TNA Impact Wrestling
Orlando, Florida (Impact Zone)
May 12, 2011
Commentators: Mike Tenay & Taz
Report by: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
Impact opens up with Eric Bischoff approaching Hulk Hogan and asks him what he’s doing. He tells Bischoff that he’s waiting for the Spike Rep. He’s holding a pipe and Bischoff tells him that they can’t “beat their way out” of this, they have to think their way out of it. Bischoff says this is a different game and they have to play to win it. Hogan agrees and they walk into the Impact Zone together.
We then cut to a video package of the “Miss Angle” drama and all the Spike Rep stuff.
Jeff Jarrett’s music hits and he and Karen make their way down to the ring. Jarrett says after he and Karen have thought a lot about all of this, they have decided to come out here tonight and once and for all call a truce. He says he knows that he has mockingly offered him a truce before but tonight he is very sincere. Jeff says Karen is so sweet, innocent, and fragile and she wouldn’t hurt a fly. He says for her to be put in harm’s way at Sacrifice is wrong. He says he’s made it a top priority to keep her out of all of his matches, especially his matches with Kurt. Jeff claims she has had NOTHING to do with the outcome of their matches. A “we want Angle” chant starts and Jeff says the mere thought of Kurt or Kurt’s “mistress” doing any type of harm to Karen is a crime itself.
Karen & Jeff hug and then Karen says she knows Kurt has had a lot of matches in his career and maybe he’s had his bell rung a few too many times, but how he convinced himself that she is nothing but a thorn in his side is beyond her. She says that she is the complete opposite and she has been nothing but a warm, caring, giving ex-mother and the mother of his children. Karen says the last 3 months between her, Jeff, and Kurt has been a complete misunderstanding. She says if the restraining order she had against Kurt was in Kurt’s best interest. She asks Kurt to come out and she’ll “humbly” accept Kurt’s apology.
Kurt Angle’s music hits and he walks down to the ring. Kurt says “it’s over Karen, it’s done” and he says that after being married to him for over 10 years he thought Karen would realize not to push him the way she has. Kurt says she just kept pushing and pushing and pushing for the last 6 months with “Mr. douchebag.” He says they have been pressing all the right buttons and he tolerated because she is the mother of his kids, but he has no idea why he ever even married her. Kurt says its only a matter of time before “Jackass” realizes that Karen is nothing but pure evil and by the time that happens she’ll take Jeff for everything he’s worth. Kurt says before that happens he’ll get his justice. He says at Sacrifice it will be Jeff & Karen against Kurt and his partner that he’ll introduce tonight. Kurt says he was going to introduce her right now but the Spike representative wanted to give her a proper introduction so Jeff and Karen will have to wait. Kurt says he can’t wait to see Karen’s look and he says that Jeff knows her. “Oh it’s real, it’s damn real.”
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Mickie James & Ms. Tessmacher vs. Madison Rayne & Tara
As the girls come to the ring footage of Mickie & Madison’s agreement on their Sacrifice match is shown. Mickie and Tara start the match off and they lockup in the center of the ring. Tara gets Mickie in a Wristlock and she twists on her arm. Mickie cartwheels through it and hits an Armdrag. Mickie holds onto Tara’s wrist and twists on her arm. Tara rolls through it and hits an Armdrag of her own. Tara holds onto Mickie’s wrist too and then locks in an Armlock. Mickie fights it off and then both go for a Dropkick and both miss. Mickie offers a handshake and Tara accepts it as Madison screams at her. Tara and Madison start arguing so Tara tags Madison in. Madison turns around into a Thesz Press from Mickie. Mickie then picks up Madison but eats a knee to the gut. Madison kicks Mickie in the head and then starts arguing with Tara again. Mickie rolls over and tags in Tessmacher. Madison laughs at Tessmacher gets in the ring but eats a series of forearms! Tessmacher attempts to whip Madison into the corner but Madison reverses it. Madison charges at her but east a boot and then Tessmacher climbs up top and gets up on Madison’s shoulders and hits the Victory Roll! 1…2…3!
Winners: Mickie & Tessmacher via pinfall (Victory Roll)
Madison can’t believe that Tessmacher just pinned her and she’s not happy that Tara didn’t break up the pin. They argue in the ring as Mickie & Tessmacher celebrate on the ramp. Tara walks away from Madison leaving her in the ring.
