“10 Card Stud”
Eric Bischoff makes his way to the ring. He reveals how the Top Ten Rankings are decided. Fan polling is only one-third of the decision. Basically, there’s no point in voting. He announces the rankings:
10. Samoa Joe
9. Rob Terry
8. Desmond Wolfe
7. D’Angelo Dinero
6. Abyss
5. Mr. Anderson
4. Jeff Hardy
3. AJ Styles
2. Kurt Angle
1. Sting
Each wrestler comes out and a video package follows. The only exception is Kurt Angle, who doesn’t show up. It’s announced that Sting will challenge Rob Van Dam at Slammiversary, meaning there will be no King of the Mountain match. Bischoff also announces Sting vs. Jeff Hardy as the main event tonight. Sting attacks Bischoff with his bat. Abyss tries to make the save to no avail. Jeff Hardy takes Sting’s bat and receives a low blow for his efforts. Rob Van Dam distracts Sting, allowing Hardy to hit the Twist of Fate. Sting escapes the swantan and heads to the back.
Matt Morgan confronts Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff backstage. Hogan gives Morgan a rematch for the TNA Tag Team Titles and tells him to find a partner.
Opening Match: Roxxi vs. Madison Rayne
Roxxi maintains control until missing a boot. Rayne goes to the eyes and chokes her. Roxxi hits the Voodoo Drop for the win at 2:41. Rayne just retired Tara (and was put over nicely in the process) but lost in three minutes to Roxxi, who hasn’t wrestled since December. Sounds about right. ½*
Chelsea is complaining to Desmond Wolfe backstage. Wolfe tells her not to worry about Abyss.
Kurt Angle makes his way to the ring. He talks about the increasingly talented wrestlers in TNA now. He says that he was bred to be a winner and he will be a winner for the rest of his life. However, he is going through a difficult time right now. In addition, he has done it all in TNA. Angle announces that he’s going to start from scratch, take himself out of the Top Ten Rankings, and wrestle each member on the list. He promises some of the greatest matches of all time. I believed him until I realized that Rob Terry was on the list.
Christy Hemme is with Ric Flair and Beer Money. Flair says that Jay Lethal insulted him two weeks ago on Impact. He also interfered with AJ Styles’ match at Sacrifice, which was a mistake as well. Kazarian walks in and wants to talk to Flair. Hemme leaves after Flair makes a sexual innuendo, so we don’t see the conversation.
Match #2: Orlando Jordan vs. Rob Terry
Considering I watched Sacrifice to see this match, I’m a little upset that they’re just giving it away on free TV the week after. Jordan immediately goes after Terry’s injured left knee. Terry connects with a clothesline and follows with a back drop. Jordan clips the bad knee hits two Knee-D-Ts. Jordan applies a legbar for the victory at 2:57. Terry was even more limited than usual, which is actually scary to think about. This was a fine way to show that Jordan is an apparent threat to the Global Title. ½*
Jay Lethal is shown during an interview. He says that Flair took his imitation the wrong way. Lethal was just trying to pay respect. RVD interrupts and offers to be Lethal’s partner tonight.
Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore storm into Team 3D’s locker room. Ray says that he simply gave Neal an attitude adjustment at Sacrifice. Neal calls Ray jealous and tells him to keep his distance. Ray and Neal almost get into a brawl but their partners hold them back.
Match #3: James Storm and Robert Roode vs. Rob Van Dam and Jay Lethal
Roode attacks Lethal before the bell. Lethal comes back with a dropkick. Storm pushes him off the top rope and Beer Money isolate him. He connects with a handspring back elbow on Storm and makes the tag. RVD spin kicks Storm and catches Roode with a flying thrust kick. Lethal connects with a missile dropkick on Roode and hits the Lethal Combination. RVD adds Rolling Thunder and Lethal locks in a figure four for the win at 3:58. Could have been longer, but I guess it accomplished what it set out to do. I appreciated the finish as well. *½
After the match, Ric Flair comes out and brawls with Lethal. They brawl to the back as RVD celebrates around ringside. Sting appears in the crowd and attacks RVD with a chair.
After a commercial, Jeff Hardy is in the ring. He says that the Creatures of the Night are going to take Sting to the limit tonight.
Abyss makes his way to the ring. He reminds us that Desmond Wolfe owes him something. Security brings Chelsea to the ring with Wolfe lagging behind. Abyss and Wolfe talk some trash. Wolfe says that he will not allow Abyss to take Chelsea. He low blows Abyss and takes out the security members. Wolfe shatters a glass bottle and attacks Abyss with it. He starts to threaten Chelsea, allowing Abyss to catch him with the Black Hole Slam. Abyss carries Chelsea away with him.
Match #4: Eric Young vs. Shannon Moore
The Band cut a pretty typical promo before the match. Young attacks before the bell. Moore answers with some armdrags and a dropkick. He follows with a springboard crossbody but runs into a back elbow. Young takes control until Moore comes back with a wheelbarrow bulldog. He lands a Whisper in the Wind as Brother Ray walks out. Jesse Neal starts brawling with him. Scott Hall attacks Moore with a title belt, allowing Young to hit a piledriver for the victory at 3:42. Pretty solid until the overbooked finish. *½
Match #5: X Division Battle Royal
This is for the #10 spot in the Top Ten Rankings. There’s not even entrances. It’s basically a big mess of moves. Ric Flair eventually comes out. Kazarian wins by eliminating Brian Kendrick at 2:52. The X Division looks absolutely terrible as a result of this match. Eight of the division’s finest wrestlers were wiped out in under three minutes. Brian Kendrick was hiding on the outside for most of the match. Because there were no entrances, I didn’t even know he was in the match until the last twenty seconds. If TNA can’t take the X Division seriously, how do they expect the fans to? DUD
Ric Flair claps for Kazarian after the match and it appears as though an alliance is in the works.
Match #6: Sting vs. Jeff Hardy
Hardy connects with a mule kick and follows with a baseball slide. He misses a plancha and Sting takes over. Sting finds success with the Stinger Splash. Hardy avoids a second attempt and comes back with a flurry of offense. Sting dodges Whisper in the Wind and applies the Scorpion Deathlock. Hardy makes the ropes. The referee is inadvertently sent to the floor. Mr. Anderson runs to the ring and hits a Scorpion Death Drop on Sting. Hardy covers for the win at 5:47. They didn’t try to work out of their comfort zone and produced a fine main event. If nothing else, the Anderson/Hardy storyline is at least intriguing. **
Anderson tries to congratulate Hardy after the match. Hardy wants none of it and pushes him. Sting lays them both out with his baseball bat and stands tall to end the show.
Overall: More of the same this week. Aside from the X Division battle royal, nothing was terrible. In fact, Angle’s new direction may deliver some quality matches. I also didn’t mind the build for RVD/Sting. While I rather have a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary, TNA did a good job of making Sting look like a threat this week. Other than a few positives, there’s not much to see on this episode. The wrestling quality just isn’t worth going out of your way to check out and there’s nothing “must see” as far as storyline advancement is concerned.
