neal won’t give up.

Neal finally connects with a blow to Young and crawls to his corner to make the hot tag to his partner.  Moore comes in and hits Young with a series of quick moves to pick up a near fall.  Moore then connects with a super hurricanrana on Young from the top rope but Nash breaks up the pin fall.  Neal then comes in and spears Nash as Moore then connects with the Mooregasm on Young to pick up the pin fall.

The tag team brackets are shown and Ink Inc. have advanced to the finals and will face the winners of Team 3D against Beer Money.  The announce team then runs down what happened at the Slammiversary event and say that the TNA championship committee has made a new Top 10 Contenders list but couldn’t decide the order of the top three.  A 3-way match between Mr. Anderson, Abyss and Jeff Hardy will happen tonight to determine the #1 contender.

Ric Flair’s music then hits as he comes out with his group.  Flair says he has a major announcement to make that will rewrite the history books of professional wrestling as we head into a commercial break.

The docu-cam sneaks on Abyss and Chelsea who says she wants to be with him and not Desmond Wolfe and his abuse.  Abyss says she knew the deal about 30 days and says that she won’t want to be around him after tonight.

We return to the ring and see Flair’s group in the ring.  Flair says he is going to reform the Four Horsemen but they are going to instead be called Fortune and they will change the direction of TNA forever.  Flair gives a little history of the Four Horsemen and why they were a superior group.  Flair says the members of the Horsemen would eat the guys in the ring for lunch.

Flair then begins running down AJ Styles about losing to Jay Lethal and Lethal’s music interrupts.  Lethal says it looks like the Horsemen were here, took a dump and left that group in the ring.  Lethal says them saying they are the Horsemen is disrespecting the business.  Flair becomes irate due to Lethal’s impersonation as he starts tossing shoes at Lethal.

Desmond Wolfe finally steps in and calls Lethal a cheap imitation of a legend.  Desmond challenges Lethal to the match and Lethal accepts.  Flair, though, has to be held back and tells Wolfe that he will be the first member of Fortune if he wins but if he loses he will be history forever.

Lacey Von Erich is seen getting a massage in the back to get ready for her match against Angelina Love later on tonight.

The docu-cam catches up with Mr. Anderson who is arriving to the Impact Zone.  Anderson says he is ready for his 3-way match and the cameraman asks if we’ll see the real Mr. Anderson tonight.  Anderson replies by saying it all depends on what we think the real Anderson is.

Match 2: Hernandez vs. Samoa Joe
The match starts and Joe takes Hernandez down and begins stomping a mudhole in him.  The fans start a “Joe’s gonna kill you” chant but Hernandez takes Joe down with a flying shoulder block.  Hernandez follows with a huge clothesline and hits a running shoulder block that sends Joe out to the floor.  As the referee checks on Joe, Matt Morgan runs in and nails Hernandez with a low blow.  Joe then comes back in and lands a t-bone suplex for the win as Morgan is hiding down by the ring apron.

As Joe is walking up the ramp, he catches the replay on the big screen and turns around to see Matt Morgan.  Joe walks towards the ring as Hernandez recovers and the two have him surrounded but Morgan escapes and runs up the ramp.  Mike Tenay announces that Hernandez will take on Morgan inside a steel cage at Victory Road.

AJ Styles walks into the locker room and gives Desmond Wolfe news about Chelsea not wanting to be with him any more.  Styles says he better get his girl in line and also win the match or else Flair will keep him out of the group before walking away.

The docu-cam is with Jeff Hardy and he says he doesn’t fully trust Anderson as Anderson walks in.  Anderson says may the best man win.

Douglas Williams is then in the ring and says that Slammiversary was a celebration of TNA, but it was also about mourning and says the X Division as it once was is dead.  He says it will now be about the technical ground and pound that he is famous for.  He says he will give the fans a lesson in it in his match tonight.

Match 3: Douglas Williams vs. Max Buck
The two trade off arm bars but Buck uses his speed and quickness to send Williams out to the floor.  Williams comes back in, though, and takes Buck down with a Samoan drop.  Williams then works Buck over with a headlock and an abdominal stretch before hitting a series of suplexes to pick up a near fall.  Williams then goes for the tornado DDT but Buck gets out of the way and counters with a neckbreaker to almost pick up the pin fall.  Williams then comes back and hits Buck with a headbutt in the midsection before hitting the tornado DDT for the pin fall.

Williams continues on the attack after winning the match and puts Buck in a choke hold until Brian Kendrick runs down to the ring and puts Williams in a cobra clutch.  Williams taps out to the hold but Kendrick refuses to let go of the hold.

A video package highlighting the history between Sting and Jeff Jarrett is aired.  The feud between the two picked up once again at Sacrifice where Sting brutally beat Jarrett down.  It continued at Slammiversary with Jarrett getting involved in Sting’s match.  Jarrett will call out Sting later on tonight.

A video package highlighting TNA’s action figure line with each of the wrestlers shown giving their thoughts on the figures.

Angelina Love is then in the ring and talks about how she now realizes that every time she steps into the ring, it could be her last time, so she is going to make the most of it.  She says this week it will be her against Lacey Von Erich.  Next week, it will be Velvet Sky.  Finally, it will be Madison Rayne at Victory Road to reclaim her Knockouts Championship.  She then tells Lacey to get down to the ring.

Match 4: Angelina Love vs. Lacey Von Erich
Angelina immediately takes Lacey down with a clothesline and slams her down to the mat.  Lacey, though, comes back and takes Angelina down with a drop toe hold and takes her down once again by pulling her hair.  Lacey begins laying into Angelina in the corner but Angelina counters and powerbombs Lacey down to the mat.  Angelina goes out and grabs a chair and DDT’s Lacey onto it as the referee calls for the bell and disqualifies her.

The docu-cam is sneaking on Jay Lethal and Hulk Hogan who says Lethal’s impersonations are great but that’s not what he saw in him when he arrived in TNA.  Hogan says Lethal is a great talent and he has raised his level and he is staying up there.  Hogan says he now has a target on his back and his ride is going to get real interesting for him.

Christy is backstage with Jeff Hardy who says he would love to mix it up with RVD, but that all depends on what happens tonight.  Mr. Anderson comes in and says there is a few people trying to stir the pot but at the end of the night, the two of them will be able to look each other in the eye and know that they did this as men.  Anderson tells Hardy not to buy what people are saying.

Match 5: Team 3D vs. Beer Money (TNA Tag Team Championship Series)
Team 3D argues a bit on the entrance ramp about what happened at Slammiversary with Jesse Neal.  The bell rings and Robert Roode and Brother Devon go back and forth with Devon getting the advantage and even hitting some double team moves after Brother Ray is tagged in.  Ray is distracted by the fans chants calling him a douche bag and he misses with an elbow drop, which allows Roode to tag in Storm.

Storm quickly loses the advantage as Devon is tagged back in and Team 3D hits a few more double team moves.  Ink Inc. joins the broadcast team as Roode makes a blind tag into the match and Beer Money regains the advantage.  Beer Money tries to do their chant and Ray comes in and knocks them down.

The match breaks down and Team 3D then tries for the 3D but Ray notices Ink Inc at the announce table and heads up the ramp.  Security tries to break the three up as Storm spits beer into Devon’s face and Roode rolls him up for the pin fall to win the match.  Ray has a look of disbelief on his face and Beer Money will be taking on Ink Inc. next week on Impact.

The docu-cam catches Desmond Wolfe talking to Chelsea and says he is about ready to snap.  He says he will talk to her later about what happened at Slammiversary but tonight she will have a chance to redeem herself.

Match 6: Desmond Wolfe vs. Jay Lethal
Wolfe tosses Lethal off the turnbuckle prior to the bell to get the match started.  Wolfe rolls him back into the ring as we see Tommy Dreamer walking in the crowd.  Wolfe begins yelling at Chelsea out on the floor as he follows her on the entrance ramp.  Lethal goes out and grabs him and tosses him back into the ring and takes control of the match.  Lethal then puts Wolfe away with his impressive neckbreaker to pick up the pin fall.

Lethal then celebrates in the crowd as Dreamer is seen clapping his hands.  Wolfe, though, recovers and begins to beat Lethal down.  Ric Flair comes out to the ring and gives Lethal a few chops as Wolfe holds him up.  Flair then connects with a low blow as Hulk Hogan’s music hits.  Hogan comes down to the ring as Flair and Wolfe leave.  Hogan points at Flair a few times before raising Lethal’s arm in victory.

Hogan gets on the microphone and says TNA is on fire right now because of people like Jay Lethal.  Hogan says he is a TNA executive and calls out Ric Flair as he wants to make a major announcement.  Hogan says he is going to make a man’s dream come true as he is putting Flair against Lethal in a match at Victory Road.

Sting is seen walking down from the rafters without any face paint and his confrontation with Jeff Jarrett will be up next.

The announce team then announces the newest Top 10 Contenders rankings.  Starting at 10 on down is Kurt Angle, Desmond Wolfe, D’Angelo Dinero, Jay Lethal, Samoa Joe, Sting and AJ Styles.  Abyss, Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy are the remaining three, which will be decided later on tonight.

Jeff Jarrett is in the ring and he calls Sting to come on out.  Jarrett reminds him that he was the one that called Sting to come to TNA and says that he wanted Sting not to work for him, but with him.  Jarrett goes on to say that they have always treated each other with dignity when they crossed paths but that all ended last month.  He says Sting tried to destroy him but he made a mistake by leaving him standing.

Jarrett says the two will have a rematch next week as Sting just stands there and smirks.  Jarrett says he knows what it is all about and says that Sting is dead wrong about both of them.  Jarrett says Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff have given TNA everything they’ve got and he will be fighting for Hogan and Bischoff next week as well as for the TNA fans before leaving the ring.

Match 7: Mr. Anderson vs. Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy
The match starts and both Anderson and Hardy set their sights on Abyss.  They both take him down with a double suplex and Hardy goes for the cover by Anderson pulls him off.  The two then stare at each other as Abyss recovers and tackles them both down to the mat.  A shot of Tommy Dreamer in the crowd is shown as he is still looking on.  Back to action, Hardy is able to take Abyss down with corkscrew flip from the top rope.

Abyss rolls out to the floor and Hardy kicks him to the guard railing.  Anderson stands up behind Hardy and looks like he is going to attack him from behind be he slides out to the floor and goes after Abyss.  Hardy then dives over the ropes and takes Abyss out and Anderson continues on the attack.  The bell rings shortly after as all three have been counted out of the match.

Anderson argues with Earl Hebner and Abyss snaps and takes out both Anderson and Hardy.  Abyss rolls them both into the ring only to toss Hardy back out to the floor. He then hits Anderson with the Shock Treatment before grabbing some weapons from under the ring.  Abyss connects with a few kendo stick shots on Hardy before emptying a pile of broken glass onto the mat.  Abyss nails Anderson a few times with the kendo stick before driving Anderson down into the glass with the Black Hole Slam.

After seeing a few replays of that, Abyss is seen dragging Hardy up the ramp by his hair.  Abyss then chokeslams Hardy off the ramp and through a table down below.  Hulk Hogan comes up the entrance ramp and asks Abyss what is wrong with him.  Abyss points at Hogan as Impact comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Ink Inc. defeated the Band by pin fall to advance to the finals of the TNA Tag Team Championship Series.
- Samoa Joe defeated Hernandez by pin fall.
- Douglas Williams defeated Max Buck by pin fall.
- Lacey Von Erich defeated Angelina Love by disqualification.
- Beer Money defeated Team 3D by pin fall to advance to the finals of the TNA Tag Team Championship Series.
- Jay Lethal defeated Desmond Wolfe by pin fall.
- Mr. Anderson, Abyss and Jeff Hardy fought to a triple count out.

Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s show was a good transition between Slammiversary and the upcoming Victory Road pay-per-view.  A lot happened during the show so I’m going to get right down to it.

Abyss made a heel turn tonight which he foreshadowed earlier on in the show via the docu-cam.  TNA did a good job building a slight tension between Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson only to have Abyss, who seemed to be the third wheel in the match, turn instead.  The main event wasn’t all that great, but that wasn’t its purpose.

I’m wondering what TNA will give us as a reason for turning Abyss heel but I don’t think it will matter  because right now I am all for it.  In my mind, Abyss should be an evil monster, not a sympathetic dimwit that has been following Hogan around for the past six months.  Plus, I am really tired of hearing his theme music mashup with Hogan’s WCW theme.

All new rankings were revealed tonight although I didn’t like how they were just passed over like it was nothing new.  I felt that TNA did a great job with revealing them last time and although I wouldn’t expect them to go all out every month, I would like to at least have them announced one-by-one by a member of the championship committee.

As for the list, Kazarian was knocked off and replaced by Kurt Angle, while Rob Terry was thankfully removed.  Jay Lethal made his debut on the list, Samoa Joe was pushed up where he belongs and Sting dropped from the top spot all the way down to number five.  This month’s rankings were a lot more like most fans would see it as opposed to last months.

TNA also did their fans a favor by stripping the Band of the TNA Tag Team Championship due to Scott Hall’s personal problems.  Not that it bothers me, as I’d rather see any other tag team aside from the Band hold the gold, but I did find it odd that they were stripped seeing as they used the whole Freebirds rule of defending the titles.  Oh well, at least we are getting a few decent tag team matches that can possibly highlight the division.

Ric Flair also made an announcement that was going to “change the history books” and say that he is bringing back the Four Horsemen but changing the name to Fortune.  He then ran down all of the, I’m guessing, potential members for some odd reason.  He then told Desmond Wolfe that if he beat Jay Lethal he’d be the first member of the group.  Wolfe didn’t deliver on his side of the bargain but Flair worked together with him anyway.  This has been a strange way to officially create a new faction.  Not to mention that there really are five of them.

Finally, maybe it was just me but did Brian Kendrick look like Kurt Cobain tonight or has he always had that resemblance?  Maybe it was just the shirt he was wearing or something.

The Band has left the building.  News has come out that both Scott Hall and Sean Waltman have been released from TNA.  Reports state that Hall was fired on Monday at the Impact tapings in Orlando and it was reported on Tuesday that TNA has no plans on bringing Waltman back into company.

Hall’s release comes nearly a month after being arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting an officer in Chuluota, Florida.  The arrest came one day after an episode of Impact aired in which he became one half of the TNA Tag Team Champions.  Hall was used sparingly since then and is said to have been written off Impact which will air this Thursday.

Waltman came in at the same time as Hall and hasn’t been used in quite some time.  Waltman was said to have no-showed the Lockdown pay-per-view but it was later revealed that he was not cleared to wrestle due to him contracting hepatitis C.  A couple of weeks after Lockdown, Waltman was written off the show after suffering a bloody attack at the hands of Team 3D.

You would think with the track record the two have in the wrestling business that promotions would know to stay far away from them.  Unfortunately, TNA has not learned from their past mistakes and have brought Hall and Waltman back in time and time again.