In the back Ric Flair arrives and walks into Hogan’s office. Hogan calls Flair a “son of a bitch” and accuses Flair of being the one that’s been helping the Network. Flair asks him if he’s out of his mind and he asks who he thinks he’s talking to. Hogan says Flair has been missing the last two weeks and Flair says it’s because his shoulder is busted up. Bischoff tries to calm them both down. Hogan apologizes to Flair and he says he’s just rattled over the network thing. Flair says Hogan is bigger than the Network and “screw the network.” He says the network doesn’t tell them what to do but Hogan says this is the biggest thing they’ve come against. Hogan apologizes again and Bischoff says they have to get on the same page. Hogan and Flair shake hands and Flair says they need to get it done.
In the parking lot a limo arrives and Tenay questions if it’s the Spike rep.
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In the back Tara talks about being free from Madison if Mickie wins. Tara describes how they always bicker and she calls her a skank and a brat. Madison walks up and asks her what she’s talking about and then she says when she beats Madison Tara’s life will be hell and she pokes Tara.
We then cut to Tommy in the back and Tommy refuses to say anything. The camera dude asks why he Piledrove AJ and Tommy says he has a family to take care of. AJ walks up on him and asks Tommy if there’s something he needs to talk to him about. AJ says Fortune wants answers too and Dreamer says AJ is too young and too understanding to understand what he’s going through. AJ says he’s a grown man with 3 kids and he says it was him who stuck a fork in Dreamer’s eye and asks how innocent that was. AJ says Dreamer isn’t the same person and he asks if it’s over the whole EV2 thing. Dreamer says it has nothing to do with EV2 and AJ just doesn’t understand and he never will. AJ tells him to enlighten him or how about they just have a match at Sacrifice! AJ asks if that’s what he wants and Dreamer says AJ doesn’t know what he wants. He gets in AJ’s face and AJ says if he doesn’t get out of his face they’ll throw down right here and right now. Dreamer backs off and AJ starts mocking Dreamer backing away from a fight. AJ says that isn’t the Dreamer he knew. Dreamer gets back in AJ’s face and says that maybe no one ever knew who he really was to begin with. Dreamer tells AJ to walk a mile in his shoes and then he throws a chair. He walks away and asks “what would Tommy Dreamer do, AJ.”
We cut to Sting taking pics for TNA and then he talks to the camera guy and he puts over how great RVD is. Sting says he’s going to be fighting for his life at Sacrifice and sometimes that brings out the worst, but also the best in you. They ask him about the network and Sting says there is a rep here tonight and shortly it will be showtime.
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A Beer Money vignette airs highlighting their career together. Really great video package right there. They actually went through their entire time together, putting over some of the teams they’ve beaten. The video talks about their match with Matt Hardy and teases that Jeff may be his partner.
Beer Money’s music hits and the Tag Champs make their way out to the ring. Roode says last week Hardy was going to make a phone call and call someone special to come and challenge Beer Money for the Tag Titles at Sacrifice. Roode says everyone knows who he’s talking about and Hardy needs to come out right now so they can accept the challenge face to face.
Matt Hardy makes his way down to ringside. Tenay teases a “family member” and Matt says last week Roode impressed him last week when he called out Hogan. Hardy says for the first time in his life Roode showed that he had a set and he says we all saw Roode become a man in front of our eyes. Hardy says Roode wants to be taken serious and wants to be noticed. Hardy says he has noticed he and Storm and he talks about Storm being drunk and he says it makes him sick. Hardy calls them worthless nobodies and says they will never be anyone. Hardy says what gives him the right to say that is that he is ½ of the greatest tag team to ever grace to the Pro Wrestling industry. He says that Storm was raised to be a drunk cowboy full of hot air and Roode was raised to be another annoying Canadian and an arrogant egomaniac. Hardy says they walk around like they’re the greatest thing ever because no one has had the balls to put them in their place but he does. He says that will happen at Sacrifice when he and his partner take the titles from Beer Money.
