Total Non-Stop Action presents Impact
Date: 7/31/2008
From: Orlando, FL
Matches:
1.) Beer Money Inc. (Storm & Roode) defeated Christian Cage & Rhino in a number one contenders match
2.) Curry Man, Jay Lethal & Shark Boy defeated The Rock ’n’ Rave Infection (Rave & Rock), & Johnny Devine
3.) Consequences Creed defeated TNA X-Division Champion Petey Williams in a non-title match
4.) Matt Morgan defeated Sal Rinauro
5.) Gail Kim & TNA Knockouts Champion Taylor Wilde defeated The Beautiful People (Angelina Love & Velvet Sky)
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with Booker T and Sharmell. Booker says it is going to be a great night as he will give Samoa Joe a personal tour of his six sides of steel full of weapons. Booker will also invite another personal friend. Borash asks if Booker is referring to Sting. Booker doesn’t answer the question. Booker kicks Borash out for alone time with his wife.
2.) The TNA opening video package is footage from the Impact video game. Footage from the video game is used throughout the show for entrances.
3.) Rhino and Roode start the tag match with Rhino delivering a shoulder block and clothesline for a two count. Rhino clubs Roode over the back and tags in Cage to keep control with a kick to the ribs. Roode is met with a double hip toss. Cage leaps off the middle rope to uppercut Roode for a two count. Rhino returns to the match, but Roode strikes Rhino and tags in Storm. Rhino clotheslines Storm followed by more strikes and rams Storm into the corner. Rhino pummels Storm in the corner with strikes and stomps. Cage tags back into the match and kicks Storm. Storm sits Cage on the top turnbuckle, but Cage tries for a reverse DDT. Storm breaks free and elbows Cage in the corner. Cage plants Storm with a middle rope cutter for a two count. Storm drives Cage into the corner where Roode delivers several strikes. Roode knee lifts Cage and Cage slides to the floor to pull Storm off the apron. Cage backdrops Roode over the top to the floor onto Storm. Rhino sends Beer Money into each other on the floor. Storm spits beer into Cage’s face allowing Roode to knee lift Cage off the apron into the railing as the show goes to commercial.
Beer Money takes Cage over with a double suplex and taunts the fans. Roode covers Cage for a two count. Roode keeps Cage on the mat with a sleeper. Roode chops Cage into a corner and sits Cage on the top turnbuckle. Cage spikes Roode with a tornado DDT. Storm tags into the match and Rhino enters to clean house with strikes. Rhino spears Storm in the corner, but Storm eye rakes Rhino. Rhino stops Storm with a spinebuster for a two count. Cage punches Roode to the floor. Cage plants Storm with a reverse DDT. Cage heads to the top rope, but Brother Ray comes out and Cage dives onto Ray. Johnny Devine tries to get involved, but Rhino knocks Devine to the floor. Rhino GORES Storm! Rhino has the cover, but the referee is pulled out by Brother Ray. Brother Devon runs into the ring and attacks Rhino from behind. Cage and Rhino double team Devon. Rhino clotheslines Devon and signals for another Gore. Jacqueline gets on the apron to grab Rhino, but Cage pulls her off. Roode whacks Cage with a kendo stick and does the same to Rhino. Rhino is laid out by a 3D! Storm covers Rhino to win the match. (***. The interference does not surprise me, but I wish they would have avoided doing it. Beer Money Inc. are the obvious contenders for LAX considering they’ve have a feud going for a decent amount of time. I thought this was a good match and the crowd responded well to everything.)
4.) Christian Cage says Team 3D has screwed them for the last time. Cage challenges Team 3D to a New Jersey street fight at Hard Justice.
5.) Backstage, Lauren is with the Rock ’n’ Rave Infection. Christy Hemme doesn’t know who their opponents are if they aren’t a band. Hemme says they sold their souls to rock. Hemme sings a little bit.