I harbor no ill feelings personally towards the two and I hope that some day the can right their wrongs and get the help that they need.  Professionally, though, I don’t ever want to see them step inside the squared circle in TNA, WWE or even ROH for that matter.

TNA president Dixie Carter has been busy with her Twitter account as of late with rumors of big changes coming to the promotion.  Her first post on the topic stated that she couldn’t sleep and that TNA’s about to change forever.  She followed that up less than 12 hours later saying that Spike president Kevin Kay also agrees that TNA is going to change on every level.

Since these tweets started, rumors and speculation has been running around as to what the huge change(s) are going to be.  Plenty of ideas have been floating around, but it seems that only a few people may know exactly what is happening as Carter did state that she cannot wait to share the news with the talent, staff and fans.

A few of the rumors that I have heard about have been good ones, while some have been absurd.  I am going to take a time to address the ones that I have seen floating around and give my thoughts on all of them.

Rumor 1: Paul Heyman is joining TNA
This is probably the best rumor that I have heard out of all of them.  It has been reported on ProWrestling.net that Carter has been in talks with Paul Heyman and Vince Russo has stated that he would be willing to step aside from the creative team if Heyman were to jump on board.  Carter stated in an email to Jason Powell, though, that while she would love to work with him, the surprise doesn’t have anything to do with Heyman.

Heyman has been very critical of TNA’s product in the past but has one of the best minds in the business.  I wouldn’t say that this would automatically make them the best wrestling promotion in the United States, but it could help the creative process as long as Heyman has total control and isn’t just another cook in the kitchen.  And, yes, this would be a huge change for TNA.

Rumor #2: TNA is adding more Spike TV specials and cutting down on monthly PPVs
It is hard to remember a time that monthly wrestling pay-per-views didn’t exist, but that’s how the wrestling landscape was like just a little over a decade ago.  I have long thought that TNA should go this route, especially considering how little TV time they have to promote a full fledge pay-per-view event.  I wouldn’t like to see them cut out all PPV events, but maybe down to four or six good ones each year.

If Spike is on board with producing live specials from time-to-time, these could be a more viable option for TNA instead of the pay-per-view route.  Treat these specials as secondary pay-per-view events (something like the Sacrifice card) and use them to build up to the larger pay-per-view events (such as Bound for Glory or Slammiversary).  WCW had some success in a plan such as this with their Night of the Champions specials on TBS.

I cannot speak for every fan out there, but I’d be willing to shell out more money for a stacked quarterly pay-per-view event than less money for a lackluster monthly pay-per-view event.  This would be a huge change for the company, but may not be worth the hype that Carter is giving it.

Rumor #3: Impact is moving out of the Impact Zone
This would be a huge change for TNA and could possibly be a way for the company to pull in more of a profit.  Aside from some pay-per-view events and a single television taping, TNA has held most of their televised shows within the walls of Soundstage 21 at Universal Studios.  The setup has worked for them, however, they are losing out on any gate receipts as fans are able to get in to the events for free.

It is true that TNA will have some added cost for taking their show on the road but that money could be recouped by charging fans for admission.  Merchandise sales would probably be greater on top of that as they would be bringing in a stream of new fans instead of the same people that show up for their tapings in Orlando.  You know who they are there, too.  I know I have been able to recognize many of them in the live audience over the years.

Rumor #4: TNA is moving to 3D
This is probably the oddest rumor I have seen out there.  I suspect filming a show in 3D would cost a lot of money – more money than TNA should be willing to spend – to reach a small target audience who could fully enjoy the experience.  Yes, this would be groundbreaking, but I don’t see it as a huge change.  I would see it as a huge waste of money, though, if this ends up being the surprise.

Whatever the rumor may be, I hope for the benefit of Dixie Carter and for TNA that it lives up to the hype.  TNA tosses around these “historic changes” all too often and most of the time they are letdowns.  This one, though, seems different.  Probably due to the fact that no concrete evidence has been brought to light as to what it may possibly be.  Her last Twitter post on the subject told the fans that we will find out in the coming weeks.

Please Dixie and TNA, don’t let the fans down with this change.

The Knockouts Division lost two more of their best workers in the past couple of days with both Roxxi and ODB being released from the company.

The stipulation for Roxxi’s match turned into a title vs. career match with Roxxi coming up short.  Roxxi was working on a nightly deal but appeared to be in line for a push with this title match.  The stipulation was tacked on just before her match and Roxxi was said to be visibly upset backstage before and after her match.

ODB, on the other hand, posted on Twitter that her and TNA have parted ways.  ODB hadn’t been used much lately after losing the Knockouts Championship to Tara at Genesis in January.  ODB held the Knockouts Championship three times during her run and recently stated that she was ready for a new challenge in life and wants to get into acting.

The Knockouts Division is starting to thin out, especially when it comes to quality wrestlers.  Aside from the Beautiful People, who hold all of the Knockouts gold, there is Taylor Wilde, Sarita, Hamada, Rosie Lottalove, Daffney and Angelina Love.

Dixie Carter promised a surprise at Slammiversary and it came in the form of Tommy Dreamer.  Dreamer was spotted at the event walking through the crowd during the teacher vs. student match between Brother Ray and Jesse Neal.  Dreamer distracted his former ECW mate, thus allowing Neal to pick up the victory with a spear.

Dreamer recently left WWE as part of the ECW roster at the end of 2009.  The parting was emotional as he lost to Zack Ryder with the stipulation that if he lost he would be forced to retire from ECW; the very company he was the heart and soul of… well, at least the original company he was the heart and soul of.

Dreamer was the last original member of ECW on the roster and the writing was pretty much on the wall at that point that this version of ECW was in its dying days.  ECW finally closed up shop about a month and a half later.  Dreamer was one of the final people to ever hold title ECW Championship before losing it to Christian at Night of Champions in 2009.

After his WWE contract was terminated, speculation rose that he would be on his way to TNA where some of his ex-ECW friends, such as Team 3D, RVD, Rhino and Taz, are currently working.  Dreamer is said to be working without a contract but one can hope that this gives more reason for Paul Heyman to jump on board.  TNA fans can only hope.

Quick results for the Slammiversary VIII pay-per-view.

Match 1: Kurt Angle vs. Kazarian
Kazarian countered an attempt at an Angle Slam with his inverted piledriver but Kurt Angle kicked out of the pin attempt. Angle then came back with an Angle slam but Kazarian also kicked out of the pin attempt. Angle finally countered Kazarian and put him into an ankle lock and made him tap out to take out #10 on the Top 10 Contenders list.

Match 2: Douglas Williams vs. Brian Kendrick (X Division Championship)
After several near falls, Douglas Williams goes for the Chaos Theory but Brian Kendrick stops him from doing it by biting his hand. Williams soon counters into a tornado DDT from the second rope and picked up the pin fall to retain the X Division Championship.

Match 3: Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi (TNA Knockouts Championship)
Prior to the match a new stipulation was added that Roxxi’s career was on the line in this match. Roxxi is busted open early on after being hit with a microphone but still manages to connect with the Voodoo Drop on Madison Rayne but she kicks out of the pin attempt. Roxxi hit another Voodoo Drop but Madison rolls out of the ring to recover. Madison then quickly put Roxxi away to retain the TNA Knockouts Championship and ending her TNA career.

Match 4: Brother Ray vs. Jesse Neal
Brother Ray apologized for the way he was acting before clocking Jesse Neal with a right hand. Ray then dominated Neal until Tommy Dreamer comes out from the crowd and stares down Ray. Neal then connects with a spear to put away Brother Ray and score the pin fall.

Match 5: Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez
Matt Morgan claimed to have a doctor’s note saying he couldn’t wrestle but Hernandez brought him into the ring anyway. These two big men then brawled briefly before Hernandez was disqualified after shoving the referee. The fight continued after the match was called and Hernandez accidently connected with a big boot to referee Brian Hebner that took him out.

Match 6: Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss (Monsters Ball Match)
Abyss poured out a bag of broken glass which Desmond Wolfe made him fall into. Wolfe then asked Chelsea for her purse that contains some brass knuckles but they were missing. She then tosses the brass knuckles to Abyss who uses them to knock out Wolfe and then hits the Black Hole Slam to win the match.

Match 7: AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal
Jay Lethal put AJ Styles in the figure four leg lock which made Ric Flair irate, who was standing ringside. Lethal then misses with a flying elbow which allows Styles to take him out with a Pele kick. Styles then goes for a springboard but Lethal catches him and counters with a suplex and a bridge to pick up the pin fall.

Match 8: Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy vs. Beer Money
Beer Money tried to set up Mr. Anderson for the DWI but Jeff Hardy made the save and Anderson hit the Mic Check on Robert Roode. Anderson then covered Roode for the pin fall as both Anderson and Hardy took turns announcing each other as the winners of the match.

Match 9: Rob Van Dam vs. Sting (TNA World Championship)
RVD inadvertently took out referee Earl Hebner and Sting began to attack the champ with a baseball bat. Jeff Jarrett came out and took the bat away from Sting and hit him in the gut, which allowed RVD to hit the rolling thunder but Sting kicked out of the pin attempt. Sting then missed with a Stinger Splash and RVD followed with the Five Star Frog Splash for the pin fall victory to retain the TNA World Championship.

TNA celebrates its eighth year anniversary this Sunday with Slammiversary VIII, live from the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL.  Slammiversary is usually one of the bigger events of the year for TNA and they have booked three title matches along with six other grudge matches.  Here is a run down of the card.

- Rob Van Dam vs. Sting (TNA World Championship)
- Douglas Williams vs. Brian Kendrick (X Division Championship)
- Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi (TNA Knockouts Championship)
- AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal
- Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy vs. Beer Money
- Kurt Angle vs. Kazarian
- Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez
- Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss (Monsters Ball Match)
- Brother Ray vs. Jesse Neal

Rob Van Dam vs. Sting (TNA World Championship)
Sting was listed at the top of the list when TNA announced the official Top 10 Contender rankings.  RVD and Sting also have a little history as RVD defeated Sting in his TNA debut but proceeded to be beaten down by Sting and his baseball bat.  Sting has been saying that he doesn’t have anything personal against RVD but will lift the veil over TNA and expose everyone’s true colors.

Sting has done a good job lately with showing his brutal side and he has been having some decent promos.  When I first heard of this match I was skeptical, but now I am actually looking forward to it.  I have my doubts that RVD will drop the title so soon, but there is that thought in the back of my mind that Sting will walk out as champion as he reveals the deception that he has been talking about.

There is a good chance that outside factors, such as Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett or Samoa Joe, will have a hand in the outcome of this match.  This match is truly a toss up in my mind, so I will have to side with the reigning champ on this one.

Starman’s Prediction: RVD to retain the TNA World Championship.

Douglas Williams vs. Brian Kendrick (X Division Championship)
Douglas Williams regained the X Division Championship that he was forced to relinquish by defeating Kazarian at Sacrifice.  He is now defending said championship against Brian Kendrick, who briefly tagged with Williams for one match before the two got into a fight.  The two met in the ring a few weeks ago with Kendrick scoring the pin fall after Kazarian distracted Williams.

Williams has been a decent X Division Champion and is trying to bring a more mat-based style to the division instead of the spot-fest that it usually becomes.  I love the high octane spot-fests myself, but I also like what Williams brings to the table.  This should be a good match if given time and I feel that Williams will retain the title in the end.

Starman’s Prediction: Douglas Williams to retain the X Division Championship.

Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi (TNA Knockouts Championship)
Roxxi recently made another return to TNA and defeated Madison Rayne in a non-title match.  She was then awarded a shot at the Knockouts Title and said that she is ready for anything that TNA puts in front of her, including the newest Knockout, Rosey Lotta Love.  Unfortunately, that was about all of the hype this title match was given.

Roxxi has been in-and-out of TNA since the beginning of the Knockouts Division but it surprises me that she has yet to win the Knockouts Championship.  She has had her chances but always seems to come up short.  With the Beautiful People in Madison’s corner, I feel that she will come up short once again.  Madison will then move on to feud with Rosey in the coming weeks.

Starman’s Prediction: Madison Rayne to retain the Knockouts Championship.

AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal
Jay Lethal has been on Ric Flair’s bad side ever since Lethal did some spot on impersonations of the Nature Boy.  Lethal surprisingly defeated Styles and Kazarian, both of which are in Flair’s stable, in a triple threat match by pinning Styles.  Flair didn’t take the loss too well and Styles is out to prove himself to Flair by taking Lethal on in a one-on-one match.

This match could be the match of the night in my opinion.  Lethal has always seemed to rise to the occasion when he needs to in huge matches, such as those against Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle, and I believe this match will be no different.  Lethal would be elevated by leaps and bounds by pulling out a win against the former World Champion, but I will give the edge to Styles.  Lethal will still come out looking like a million bucks and elevated a bit.

Starman’s Prediction: AJ Styles to win the match.

Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy vs. Beer Money
Mr. Anderson stated that he wants to turn over a new leaf and has befriended Jeff Hardy.  Anderson also booked himself and Hardy in a match against Beer Money, who took exception to that as they feel they should be in the same ring as a mismatch tag team.  After some heated words, the two sides got into a scuffle and will meet each other in the ring this Sunday.

I have to side with Beer Money on this one as I also hate mismatch tag teams.  With that said, this should be a decent match and I hope that Anderson doesn’t turn too soon on Hardy.  Anderson is the type of character who can go back and forth with great ease, but I would feel that it is too soon for him to go back to a heel during this match.  If he and Hardy stick together they should win this match.

Starman’s Prediction: Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy to win the match.

Kurt Angle vs. Kazarian
Kurt Angle was ranked in the second spot of the Top 10 Contender rankings but felt that he wanted to work his way up the ranks instead.  Angle removed his name from the list and Kazarian took over the last spot by winning an X Division Battle Royal.  Angle then challenged Kazarian to a match to begin working his way up the ranks.

Kazarian has been in a weird spot as of late.  He went from chasing the X Division Championship, to winning it, to losing it, to being ranked in the Top 10, and then to aligning himself with Ric Flair.  Kazarian is Flair’s new project, which could go a long way in getting him over with the fans.  A great match with Angle could also do the job.

I am looking forward to all of Kurt Angle’s challenges in the coming weeks and months and this is a good starting point.  Angle will win here and Kazarian will look good in the process.

Starman’s Prediction: Kurt Angle to win the match.

Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez
Matt Morgan took out Hernandez a while back with a well placed boot to the skull against the ring post while the two were tag team champions.  Morgan held on to the tag team gold by himself before finally losing it to the Band, who cashed in on their Feast or Fired title shot.  Morgan was scheduled to for a rematch with a mystery partner, but that match was moved up a week and his partner was none other than Hernandez.

Hernandez came out and brutally beat down his former partner before leaving him lying in the ring.  Morgan was put on to a stretcher and the Band came out to pick up the pin fall on the rematch while Hulk Hogan booked Morgan in a match against Hernandez at Slammiversary.