Storm says that Hardy is wasting his breath and he says everyone knows Hardy Boyz WERE great and they already know that Storm is a long haired redneck and they know after he whoops someone’s ass he likes to indulge in an adult beverage. Storm says what he doesn’t do is go around disrespecting people since he got to TNA. Hardy says that Storm is disrespecting him right now by talking in that tone of voice and calls Storm an alcoholic full of hot air and that’s all he ever will be. Roode and Storm come down to Hardy at ringside and then Storm takes a swig of his beer. Storm says who he is, is the man that will walk into a bar and bust you right in the face and then walk out with his girl and make Hardy buy him a case of beer, and watch Storm and Hardy’s girl have a good time. Storm says what Hardy needs to do is shut his damn mouth and bring his brother out to the ring and see just how great they are. Hardy says this thing will happen but it will happen at Sacrifice and he says all the piece of trash fans will have to pay to see them, but his partner isn’t Jeff Hardy. Hardy says his partner is a man that knows Storm inside and out and knows everything about Storm. Hardy starts to say Storm’s “sorry bout yo damn luck” line but Storm slaps the mic out of his hand. Storm says it’s more like “SORRY ABOUT YOUR DAMN LUCK!” AMERICAS MOST WANTED music hits!
BRADEN WALK….I mean CHRIS HARRIS walks out onto the stage! Harris stares Storm down and Storm just stares back. Hardy says “see you this Sunday.”
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Sangriento vs. Suicide
Sangriento’s entrance sees him flip from in front of the screen onto the ramp as the spotlight comes on him. This is a rematch from last week. The two lockup and Suicide forces Sangriento into the corner. Suicide hits Sangriento with a series of clotheslines and chops. He then whips Sangriento into the opposite corner and charges at him, but Sangriento sidesteps him and drop toe holds him into the turnbuckles. Sangriento then hits Red’s Double Tap Dropkick in the corner (that’s first move that he’s done as that character that is solely an Amazing Red move I think). Sangriento then hits the ropes and ducks a clothesline from Suicide and hits a gorgeous Spinning Headscissors Takeover on Suicide! Suicide falls out to the floor and then Sangriento hits a GORGEOUS Corkscrew Plancha over the top onto Suicide! Damn I love that dive! Sangriento rolls Suicide back into the ring and connects with a Missile Dropkick and then nips back up. Sangriento lifts his mask up just enough to see his smile and then he hits a big Running Forearm to Suicide. Sangriento hits the ropes but eats a Running Knee from Suicide! Suicide mounts Sangriento and throws several right hands at him. Suicide whips Sangriento into the ropes and hits the Reverse DDT/Elbow Drop for a nearfall. Suicide picks Sangriento up and the two exchange chops. Suicide goes for a backhand but Sangriento ducks and then slides under Suicide’s legs. Suicide turns around and Sangriento goes for a Roundhouse Kick, but Suicide ducks only to eat a Spinning Enziguri from Sangriento! Sangriento then hits a Running Spin Kick on Suicide in the corner and then he hits the ropes and Suicide picks him up for a Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker, but Sangriento counters into a Spinning DDT! 1…2…NO Suicide kicks out! Sangriento climbs up top and goes for a Senton Bomb but Suicide rolls away. Sangriento rolls through but as he gets to his feet Suicide kicks him. Suicide then hits the Suicide Solution! 1…2…NO Sangriento kicks out! Suicide tosses Sangriento in the corner and charges but Sangriento gets a boot up! Sangriento then dives off the middle rope with a Diving Flatliner (Red calls it he Red Eye). Sangriento hits a Spinning Back Kick and then he hits that Springboard No-Look Diamond Cutter again! 1…2…3!
Winner: Sangriento (Springboard No-Look Diamond Cutter)
Immortal’s music hits and Hogan, Bischoff, & Flair walk down to the ring. Suicide is trying to recover in the ring as the Immortal trio climbs in. Flair kicks Suicide in the nuts and then kicks him out of the ring. Tenay puts over the fact that Immortal is yet again showing no respect for the X-Division. Hogan says the games are over and he says he runs this damn place. Hogan says he wants the network rep to get his/her ass out here right now.
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Back from commercials Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett have joined Immortal in the ring. Hogan again says he wants to know who the Network rep is and he wants to know right now. MICK FOLEY’S MUSIC HITS!
