NWA-TNA Impact 9/14/2006

Written by: Bob Colling

National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action presents Impact
Date: 9/14/2006
From: Orlando, FL

A video package promoting the Ultimate X tag title match at No Surrender is shown after Mike Tenay and Don West promoted the show and PPV.

Opening Contest: AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. Frankie Kazarian & Matt Bentley: Daniels and Kazarian start off the tag match. They trade wrist control and roll on the mat until Kazarian delivers a right forearm. Daniels heel kicks Kazarian and plays to the crowd before getting a two count. Bentley is tagged in and taken over with a hip toss and arm drag by Daniels. Styles tags into the match and kicks Bentley in the ribs. Bentley jabs Styles in the corner several times. Styles nails Bentley with a dropsault and gets a two count. Daniels tags into the match and Styles drives Bentley over Daniels knees gut first. Bentley counters a suplex and they trade right hands. Kazarian tags in and nails Daniels with a slingshot clothesline for a two count. Kazarian takes Daniels over with a snap suplex and tags in Bentley. Kazarian hits a swinging neckbreaker on Daniels after a boot by Bentley as the show goes to commercial.

Daniels tries to fight out of the corner, but Bentley yanks Daniels down from the apron and Kazarian hits a dropkick to maintain control in the corner. Kazarian nails Daniels with a nice kick to the face for a two count. Daniels nails Bentley with an STO takedown and tries to tag in Styles. Styles tags in and nails Kazarian with a few clotheslines followed by a backbreaker for a two count. Styles drops Kaz to the mat face first out of a wheelbarrow for a two count. Daniels hip tosses Kazaerian to the floor and Bentley is met with a leg sweep/clothesline. Daniels slams Bentley and they hit a BME/frog splash combo for the win. (**. I was surprised that they got so much time, but I liked that it was a competitive match and allowed Kazarian and Bentley to shine. Kazarian and Bentley haven’t had much of a direction in TNA at this point and I hope they get something going because they are enjoyable in the ring.)

Backstage, Larry Zbyszko is yelling at Eric Young saying that Young is an idiot. NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett enters the scene and says they are going to get him out of this mess because they got him into it. Jarrett berates Young for giving him bad ideas to beat the polygraph test. Jarrett wants Young to find Sting and give him details on his training. Jarrett says he’s going to find out if Zbyszko has any power left. If Zbyszko can’t get him out of the match this week then he’ll pay for it.

Second Contest: Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin: Early on, they counter each other and have a standoff. NWA X-Division Champion Senshi is watching the match from the aisle. Shelley controls Sabin on the mat with a wrist lock for a brief time. Sabin shoulder blocks Shelley and arm drags Shelley. Shelley arm drags Sabin and delivers a knee lift to the midsection. Shelley rams Sabin into the corner and Sabin head scissors Shelley to the floor. Sabin takes Shelley out with a suicide dive. Shelley forearms Sabin in the corner and they begin to trade strikes. Shelley dropkicks a seated Sabin for a two count. Shelley misses a springboard moonsault. Shelley dumps Sabin to the apron and Sabin hits a springboard dropkick. Sabin nails Shelley with a yakuza kick in the corner. Sabin puts Shelley in the tree of woe. Sabin connects with a delayed dropkick for a near fall. Shelley dropkicks Shelley as we see Johnny Devine being shoved into the ring post while being in a shopping cart by Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal. The distraction allows Sabin to pin Shelley with a rollup. (**. A fine match, but the gimmick of Lethal, Dutt and Sabin embracing the Jackass lifestyle is a little bizarre. I enjoyed the match, but the finish was a little lackluster.)

A video package promoting the feud between Christian cage and Rhino is shown. The video covers their decade long friendship.

A vignette promoting Austin Starr’s debut at Bound For Glory is shown.

Main Event: Raven vs. Abyss in a Hangman’s Horror match: Abyss goes after Raven in the crowd as Raven was leaving the nest. Raven fights Abyss off with several kicks to the chest as they make their way down to the stage. Abyss sends Raven into a bunch of chairs that fans had left. Raven sends Abyss into the railing as they reach the ringside area. Raven rams Abyss into the railing with a side Russian leg sweep. They enter the ring and the bell officially sounds. Raven clotheslines Abyss into the ropes. Abyss gets white board from Mitchell and breaks it over Raven’s head as the show goes to commercial.

Abyss rams a chair into Raven’s chest and Raven has been busted wide open. Abyss tries for a splash, but Raven uses the chair to low blow Abyss. Raven plants Abyss with a DDT. Raven locks a dog collar on Abyss and uses a second one to trap Abyss. Raven grabs a trash can and whacks Abyss several times with trash can lids. Raven nails Abyss with the bottom of the trash can. James Mitchell tries to get involved, but Raven puts the dog collar on Mitchell in the corner. Raven tries to use the chair, but Abyss saves him. Abyss puts the dog collar on Raven, but Raven low blows Abyss. Raven is stuck gets the chair kicked into his face. Raven falls to the floor and Abyss begins to choke Raven with the dog collar allowing Abyss to win the match. After the match, Brother Runt smashes Abyss with a chair several times. Runt plants Raven with the Acid Drop on the floor. (*1/2. I don’t think In liked the gimmick match idea as it was a little restrictive to their styles. The finish is fine as it avoids Raven being pinned.)

A video of Bobby Roode interviewing Col. Robert Parker regarding his managerial services.

Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with LAX. Konnan says they are celebrating their heritage and retaining the titles at the PPV. Konnan says that Daniels and Styles can do their American traditions, but they are going to put more stitches in their heads.

They want videos of fans telling them why they hate Jeff Jarrett and videos will air next week.

Jim Cornette is in the ring for a Town Hall meeting. Cornette credits the fans for their success. Ringside is full of fans. Cornette never realized how bad fans hated Jeff Jarrett. Cornette talks about how Earl Hebner was found innocent because of Jarrett clearing his name. Cornette has reinstated Hebner as a referee. Cornette says that he’s going to have a closed door meeting with Larry Zbyszko. Cornette introduces a special guest for the meeting and brings out Samoa Joe.

Cornette knows that Joe is up to the task to take out Jeff Jarrett. Joe talks about the crimes that Jarrett has committed against the fans. Joe says that Jarrett’s ass belongs to them. Joe assures Jarrett that he will find out why he’s the most feared man in the business.

Larry Zbyszko makes his way down to the ring to confront Joe and Cornette. Zbyszko has had enough of Cornette in TNA. Zbyszko says Cornette has been making dumb decision lately. Zbyszko mentions that he’s the head of the championship committee. Cornette isn’t taking Jarrett out of the match with Samoa Joe. Cornette kicks Zbyszko out of the ring, but Zbyszko isn’t going to leave. Cornette says that Joe will make him leave. Joe whips Zbyszko with the strap until Zbyszko bails to the floor. Fans get a few whips in and Jeff Jarrett comes out with a steel chair. Jarrett yanks a woman down and whips her with the leather strap. What the hell was that?

Final Thoughts:
The Town Hall segment accomplished nothing new and was rather underwhelming. We got a couple of decent matches with a subpar main event. I’ll consider this an average episode of Impact.

Thanks for reading.