After seeing the beat down on Morgan, one would think that he would get his revenge at Slammiversary, but Hernandez has the momentum and needs some wins with his return.  This match could go either way and will probably end in a disqualification, but I have to say that Hernandez takes the victory here.

Starman’s Prediction: Hernandez to win the match.

Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss (Monsters Ball Match)
Desmond Wolfe and Abyss faced off in a match at Sacrifice where both Chelsea and Hulk Hogan’s Hall of Fame ring was on the line.  Abyss won the match and won Chelsea for 30 days.  The two will now meet in a Monsters Ball match and Wolfe has vowed to get his revenge and Chelsea back.

Judging by Abyss’ history with Monsters Ball matches, we will probably see Abyss fall into a pile of thumbtacks and/or broken glass and Wolfe will more than likely get his revenge and beat Abyss at his type of match.  As for Chelsea, I can see her turning on Wolfe and siding with Abyss to put a twist into this feud.

Starman’s Prediction: Desmond Wolfe to win the match.

Brother Ray vs. Jesse Neal
Brother Ray took exception to his student Jesse Neal and feels that he needs an attitude adjustment as his head is getting too big.  Brother Devon has tried to calm him down but Ray challenged Neal to this teacher vs. student match.

I feel that there are two possible outcomes with this match.  One, Devon is with Ray all along and totally destroys Neal. Two, Ray beats Neal unmercifully and Devon tries to stop it causing friction between Team 3D.  I am picking the latter and either way you look at it, Neal is getting beat.

Starman’s Prediction: Brother Ray to win the match.

That is the Slammiversary VIII card in a nutshell.  Don’t let the VIII that is tacked at the end fool you, it is in regards to the TNA anniversary and doesn’t mean it is the eighth annual Slammiversary event.  It is actually the sixth Slammiversary pay-per-view and the first that hasn’t featured a King of the Mountain match.

All in all, TNA did a good job in hyping the card the last couple of weeks and making this out to be a huge event.  It is also great to see some fresh matchups like Styles/Lethal, Angle/Kazarian and Williams/Kendrick.  I am not the least upset over the fact that there isn’t a King of the Mountain match.  Slammiversary is a solid event on paper and plenty of the matches have the potential to be great.

As always, live coverage of Slammiversary VIII will take place on Gerweck.net starting at 8PM EST.

A video package highlighting the matches at Slammiversary kicks off Impact.  The pyro then goes off in the Impact Zone and we head to the announce table who hypes Slammiversary and tonight’s return to the ring for Kurt Angle.  We will also see footage of Sting’s attack on Jeff Jarrett at Sacrifice.

AJ Styles’ music hits as he comes down to the ring with Beer Money, Desmond Wolfe and Kazarian.  Styles says that Flair is out tonight so he will take control of tonight’s situation.  Styles says they are scheduled to be in an 8-man tag match tonight, however, there are five of them in the ring.  Styles says the soulution is to kick Kazarian to the curb, so he tells him to hit the bricks.

Ric Flair’s music then hits and Jay Lethal comes out and pulls off his best Flair impersonation.  Lethal says Styles was right about there being an 8-man tag and introduces his team, which consists of Abyss and Mr. Anderson.  Styles says he can’t count as there are five on his side and three on his side.  Lethal says Abyss counts as two guys and storms the ring.

The two side get into a brawl as Jeff Hardy’s music hits and he helps out to get Styles and his crew out of the ring.  Mike Tenay says they now know who their fourth partner is and the two sides will meet in tonight’s main event.

Brian Kendrick is with the docu-cam who says he understands his true purpose and he is here in TNA to capture the X Division Championship, which is a championship that shows no limits and is a title for the truly courageous.

Match 1: Brian Kendrick vs. Homicide
As the match starts, Douglas Williams comes out and joins the announce team to see his Slammiversary opponent up close.  The match starts and Homicide goes on the attack and goes for the Gringo Killer, but Kendrick squirms out of it.  Homicide, though, goes back on the attack and takes Kendrick down with a t-bone suplex which gives him a two count.

Homicide begins choking Kendrick with his athletic tape but Kendrick is able to fight back with an enziguri that sends Homicide out to the ramp.  Kendrick follows him out and smashes his head on the ramp until the referee pulls him off.  Homicide then goes under the ring and grabs a tool box with a hammer in it but the ref takes it away.  Kendrick then kicks Homicide in the face and picks up the pin fall.

A fight is in the back between Team 3D and Ink Inc.  Security is holding both sides apart as we head into a commercial break.

After the break, Ink Inc. are in the ring and Jesse Neal calls out Brother Ray so he can talk to him man-to-man.  Brother Ray comes out and is being held back by Brother Devon and security and agents.  Neal wants to know why he has been laying them out in the back and putting cards on them.  Ray says he doesn’t know what he is talking about but he needs an ego check.  Ray says before Team 3D showed him the way, he was nothing but a failure in the Navy.  This sets of Neal and Ray turns his attention to Shannon Moore.

Moore calls Ray the biggest douche bag in the business.  Devon steps in and says he never liked Moore but gets a free pass since he is with Neal, who is a product of theirs.  Devon then tells Ray to get his head on straight before leaving the ring.  Ray then blindsides Neal before leaving the ring.

Mike Tenay then sets up the footage from Sacrifice where Sting brutally beat down Jeff Jarrett.  The footage airs where we see Sting beat down a bloody Jeff Jarrett and the graphic footage of what it looks like Jarrett’s shoulder popping out of socket.  After beating Jarrett to a bloody pulp, Sting rolls Jarrett into the ring and scores the pin fall after hitting a Scorpion Death Drop.  Afterwards, Sting says the blood is not on his hands, but it is on Hogan’s hands.

The docu-cam sneaks up on Matt Morgan who is with Eric Bischoff.  Morgan cuts to the chase and wants to know who his partner is at Slammiversary.  Bischoff says a partner has been selected and his partner will love him to death.  In fact, he will find out tonight as his title match will take place tonight.  Morgan doesn’t want anything to do with it and can’t believe that it is him.

A video of Jeff Jarrett talking about his match with Sting at Sacrifice is aired.  Jarrett says this is a different Sting that he knows from before and that he is possessed with an evil that he has never seen.  Jarrett vows revenge, but says it won’t happen any time soon as his arm is in a sling.  Jarrett says he has a personal connection to Slammiversary and promises to get answers from Sting.

Prior to the tag team match, Hulk Hogan comes out while Matt Morgan is in the ring.  Hogan says he has his tag team partner and it is Hernandez.  Hernandez comes, flies into the ring and takes out Morgan.  Hernandez strangles Morgan with his t-shirt and chokes him out.  Hogan, who is at the announce table, announces that he is going to put Hernandez in a match against Matt Morgan at Slammiversary.

Morgan is tended to by trainers and is placed on a stretcher as the Band’s music hits.  The three come down to the ring and the bell rings for the tag team title match.

Match 2: Matt Morgan vs. the Band (TNA Tag Team Championship)
While Morgan is strapped down to the stretcher, Eric Young goes and covers Morgan to pick up the pin fall.

Christy is with RVD who says he is going to show Sting why he is champion at Slammiversary.  RVD is blindsided, though, by Sting and he begins to choke him out before laying into him with some hard fists.  Sting then picks up the TNA World Championship and walks away with the title.

After a break, trainers check on RVD who is concerned with his World Championship that is missing.  RVD then leaves and goes off to look for Sting.

Kurt Angle’s music then hits as he comes out to the ring with a microphone.  Angle says he will be taking on Kazarian this Sunday at Slammiversary, so to prepare he invited a friend to wrestle him who is one of the best X Division wrestlers in the company.  He told him not to hold anything back as he is going to do the same.

Match 3: Kurt Angle vs. Amazing Red
The match starts and Red takes Angle down with a head scissors but Angle pops right back up.  Angle fires back with a belly-to-belly suplex and charges at Red but is sidestepped and Angle falls out to the floor.  Red then comes back and hits a hurricanrana from the ring apron and sends him crashing into the floor.

The match returns to the ring where Angle quickly takes control of the match with a hard clothesline.  Angle sets up for an Angle Slam but Red counters into a DDT.  Red then takes Angle down with a second DDT and nearly picks up the pin fall.  Red again almost picks up a pin fall after landing a standing moonsault but Angle kicks out.

Red heads to the top and misses with a high risk move and Angle hits the Angle Slam to pick up the pin fall.  After the match, Angle picks up Red and shakes his hand.

Sting is seen in the back where he says he is in possession of the TNA World Championship but after Sunday he will own it.  Sting promises to lift the veil over TNA and says the word of the month is ‘deception’ as it is now written on the title.  Sting then says change is coming.

A video package highlighting the history of Slammiversary is aired.  Both Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan give their thoughts on TNA, their growth and their talent.  The package then highlights the big matches on the card with well put together footage.

RVD is seen walking around in the back and is heading up to the rafters looking for Sting and his TNA World Championship.

Match 4: AJ Styles/Beer Money/Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss/Jay Lethal/Mr. Anderson/Jeff Hardy
Jay Lethal starts out strong against Robert Roode before tagging in Abyss.  Abyss takes out both members of Beer Money as does Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy.  Storm finally pokes Hardy in the eyes and tags in Desmond Wolfe, who gains control of the match.  His team starts working over Hardy with quick tags and double team moves while picking up a few near falls.

Hardy finally lands a jawbreaker on Styles and makes the hot tag to Jay Lethal who takes out all four of his opponents.  This match then breaks down with everybody hitting their signature moves with Wolfe ending it with a lairet to Abyss.  Wolfe begins to yell at Chelsea to give him a chair but she is reluctant to do so.  Wolfe finally gets it from her but Abyss punches it in his face.

Styles then springboards into the ring and takes Abyss out with a flying forearm.  Styles then counters a springboard from Lethal with the Styles Clash to pick up the pin fall for his team.  Styles’ team then celebrate in the ring with their victory.

Sting is seen in the back with the title around his waist.  He tells “Robbie” to keep looking for him and promises to stay where he is standing as we head into a commercial break.

We return to see RVD looking around in the back and is attacked from behind by Sting.  RVD begins to fight back as the wreck havoc on the merchandise stand before heading underneath the bleachers.  The two brawl into the Impact Zone and into the ring where RVD begins to choke Sting with his own trench coat.  RVD strips the title from around his waist before putting a steel chair in between the ropes.  Sting, though, drives RVD’s head through the chair before hitting him in the back with it.

Sting grabs the title belt back and places the title across RVD’s chest and says it is his until Sunday before walking away and Impact comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Brian Kendrick defeated Homicide by pin fall.
- The Band defeated Matt Morgan by pin fall to retain the TNA Tag Team Championship.
- Kurt Angle defeated Amazing Red by pin fall.
- AJ Styles/Beer Money/Desmond Wolfe defeated Abyss/Jay Lethal/Mr. Anderson/Jeff Hardy by pin fall.

Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight was a solid go-home show for Slammiversary and TNA did a great job putting over the pay-per-view and making it look like it is really a huge event.  There wasn’t a lot tonight in the form of matches, but those that did take place (with the exception of one) were great.

For starters, every match tonight hyped the Slammiversary card at least in some way, shape or form.  The first match put Brian Kendrick against Homicide and gave Kendrick some face time on television before going up against Douglas Williams for the X Division Championship.  Kendrick won his match, and it surprisingly wasn’t a squash at all.  Actually, Homicide looked pretty good in the match and got in the majority of the offense.

That match was very similar to the match between Kurt Angle and Amazing Red.  Angle won, of course, but Red looked like a million bucks and got a few believable near falls on Angle in the process.  Angle said he chose to fight Red since he has a similar X Division style as Kazarian, and if these two can put on a great match in under five minutes, I cannot wait to see what Kazarian and Angle can do when given even more time.

The main event was also very good and put over several matches on the Slammiversary card.  I especially enjoyed the exchange at the top of the program between the two sides.  Jay Lethal is great at his Ric Flair impersonation, although I hope it is only done in small doses.  One thing that did bother me, though, was that it did seem like Styles was pretty much burying Kazarian out there, plus, wasn’t he supposed to go home or something?  It seemed a little odd with Styles out there and nobody seemed to mind.

The tag team match was pretty much bogus, but the less of the Band on television the better, in my opinion.  The match didn’t mean much anyway as it was pretty much there to give Morgan his rematch and give Hernandez a hot return.  It looks like these two big men will be feuding with each other and hopefully Morgan will be removed from the stacked tag team division and move on to better things.

At first, the thought of RVD and Sting fighting over the TNA World Championship didn’t do much for me.  In the past couple of weeks, though, this match has grown on me.  After tonight’s show I am actually looking forward to the match on Sunday.  I still have the possibility of Sting winning the championship in the back of my mind and that possibility has grown a lot over the past couple of hours.

I also have to give some credit to the TNA video department who put together a great video package for Slammiversary.  It was a nice, quick, stroll down memory lane and put over the importance of the show and the accomplishments TNA have made over the years.  Slammiversary isn’t a throwaway PPV by any means, and this did a good job putting it over.

As always, I will return this weekend for my Slammiversary preview and predictions.

Webmatch: Taylor Wilde vs. Madison Rayne (TNA Knockouts Championship)
After a brief shoving match, Taylor rolls Madison up a few times for some quick pin attempts.  Taylor continues on the attack until Madison counters and slams Taylor down to the mat.  Madison then kicks Taylor in the head but she comes back with a couple of clotheslines and takes the champion down with a leg kick.  Taylor takes a little too much time playing to the crowd and Madison is able to counter an Irish whip with an arm whip takedown to pick up the pin fall and retain the Knockouts Championship.

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHNqixnR4yM

A video package highlighting Mr. Anderson kicks off Impact.  Also, footage of Sting’s recent actions is aired and the voiceover guy wonders what kind of mind games Sting has in store for RVD.

We head into the Impact Zone and the announce team runs down this week’s card that will feature a three way match between AJ Styles, Kazarian and Jay Lethal.  Mike Tenay promises that it will be an intriguing show as Sting’s music hits and he comes out to the ring.

Sting says not everything is as it seems and says there is a lot of smoke and mirrors around in TNA.  Sting goes on to say that there is meaning behind his actions and he doesn’t need to explain himself, nor does he owe an explanation.  Sting then promises change and says he will take the title from RVD and the veil will be pulled over everyone’s eyes.

A video package is then aired that shows Sting’s recent reign of terror in TNA as Eric Bischoff and Miss Tessmacher comes out of the entrance tunnel.  Bischoff is using a crutch and says that Sting is not the man he thought he once knew.  Bischoff calls Sting a fraud and says that he is his own problem.  Bischoff says he and Hogan put TNA and the fans first, but Sting puts himself ahead of everything.

Bischoff goes on to say that he is going to continue to put the fans first and he knows they want to see Sting in a match.  In fact, that match is going to start right now and his opponent is standing right behind him.  Sting turns around and Samoa Joe is standing there.