Hogan has a look of shock on his face as Mick walks out and Foley says “it’s me.” Foley says things were looking Hogan’s way but March 3rd things started to unravel when someone from the Network got in the way and re-introduced Sting into things and Hogan’s plans started to unravel. He says someone always had a counter for everything Hogan did to make sure he never had complete control over TNA and that someone was him! Foley gets in the ring and Foley asks Bischoff if he has something to say. Bischoff gets in his face so Foley pie faces him! Foley dares Hogan to take a shot at him and he better make sure it’s a good one because when he gets up Hogan will not be in TNA ever again!
Foley says this show is no longer about Hulk Hogan, it’s about WRESTLING. Foley says as of now wrestling matters once again. He says it mattered when he was a kid at Madison Square Garden and watched Hogan win the World Title and it mattered when he saw Flair & Steamboat go 40 minutes in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He says sometimes “we” forget that wrestling matter so they are fixing it. He says this show is no longer “TNA Wrestling”, it’s “Impact Wrestling.” Hogan says Foley can’t do that and Foley says he just did! Foley says everytime you hear the word Impact Hogan will think back to this day when Hogan stopped making a difference. Foley says to show that wrestling matters and to show what an Impact is we have a new Main Event! Tonight it will be a 25-Man Battle Royal! Foley says no more games or politics, just 25 men in the ring to decide who is the #1 Contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Foley looks at Jarrett and says he’s going to tell him who Angle’s partner is. Foley points at the stage as the word “CHYNA” shows up on the screen. Karen and Jeff freak out as Chyna walks onto the stage! Bischoff is freaking out too. Foley says “Hulk, have a nice day” as Karen is balling in the ring.
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A replay of what just happened is shown as we come back from break with Tenay putting over everything. He makes sure to say that the winner of the Battle Royal gets a shot at the Title, which means Sting vs. RVD is still on. I would assume the winner of the Battle Royal gets a shot at Slammiversary or maybe on Impact.
In the back Foley is standing with Chyna. Foley says it’s back to be on Impact Wrestling and when he was back in the ring adrenaline and emotion was flowing again and it feels to be back on a show when wrestling matters. Foley says he’s in a position of authority and he was hoping Hogan would knock him down and he says he wanted to take Hogan’s best shot because he wanted to get back up and fire him. Foley says he’s forgotten that “wrestling matters” and it matters what happens in the ring. Foley says Jarrett will be in the match and he suggest Chyna be there to so she smiles and walks away. Foley says there’s always been a “vague sexual tension between he and Chyan” jokingly.
We cut to Mr. Anderson says he’s been saying “wrestling matters” all along and he points at his shirt that says “Pro Wrestling is real, people are fake.” Anderson questions that it was Foley who has been holding him back and denying him of his title shot, but says he’s in the Battle Royal tonight and he will enjoy throwing everyone of them out of the ring and going after Sting or RVD.
Tenay & Taz run down the card for Sacrifice: Madison vs. Mickie, Crimson vs. Abyss, Beer Money vs. Hardy & Harris, Dreamer vs. AJ, Jeff & Karen vs. Kurt & Chyna, and RVD vs. Sting. I have to say the Sacrifice theme that was playing in the background was awesome.
Triple Threat Match
“The Monster” Abyss vs. Crimson vs. “Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe
Crimson & Abyss starting throwing right hands at each other as Joe just laughs. Finally Joe comes after and starts nailing Abyss with jabs. He then starts headbutting both Crimson & Abyss. Joe then hits a Leaping Enziguri on Crimson. Joe ducks a clothesline from Abyss and hits an Atomic Drop followed by a Running Front Kick! Joe then hits a Backsplash Senton! Joe grabs Abyss but Crimson hits him with a Running Big Boot! Crimson then goes after Abyss and attempts to whip him into the ropes, but Abyss reverses it. Abyss goes for a backdrop but Crimson kicks him in the head and then locks in a Cravate and connects with Knee Strikes. Crimson then hits a Swinging Neckbreaker on Abyss. Crimson and Abyss stare each other down and start exchanging Forearms! Crimson puts a knee in Joe’s gut and then locks in a Cravate on him and hits the Knee Strikes on him as well. He then hits the ropes and charges at Joe but Joe catches him with a Snap Powerslam! Joe talks trash to Crimson but then turns around and eats a boot from Abyss. Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam! He then walks into a Spear from Crimson! Crimson covers Joe, 1…2…3!