6.) Rave, Rock and Devine go on the attack to start the match. Lethal takes Devine out with a suicide dive. Boy pummels Rave on the mat and delivers a fist drop. Rock nails Boy with a big boot. Rock sends Curry into ropes, but is met with a forearm strike. Hemme is slammed by Curry and jabs Rave several times. Rave clotheslines Curry for a two count as Lethal makes the save. Rock enters the match and Curry is elbowed to the mat followed by an elbow drop for a two count. Devine tags into the match and strikes Curry in the corner. Devine knee strikes Curry followed by a running high knee for a two count. Rave enters the match and kicks Curry, but misses a clothesline. Curry decks Rave with a clothesline. Lethal and Devine tags in and Lethal clotheslines Devine several times. Lethal hip tosses Devine followed by a dropkick. Lethal heads to the top rope, but Rock shoves Lethal off. Curry and Boy get involved to brawl. Rock tries for a double chokeslam, but fails and is sent to the floor. Boy takes out Rock and Rave with a crossbody. Devine stomps Lethal on the mat. Lethal avoids Devine Intervention to hit the Lethal Combination for the win. (**. A decent match with there not being much of a lull in the action, so it didn’t overstay its welcome.)
7.) Jay Lethal invites So Cal Val into the ring. Lethal has something to say to Val again. Lethal gets down on a knee and asks where the ring is at. Val thinks she may have lost it and Lethal can’t believe it. Lethal can take a hint and doesn’t think Val ever wanted to marry him. Lethal storms off.
8.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with Lance Smith from CMT. Smith notes that Borash works with strange people. Super Eric walks over and tells Borash he needs to find the ring that Val lost. Eric wants to save a marriage.
9.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash meets with TNA World Champion Samoa Joe and tells Joe that Booker wants to give a tour. Joe gets pissed off and wants Sting to join them. Joe promises that one person will leave and it is him.
10.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with Kevin Nash. Borash asks Nash to talk to Samoa Joe and cool him off. Nash meets with Joe in the locker room. Nash tries to tell Joe not get upset. Joe says that Booker is punking him out and Sting is always taking him out. Nash asks if Joe is sure it is Sting. Joe knows it was Sting. Nash tells Joe that he has his back and they need to have a plan if they go to war. Joe agrees to do it Nash’s way.
11.) Booker T makes his way out to the ring to give a tour of the weapons cage. The cage is full of various weapons. Booker says the weapons will hurt a man badly. Booker is going to prove how much of a gentleman he is. Booker wants Joe to know one thing and that is he’s the man up in this beast. Booker promises the lights will not go out. TNA World Champion Samoa Joe makes his way out to join the segment. Joe comes through the crowd. Joe tells Booker that he’s sadly mistaken. Joe warns Booker that if he gets in the cage he’s going to beat Booker’s ass. Joe promises that the lights will go out, but they will be Booker’s. Joe enters the cage and Booker tells Joe to wait a minute. Booker says he wanted to give Joe a little tour of the cage full of weapons. Booker notices that Joe doesn’t have a weapon or backup. Joe reveals his backup is a baton. Kevin Nash is standing by the door preventing Booker from leaving. Booker tries to leave and sees Nash is standing there. Joe nails Booker with a baton to the midsection and pummels Booker on the mat. Joe sends Booker into the cage as Sharmell comes down to ringside. Joe sends Booker into the cage again. Nash carries Sharmell to the backstage area. Booker gets a baseball bat that comes from the ceiling. Booker nails Joe from behind and Joe is left laying. Booker is looking up at the rafters, but Sting isn’t seen. Mike Tenay is livid with Sting.
12.) A video package promoting Sheik Abdul Bashir is shown. Bashir doesn’t feel bad for homeless people. Bashir says people are fat and lazy running away from their problems. Bashir says the American people are to blame for the issues.
13.) AJ Styles is in the ring as Samoa Joe is still recovering. After a commercial, Styles remains in the ring and wants Sting to show himself. Styles says he’s been defending Sting for three weeks and he wants to know what’s going on with Sting. Styles wants to know how Sting’s bat keeps knocking Joe out. Styles asks why Sting is hiding if he’s feeling guilty. Styles thinks Sting is a coward and that’s when the lights go out and Sting’s music hits. The lights come back on and Kurt Angle is in the ring hitting an Olympic Slam on Styles. Angle taunts Styles on the mat. Angle delivers another Olympic Slam. Angle tells Styles to get up one more time. Angle hits a third Olympic Slam.
14.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with the Prince Justice Brotherhood and the Beautiful People where they are arguing. Love asks what the perverts are doing in their locker room. Love wonders if they are trying to get a free look. Love asks if the mermaids would stop taking Shark Boy’s money. Shark Boy calls Love an ignorant slut and says the day he’d spend money on them is when her flapjacks (breasts) perked up on their own. Shark Boy says they are gold diggers and knows they have So Cal Val’s ring. Shark Boy wants to frisk them, but Curry Man intervenes and prevents that. Curry then suggests after they find the ring that he has sex with Angelina, but she rejects them. Shark Boy says if he finds out they are lying he will stomp a mud hole in them. Curry asks if after he can show how delicious he is and he’s kicked out. Beautiful People talk about their upcoming match and how “she’ is ready.