Match 1: Sting vs. Samoa Joe
Joe goes right on the attack as a referee runs down to the ring to get the match started.  Matt Morgan then runs down to the ring and attacks Joe as Sting joins in.  RVD’s music then hits as he comes to the ring and takes Morgan out as Sting heads out to the floor.

Bischoff comes out again and says the match will continue later on tonight and books a tag team match.  Bischoff says it will be RVD and Samoa Joe against Sting and Matt Morgan.  RVD steps in and suggests that he makes it a four way match instead.  Bischoff says he doesn’t have the authority to make that kind of match and will check with Hogan first.  Just then, Hogan’s music hits.

Hogan comes out and says that RVD has raised the bar ever since winning the TNA World Championship.  Hogan says due to RVD being the champion he has some stroke and agrees to the four way match for later tonight.

Christy is backstage with AJ Styles who says he is pissed off about being in a three way match tonight and that he just found out.  Ric Flair and Kazarian walk in and he says he is going to make him proud tonight.  Flair says both Kazarian and Styles are going to make him proud tonight.  As Flair and Kazarian walk out, Kazarian stops and thanks Flair for buying him a watch.

Match 2: Rosey Lotta Love vs. Roxxi
Footage of Rosey putting Daffney on the shelf during a dark match is aired to give him a bit of a introduction.  For those who are not familiar with her, Rosey is a larger woman and is wearing lingerie and fishnet stockings.  Rosey starts out strong against Roxxi and slams her down to the mat.  Rosey then tries to squash Roxxi in the corner but Roxxi gets out of the way.

Roxxi then tries to knock her down with some dropkicks but Madison Rayne sneaks to the ringside area and hits her from behind with the Knockouts Championship.  Madison orders Rosey to pin her and she ends up being rolled up by Roxxi to pick up the pin fall.  Madison then enters the ring and gets in her face but Rosey just drops her to the canvas and leaves the ring.

Jeremy Borash meets up with Rosey on the ramp and she’s big, bad and beautiful.  She also promises to take every one of the Beautiful People out before planting a kiss on JB’s lips.

Match 3: AJ Styles vs. Kazarian vs. Jay Lethal
The recent tension between Styles and Flair is aired as Styles and Flair makes their way to the ring.  The bell rings and Styles heads out to the floor to allow Kazarian the chance to fight Lethal on his own.  Lethal takes the early advantage before Styles slides in and takes Lethal down with a clothesline.  Lethal, though, fights his way back and tries for the Lethal Combination until Kazarian comes in and saves him.

Kazarian and Styles begin to bicker a bit and Lethal takes them both down and picks up a pin fall on Kazarian.  Lethal then tries for a springboard move on Styles but Kazarian pushes him aside and counters Lethal with a neckbreaker.  Styles and Kazarian take turns trying to one-up each other but they are having some communication problems trying to work together.

Styles then goes for a springboard but Kazarian knocks Styles off the ropes.  Lethal then pushes Styles into Kazarian and then rolls up Styles for the pin fall.  Lethal then heads out to the floor and celebrates by the fans as Flair has a look of disbelief on his face.  Flair comes in and yells at Styles for losing to Lethal and says that Styles is confused and unfocused.  Flair says he is not in his good graces and Styles needs to go home and regroup.

Styles leaves and says he doesn’t need this.  As he is walking up the ramp, Kurt Angle’s music hits as he is elevated right behind Styles.  Angle stares Styles down but Styles just walks past him.  Angle then begins to come down towards the ring as we head into a commercial break.

We return to the match to see Angle in the ring with Flair and Kazarian.  Angle says he came out to show Kazarian the proper respect before making him his next victim.  Angle says he gave up his #2 ranking spot to start from the ground up and with Kazarian ranked #10, it all starts with him at Slammiversary.

Flair steps in and says the two of them have a lot of history and that he wanted his youngest son to be just like him.  Flair says Angle made a fast and great transition between amateur wrestling to pro wrestling, but Flair is 10 times better than Angle as a pro.  Flair says he demands respect and until he gets it, Angle can hit the bricks.

As Angle begins to leave, Flair stops him and tells Angle to hold the ropes open for him.  Angle holds the ropes before heading after him and tossing Flair of the entrance ramp.  Kazarian then attacks Angle from behind and the two get into a brawl before Kazarian bails.

The docu-cam catches up with Matt Morgan who meets up with Sting.  Morgan tries to convince Sting that he can be trusted and wants to work together as a team.  Sting, though, doesn’t give him a response and walks away.

After a commercial break, the docu-cam sneaks up on AJ Styles who is irate in the parking lot about what Ric Flair just did to him.  Styles says he needs to kill Jay Lethal and needs to tell Bischoff he wants a match with him at Slammiversary.

A video package highlighting Mr. Anderson’s last few weeks is aired.  Christy Hemme is then standing in the ring and introduces Anderson, who has a big announcement to make about Slammiversary.  Anderson comes out and says he noticed Beer Money didn’t have anyone to challenge at Slammiversary, so he put down his and Jeff Hardy’s name down for the match.

Jeff Hardy comes down to the ring and compliments Anderson for being the second craziest person in TNA aside from himself.  Beer Money’s music then hits as they come out to the ring.  Robert Roode and asks what either of them knows about tag team wrestling.  Roode acknowledges Hardy’s past but says his brother carried him.

Roode explains to the two what tag team wrestling is all about and calls the team of Hardy and Anderson is a mismatch and shouldn’t even be stepping in the same ring as them.  The two sides then comes to blows as security runs in and tries to separate the two teams.

We return after a commercial break and see that James Storm and Jeff Hardy are still battling it out around the ring.  These two are set to face each other in singles action and that match is supposed to come up next.  Hardy, though exposes the floor and tosses Storm onto the ground.  Hardy finally rolls Storm into the ring and this match officially starts.

Match 4: Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm
Storm connects with a DDT and picks up a near fall before connecting with a hard kick to the head.  Storm continues to wear down Hardy before bringing a chair into the ring.  The referee takes the chair away but gives Hardy enough time to recover and nails Storm with a jawbreaker.  Hardy then hits a face first suplex and heads to the top rope but Storm gets up and pushes him down.

Storm the crawls up the ropes and tries to go for a hurricanrana but Hardy blocks it and follows with a corkscrew dive off the ropes.  Storm the drapes the ropes and takes a drink of his beer before spitting it in Hardy’s face.  Storm the hits the Eye of the Storm but Hardy kicks out of the pin attempt.  Storm then tries to use the chair once again but misses and Hardy connects with the Twist of Fate.  Hardy then hits the Swanton Bomb to pick up the pin fall.

After a commercial break, we head into the second singles match between these two tag teams.

Match 5: Robert Roode vs. Mr. Anderson
The match starts as Roode and Anderson go back and forth in the opening moments until Roode heads out to the floor.  Roode baits Anderson out to the floor and heads into the ring to gain the advantage as Anderson tries to get back into the ring.  Roode begins to work over Anderson and picks up a few pin attempts in the process.

Roode puts Anderson is a headlock but he fights his way out of it and takes Roode down with a back drop.  Anderson then hops on the middle rope and flips over Roode and tries for the sunset flip, however, Roode drops down and holds the ropes for leverage as the referee counts to three.

After the match, Anderson calls down for his microphone and says the people seem to be able to beat him is by using underhanded tactics.  The reason they have to do that is because he is no mere mortal, but he is Mr. Anderson… Anderson.

The douc-cam is with Douglas Williams who talks about his style of wrestling compared to the rest of the X Division.  He says he is holding on to the belt and is trying to teach them how to wrestle properly.  Williams says they use a selfish attention grabbing style and if they learn to wrestle they may have a chance at the belt.

A video package focusing on the feud between Desmond Wolfe and Abyss aired.  It then turns to the feud between Rob Terry and Orlando Jordan.  Tonight, Abyss and Terry will take on Wolfe and Jordan in a tag team match, and that match is up next.  Prior to the match, Mike Tenay mentions that Wolfe and Chelsea were given probation and community service for filing that false police report.

Match 6: Desmond Wolfe & Orlando Jordan vs. Abyss & Rob Terry
The match starts and Wolfe goes right after Abyss’ bandaged arm before tagging in his partner.  Jordan also comes in and goes after Abyss’ arm but his offense is quickly stopped as Abyss tosses him out to the floor.  Jordan gets up and starts checking out Chelsea and she slaps him across the face.  Wolfe comes over and screams at both of them until Abyss starts attacking him out on the floor.  Back in the ring, Rob Terry hits the Freakbuster on Jordan to pick up the pin fall.

A video package highlighting the tension between Team 3D and Jesse Neal is aired.  Brother Devon is interviewed during the video and says Neal is only doing what they taught him to do and says that Ray and Neal will eventually go to war and it is a war he doesn’t want to be in the middle of.

After a commercial break we see Jesse Neal is laid out in the back with an ace of spades card lying on his chest.  The same happened to his partner last week and the announce team wonders who could be doing this.

Match 7: Matt Morgan vs. Sting vs. Samoa Joe vs. Rob Van Dam
The match starts as Sting and RVD battle on the floor while Joe and Morgan fight in the ring.  After a bit the two sides swap locations as RVD lays out Sting with a superkick that sends him out to the floor.  Joe then goes in the ring and both he and RVD are about to lock up but Sting and Morgan go in the ring and break it up.

Morgan and Joe brawl back out to the floor as RVD hits a kick off the top rope on Sting and follows with the Rolling Thunder.  RVD goes for the pin but it is broken up by Morgan.  Morgan then turns his attention to Sting and nails him with a discuss clothesline and goes for the pin but Joe breaks it up.  Joe then connects with a kick on Sting and covers but Morgan breaks the pin attempt.

Morgan then hits Joe with a side slam and then slams RVD down to the mat.  Morgan begins hitting RVD with a series of elbows but a man in the crowd distracts him that appears to be Hernandez.  This gives Joe an opening to hit Morgan with a muscle buster but RVD catches Joe with a kick that sends him out to the floor.  RVD then hits a Five Star Frog Splash from across the ring onto Morgan to pick up the pin fall.

RVD and Samoa Joe then stand face-to-face in the ring as Impact comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Sting and Samoa Joe fought to a no contest.
- Roxxi defeated Rosie Lotta Love by pin fall.
- Jay Lethal defeated AJ Styles and Kazarian by pin fall in a three way match.
- Jeff Hardy defeated James Storm by pin fall.
- Robert Roode defeated Mr. Anderson by pin fall.
- Abyss & Rob Terry defeated Desmond Wolfe & Orlando Jordan by pin fall.
- Rob Van Dam defeated Matt Morgan, Sting and Samoa Joe by pin fall in a four way match.

Starman’s Thoughts
Slammiversary is still 10 days away but TNA put on a very good show to heavily promote the event with very little filler.  In almost every aspect of the show, feuds were furthered, matches were made or matches were foreshadowed.  TNA usually doesn’t seem to do this much hype for pay-per-views, so it was a nice change of pace

For starters, the main event was decent and helped progress the RVD/Sting match at Slammiversary, plus it possibly foreshadowed a return of Hernandez and a potential RVD/Joe match up.  A match between Van Dam and Joe could be money in my opinion, but with Joe ranked so far down in the title picture, I am starting to wonder if maybe RVD will drop the title at Slammiversary.

Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy have formed a tag team and are challenging Beer Money to a match at Slammiversary.  It’s too bad that there isn’t anything on the line in this match such as the tag team titles.  Oh yeah, those titles are being wasted around the waists of the Band.  Anyway, this match was booked tonight and it already has me looking forward to it.  This match was built up nicely and it could be decent if TNA stays away from going with a swerve.

TNA has been making Jay Lethal look like a million bucks the past few weeks.  The fans are really into Lethal, and I am even more now as he has finally dropped the Black Machismo gimmick.  Lethal, though, continued his winning ways and pinned the former TNA World Champion in a three way match that was pretty much a 2-on-1 handicap match.

From there, it seems that Styles will be facing Lethal at Slammiversary, which could be one of the better matches on the card.  At any rate, it is quite the step up from being the resident X Division jobber that Lethal had be regulated to before getting his well deserved push.

With the loss of Awesome Kong and Tara, it is great to see TNA bring in new and familiar faces into the Knockouts Division.  Roxxi is a talented performer and it is good to see her back, while it is nice to see a big woman try and fill the role that was left open when Kong left with the addition of Rosey Lotta Love.

I’m not too sure how much I like the name and/or the gimmick that Rosey has been given.  Rosey has the size to be the next Knockouts monster, but I don’t know how seriously I can take her with that name, her makeup and the lingerie she wears to the ring.  It does appear that she is comfortable on the microphone, so that is a huge plus.  Hopefully her in-ring skills are as sharp.

Overall, Impact wasn’t a huge new worthy show this week, but it did a great job setting up Slammiversary.

Webmatch: Max Buck vs. Chris Sabin
The match starts and Sabin and Buck trade hip tosses as the two go back and forth in the opening moments.  Buck finally picks up a pin attempt after hitting a hurricanrana and a dropkick.  Sabin quickly comes back and sends Buck out to the floor before going onto the middle rope and diving out to the floor.  Sabin rolls Buck back into the ring and goes for the cover but Buck kicks out.

Sabin continues on the attack and puts Buck in an octopus submission before dropping down to the mat for the pin but Buck again kicks out.  Sabin then tries for a springboard move but Buck dodges and backdrops Sabin out to the floor.  Buck then connects with a dropkick through the ropes.

The action goes back into the ring and Buck heads to the top rope but Sabin recovers as Buck is knocked down into the tree of woe.  Sabin then hits his hesitation dropkick before taking Buck out with a tornado DDT to pick up the pin fall.

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niKhNn-2FwY

A recap of last week’s episode with the revealing of the Top 10 rankings kicks off Impact.  When then head into the Impact Zone where tonight’s show is hyped where the Beautiful People will defend the Knockouts Tag Team Championship against Taylor Wilde & Sarita and The Band will go up against Ink Inc. and Team 3D in a three way tag team match.  Jay Lethal will see if he can keep things rolling by taking on Kazarian.

Jeff Hardy’s music then hits as he comes out to the ring and says that he is out there to find out what is going out with Mr. Anderson.  Hardy tells Anderson to come out an explain himself.  Anderson comes out and Hardy hands him the microphone and says that he lends a helping hand to confuse people and says that he likes to be an a-hole.  Anderson tells Hardy that he needs to embrace his inner a-hole as everyone is one deep down inside.

Anderson then leads the fans in an a-hole chant until he is cut off by AJ Styles’ music as he comes out with Ric Flair, Desmond Wolfe and Beer Money.  Styles says he just found out that he has a match tonight with Anderson and that he requested to have it.  Styles says they shouldn’t even be in the same ring together and he wonders if Anderson knows who he is.  Anderson says he knows who he is and introduces himself as Mr. Anderson… Anderson.

A recap of Team 3D’s turn on Jesse Neal is aired.  Team 3D and Ink Inc. are both standing in the ring and they appear to have let calmer heads prevail as their three way match is up next.