Winner: Crimson via pinfall
After the match Joe goes nuts and is about to jump Crimson but Abyss beats him to it! Joe watches Abyss beat the hell out of Crimson and holds up his and walks out. Joe says “you live by the sword, you die by the sword boy” into the camera. Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam on Crimson. Abyss opens his mouth at the camera and we can see RVD’s handy work and that looks gruesome. Looks like he knocked out damn near Abyss’ entire bottom row of teeth.
We get a nice shot in the back of the boys waiting for the Battle Royal, I see the Brits, OJ, EY, Pope, Dreamer, Devon, Anarquia, Hernandez (with Sarita & Rosita), Robbie E., Gunner, Fortune, Matt Morgan, and Angle.
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RVD says he’s going to watch the Battle Royal and says it never hurts to have too much information, so he can know who he’ll face after Sacrifice. RVD says whoever wins the Battle Royal will be his opponent after Sacrifice.
25-Man Battle Royal
Douglas Williams vs. Magnus vs. Orlando Jordan vs. Anarquia vs. Eric Young vs. Shannon Moore vs. Jesse Neal vs. Robbie E. vs. Kazarian vs. Matt Hardy vs. James Storm vs. Robert Roode vs. Daniels vs. Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan vs. Scott Steiner vs. Devon vs. The Pope vs. AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Gunner
Fortune gets their own entrance as most of the wrestlers are already in the ring, Daniels holds up the Fortune symbol as well and he’s introduced as a member of Fortune. The Immortal guys get their own entrance as well as Angle and Anderson. No Chyna sighting yet. As the bell rings everybody goes at it! Morgan eliminates both members of BRITISH INVASION right off the bat! Jordan does his thing on Morgan in the corner but Morgan grabs him and flings him over the top rope! JORDAN is eliminated! Morgan eliminates ANARQUIA now! Tenay emphasizes that his show is now called “Impact Wrestling” from here on out, TNA IS STILL TNA. Eric Young is on the outside but I don’t think he was eliminated. Bully Ray almost eliminates Angle but he holds on. Anderson is almost eliminated as well, but only one foot touched. Pope goes over the top but he hangs on as Kaz tries to eliminate him. Young climbs back in the ring and starts running on the apron so Jarrett drags him back in the ring and beats on him. Chaos is all over the ring and it’s hard to keep up. Hernandez tosses JESSE NEAL over the top! He then Press Slams Moore over the top onto Neal eliminating MOORE! Morgan tosses ROBBIE over the top now! Gunner tosses EY over the top but he skins the cat back in and eliminates GUNNER! EY then starts slingshoting himself in and out of the ring onto the apron and back in. He then dives over the top ELIMINATING HIMSELF! Taz calls him special. EY holds up the TV Title thinking he won it. Gunner chases him to the back.
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Back from commercials the landscape looks a little thinner. Jarrett Suplexes Kazarian from the apron to the outside eliminating KAZ! Kaz holds onto his knee after the bump, don’t know if it’s legit or not. Hardy and Storm fight on the apron now and they eliminate each other! STORM & HARDY are eliminated! As the referees argue with Storm Hardy reaches up and pulls Roode over the top to the floor! ROODE is eliminated! Roode and Storm chase Hardy up the ramp. Foley joins Tenay & Taz at commentary as Bully Ray eliminates DANIELS! Morgan eliminates HERNANDEZ! Steiner then eliminates MORGAN! Hernandez holds onto Steiner’s arm and Ray eliminates STEINER! Morgan and Steiner fight all the way to the back. Ray tosses AJ over the top but AJ holds onto the ropes. Ray kicks his old buddy Devon in the face and then he kicks AJ in the head. Ray tells Dreamer to eliminate AJ. Pope hits a big splash on AJ in the corner and then he starts beating on Devon but Devon tosses him in the corner and hits a Splash. Devon then charges at Pope but Pope gets a boot up and then uses that momentum to flip himself backward over the top rope. He lands on the apron and sidesteps Devon as he charges and DEVON is eliminated! Pope taunts him but Angle catches him from behind and clotheslines POPE over the top eliminating him!