15.) Backstage, Lauren is with TNA X-Division Champion Petey Williams. Lauren asks how Williams prepared for the match with Creed. Williams says he’s prepared how he does before every match. Williams thinks Creed probably thinks he’s Batman. Williams talks about Arnold being the best bad guy as Mr. Freeze. Williams says Creed is insecure and asks like a character from a movie. Williams notes that Creed hasn’t beaten anyone and he’s not concerned about the challenge.
16.) Hermie Sadler joins commentary for the next match.
17.) Williams takes Creed down to the mat and slaps the back of Creed’s head. Creed gets a two count on Williams and is shoved. Williams keeps a headlock on Creed, but misses a clothesline and Creed jabs Williams several times. Creed drops Williams with a right hand for another two count. Creed forearms Williams against the ropes and hits a crossbody off the ropes for a two count. Creed body strikes Williams in the corner. Creed hits a springboard bulldog for a near fall. Williams eye rakes Creed and keeps control with a kick in the corner. Williams dumps Creed to the apron and knocks Creed to the floor. Williams hits a slingshot hurricanrana on the floor. Williams hits a slingshot Codebreaker for a near fall. Williams stops Creed with a jawbreaker and a spinning heel kick. Williams slaps Creed a few times followed by a standing dropkick for a near fall. Williams pummels Creed on the mat. Creed strikes Williams a few times. Williams tries for a slam, but settles for a chop. Creed floats over Williams and kicks Williams to the mat. Creed splashes Williams in the corner followed by a clothesline. Creed has Williams on his shoulders, but Khan gets on the apron to distract Creed. Williams collides with Khan. Creed hits the TKO for a near fall. Creed misses a top rope leg drop. Creed counters the Canadian Destroyer and rolls Williams up for the win. (*1/2. It’s an obvious booking decision to make Creed get a non-title victory to look like a credible challenger towards Williams for their eventual PPV match. The crowd didn’t seem overly interested in the action, though. It was a rather basic encounter.)
18.) Backstage, Prince Justice Brotherhood are talking with the TNA Tag Team Champions LAX and Salinas regarding the ring that So Cal Val has misplaced. Salinas grabs Shark Boy and says he’s on the wrong side of the streets to suggest they are thieves. Shark Boy threatens to grab the ring from Salinas, but Curry Man gets involved. Curry tries to communicate with LAX and cool things down. Curry asks for the ring back and they’d leave no problem. Homicide warns them to get stepping. Super Eric runs over and says there’s a big break in the case.
19.) Backstage, Lauren interviews AJ Styles and asks Sting was involved with what Kurt Angle did to him. Styles doesn’t believe in magic and says that when Sting comes out of the darkness he will be the first to greet him. Styles is fired up and challenges Kurt Angle to a Last Man Standing match at Hard Justice.
20.) Karen’s Angle with Kaz part two is up next. Karen talks about Kaz realizing the grass isn’t greener somewhere else. Kaz was relieved to return to TNA. Kaz talks about beating Christian Cage and challenging Kurt Angle and how he’ll never forget those matches. Karen mentions Kaz losing at Victory Road and Kaz has a lot of guilt over losing the match for his company. Kaz says it is better to burn out rather than fadeaway. Kaz announces that he met with TNA management and says that he’s no longer on the TNA roster after the interview. Kaz made the choice to walkaway and needs to see what is out there for him. Karen hopes Kaz returns at some point.
21.) We see footage of Tomko confronting Karen Angle on her set. Tomko tells Karen that he’s been sent to make her life a living hell. Tomko is going to be in her face everyday. Karen screams for help as Tomko turns the camera around.
22.) Backstage, Lauren is with Kevin Nash. Lauren asks what he thinks is going on in Sting’s head. Nash has seen Sting act like this before and it’s not a pretty sight. Nash thinks something or someone has pissed Sting off. Samoa Joe enters the room and tells Nash that he’s going to go to the rafters and break all of Sting’s bones.
