Total Non-Stop Action presents Impact
Date: 9/25/2008
From: Orlando, FL
Matches:
1.) Abyss & Matt Morgan defeated The Rock ’n’ Rave Infection (Rave & Rock)
2.) Awesome Kong defeated Mercedes Steele
3.) TNA Tag Team Champions Beer Money Inc. & Jacqueline defeated LAX & Hector Guerrero in a losing team loses their manager match
4.) TNA X-Division Champion Abdul Bashir defeated TNA World Champion Samoa Joe by disqualification in a non-title match
5.) Booker T defeated AJ Styles
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) A video package highlighting Jeff Jarrett’s promo and confrontation with Kurt Angle from last week is shown. The package also touches base on Mick Foley’s debut appearing on the big screen.
2.) Jeff Jarrett makes his way out to cut a promo and has a guitar in hand. The fans greet Jarrett warmly. Jarrett says it gives him great pleasure and pride to announce they have signed one of the greatest and unique performers of all time. Jarrett puts over the acquistion as the biggest one in TNA history. Jarrett says next week that he will be here live in the Impact Zone. Mick Foley’s music hits and there’s just a video package shown on the screen as Jarrett smiles. Jarrett goes to continue to speak, but Kurt Angle’s music hits.
Angle thinks Jarrett has been out of the loop for far too long because Jarrett has had his head up his own ass for two years. Angle takes credit for carrying the company for the past two years. Angle considers Foley to be yesterday’s news, which is the same thing with Jarrett. Jarrett says Angle he wants to forget about last week and apologizes to Angle for what he said last week. Jarrett admits things haven’t been going the way he has wanted them to go. Jarrett brings up AJ Styles and talks about Styles leaving with Angle’s gold medal. Jarrett promises to give back Angle’s gold medal after he talked to Styles. Jarrett puts over Angle for being an American Hero. Angle asks that Jarrett is just going to give him the gold medal back. That’s great, but tells Jarrett to leave the ring. Angle then says he’s not done with Jarrett, but Jarrett leaves the ring. Angle doesn’t need Jarrett to kiss his ass and doesn’t need Jarrett runaway scared. Angle calls Jeff a failure, just like his father. Angle wants Jarrett to tell his three kids that he’s a quitter. Jarrett runs around at the top of the aisle and heads back towards the ring. Jarrett gets in Angle’s face and says he’s been a fighter and warrior every time. Jarrett tells Angle he has no idea what he’s been through and wouldn’t wish it upon Angle. Jarrett tells Angle that no matter how difficult it became, he never quit. Jarrett grants Angle his wish for a match and warns Angle that he doesn’t want any piece of the pain that has pierced him. Jarrett says he’ll see Angle at Bound For Glory in Chicago. Angle smirks as Jarrett departs the ring.
3.) Abyss and Rave start the tag match with Rave delivering chops, but Abyss isn’t bothered. Rock enters the match and kicks Abyss followed by strikes to the back. Abyss nails Rock with a big boot and plays to the crowd followed by a splash in the corner. Rave fails to get involved. Morgan hits a flying crossbody on Rock. Rave is press slammed to the mat. Morgan hip tosses Rave over the top to the floor. Hemme back rakes Morgan and Rock chop blocks Morgan. Rave nails Morgan with a shining wizard for a one count. Rave works over Morgan with strikes. Morgan clotheslines Rock and dropkicks Rave. Abyss enters and clotheslines both men. Abyss plants Rock with the Black Hole Slam and drops Rave with the Shock Treatment. Morgan enters the match and plays to the crowd. Morgan plants Rave with a swinging vertical suplex slam for the win. (*1/2. Rock and Rave are an entertaining duo and can absolutely make a change to a babyface team when that eventually needs to happen. A decent extended squash and Abyss and Morgan.)
4.) Team 3D make their way out to confront Abyss and Morgan from the aisle. Brother Devon says at No Surrender it was a fluke that they beat them. Devon reminds Abyss and Morgan who they are, and that they are the baddest team walking today. Devon decides to remind them of their success as a tag team. Devon doesn’t think there’s a team that has accomplished more than them. Brother Ray brings up Bound For Glory in Chicago. Ray challenges Abyss and Morgan along with any other tag team that wants to get involved. Ray makes it a Monster’s Ball match. Abyss panics in the corner and is shaking his head no that he doesn’t want to use weapons for his recovery.