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Back from commercials there was no eliminations during the break. AJ attacks Jarrett and Ray and hits a Leaping Enziguri on Bubba, but Dreamer attacks him from behind. Dreamer Elbow Drops AJ repeatedly and Jarrett joins him in Elbow Dropping AJ. Angle grabs Ray and locks in the Ankle Lock! Dreamer breaks it up. Angle whips Dreamer into the ropes and hits a Back Elbow. Ray tries to eliminate AJ but AJ blocks it and then dropkicks Ray over the top but he hangs on. Dreamer then sneaks up behind AJ and eliminates STYLES! Ray slaps Dreamer five but then grabs Dreamer from behind and eliminates DREAMER! Ray and Jarrett join up and go after Angle & Anderson. AJ hits a huge right hand on Dreamer on the outside. Ray tries to eliminate Anderson but Anderson blocks it and hold son. Anderson tries to eliminate Ray but Ray holds on and hits Anderson with several elbows. Angle almost eliminates Jarrett but Ray chop blocks Angle to save Jarrett. Anderson hits a big clothesline on Ray and then a back elbow and then he hits the Swinging Neckbreaker! Ray rolls out of the ring and then Angle hits Anderson from behind and Anderson goes out of the ring but he goes under the ropes rather than over. Both he and Ray are still alive. In the ring Jarrett whips Angle into the ropes but eats a Forearm from Angle! Angle whips Jarrett into the corner and charges but Jarrett gets his boot up only to eat a Belly-to-Belly Overhead Suplex! Angle tries to Angle Slam Jarrett over the top, but Karen holds onto Angle’s legs allowing Jarrett to counter with an Armdrag. Angle comes right back with a clothesline. Karen grabs Kurt’s leg again so Angle drags Karen onto the apron. Jeff comes from behind Angle and dumps him over the top! Jeff thinks he’s won so Karen comes in and celebrates with him. He doesn’t realize Ray & Anderson are still alive as they brawl on the outside. Chyna rolls into the ring and shows up behind Jarrett! He turns around and Chyna tosses him over the top! Chyna grabs Karen by the throat but Karen pulls her out and they bail through the crowd, Chyna follows. Ray and Anderson roll back into the ring. Anderson and Ray actually start trading right hands as they are LAYING on the mat, they get to their knees and continue throwing rights, and finally exchange rights on their feet. That was a cool sequence. Ray hits a clothesline on Anderson and then tries to eliminate him but Anderson holds on. Anderson comes back on Ray and then climbs up top and goes for the Kenton Bomb, but Ray gets his knees up! Ray tosses Anderson over the top but he hold son. Ray starts punching him on the apron and Anderson teeters on the apron, but he blocks a shot and then drags Ray over the top! Anderson dumps RAY over the top eliminating him! Anderson gets his title shot!
Winner: Anderson via being the lone survivor!
Anderson celebrates in the ring as Foley questions if he can “rise to the event.” The microphone drops down from the ceiling and Anderson puts over all of the obstacles he’s overcome and then introduces himself as the #1 Contend and he says that he is to Sting what the Navy Seals are to Osama Bin Laden! He says he’s “locked, cocked, and loaded” and he says after that comes “BOOM! Head shot bitch!”
In the back the camera zooms on the TNA Title and then Sting says he’s happy for Anderson and he says wrestling matters and it will really matter when he shuts Anderson’s mouth in the center of the ring. RVD walks up and cuts him off and says he has to beat him before he can get to Anderson. Anderson then walks up and tells them to save it for Sunday. He says he doesn’t care who wins, if it’s RVD or Sting, and he guarantees that at Slammiversary he will be in rare form. He says he’s an “equal opportunity asshole.” RVD and Sting stare each other down as Impact goes off the air.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Before I even get into the show, I got to say that TNA HAS GOT TO start going live at least some of the time. A show like this SHOULD have so much more of an impact (pun intended) and it would if there was no spoilers. I know me personally, I would care so much more that all of the stuff being revealed tonight had I not known before hand! We’ve known this stuff for more than a week! I know, just say “don’t read the spoilers” and usually I don’t but it was nearly impossible to NOT know about this stuff, I had several different twitter messages and e-mails about it before the show had even got done taping. Live, that wouldn’t be a problem especially with a surprise like Chyna who NOOOOOONE guessed. Even I guessed it was going to be the big chick from NXT.