Match: Ink Inc. vs. Team 3D vs. the Band
Ink Inc. starts off strong against Young and pick up a series of near falls before Brother Ray makes a blind tag on Young to get into the match.  All three members of the Band are on the ring apron as Ray begins working over Neal.  Devon is tagged in and allows Neal to tag in Moore as Ink Inc. regains the advantage.  Ray makes the blind tag back into the match and goes after Neal some more and heads out to grab a chair.  Ray brings it in and is about to use it but Devon stops him.  Ray then turns around and is speared by Neal and picks up the pin fall.

The match is over without Hall or Nash getting into the action.  After the match, Ray and Devon get into an argument before Ray gets on the microphone and tells Neal that his head is getting too big.  Ray then challenges Neal to a match at Slammiversary, teacher vs. student.

Christy is in the locker room with Kazarian who says he feels more confident because of Ric Flair, who walks in.  Flair says he see passion and skill in Kazarian and wants him to wear down Lethal and take him out.  Styles walks in and wants to talk to Flair but Flair says he will be fine as he is AJ Styles.  Christy then tells us that Kazarian and Lethal is up next.

RVD is with the docu-cam who says he is going to call out Sting tonight.  RVD says Sting got his moment last week but he won’t get a victory over him.

Match 2: Kazarian vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal goes on the attack in the early part of the match before Kazarian rolls out to the floor.  Lethal dives out of the ring and takes him out before rolling him back into the ring to continue on the attack.  Ric Flair begins walking towards the ring which distracts Lethal and gives Kazarian an opening.  Kazarian takes Lethal down and follows with a springboard leg drop but Lethal fights his way back and nearly picks up a pin fall.

Flair begins chanting encouragement to Kazarian as Lethal puts him in the figure four.  Flair begins to go crazy on the ring apron as Kazarian makes it to the ring ropes to break the hold.  Flair then pie-faces Lethal and Lethal fires back with a right but Kazarian then rolls Lethal up and pulls the tights to pick up the pin fall.

After the match, Flair takes Lethal down with a hard chop but Lethal comes back and gives Flair a few chops and takes him down with a back body drop.  AJ Styles then runs out to the ring and takes Lethal out as Kazarian is lying down in the corner the entire time.  Kazarian finally gets up and pushes Styles aside and the two get into an argument as Lethal takes them both out with a single dropkick.  Flair then gets in Styles’ face on the ramp as they look to both be irate.

We then head to the back to see Shannon Moore laid out in the back and has an Ace of Spades card on his back.

A video package highlighting the angle between Abyss/Desmond Wolfe/Chelsea is aired.  Abyss walked off with Chelsea last Thursday after winning a match with her as part of the stipulation.

Match 3: Orlando Jordan vs. Abyss w/ Chelsea
Orlando Jordan looks to be wearing pasties with Abyss’ face on them and kisses the camera prior to entering the ring.  The match starts and Jordan focuses on Abyss’ taped arm from where he was cut by Desmond Wolfe last week but Abyss comes back with a huge back body drop.  Abyss charges after Jordan in the corner and misses as Jordan continues to focus on the arm and removes the tape.  Jordan reopens the wound but Abyss comes back with a big boot and picks up a two count before sending him out to the floor.

On the floor, Jordan shoves Abyss into Chelsea as Abyss has a worried look on his face.  Abyss then shoves Jordan into the ring post and goes to check on Chelsea and Wolfe comes out and nails Abyss with a lead pipe as the referee calls for the bell.  Abyss is rolled back into the ring as Wolfe and Jordan continue on the attack.  Rob Terry then comes out and takes Jordan out with the Freak Buster as Wolfe runs out of the ring.  Abyss then goes back over to Chelsea and carries her to the back.

Footage of Sting’s recent action is aired which leads us to Rob Van Dam coming out to the ring to call him out.  RVD talks about the accomplishments both he and Sting have had in the wrestling business and says that their paths have never crossed.  Their paths are crossing now and RVD wants to give Sting a preview of what he will be seeing at Slammiversary.

Sting’s music hits but it turns into footage of Sting attacking RVD with a baseball bat when RVD debuted in TNA.  Sting then appears in the rafters and says that was only a taste of what he will get at Slammiversary.  Sting says it will be showtime at Slammiversary and he will be taking the TNA Championship.

The docu-cam catches up with Hulk Hogan talking to Mr. Anderson.  Hogan says Anderson backed himself into a corner and now everyone hates him, the good guys and the bad guys.  Hogan says he needs to figure out what he is doing because he sees dollar signs when he looks at Anderson.  Anderson says he is turning a new leaf and is going to prove it tonight.

A video promo for Half Pint Brawlers is aired.  Puppet the Psycho Dwarf then joins the announce team to talk more about the show that will start airing next Wednesday on Spike TV.

Christy is backstage with Roxxi who scored a huge pin fall against the Knockouts Champion last week.  Roxxi talks about her injury that happened last year and says she is now ready for anything that TNA has to give her.  Christy then tells her that she has been chosen to take on Madison Rayne at Slammiversary for the Knockouts Title.  Roxxi is overly happy for being given the opportunity.

Match 4: The Beautiful People vs. Taylor Wilde & Sarita (TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship)
Puppet is still with the announce team and says that he thinks he just grew an inch after the Beautiful People come out and do their entrance.  The bell rings and Taylor and Sarita work over Velvet Sky in the opening moments and pick up a couple of near falls in the process.  A referee distraction allows Lacey to take Taylor down with a clothesline and she is tagged into the match.  Lacey then takes Taylor out with a claw slam and picks up the pin fall.

Puppet then joins the Beautiful People in the ring and gives them high fives before spanking Velvet in the ass.   Velvet then slaps him across the face and Madison takes him out with a DDT as Lacey cannot believe what they just did.  Lacey goes to check on him and he plants a kiss on her lips and rolls around the ring for a bit as the Beautiful People are applaud by her actions.

The docu-cam is with Jeff Hardy who says he is wrestling Desmond Wolfe and has little experience with his European style so it will be unique vs. unique when the two face off in the ring.

Kurt Angle comes out and joins the announce team who says he is on a scouting missing to check out some future competition.

Match 5: Desmond Wolfe vs. Jeff Hardy
Wolfe and Hardy go back and forth with a series of counters and reversals to start this match out.  Wolfe finally gets the advantage and picks up a two count but Hardy comes back with a few kicks and Wolfe rolls out to the floor.  Hardy then kicks Wolfe through the ropes and into the railing before flying over the top rope and onto the floor.  Hardy turns his back for a moment and allows Wolfe to get back into the match.

The fans are split between the two as Wolfe picks up another near fall.  Wolfe then sets up for the Tower of London but Hardy blocks it.  Wolfe, though, continues on the assault and takes him down with a hammerlock takedown.  Hardy finally comes back with a head scissor takedown but misses with a corkscrew moonsault but he misses and hits the referee instead.

Hardy hits the Twist of Fate on Wolfe and goes for the pin fall but the referee is out.  As Hardy goes to revive the referee, Wolfe pulls out a slapjack and knocks out Hardy to pick up the pin fall.

After a commercial break, Matt Morgan is seen standing in the ring and says that in the past two weeks “we” were attacked by Samoa Joe, lost the tag titles to the Band and was told to find a new partner to get a rematch for the tag team titles.  Morgan says they are in the mood to give an opportunity and sends out an open invite to anyone who wants to be in a tag team match with them at Slammiversary.

Nobody comes out and calls out the “little bald guy” at the announce table, which is Kurt Angle.  Angle goes down to the ring and Morgan asks him if he wants to be a star and Angle asks if the last time they were in the ring if he pinned him.  Morgan laughs at it and asks Angle once again if he wants to be their partner before knocking him down.  Security runs into the ring and holds Angle back as Samoa Joe’s music hits.

Joe walks down to the ring and chases Morgan out of the ring.  Morgan says he obviously isn’t going to get an answer tonight and says he is no longer on the clock.  Joe then turns around and stares down Angle before Angle leaves the ring.

The announce team then runs down the Slammiversary card with the matches that have already been set before we head into the main event.

Match 6: AJ Styles vs. Mr. Anderson
Anderson and Styles go back and forth in the opening moments with Anderson working over Styles with a headlock before Styles counters into a leg scissors.  Styles then puts Anderson in a headlock of his own before he fights out and the two trade blows and chops in the middle of the ring.  Styles finally takes Styles down with a dropkick and gets a two count over his opponent.

Anderson and Styles go back and forth once more with both picking up near falls over each other.  Anderson begins to gain the advantage with a series of blows before he comes at Styles with a cross body block.  Styles, though, rolls through and uses the ropes for leverage and pulls the tights to pick up the pin fall.  Mr. Anderson has a smirk on his face as he knows Styles just beat him at his own game.

Anderson calls for his microphone and gives Styles credit before asking the crowd if Styles pulled his tights.  The crowd responds with a “yes he did” as Anderson then hits Styles with the microphone.  Anderson begins beating down Styles until Beer Money comes out to help Styles.  Jeff Hardy’s music then hits as he comes down to the ring with a chair and clears the ring.

Anderson then recovers and sees Hardy in the ring and the two shake hands as Impact comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Ink Inc. defeated Team 3D and the Band in a triple threat tag team match.
- Kazarian defeated Jay Lethal by pin fall.
- Abyss defeated Orlando Jordan by disqualification.
- The Beautiful People defeated Taylor Wilde & Sarita by pin fall.
- Desmond Wolfe defeated Jeff Hardy by pin fall.
- AJ Styles defeated Mr. Anderson by pin fall.

Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s show was headlined by two huge matches, and while neither of them were too long, they both were decent television matches.  The two matches that I am referring to, of course, are Desmond Wolfe vs. Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles vs. Mr. Anderson.  Both of which could possibly headline a pay-per-view in my mind.

Wolfe defeated Hardy in their match and it was nice to see Wolfe actually doing something meaningful once again.  It seemed that Wolfe had stalled out once his feud with Kurt Angle was through and became just another face in the crowd.  Maybe TNA is taking the Top 10 voting to heart and giving Wolfe more focus since the fans seem to be behind his character.  One can only hope, and even though his victory was dirty, it still went a long way to help his character.

Styles and Anderson were in the main event and put on an entertaining wrestling match.  This match also saw the heel win by dirty means with Anderson easily knowing what had just happened.  Instead of being irate over the loss, Anderson took it all in stride as he was beaten at his own game.  Both matches didn’t do much in terms of furthering an angle with the exception of the alliance formed by Anderson and Hardy, but it did do a good job in showcasing the Top 10 contenders.

My main concern with both matches, though, is that they both could have been saved from future pay-per-view bouts.  I’m sure we’ll see both matches happen down the line at some point, but there is always something special about the first meeting between two wrestlers.  Giving them away in short television matches takes away from all of that.

Another concern of mine is the amount of times they said a-hole on the air.  Yes, I’ll admit that I enjoy that fact that TNA isn’t trying to put out a PG-style product, but they went a little overboard today with that word.  I don’t mind hearing it a few times but there has to be some sort of limit put in place, especially since Spike TV let them get away with it without any censors.

Time to move on to other aspects…

I usually hate post-match attacks as TNA has a tendency to overuse them, however, I did enjoy the post-match action after the Kazarian/Lethal match.  It wasn’t just used to make the loser look strong in the end as it usually is meant to and seemed to focus more on the dissention in Flair’s group, especially between Flair and Styles and let Lethal and Kazarian mix it up with some main event talent.

As far as the tension between Styles and Flair, I’m not quite sure I am feeling it yet. Neither of them would benefit by turning at this moment and I feel that the two have been working well together.  With that said, Styles tends to overshadow a group that consists of Beer Money, Desmond Wolfe and Kazarian, so I can see a reason why they would want Styles out of the picture.  A split could work, but I would want to see both sides remain heels if it is done.

One thing that I do like is the smaller on-air role that Hulk Hogan seems to be taking.  It seems that we are seeing less and less of Hogan as the weeks go by, which can do a couple of things.  One, it puts the spotlight on the active talent, and two, it makes Hogan’s appearances mean even more when he does appear.  Maybe this is all just wishful thinking, but I hope it stays that way.

Finally, maybe I missed it, but was it ever announced who laid out Shannon Moore in the back?  Or is he just laying back there.  I figured it was Orlando Jordan with the whole card thing, but you never know with TNA.

Webmatch: Jeremy Buck vs. Amazing Red vs. Alex Shelley
Shelley and Buck try to square off but Red gets in and takes them both down.  Buck is sent out to the floor and Red turns his attention on Shelley who he kicks in the corner.  Shelley then counters Red as Buck enters the ring.  Shelley then knocks Buck down and puts both Buck and Red in single leg Boston crabs before they both reach the ropes to break the hold.

Shelley then slams Red to the mat before putting him in a rocking horse submission then connects with a kick to Buck.  The numbers game catches up with Shelley, though, as both Red and Buck go after him and send him out to the floor.  Red then delivers a corkscrew dive over the ropes and takes out Shelley on the floor.  This gets the crowd into a frenzy as Red rolls back into the ring.

Back in the ring, Buck nearly puts Red away with a double under hook backbreaker but Red kicks out of the pin attempt.  Buck puts Red in a headlock as the fans begin a “put this on Impact” chant.  Red begins the make a comeback as Shelley hops on the ring apron.  Shelley holds Buck against the ropes but Buck knocks him down and connects with a moonsault out to the floor.

Buck quickly hops back onto the ring apron and plants Red’s face into the canvas with a springboard.  Shelley then comes back and sends Buck into the turnbuckle and he begins to climb the ropes but Red kicks Shelley in the face that sends him back to the apron.  Red then drives Buck’s face into the mat but Buck kicks out of the pin attempt.  Shelley then comes in and connects with a kick on Red and drives Buck down to the mat to pick up the pin fall as the fans chant “please don’t stop!”  Shelley then soaks in the fans cheers as this webmatch comes to a close.

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mKKe5o-hrI

There have been a few interesting items of note floating around as of late.  I figured I’d tackle them all at once with a single post.

Vince Russo Willing to Step Aside?
There have been reports going around saying that Vince Russo is willing to leave the creative team if a suitable replacement, such as Jim Ross or Paul Heyman, is brought in to take his place.  It wasn’t too long ago that Russo stated he was burnt out on the creative process, but he would like to stay in TNA and possibly take on another role, such as one of an executive producer.

As much as I’d love to see JR or Heyman take over the reigns of the creative team, I would be shocked to see either of them come to TNA any time soon.  I feel that Ross has a loyalty to WWE and wouldn’t “cross the line” so to speak and jump over to TNA.  Heyman would also be a long shot as he has been very critical of TNA’s product over the past several years.  However, with RVD in the fold, anything could be possible, but still unlikely.

As for Russo, maybe he should be given a different role in the company and give the creative team a fresh face with new ideas.  Who that new person should be is anyone’s guess, but fans can only take so many rehashed ideas and meaningless swerves before interest in their product diminishes.