5.) TNA Roughcut focusing on hardcore wrestling in the knockout division. Traci talks about saying it is hard to see Roxxi bloody. Wagner Brown, Roxxi’s trainer, says she shows that women are just as tough as the guys are. Roxxi has a lot of passion and thinks that hardcore wrestling can be embraced in wrestling.
6.) Backstage, Lauren interviews TNA Tag Team Champions Beer Money Inc and Jacqueline. The tag titles aren’t on the line, but if they lose the six person tag match then Jacqueline is gone from TNA. Storm says that Jacqueline started with Jarrett in Memphis from the beginning. Storm didn’t want a pretty face like Sky or Love, but they got the baddest woman in Jacqueline. Storm says Jacqueline completes Beer Money and she beats people up. Jacqueline walks off after Storm tells her to grab his hat. Roode reminds Storm that if they lose Jacqueline is gone for good. Storm promises they aren’t losing on his watch.
7.) Kong shoves Steele a few times. Steele delivers kicks and forearms, but Kong runs through Steele with a clothesline. Kong tosses Steele through the ropes to the floor. Saeed comes down with steel chairs as Kong sends Steele into the railing. Kong sends Steele into the corner and delivers a splash. Kong delivers the Awesome Bomb to win the match. (NR. Kong squash, which is fun to watch.) After the match, Saeed slides a steel chair into the ring and walks in with another one. Saeed hits Kong over the back with a chair shot and over the head. Kong can’t believe it. Saeed removes her mask and it’s actually Roxxi! Roxxi attacks Kong with a flurry of strikes on the mat. Security enters the ring to keep the women apart. We see the actual Saeed tied up at the top of the ramp.
8.) Karen’s Angle segment is next with Christian Cage as the guest. Karen says the locker room is divided. Cage thinks he falls somewhere in the middle between the originals and the veterans. Cage agrees in a way with the originals, but the veterans helped get a meaningful TV spot. Cage says they get respect when they start drawing money. Cage has been where the younger guys are by dealing with veterans not passing the torch. Cage says you have to earn respect. Cage thinks his outburst was taken out of context. Cage doesn’t like having his decisions made for him and makes his decisions on his own. Cage assures he’s talked to AJ and everything is all good. Cage considers himself a unrestricted free agent and it all comes down to who has the better offer. Cage doesn’t know which side people are on. Karen tells Cage he’s going to have to pick a side. Cage is going to keep his eyes on what is going on. Christian’s phone goes off and leaves because it is his agent.
9.) Backstage, Lauren interviews LAX and Hector Guerrero. Guerrero thinks Beer Money puts too much gravy on their biscuits. Guerrero is confident that he’s not going anywhere because they are warriors. Guerrero promised LAX that he’d never let them down. Guerrero says blood is thicker than water. Guerrero speaks Spanish to finish the segment.
10.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with Booker T and Sharmell for an interview in their locker room. Borash talks about Booker competing against AJ Styles tonight. Booker says that one thing never changes in a kingdom where he’s from in Africa and that’s the king and queen. Booker is going to remain at the top of his throne. Booker mentions that Styles has been in TNA for six years and has done nothing. Booker has done more in six minutes than Styles has done in six years. Booker thinks Styles should go back to his small town and remain there. Booker tells Styles to keep his enemies close, but his friends closer. Borash tries to grab the briefcase, but Sharmell slaps his hand away.
11.) Homicide and Storm kickoff the tag match with Homicide hammering away on Storm. Homicide runs the ropes and hits an overhead belly to belly suplex for a two count. Roode tags into the match and Homicide avoids a splash by Storm and head scissors Roode. Guerrero gets the hot tag and cleans house dropkicking Storm. Guerrero delivers a flurry to Roode in the corner. Guerrero takes Roode over with a snap suplex and holds onto the move to hit three of them. Guerrero plays to the crowd, but Jacqueline attacks from behind. Jacqueline runs up the ramp and Guerrero chases as the show goes to commercial.