23.) Rinauro dropkicks Morgan from behind, but Morgan doesn’t budge. Morgan sends Sal into the corner and delivers a splash. Morgan chokes Rinauro over the top rope and and splashes Rinauro over the ropes. Morgan drives Rinauro down with the Hellavator for the win. (NR. Just a squash for Morgan.) After the match, Morgan grabs a microphone and cuts a promo on Tomko. Morgan asks if Tomko is a man for scaring women. Morgan wants Tomko to come out and show him who the real badass in TNA is. Morgan says Tomko’s head is so far up Kurt Angle’s ass that he probably can’t hear him. Tomko makes his way out and slowly heads to the ring. Tomko shoves Morgan and they trade a couple of punches, but security get involved. Tomko breaks free and jumps on Morgan. Tomko is escorted out of the ring and led backstage. Tomko breaks free again and attacks Morgan from behind. Morgan nails Tomko with a big boot to lay out Tomko. Morgan plants Tomko with the Hellavator.
24.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with the Prince Justice Brotherhood. Super Eric says they saw footage from last week where Sonjay Dutt stole the ring from So Cal Val. Super Eric says they have to do something next week about this.
25.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with Team 3D and Beer Money Inc. They have announcement for next week. Brother Ray says Beer Money will be the new tag champions and they are the best of friends. Ray says they are scumbags just like them. Brother Ray promises Cage and Rhino will get a beating instead of the tag title shot because they screwed them over. Ray says LAX is going to be sent back to Taco Bell. Ray promotes an eight man tag for next week and promises someone is going through a table.. maybe even a glass table.
26.) TNA Roughcut focuses on TNA Knockouts Champion Taylor Wilde, who is the ultimate underdog. Wilde says it is surreal to be the champion and puts over Awesome Kong as being a tough woman. ODB doesn’t like Wilde winning the title by rolling Kong up. Angelina Love thinks everyone was shocked by the win. Traci wishes the challenge was around when she started. Traci warns that Wilde needs to watch her back because they all want the title.
27.) Sky and Wilde kickoff the tag main event. Sky attacks Wilde from behind and stomps Wilde. Wilde kicks Sky on the leg and Sky tags out to Love. Love shoves Wilde a couple of times, but Wilde responds with a shove. Wilde forearms Love and delivers an arm drag. Wilde tags in Kim and Kim leaps off the top to axe handle Love over the arm. Kim chops Love and arm drags Love. Kim dropkicks Love and continues with a forearm. Kim drops Love over the top rope, but Sky shoves Kim into the ring post on the apron as the show goes to commercial. Samoa Joe is heading up the steps to the rafters.
Sky keeps control on Kim before tagging in Love. Love dropkicks a seated Kim for a two count. Love slams Kim down by her hair. Love yanks Kim to the mat again. Love eye rakes Kim on the mat. Love stomps Kim in the corner while the referee is distracted. Kim sends Love into the corner and delivers a Codebreaker. Kim tags in Wilde as Sky is tagged in. Wilde cleans house and delivers a backbreaker to Love. Wilde hits a bridging suplex on Sky for a two count. All four women are in the ring brawling. Wilde and Kim pummel Sky and Love in the corner, but Kim is dumped to the floor. Love kicks Wilde on the head leading to a near fall for Sky. Wilde tries for a sunset flip and Kim delivers a double dropkick allowing Wilde to pin Sky. After the match, Love knocks Kim to the floor and Wilde is double teamed by the Beautiful People. Kim returns to the ring and helps Wilde. Awesome Kong makes her way down to the ring. Kong shoves Kim and Wilde away. Kong delivers a double clothesline to Wilde and Kim. Kong plants Kim with the Awesome Bomb. Kong does the same to Wilde. ODB slides into the ring and confronts Kong. Roxxi comes out with a steel chair causing Kong to backoff. Traci Brooks is standing on the ramp, too. (*. There wasn’t much to this one. I’m not entertained by the Beautiful People as they come across as being nowhere near the same level as a lot of the Knockouts in-ring. I’m glad Kong is back, though.)
28.) Samoa Joe has reached the rafters and is screaming for Sting. Joe looks for Sting and all he finds is a crow to end the show.
Final Thoughts:
It’s not a bad show, but there was a lot of focus on segments rather than in-ring. They focused a lot on Hard Justice, which is fine and it looks like Hard Justice to shaping up to have a solid card with plenty of stipulations. I’d consider this an average episode, but I wish there was a bit more action to enjoy.
Thanks for reading.