Now to the show, tonight was really, really fun almost from start to finish. I had fun watching the show myself. Deciding who the #1 contender for Slammiversary this week is good and bad in my opinion. Good that the Main Event is set more than a month in advance giving plenty of time for a build, but there should have been MORE focus on Sting vs. RVD this week then there was. Yeah they put SOME focus on it but there just wasn’t enough.
The opening segment with Jarrett and Angle was done nicely and I liked the tease for later.
The Knockouts Tag Match was short and sweet and furthered the stuff with Mickie and Madison/Tara especially with Tara not helping Madison and then talking trash about her backstage.
I didn’t like the AJ/Dreamer promo, Dreamer was really inconsistent there (one minute AJ is too young and innocent to understand then the next he says AJ will never understand).
I LOVED the video package for Beer Money, that was really done well. This is something TNA is getting a lot better at. Chris Harris definitely makes sense and hopefully he’s in good enough shape here. This should definitely be interesting. I just hope people are willing to give him a shot and not throw a million Braden Walker jokes about him (yeah I know even I threw one out during the show). Harris’s TNA run during the AMW days were very good and I will definitely be giving him a shot, I just don’t know if anyone else is. Storm was very strong during that promo though, Hardy was not.
The Sangriento vs. Suicide was good again this week but Sangriento did more “Amazing Red” offense here. It was a fun little X-Division match. Bischoff and company kept the thing with the X-Division going by attacking Suicide after the match.
Foley’s promo was VERY strong and he sounded rejuvenated. I don’t mind the “Impact Wrestling” name change and for those still making “Impact Wrestling presents Impact Wrestling” jokes, it’s still TNA. The show is “Impact Wrestling” rather “Impact.” Foley could have been a little more clear there but Tenay did a good job later on emphasizing it. The Chyna reveal was done pretty well, especially Karen’s facial expressions. Chyna makes sense against Jarrett but how many fans even remember the Jarrett/Chyna stuff from back in the day? I don’t they’ll actually talk about it other than to say “they have a history together.” Chyna looked about a million times better than the last time I saw her but she has pretty much dropped every bit of muscle she used to have. Can she still go in the ring? I don’t know but supposedly she doesn’t have a contract so if she screws up she’ll probably only have one time to screw up.
The 3-Way was really hard hitting and had the making of something that could be really entertaining but it got cut off short. I wouldn’t mind seeing this moved to the PPV and have it a 3-Way. I’m guessing we’re heading toward a Crimson vs. Joe feud.
I typically don’t like Battle Royal’s but tonight’s wasn’t as boring as they usually are and I’m glad TNA has FINALLY dropped the Gauntlet for the Gold type of Royal Rumble Battle Royals. Just do a typical Battle Royal. It was a cluster but almost everyone had someone they were feuding with to further everything (Morgan/Steiner, Angle/Jarrett, AJ/Ray/Dreamer, Beer Money/Hardy, Hernandez/Ink, Inc., etc.) and the ones that didn’t have an angle Morgan eliminated. He looked really strong in this match. This was actually laid out pretty well with how everything went down, furthering all the angles. Anderson winning was automatic here in my opinion and makes the most sense. I guess if you want to say “wrestling matters” then having a 30 minute match to back it up is a good idea.
Will “wrestling matter” really from here on out and have more focus on the in-ring product? I don’t know, saying it is one thing, doing it is another and I guess we’ll find out in the coming months.
– Promo/Segment of the Night: Foley/Immortal
– Match of the Night: Battle Royal (***)
– Overall Grade: A
Sacrifice Lineup:
– TNA World Title: Sting (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
– TNA Tag Team Titles: Beer Money (c) vs. Matt Hardy & Chris Harris
– TNA X-Division Title: Kazarian (c) vs. Max Buck
– TNA Knockouts Title: Mickie James (c) vs. Madison Rayne (if Mickie wins, Tara is free)
– Kurt Angle & Chyna vs. Jeff Jarrett & Karen Jarrett
– AJ Styles vs. Tommy Dreamer
– Mexican America vs. Ink, Inc.
– Abyss vs. Crimson
– Brian Kendrick vs. Robbie E.