Scott Hall Arrested
One half (or is that one third) of the TNA Tag Team Champions was arrested in Chuluota, FL, on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting an officer.  Not surprisingly, Hall was at a bar and was intoxicated.

The bartender at the Hitching Post Bar stated that Hall was drinking heavily and became aggressive with a bar patron who was arguing with a female bartender.  The bartender called for a ride to pick Hall up, but Hall punched out the window before pushing two females in the parking lot.  Once police arrived, Hall refused to be handcuffed and had to be forced into them and placed under arrest.

This incident comes at a bad time for TNA as Hall is currently a champion in their promotion.  There is no quick way for them to remove Hall from their programming or take the titles off of the Band as they recently completed all of their TV tapings leading up to Slammiversary on June 13th.  TNA also has yet to publically announce if Hall’s actions will have any sort of recourse.

The phrase “Scott Hall walks into a bar…” should seem like the beginning of a sick joke, but in all seriousness, Hall has a problem that needs to be taken care of and should have been taken care of a long time ago.

Jeremy Borash on Focus Groups
Jeremy Borash was recently a guest on the “Right After Wrestling” radio show on Sirius 98 and had some interesting things to say about TNA and their focus groups.  Borash stated that the move to Monday nights was an inconvenience for their fans and the research from the focus groups wanted Impact to move back to Thursday nights.

Borash also stated that character development is another way TNA uses focus groups.  The research shows that people want to see compelling characters, such as Orlando Jordan, and TNA will judge fans reactions and will make adjustments accordingly as to who is or who isn’t pushed and how the talent is used.

I really want to know more about these focus groups and how I can be a part of them.  Judging from my own personal thoughts and the thoughts from several other fans that have voiced their opinions online, people like Jordan or Rob Terry wouldn’t see a single second of air time, yet they are both in a meaningless feud that is being pushed down our throats.

If what Borash is saying has any truth to it, it is unfortunate that TNA has moved back to a taped television schedule.  Usually Impact tapes two episodes in consecutive days with the first taping airing that week and the second airing the week after.  If TNA were to judge fans reactions outside of those who attended the tapings in Orlando, they will have to wait at least a week to make any adjustments.

On an interesting side note, former WWE referee and co-host of the show, Jimmy Korderas, stated that he understands that WWE decided to change the ring ropes and ring posts on Raw to white to differentiate themselves from TNA who uses the red ring ropes and black ring posts that Raw traditionally used.  WWE is said to have done this so the WWE Universe does not mistake them from TNA.

Borash also gave his own take on the differences between WWE and TNA and doesn’t see TNA moving to a more PG -style product in the future.  Borash made a good point by saying WWE has corporate sponsors and shareholders to answer to, which gives TNA more freedom to present a different product to a different target audience and use that to their advantage.

I have been recapping Raw for the past couple of weeks on Gerweck.net and I have noticed the white ring ropes used during the show.  I can’t say that I am a big fan of them, but in time they will start to grow on me to the point that I don’t even notice them anymore.  Why WWE would change just because TNA is beyond me and I think they should give their “universe” more credit as to know how to tell the difference.

It is also good to hear that TNA has no plans to change their product and take WWE’s lead in presenting a more family friendly product.  I feel that the PG-style programming has had an affect on WWE’s product (just look at Stone Cold Steve Austin’s time as guest host) and is starting to alienate some of their die-hard fans.  Borash’s take on it makes sense and I hope TNA takes full advantage over it.

Footage of Sacrifice is aired in which RVD retained the TNA World Championship, Tara was forced to leave TNA, Abyss won Chelsea and Jeff Jarrett was brutally beaten by Sting.  We then head to the Impact Zone where the pyro is going off as we are told that the Top 10 rankings will be announced tonight.  Kurt Angle will also make his return to TNA.

Eric Bischoff’s music hits as he comes down to the ring with Ms. Tessmacher.  Bischoff says that the Top 10 rankings has been gathered by the TNA Championship Committee of Hulk Hogan, Dixie Carter and himself, which consists of the fan polls, career win/loss record and title reigns, and TNA win/loss record with title reigns.

Without further ado, here is the Top 10 Contenders list from number ten to number one: Samoa Joe, Rob Terry, Desmond Wolfe, D’Angelo Dinero, Abyss, Mr. Anderson, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle and Sting is sitting at the top.  Each wrestler walks out when announced with the exception of Kurt Angle.

Sting walks down to the ring after being announced and Eric Bischoff announces that Sting will get a shot at the TNA World Championship against Rob Van Dam at Slammiversary.  Bischoff also announces that to prove that Sting will be a fighting challenger, Bischoff books Sting in a match against Jeff Hardy.

Sting answers back by saying everyone is talking about change and says he will give it to them before hitting Bischoff with a baseball bat.  Hulk Hogan is watching from the back and heads towards the ring as Abyss comes into the ring and Sting also nails him with the bat.

Jeff Hardy then sneaks in and steals the bat from Sting and slaps him across the face.  Sting comes back and nails Hardy in the midsection as RVD’s music hits and begins walking towards the ring.  The distraction allows Hardy to take out Sting from behind and Hardy heads to the top rope but Sting rolls out to the floor.

After a commercial break the docu-cam catches Eric Bischoff wincing in pain in the back and is sitting with Hulk Hogan.  Matt Morgan comes walking in and wants to know when he will get a rematch for the tag team championship.  Hogan says he will get a rematch but wishes him luck in finding a partner.

Match 1: Roxxi vs. Madison Rayne
Roxxi’s absence from TNA is explained as a replay of her ankle injury is aired which put her on the shelf.  Madison comes out to the ring by herself in the non-title matchup.  The bell rings and Roxxi goes for a few quick pin attempts but Madison easily kicks out of every attempt.  Roxxi then misses with a boot and Madison begins to work over and wear down Roxxi.  Madison picks up a near fall after connecting with a well placed boot but Roxxi is able to recover and hits the Voodoo Drop to pick up the pin fall.

The docu-cam catches Chelsea crying in the back about having to be with Abyss for 30 days.  Desmond Wolfe says that she may have to stand with him but she will always be his girl.  Another docu-cam catches up with Kurt Angle who is just arriving and they ask why he didn’t come out when he was announced earlier as Angle just keeps on walking by.

A video package highlighting Kurt Angle and his past in TNA is aired.  Angle talks about having an addiction to performing in front of an audience and that he’d rather hear 3,000 fans chant “TNA” instead of having 12,000 people sitting on their hands.  Kurt Angle’s music then hits as he comes out to the ring.

Angle says he noticed a lot of changes in TNA since he first started almost four years ago.  Angle says when he first arrived he was the very best but with the recent roster additions and the established stars that have elevated themselves, Angle is no longer part of the elite and is just another name on the roster.

He continues by saying that he is at a crossroads in his career as he has done it all.  Angle says he wants to start from scratch and take himself out of the Top 10 contenders and go through each and every one of them one by one until he defeats number one.  By doing so he promises that they will be some of the greatest matches of all time.

Christy Hemme is with Ric Flair and Beer Money and Flair says that Jay Lethal insulted him two weeks ago and again at Sacrifice by interering in AJ Styles’ match.  He says he doesn’t care who Jay Lethal has to pick as Beer Money is going to pull him apart.  Kazarian then comes in and wants to talk to Ric Flair and Flair agrees to meet with him as the interview is over.

The docu-cam is with Rob Terry who says he was just told by the doctors that he knee is injured in four different places but that won’t stop him fighting Orlando Jordan.  Terry says it doesn’t matter that he is in pain because he will knock OJ’s teeth down his throat.

Match 2: Orlando Jordan vs. Rob Terry
Footage of Jordan’s brutal attack after Terry defeated him at Sacrifice is aired in which OJ injured Terry’s knee.  The match starts and Jordan goes right after Terry’s knee but Terry fights him off and sends him crashing to the match with a high back body drop.  Jordan is able to come back after kicking Terry in the knee and continues to focus his attack on it.  OJ tears off the knee brace and the bandages off Terry’s leg and locks in a leg bar until the referee finally calls for the bell to end the match.

Jordan won’t release the hold and referees have to storm the ring to get Jordan to break the hold.  A trainer comes down to look at Terry and Jordan comes back into the ring and locks in the leg bar again.  Referees have to pull him off of Terry once more but the damage may already be done.

The docu-cam is with Jay Lethal who says Ric Flair took everything wrong as he was trying to honor him, not disrespect him.  RVD then walks in and offers to be his tag team partner against Beer Money since he had his back at Sacrifice.

The docu-cam is backstage with Jeff Hardy who says he idolized Sting when he was a child and was inspired by him to paint his face.  Hardy goes on to say that he always wanted a match with Sting but never thought it was going to happen.

A camera catches up with Ink Inc. as Jesse Neal busts into Team 3D’s locker room.  Neal gets into Brother Ray’s face and Ray said he gave Neal a much needed attitude adjustment last week.  Brother Devon and Shannon Moore try to calm the two down but the two get into a brawl and need to be pulled apart.

Match 3: Beer Money vs. Jay Lethal & Rob Van Dam
Lethal comes out with his own music and own gear as he points out that it says Lethal on his boots.  Looks like the Black Machismo character is finally gone and the announce team even say it’s nice to see the real Jay Lethal for a change.  The new look doesn’t change his luck in the ring, though, as Beer Money picks him apart in the beginning moments of the match.

During the match, Mike Tenay says that everyone has moved up a spot in the Top 10 Contenders list and the final spot will be decided in an 8-man X Division Battle Royal later on tonight.  Back to the action, Lethal finally hits handspring back elbow on Storm and tags in RVD as Storm tags in Roode.  RVD comes in and takes out both members of Beer Money as Lethal tags himself back into the match.

Lethal hits a missile dropkick on Roode and follows with the Lethal Combination.  RVD then hits Rolling Thunder and flies out to the floor onto Storm.  Lethal then locks in the figure four leg lock on Roode and makes him tap out to win the match by submission.  Ric Flair then storms out towards the ring as he and Lethal get into a fight on the ramp.

The two fight their way towards the back as RVD celebrates the victory with the fans.  While greeting the fans, RVD is attacked by Sting who was hiding in the crowd wearing a Sting mask… yes, a Sting mask over his face paint.  Sting hits RVD with a chair before walking towards the back.

After a commercial break, Jeff Hardy is in the ring and says he grew up idolizing Sting when he was growing up and dares Sting to try to figure Hardy out as he plans on taking Sting beyond his wildest imagination.

We then head to the back where security is escorting Chelsea to Abyss as Desmond Wolfe is berating them the whole time.  We then hear Abyss’ music as he is coming down to the ring to call out Wolfe and Chelsea.  Security is then seen walking Chelsea to the ring.

Once they are in the ring, Abyss says that he made Desmond Wolfe his bitch at Sacrifice and now he is talking his.  Wolfe says he can take Chelsea over his dead body before punting Abyss between the legs.  Wolfe then takes out the security before breaking a bottle and cutting Abyss in the arm with it.  Chelsea tries to stop Wolfe which gives Abyss an opening to take Wolfe out with a Black Hole Slam.  Abyss then leaves the ring with Chelsea draped over his shoulder.

After a break, the Band is in the ring with the TNA Tag Team Championship belts.  Eric Young says that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are the only people in TNA that he has anything in common with.  Young says he is the newest member of the Band and they are there to make the big bucks and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it.

Match 4: Eric Young vs. Shannon Moore
Shannon Moore goes on the offensive in the early parts of this match and picks up a couple of near falls.  Young then turns the tide of the match into his favor and locks Moore in an arm bar until Moore fights his way out and regains control with a bulldog and follows with a series of clotheslines.

With Moore in control, Brother Ray comes out as Jesse Neal charges out after him.  The distraction allows Scott Hall to nail Moore with the title belt from behind and Young takes Moore out with a piledriver to pick up the pin fall.  Back on the ramp, Brother Ray has been laid out as Neal walks into the ring to check on his partner.  Ray, though, runs into the ring and attacks Neal from behind as Brother Devon tries to get him to calm down.

After a break the ring is full of X Division wrestlers as the battle royal is up next for a spot in the Top 10 Contenders list.

Match 5: X Division Battle Royal
Amazing Red, Kazarian, Homicide, Brian Kendrick, Generation Me, and the Motorcity Machine Guns are all participants in the match.  Kazarian quickly eliminates Red from the match as Kendrick is nowhere to be found.  The Guns eliminate Max Buck and Jeremy Buck comes back and eliminates Alex Shelley.  Jeremy Buck is the next one out and Sabin is kicked out by Kazarian as he is going for a springboard.

Homicide and Kaz fight in the corner and Kendrick slides in and sends Homicide out to the floor as the final two fight in the ring.  Kazarian finally tosses Kendrick out to the floor as Ric Flair looks on from the entrance ramp and shows his sign of approval by clapping his hands.  The win gave Kazarian the tenth spot in the Top 10 Contenders rankings.

Match 6: Sting vs. Jeff Hardy
The bell rings as these two lock up and Jeff Hardy connects with a couple of blows and kicks before Sting rolls out to the floor.  Hardy flies out to the floor but Sting ducks out of the way and Hardy catches nothing but floor.  Sting then focuses on Hardy’s legs and begins to slam them into the ring entrance.

Sting tosses Hardy back into the ring and continues on the attack and hits a Stinger Splash but misses with a second attempt.  Hardy begins to mount a comeback but misses with a high risk move.  Sting then puts Hardy in a Scorpion Death Lock but Hardy fights his way to the ropes.

Referee Slick Johnson then finds himself in the way and is dumped out to the floor.  Sting then sets up for a Scorpion Death Drop but Mr. Anderson runs into the ring and gives Sting a Scorpion Death Drop.  Anderson then heads out to the floor as Hardy covers for the pin fall.

Anderson then enters the ring and raises Hardy’s arm in victory and Hardy doesn’t know what to do.  Anderson then calls for his microphone but is attacked by Sting with a baseball bat before it comes down.  Sting then knocks down Hardy as Impact comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Roxxi defeated Madison Rayne by pin fall in a non-title match.
- Orlando Jordan defeated Rob Terry by submission.
- Jay Lethal & Rob Van Dam defeated Beer Money by submission.
- Eric Young defeated Shannon Moore by pin fall.
- Kazarian won an 8-man battle royal to earn the tenth spot in the Top 10 Contenders list.
- Jeff Hardy defeated Sting by pin fall.

Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s episode was all about revealing the rankings for the Top 10 Contenders.  The list was revealed at the top of the show, one person dropped out midway and a new one was added towards the end.  The list itself held very few surprises with the exception of Rob Terry.  I mean, really, Rob Terry?

Eric Bischoff stated that the criteria for the rankings was based on fan voting, win/loss records and championship reigns in and out of TNA.  Just in TNA alone, Joe was undefeated for nearly two years and held the TNA World Championship for six months, not to mention his other title reigns.  Rob Terry has done what – held a title that nobody really cares about?  I’d rather see someone like Jeff Jarrett or even Rhino on the list before Terry.