Storm punches Homicide in the corner and sits Homicide on the top turnbuckle. During the break, Homicide hit his suicide dive, but Roode came back with a spinebuster and backbreaker to gain the advantage. Homicide plants Storm with a middle rope DDT. Hernandez nails Roode with a slingshot shoulder block and plants Storm with a spinebuster. Hernandez tosses Roode across the ring and follows up with a modified Samoan Drop for a two count. Storm boots Hernandez and hits a backstabber for a two count. Hernandez delivers a double clothesline. Hernandez back suplexs Roode and Homicide hits a splash for a two count. Homicide baseball slides to the floor and Beer Money collide. Jacqueline stops Hernandez from tossing Homicide to the floor. Guerrero confronts Jacqueline. Roode works over Hernandez with chops against the ropes. Hernandez shoulder blocks Roode to the floor. Hernandez dives over the top onto Beer Money. Homicide plants Roode with a cutter. Jacqueline distracts the referee and is chased by Homicide. Roode whacks Hernandez with Storm’s beer helmet and pins Hernandez to win the match. Guerrero is gone from LAX forever. (**. I thought for a moment that Jacqueline was going to be gone, but Guerrero leaving LAX isn’t the wrong move. LAX are probably better off without a manager at this point if it’s not Konnan. I think Guerrero took a cool factor away from LAX.)
12.) Backstage, Sting is headed into the Impact Zone.
13.) Earlier this morning, Lauren interviewed Sonjay Dutt and So Cal Val in bed. Apparently, they’ve been in bed for the past ten days. Val doesn’t owe anyone anything and says Lethal will figure things out. Val asks about Dutt’s father being the richest man in India. Dutt will get all his money, and that shows the true intentions of Val. It’s all about money. Val and Dutt sing about giving them a chance. Lauren leaves disgusted as Val and Dutt make out on the bed.
14.) Sting comes down to the ring and says out of respect for Jeff and his father, he listened. But, tonight Jeff is going to listen to him. Sting thinks Jarrett has the young kids swerved, but not him because he knows the real Jeff Jarrett. Sting says Jarrett left out some details. Sting notes that Jarrett asked him to come out of retirement and they needed help. Sting claims that Jarrett pleaded he needed Sting so that Spike TV would pick them up. Sting had a call from Vince McMahon and knew quickly he wanted to work for TNA. Sting gave up millions of dollars in the WWE. Sting loves the brand TNA and that’s why he works there. Sting liked what he saw until he met some of them personally. Sting asks if Jarrett doesn’t need him anymore. Sting has bigger issues to deal with and that’s TNA World Champion Samoa Joe at Bound For Glory. Sting shows pictures of the big screen and the first one is Blanchard and Anderson, who taught him to have eyes in the back of his head. Dusty Rhodes taught him how to involve wrestling fans. Hulk Hogan is typically seen as the greatest of all time. Sting credits Hogan for making wrestling mainstream. There are fans chanting ‘overrated’. Ric Flair put a young Sting on the map twenty years ago. Flair had a choice between making or breaking. Flair knew Sting had respect for the business. Sting learned how to be a World Champion from Flair. Flair taught him how to bleed and keep going. TNA World Champion Samoa Joe is next and Sting says Joe doesn’t know how to be a World Champion. Joe needs to learn respect. Sting is the man who is going to get the job down. Bound For Glory 08 is Sting’s. All the pictures used were courtesy of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, by the way.
15.) Backstage, Morgan is trying to talk sense into Abyss who is screaming ‘no weapons’. Abyss promised his therapist he wouldn’t use weapons. Morgan lies and says he talked to the therapist and wants Abyss to face his fears. Morgan claims he overcame flying by becoming a pilot and his fear of bears by beating up 1,000 bears in the woods. Abyss asks if he’s going to be okay, and Morgan tells Abyss they’re going to be fine. Morgan walks off, but did an eye roll.
16.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviews TNA World Champion Samoa Joe. Borash was surprised that Joe didn’t confront Sting. Joe says he’s doing great and apologizes to Nash for not understanding what he was trying to do. Joe says he’s calm and cool right now and is going to get his target when they least expect it. This has nothing to do with respect, but rather fear. Joe thinks Sting is afraid of losing his spot. Joe is done with yelling and screaming. Joe will do all his talking in the ring. Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed come into the scene and thank Joe for everything he’s doing and if he needs them then they’re there.
