On Friday, July 20, 2007 at 2:21 PM EST TNA “iMPACT!” RESULTS
Thursday, July 19, 2007 – Orlando, FL
By Marcus Cygy of WrestleView.com
“iMPACT!” on Spike TV opened with footage from last Sunday’s “Victory Road” Pay-Per-View event, where Samoa Joe became the new TNA World Tag Team Champion, along with keeping his TNA X-Division Championship.
Going into the program, we were promised a huge announcement from “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe. Along with that huge announcement, we were also anticipating Joe to name who his partner will be in holding the TNA World Tag Team Titles. Well as we found out he’s not seeking any partners, he’s going to hold onto the titles as a lone man and put them on the line along with his X-Division Title at the “Hard Justice” Pay-Per-View on August 12. His opponent will be none other than Kurt Angle, who will also be putting his TNA World Heavyweight Title and IWGP World Heavyweight Title on the line; this will be a “Winner Takes All” Match.
This challenge came about rather odd though. It did occur at the end of the program, but it happened with Joe in his ring gear and t-shirt while Kurt was wearing Speedos and a bathrobe. Why? Well at the start of iMPACT! we had Jeremy Borash in Kurt Angle’s locker room trying to tell him that Jim Cornette wanted him in his office. Kurt was busy using a tanning machine in his locker room. Later on though he was finished and ready to dress up, but he came to the realization that his suit and titles were missing. So he began playing the blame game not just on JB, but also the TNA wrestlers, and TNA executives among others. None of them had his gear though, so at the end of the show he went into the ring and demanded his belongings back and that’s when Samoa Joe came down with his titles and clothing, and that’s when the official challenge was made, resulting in a battle to end the show. Kurt would gain revenge by putting Samoa Joe through a table.
What will make “Hard Justice” so historical though is that every single TNA championship will be on the line, along with the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. So the winner will be walking out with four different championships. And if Kurt Angle wins this bout, then that would make him the second person to ever hold the TNA World Tag Team Titles single handedly, and this would be the second person in a row.
Also on iMPACT! we had Triple X officially reunited as a team, when they defeated Raven, Martyr, and Havok of Serotonin. As you may remember, Triple X were forced to separate forever when they lost their match to America’s Most Wanted at the “Turning Point” Pay-Per-View back in 2004. Well, that contract is now scrapped because Elix Skipper was released from TNA back in January 2007 and as a result, that stipulation in the contract no longer exists. On a side note, Kaz came down after the bout with a cane to attack Raven and his former Serotonin allies.
The second match of the night saw Kip James of the Voodoo Kin Mafia defeating their former ally in Lance Hoyt, who is now sided with Christy Hemme.
In the main event, “The Instant Classic” Christian Cage and “Cowboy” James Storm defeated “The War Machine” Rhino and “Wildcat” Chris Harris thanks to their under minded tricks – help from Dustin Rhodes. After the match though, Abyss stormed down to get his hands on Christian and finally exact some revenge for what he and his coalition did to him a few months ago. Sting even came down to assist Abyss, but Christian managed to weasel himself out of that situation again just as he has done in the past.
Team 3D also demanded to see The Steiner Brothers face to face in the ring next week on “iMPACT!” – a message sent loud and clear when Brother Devon put a choke hold on Tenay to keep quiet, and Ray grabbed Don West by the throat. Team 3D are sick and tired of being disrespected as they inadvertently demanded respect from the Orlando crowd, but not in a way that was too respectful in asking. It’s definitely a heel turn for Team 3D.
We’ll see you next week for some more Total Nonstop Action Wrestling!
Quick Match Results:
• Triple X (Christopher Daniels, Elix Skipper, & Senshi) defeated Serotonin (Raven, Martyr, & Havok).
• Kip James defeated Lance Hoyt
• Christian Cage & James Storm defeated Rhino & Chris Harris.