To make matters worse, Terry moved up a notch after Kurt Angle withdrew from the rankings.  I applaud his idea at fighting his way to the top, which means the fans should be in for some real treats judging by most of the names on the list.  I fully expect, though, that his match against Rob Terry will be a huge clunker.  Seriously, though… Rob Terry?  Why exactly is TNA so high on this guy?

Aside from the rankings, Eric Bischoff also announced that Sting will challenge Rob Van Dam for the TNA World Championship at Slammiversary.  I am not looking forward to this match in the least, but at least they seem to be giving Sting some television time and trying to put over his heel persona.  Sting not only took out Eric Bischoff in the opening segment, but he also attacked RVD, Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson.  The one thing that I do enjoy about the Slammiversary main event is that it is NOT a King of the Mountain match.  I have seen enough of those in my lifetime already.

The end to tonight’s show was intriguing as well with Mr. Anderson coming out to help Jeff Hardy.  Anderson seemed to be getting a good heel reaction from the fans so this is a strange time to change his persona, but I can’t help but wonder where they are going with this.  It sure has gotten my attention, though.

After what seems to have been years and years of pleading in my recaps, it finally seems that Jay Lethal has dropped the Black Machismo gimmick and has returned to being himself.  This change was long overdue and I hope he is able to get over with the fans without having to resort to impersonations, no matter how good they are.  Lethal seems to be getting a push, so at least it seems that they are trying to get him over and isn’t just another face in the crowd.

Not only was it good to see Lethal back to his former self, but it was also great to see Roxxi again.  Much like the last time she returned after a long absence, she came out a pinned the Knockouts Champion in a non-title match by pinning Madison Rayne. Last December she did the same by defeating then champion, ODB.  I’m not sure if she is working on a per appearance deal, but a talent such as her is sorely needed in the Knockouts Division.

It looks like Kazarian is also aligning himself with Ric Flair.  I like that Flair seems to be working with younger TNA talent, but Kazarian doesn’t quite fit the mold of AJ Styles, Beer Money or Desmond Wolfe.  Maybe Flair will work wonders with Kazarian but I think there is more than enough people in Flair’s little stable as it is.

Finally, this is a small thing, but I am enjoying Jeremy Borash as the ring announcer.  He is good at it and seems to show a little more life on the mic than David Penzer.  I do think Borash should be doing more in TNA than that, but at least he is working well with what he was given.

Quick results for the Sacrifice pay-per-view.

Match 1: Beer Money vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Team 3D (#1 Contenders Match)
James Storm spit beer into Brother Ray’s face as Team 3D was setting up to hit the 3D on Robert Roode.  Ray is then taken out with a spinebuster from Roode and a splash from the top rope by Alex Shelley that allows Chris Sabin to pick up the pin fall.  The win makes the Motorcity Machine Guns the #1 contenders to the TNA Tag Team Championship.

Match 2: Rob Terry vs. Orlando Jordan (TNA Global Championship)
Orlando Jordan worked over Rob Terry’s knee but missed with high risk move from the middle rope, which allowed Rob Terry to hit a chokeslam to score the pin fall victory.  After the match, though, Jordan attacked Terry from behind and slam Terry’s injured knee on the Global Championship belt.

Match 3: Kazarian vs. Douglas Williams (TNA X Division Championship)
Kazarian and Douglas Williams both picked up near falls towards the end of the match but it was Williams who won the match after pinning Kazarian after landing the Chaos Theory.  Williams regained the X Division Championship that he never lost nor gave up.

Match 4: Madison Rayne vs. Tara (TNA Knockouts Championship vs. Career)
Tara hit the Widow’s Peak on Madison Rayne but Madison rolled out to the floor to avoid being pinned.  Tara rolls Madison back in the ring and hits a moonsault but Madison kicks out of the pin attempt.  Tara goes for another moonsault but Madison rolled out of the way and hits Tara with a knee to the head to pick up the pin fall, thus ending Tara’s TNA career.

Match 5: The Band vs. Ink Inc. (TNA Tag Team Championship)
Scott Hall and Kevin Nash defended the tag team championship against Ink Inc. as it was specified that any member of the Band can defend the titles.  In the end, Brother Ray came out and nailed Jesse Neal with a kendo stick as Eric Young helped Nash cover Neal to score the pin fall.

Match 6: Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss (Chelsea vs. Hall of Fame Ring)
Chelsea tossed Desmond Wolfe some brass knuckles that he used to take out Abyss, however, he was able to kick out of the pin attempt.  Abyss then won the match shortly afterwards by hitting the Black Hole Slam.  Abyss then told Chelsea that he will see her on Thursday as he has won her for 30 days.

Match 7: Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy
Mr. Anderson hit the Mic Check on Jeff Hardy but Hardy was able to break the pin attempt by placing his foot on the ropes.  Hardy was then able to recover and hit Anderson with a Twist of Fate before connecting with a Swanton Bomb for the pin fall.  After the match, Anderson offered Hardy a handshake but Hardy walked away.

Match 8: Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett
Sting beat down Jeff Jarrett and left him bloody in the back before the match even started.  Sting brought the fight out into the Impact Zone where he continued to assault Jarrett with a baseball bat, a steel chair and even the ring steps.  The match finally made it to the ring where Sting landed the Scorpion Death Drop for the pin fall in just mere seconds.  Hogan then came out and stared at Sting as he stood in the ring and laughed.

Match 9: Rob Van Dam vs. AJ Styles (TNA World Championship)
Earl Hebner sent Ric Flair to the back shortly after the match started but Flair took a detour and joined the announce team instead.  Flair stayed at the booth until Styles missed with a 450 splash and then started to head back towards the ring but was stopped when Jay Lethal came out from the back.  Lethal delivered a low blow on Flair before putting him in the figure four as RVD hit the five star frog splash on Styles to pick up the victory.

TNA Sacrifice comes to us live this Sunday from the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL, with a rematch between Rob Van Dam and AJ Styles for the TNA World Championship headlining the event.  Four more titles will be on the line, as well as a ring, career and even Chelsea.  Two more grudge matches and a #1 contenders match round out the event.

- Rob Van Dam vs. AJ Styles (TNA World Championship)
- Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett
- Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy
- The Band vs. Ink Inc. (TNA Tag Team Championship)
- Kazarian vs. Douglas Williams (TNA X Division Championship)
- Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss (Chelsea vs. Hall of Fame Ring)
- Rob Terry vs. Orlando Jordan (TNA Global Championship)
- Madison Rayne vs. Tara (TNA Knockouts Championship vs. Career)
- Beer Money vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Team 3D (#1 Contenders Match)

Rob Van Dam vs. AJ Styles (TNA World Championship)
Just 24 hours removed from Lockdown, Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy to earn a shot at the TNA World Championship against AJ Styles.  RVD came up victorious against Styles and won the title on Impact.  Styles then cashed in his rematch clause for a match at Sacrifice and softened RVD up in a three-way match this past week on Impact.

Their match a few weeks ago on Impact was good, but I expect this one to be even better and possibly even be the best match at Sacrifice.  The fans are behind RVD and I highly doubt he will lose the championship this early in his title reign, unless, of course, Styles uses some sort of underhanded tactics to pick up the victory, especially if Ric Flair is standing in his corner.  With that said, I’m still picking RVD to retain here.

Starman’s Predictions: Rob Van Dam to retain the World Championship.

Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett
Since returning to TNA, Sting has turned to the dark side and his motives have been unclear.  Due to this change, Jeff Jarrett and Sting have been at odds with each other with Jarrett trying to get answers from Sting.  They have been on opposite sides during Lethal Lockdown and a tag team falls count anywhere match that ended with a brawl in the rafters.

This feud really hasn’t done anything for me.  The feud has pretty much been about Jarrett getting an answer out of Sting and doing everything in his power to get it.  The problem with that, though, is that I don’t care why Sting has to say.  Maybe my mind will change once I hear his reasons, but I have a feeling they are going to drag this out even longer until Sting reveals anything.

Starman’s Prediction: Sting to defeat Jeff Jarrett.

Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy
Both Mr. Anderson and D’Angelo Dinero suffered losses at Lockdown and pretty much got back on track with an exchange between the two of them that looked like it set up a compelling matchup.  The Pope, though, suffered an injury at the hands of Anderson and Jeff Hardy stepped in his spot.

The rivalry between Hardy and Anderson hasn’t had much more than that to work with other than that.  It’s unfortunate that what appeared to be the beginning of a decent feud between the Pope and Anderson has turned into this.  Hopefully Anderson and Hardy get through this match and quickly get back on track.  With that said, I feel that Anderson would benefit more and get back on track with a victory here.

Starman’s Prediction: Mr. Anderson to win.

The Band vs. Ink Inc. (TNA Tag Team Championship)
Ink Inc. formed after having some issues with Matt Morgan, who was holding the TNA Tag Team Championships by himself taking out his partner Hernandez.  Ink Inc. was given a shot at the titles against Morgan and a partner of Hogan’s choosing at Sacrifice, but Samoa Joe took matters into his own hands and took out Morgan this past week on Impact.  This allowed the Band to cash in their Feast or Fired briefcase to win the Tag Team Championships.

I ranted about this before, but even though Ink Inc. didn’t deserve a shot at the titles, it at least made sense.  This match, however, does not.  The tag team division in TNA really needs to get back on track and this match is not doing them any favors.  I am going to say the Band retains their titles here and hopefully only holds on to them until the winner of the #1 contenders match takes them away.

Starman’s Prediction: The Band to retain the TNA Tag Team Championship.

Kazarian vs. Douglas Williams (TNA X Division Championship)
Douglas Williams was stripped of the X Division Championship after having travel problems due to the volcano eruption that lead to Kazarian winning the title at Lockdown.  Williams, though, had the title in his possession and has said that Kazarian needs to earn it from him.

I really hated the fact that TNA stripped Williams of his title due to travel issues.  With that said, they have at least made an interesting storyline and feud out of it since Williams is refusing to give the title up so easily.  Last month I stated that Williams’ new attitude was starting to grow on me and I picked him to retain.  This month I pick him to win the title back and retain the belt he refused to give up.

Starman’s Prediction: Douglas Williams to regain the X Division Championship.

Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss (Chelsea vs. Hall of Fame Ring)
Recently, Abyss defeated Ric Flair and won Flair’s WWE Hall of Fame ring.  The following week, Jay Lethal gave the ring back to Flair and I was hoping that was the last we’d have to see of this nonsense.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.

I’m not sure when or where this match was made but Abyss is putting up Hulk Hogan’s WWE Hall of Fame ring in a match against Desmond Wolfe, where he is putting up Chelsea for 30 days.  I guess in some small way, Chelsea has said that she wanted that ring, but everything came to a head this past Thursday when Wolfe and Chelsea accused Abyss of attacking her.

Abyss will get his revenge and will win Chelsea for 30 days… 30 very long days.

Starman’s Prediction: Abyss to win the match and Chelsea.

Rob Terry vs. Orlando Jordan (TNA Global Championship)
Orlando Jordan has been trying to get under the skin of “the Freak” Rob Terry for a few weeks now.  Things started on OJ’s show, the O-Zone, where he first made advances on a cardboard cutout of Terry before the real one showed up only to be choked out by a chain.  Jordan continued the following week by attacking Terry from behind with a lead pipe.

This is yet another match on the Sacrifice card that does nothing for me.  Neither wrestler is really over with the fans with Jordan only drawing a reaction because nobody wants to see him.  It’s unfortunate that someone has to win here, and for some reason, I really think it is going to be Orlando Jordan.

Starman’s Prediction: Orlando Jordan to win the TNA Global Championship.

Madison Rayne vs. Tara (TNA Knockouts Championship vs. Career)
Tara lost the Knockouts Championship in a Lock Box Challenge when Angelina Love opened the box that had the title in it.  Angelina then lost the championship to Madison Rayne in a cage match with all Knockouts Championships on the line.  Tara stated that she only gets respect when she has the title around her waist and decided to put her career on the line for a shot at the title.

Tara has been posting that she could not come to terms with a new agreement with TNA and is more than likely on her way out of the company.  With that known, it should be pretty safe to say that Madison will be retaining the championship in this match.  Of course, looking at my past predictions, I am usually wrong a good majority of the time, so I could very well be wring here.

Starman’s Prediction: Madison Rayne to retain the Knockouts Championship.

Beer Money vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Team 3D (#1 Contenders Match)
The TNA Tag Team Championship is being defended against two teams that either don’t deserve the championships or don’t deserve a shot at the championships.  Thankfully, one of these three established tag teams will be waiting in the wings once this match is through.

I really could see any of these three teams winning this match and would much rather see any of them hold the titles over the Band or Ink Inc.  Looking at each team in the match, Team 3D doesn’t need another reign, the Motorcity Machine Guns will never get a title reign, so that leaves Beer Money, who I expect will win this match.

Starman’s Prediction: Beer Money to become the #1 contenders to the tag team championships.

That sums up the Sacrifice preview and my predictions.  I hope that I am proved wrong, but this pay-per-view doesn’t appear to be very good on paper.  Most of the matches are either tossed together or lack any sort of direction to get people interested in it.  The only Sacrifice I see is the money that will be shelled out to order this pay-per-view.

As always, live coverage of Sacrifice will take place live on Gerweck.net starting at 8:00 EST.

Impact opens with a video package highlighting the meeting between Hulk Hogan and Sting that took place last week.  The recap also focuses on the match between Desmond Wolfe and Rob Van Dam that ended with AJ Styles attacking RVD and cashing in his rematch clause for a match at Sacrifice.

The Impact intro then hits as we are welcomed to this week’s show that will feature a match between Tara and Taylor Wilde and the announce team teases who will take on Rob Van Dam in a challenge match that is influenced by the contenders voting done by the fans.

Eric Bischoff’s music then hits as he comes down to the ring and introduces the World Champion as RVD.  The champion comes down to the ring as the fans start a huge “RVD!” chant.  Bischoff begins to talk about the contender’s poll and says that Jeff Hardy is one of the top names on the poll and is about to book a match between the two for tonight, however, nobody knows where Hardy is.

Bischoff says he is going to give RVD the night off but RVD would rather be a fighting champion as he is then cut off by AJ Styles’ music.  Styles walks down to the ring in a suit and says he is in the mood to hurt someone before challenging RVD to a match.  Styles then promises to break RVD’s legs so he doesn’t have to break a sweat at Sacrifice to get his TNA World Championship back.

Jeff Hardy’s music then hits as he comes down the entrance ramp and apologizes for being late and says he is ready for his match tonight.  Styles says a new match has already been made two which Hardy suggests having a three way match.  RVD agrees to it and Bischoff makes it official as Styles begins to scream at Bischoff in the ring.

The announce team then breaks down the main event as we head into a commercial break.

Jeremy Borash is standing backstage with the Beautiful People and Madison Rayne says Tara needs to understand that she is no longer the Knockouts Champion and to let her run with the ball.  Velvet Sky then steps in and says all of the gold will stay with the Beautiful People after Sacrifice as Lacey Von Erich and cuts her off as she has to go to the bathroom.  Velvet and Madison can’t believe she just cut Velvet off before we head back to the Impact Zone.