17.) A video package promoting Suicide is shown. Suicide is from the TNA video game and is becoming an actual onscreen character.
18.) Bashir ducks a clothesline and works over Joe with strikes. Bashir runs the ropes, but is driven down to the mat gut first. Joe sends Bashir into the corner and delivers an elbow followed by a jumping kick to the head. Joe misses a knee strike and Bashir dropkicks Joe on the knee. Bashir elbow drops Joe on the left knee several times. Bashir keeps leg control on the mat. Joe clubs on Bashir and delivers a chop to the back and kick to the chest. Bashir avoids a knee drop and stomps on Joe’s knee on the mat. Bashir drives down onto Joe’s knee and taunts the crowd. Bashir covers for a two count. Bashir works over Joe with chops. Bashir boots Joe in the corner and misses a middle rope crossbody attempt. Joe clotheslines Bashir a few times. Joe atomic drops Bashir followed by a big boot. Joe senton splashes Bashir for a two count. Bashir stops Joe with a jawbreaker and takes Joe down to the mat by twisting his leg. Bashir puts a single leg Boston Crab on Joe, but doesn’t get a submission. Joe reaches the ropes to break the hold. Bashir wraps Joe’s leg over the middle rope and continues to strike Joe in the corner. Joe slams Bashir out of the corner. Joe sits Bashir on the top turnbuckle and hits the Muscle Buster. Joe covers and pins Bashir for the win. After the match, Joe calls out Sting and shows respect right now by puting a choke on Bashir. Joe refuses to let go. Several officials come out to try and break Joe off. However, the referee reverses the decision and gives the match to Bashir by disqualification.
19.) Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviews AJ Styles. Styles says he’s proud to be from the small town he’s from. Styles says Booker is not going to drive a wedge between himself and Christian like Angle managed to do. Styles stops himself from getting vulgar and walks off to the ring to wrestle Booker T.
20.) Christian Cage comes out to watch the match from the aisle.
21.) Booker backs Styles into the corner, but backs off cleanly. Booker works over Styles with strikes and a heel kick to drop Styles to the mat. Styles strikes Booker into the corner and delivers chops. Styles splashes Booker in the corner followed by a kick to the back. Booker eye rakes Styles and delivers a few knee strikes. Booker kicks Styles and misses a scissors kick. Styles strikes Booker a few times. Styles slides through and kicks Booker on the back of the head. Styles tries for a cover, but Booker kicks out as the show goes to commercial.
Booker knee lifts Styles followed by a leaping heel kick. Booker forearms Styles on the mat and delivers a side slam. During the break, Styles dropkicked Booker, but Booker dropped Styles over the top rope throat first. Booker knee drops Styles and taunts the fans. Booker chops Styles in the corner followed by strikes. Booker controls Styles on the mat with a top wrist lock. Styles forearms booker on the ribs. Booker plants Styles with a spinebuster for a two count. Booker keeps a sleeper on Styles to maintain the advantage. Styles prevents his arm from dropping three times. Styles avoids a kick and decks Booker with a clothesline. Styles nails Booker with a springboard flying forearm smash for a two count. Booker misses a strike and Styles nails Booker with the Pele kick for a two count. Booker knee lifts Styles and strikes Styles in the corner. Styles collides with Booker causing the referee to get knocked down, too. Sharmell gets in the ring with the briefcase, but Christian grabs the briefcase. Styles is knocked into Cage and Cage falls to the floor. Booker whacks Styles with the briefcase. Booker covers and pins Styles to win the match. (*1/2. Clearly we are setting up a three way dance with Cage’s allegiance being a major plot point. The match wasn’t anything all that great, but at least there was a finish to this one.) After the match, Styles and Cage bicker to end the program.
Final Thoughts:
We’ve got Joe/Sting and Angle/Jarrett as the main attractions for BFG, which are completely fine. The episode this week is a mostly average showing. They are advancing the feuds decently, but aside from Angle/Jarrett, I’m not overly invested in much. The dynamic between Sting/Joe is a bit off as Sting continues to speak with logic and Joe’s reasoning is falling flat with me. I’m interested to see what Foley has to say, but I’m not entirely sure how he plays a part in any of this stuff with Angle and Jarrett.
Thanks for reading.