Match 1: Taylor Wilde vs. Tara
Sarita joins her partner but Slick Johnson sends her to the back before the match starts.  The bell then rings and Taylor goes on the attack as the match goes out to the floor with Taylor getting in most of the offense.  Tara begins to plead with Taylor for a moment before turning the tide of the match.  Tara misses with a springboard leg drop but connects with a boot to the midsection while Taylor jumped off the middle rope to pick up the pin fall victory.  After the match, Tara begins to attack Taylor with her knee brace as Sarita runs out to the ring to help her partner.

There is then some commotion going on in the back as Chelsea is seen surround by security and is crying as Desmond Wolfe yells at the camera man and tells him to get out of here.  After a commercial break, Christy announces that details are coming out and she was attacked in an undisclosed location.

Match 2: Brian Kendrick vs. Douglas Williams
Douglas Williams comes wearing the X Division Championship around his waist and berates Kendrick for a bit before announcing that it is a non-title match.  Kendrick then goes on the attack but Williams fires back with a snap suplex for a two count.  Kazarian then joins the announce team as Kendrick begins to make a comeback.  Kendrick picks up a near fall before Williams regains control and begins working over Kendrick’s leg.

Kazarian tells the announce team that he is going to grab his X Division Title and begins walking towards the ring which distracts Williams.  Kendrick then rolls up Williams from behind and picks up the pin fall.  Williams is shocked at the result and snatches the title belt before Kazarian can get it.

We head to the back once again Christy is trying to find out who attacked Chelsea.  She asks Pat Kenney but will not say who it is but he cannot believe who it is as he walks away.

After another commercial break, Christy says she has found out who the attacker is but she is not able to release who it is until he is in police custody but it will send shockwaves throughout TNA.

Match 3: Generation Me vs. Matt Morgan (Handicap Match)
Generation me goes right on the attack as Morgan enters the ring but he easily powers them around.  He takes Jeremy down with a Hellevator and then nails Max with a Carbon Footprint before getting on the microphone.  Morgan demands to know who his tag team partner is at Sacrifice and promises bloodshed.  Morgan places Jeremy against the ring post and is about to kick him in the head as Samoa Joe’s music hits.

Joe comes out to the ring and the two go at it before Joe sets Morgan up in the corner and takes him down with the muscle buster.  Joe then leaves the ring as Morgan is left laying in the ring.  The Band’s music then hits as they slowly walk down to the ring with the Feast or Fired briefcase.  Nash cashes the case in.

Match 4: The Band vs. Matt Morgan
Earl Hebner rings the bell as Scott Hall stands on the ring apron and  Kevin Nash slowly goes for the cover and picks up the three count.  The Band then celebrates with the tag team belts as we head into a commercial break.

The docu-cam sneaks up on Ink Inc as the two are talking about what the Band is capable of but it is all about the titles and they are going to make a statement at Sacrifice.

Match 5: Beer Money vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Team 3D vs. Ink Inc. (Four Way Tag Team Match)
The Guns start out strong against Beer Money and use their quickness and double team moves to start the match out.  Brother Devon tags himself into the match and goes up against Robert Roode and picks up a pin attempt before tagging in Brother Ray.  Ray doesn’t last in the match for long as Shannon Moore tags himself in but is sent out to the floor by Roode.

Storm beats on Moore for a while before sending him back into his partner and is tagged into the match.  Beer Money works over Moore for a bit before picking up a couple of near falls while using quick tags in and out of the ring.  Moore, however, is able to finally counter with a bulldog before tagging in his partner.  Jesse Neal comes in and hits several clotheslines on Roode before taking him down with a back body drop.

Neal goes for a pin attempt and Storm breaks it up but the match quickly breaks down.  The Guns go up against Team 3D before turning their attention to Beer Money.  The ring finally clears as Neal pounds Devon in the corner.  Ray comes up from behind, though, and the take Neal out with a decapitation clothesline.  Team 3D goes for a pin fall but Moore breaks it up.

Team 3D sets up for the 3D but Neal breaks it up and Ray slaps Neal across the face as he can’t believe he would do that.  Moore, though, hits the Mooregasm on Ray and Neal connects with a spear to pick up the pin fall victory.  Moore is seen standing in the ring after the match and it looks like he had an earring ripped out as he is bleeding pretty good from his left ear.

The docu-cam is with Ric Flair who says it is a big night for TNA as AJ Styles is getting in the ring with RVD and Jeff Hardy, who he feels a rift is forming between the two.  He says Styles has the edge even though Flair is barred from ringside.  Flair then guarantees RVD will limp his way to Sacrifice.

Rob Terry is then seen walking in the backstage area and will be defending his Global Championship against Abyss, and that match is up next.

The docu-cam listens in on a conversation between RVD and Jeff Hardy and Hardy thanks RVD for letting him in the match.  RVD brings up how Hardy told him to come over to TNA and how they would take over the fans and they have.  They both say they are going to bring it and RVD says they will break Styles.

Rob Terry comes out to the ring to defend his title against Abyss, but Abyss doesn’t come out for the match.  We head to the back to see Abyss is being surrounded by police and is handcuffed.  Abyss wants to know where Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan are at and wants some answers as to what is happening.  Before he is placed in the car, Desmond Wolfe attacks him but is restrained by police.  Hogan finally comes out and tells Abyss not to worry before he takes his mask off and says he will follow him to the police station.

Back in the ring, Orlando Jordan attacks Terry from behind and nails him with a low blow.  Jordan then goes out to the floor and grabs a lead pipe and knocks Terry out and then tosses a deck of cards at Terry before security rolls him out of the ring.

After a commercial break, OJ is still standing in the ring and he says he will say and do what he wants because he is a wild card.  Jordan then offers up an open challenge to anyone to come and take him out of the ring.  Tomko takes him up on that challenge.

Match 6: Orlando Jordan vs. Tomko
Tomko quickly takes Jordan down and sends him crashing down to the mat with a fallaway slam but Jordan is able to comeback with a dropkick to the face.  Jordan continues to work Tomko over but Tomko is able to comeback and levels Jordan with a clothesline.  Tomko’s offense doesn’t last long as Jordan connects with a back cracker and puts Tomko in a guillotine choke to win the match by submission.

The docu-cam is looking at Hulk Hogan who knows Abyss couldn’t have done what he was accused of.  Lacey Von Erich then walks in and hands over her cell phone and tells her to watch the video as it is all a big mistake.

Eric Bischoff is standing in the back with Tara and says she is going to wrestle again as Sarita asked for a match and she deserves it after her attitude problems as of late.

Match 7: Sarita vs. Tara
Sarita attacks Tara on the entrance ramp before sending her into the ring the hard way.  Tara crawls out to the floor and Sarita follows and sends her into the steel steps before landing a dropkick.  The match makes it into the ring where Sarita continues with her attack and Tara begins to plead once more.  Sarita doesn’t fall for it and tries to take Tara’s knee brace off.  Slick Johnson pulls Sarita off and she inadvertently hits him in the eye.  While the referee is blinded, Tara knocks Sarita out with the brace and picks up the pin fall.  Tara tries to continue on the attack but Slick Johnson pulls her off as she leaves the ring.

We then see AJ Styles standing in the back getting ready for his match as the main event is up next.

A video package highlighting Sting’s recent actions is aired.  Jeff Jarrett wonders why the dark side has come out of Sting at this point in his career and the two will meet at Sacrifice as Jarrett promises to get answers out of Sting.

Prior to the match, the docu-cam catches up with RVD who says he is going to kick AJ Styles’ ass at Sacrifice and is going to let him know about it tonight and is throwing Jeff Hardy in the mix.  He plans on going out to the ring and showing them why he is the whole f’n show.

Match 8: Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles vs. Rob Van Dam
The match starts as RVD and Hardy double team Styles going back and forth with a few moves.  Hardy tries to pick up the pin fall but RVD pull him off.  Hardy then nails RVD with a kick to end their partnership.  Hardy begins to work over Styles some more before RVD kicks Hardy a few times and continues to work over Styles.  RVD goes for a pin attempt but Hardy breaks up the pin attempt.

Hardy begins to work on both Styles and RVD and takes them down with a couple  of neck breakers but Styles is able to recover and finally get in some offense in this match.  Styles is able to take RVD down with a chop block and hooks in the figure four.  Hardy recovers and breaks up the submission move before he heads to the top rope but Styles gets up and knocks Hardy out to the floor.

RVD comes back and hits a monkey flip on Styles as Mr. Anderson comes out and begins attacking Hardy on the floor.  Meanwhile, RVD heads to the top rope and comes down with a kick but ends up hitting both Styles and the referee.  RVD then heads out and nails Anderson from behind and sends him flying into the guard railing.  With those three on the floor, Styles leaps over the top rope and onto all of them.

Styles then plants RVD with a DDT onto the floor.  Styles rolls RVD into the ring and picks up the pin fall while using the ropes for leverage.  Styles then leaves the ring as Mr. Anderson sarcastically apologizes to Jeff Hardy for interfering in their match.

Hardy then gets on the microphone and tells Anderson to get into the ring so they can finish this.  Anderson begins walking down to the ring but turns around as Hulk Hogan’s music hits.  Hogan comes out and stares down Anderson as he tries to take a shot at Hogan but Hogan nails him with a right fist.  Hardy then comes in and joins in as we head into a commercial break.

We return to see the brawl still going on as Anderson smashes Hardy’s face into the steel steps.  Hardy comes back, though, and sends Anderson into the steel guard railing and into the stage.  Hardy then sets up a table just off of the entrance ramp and delivers the swanton bomb from the announce table and onto the table.  Anderson is laid out and is checked on by referees and trainers as Hardy celebrates on the entrance ramp.

We then are treated to the video that Lacey Von Erich gave to Hulk Hogan as we see Desmond Wolfe tearing her dress and splashing water on her face in the bathroom.  Wolfe is telling her how to act and how to put the blame on Abyss.  The announce team says that it looks like their plan was exposed and Desmond Wolfe will have to pay for it as Abyss puts up the Hall of Fame ring and Wolfe puts up Chelsea for 30 days.

A music video to hype the big matches at Sacrifice is aired as Impact comes to a close.

Quick Results
- Tara defeated Taylor Wilde by pin fall.
- Brian Kendrick defeated Douglas Williams by pin fall.
- Matt Morgan and Generation Me fought to a no contest in a handicap match.
- The Band defeated Matt Morgan by pin fall for the TNA Tag Team Championship.
- Ink Inc. defeated Team 3D, Beer Money and the Motorcity Machine Guns in a Four Way Tag Team match.
- Orlando Jordan defeated Tomko by submission.
- Tara defeated Sarita by pin fall.
- AJ Styles defeated Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy by pin fall.

Starman’s Thoughts
I’ve always thought that TNA spend more time showcasing wrestling on Impact and tonight we actually got a total of eight matches.  With that said, though, none of the matches were really that great nor did many of them even get more than three minutes.  Not a good showing for a go-home show as Sacrifice takes place this Sunday.

The one good match of the night was a meaningless four-way tag team match.  It gave the tag team division a chance to showcase some of the teams even though it was obvious that Ink Inc. was going to win the match as they are in line for a title shot against the Band at Sacrifice, which in itself is something horribly wrong.

At first I really liked that Ink Inc. was going up against Matt Morgan after the way he treated them in recent weeks.  I didn’t think the new tag team was worthy of a shot but it made logical sense.  Now, though, Morgan is out of the picture as the Band cashed in their Feast or Fired briefcase to win the tag team titles.

So instead of having Ink Inc. get their revenge on Morgan, they are going up against the Band, who now holds the gold.  Somehow that match seems to be even less intriguing than Ink Inc. against Morgan and a partner of Hogan’s choosing.  What’s even worse, though, is that we saw at least four other tag teams on tonight’s show that is more worthy of holding the titles and/or getting a title shot.  Five if you count Taylor Wilde & Sarita.

I will give out some credit, though, to Shannon Moore after it appeared that he had an earring or two ripped out of his ear during the match.  I’ve had that happen to me once before and it doesn’t feel all that great.

Enough with the tag team division; I’m going to move on to the main event.  On paper, a three-way match between RVD, Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles could easily sell a pay-per-view if the TNA World Championship was on the line.  The match that happened, though, would have left a lot of fans wanting their money back as it barely even got a chance to start.

I thought we were going to be in for a treat as there was about 20 minutes left of the broadcast when the introductions started, but the post-match brawl between Hardy and Mr. Anderson seemed to last longer than the actual match itself.  I guess it did help put over two of the bigger PPV matches, but Eric Bischoff what Mike Tenay called a dream match, and it was nothing even close to that.

Speaking of Bischoff, he claimed tonight that Jeff Hardy was one of highest ranked contenders in the fan poll, which is strange because I seem to remember both Desmond Wolfe and Matt Morgan at the top.  Maybe I was looking at a different poll, or maybe it was due to this show being taped over a week ago.

The backstage docu-cam, which I will be calling it from now on, was used a lot and used effectively tonight.  My one gripe with it, though, is that the audio doesn’t always come out too great.  If it wasn’t for the captions, I don’t think anyone would have heard the conversation between Jeff Hardy and RVD.

Once again Orlando Jordan got the best of Rob Terry in a feud that I have no real desire to see continue.  After beating down Terry, Jordan issued an open challenge that was answered by none other than Tomko.  Every time I see that guy I think back to a time in which he could have been a huge main event player in TNA.  Now he is just a huge, and I use that term loosely, enhancement talent.  Just think what could have been.

Finally, I am starting to wonder if we are seeing the last of Abyss’ mask.  For some reason or another, Hulk Hogan has pegged Abyss to be the huge attraction in TNA but I don’t think he will get over that much when he plays a comical character wearing a silly mask.  Sure, Rey Mysterio got over while wearing a mask, but these are two totally different personas.  I would be all for that change, along with getting rid of any rings and other garbage like that.

As for Abyss being a top draw, well, I think there are plenty others better suited for that role, but I still wouldn’t mind changing up his character a bit.

One last note, I will be offering up my Sacrifice preview and predictions this weekend and I will also be covering WWE Raw live for a few weeks starting this Monday, so you will be hearing from me a lot in the upcoming week.

TNA has added a new Knockout to their roster by signing Betsy Ruth to a contract.  Ruth, who recently wrestled a dark match as Miss Betsy, trained at the Team 3D Academy and is best known for accidently injuring Daffney prior to an Impact taping.

It seems that the Knockout Division has been taking hits as of late with the departures of Awesome Kong, Alissa Flash, and Tara, who will be making her exit shortly.  With the division looking its weakest since its inception, the signing of Ruth couldn’t have come at a better time.  She has the size of a monster at 6’1″ and 250 pounds, but she will have a big role to fill in the division.

Ruth is the third student from the Team 3D Academy to sign with TNA with  Jesse Neal and Rob Terry being the others.