“Eliminating The Monster”
Kurt Angle is talking on his cell phone with Hulk Hogan backstage. He promises to win the TNA World Title at Bound For Glory and to take care of Abyss tonight. Angle makes his way to the ring. He thanks Hogan for believing in him and starts discussing the dangerous nature of Abyss. He will cut the cancer out of TNA tonight. Abyss interrupts and Angle immediately starts brawling with him. They take the battle backstage where Abyss whips Angle into a wall. Abyss throws a ladder at him but Angle responds with a chair shot. They exchange low blows and continue to brawl until security separates them.
Opening Match: Lumberjack Match: James Storm and Robert Roode vs. Tommy Dreamer and Rhino
The rest of Fortune and EV 2.0 are the lumberjacks. Dreamer catches Roode with a crossbody. Storm connects with an enzuigiri on Rhino and Beer Money work him over. The Fortune lumberjacks get involved at one point until EV 2.0 threaten to attack. Rhino hits a belly to belly suplex on Roode and makes the tag. Dreamer takes out Storm with a neckbreaker and applies a crossface. Roode breaks it up but Rhino clotheslines him to the floor. The lumberjacks start attacking each other. AJ Styles spits in Dreamer’s face but Brian Kendrick knocks him off the apron. Storm hits a backcracker on Dreamer for a nearfall. Dreamer ducks a beer bottle shot from Storm and hits the Dreamer Driver for the win at 5:35. Dreamer and Rhino looked decent and actually worked well with Beer Money. I also think that Beer Money have reached a stage where they can have a passable match with almost any team. However, you just know that there’s going to be some post-match shenanigans. **
Fortune and EV 2.0 continue to brawl around ringside. Sabu lands a chair-assisted dive onto everyone. Mick Foley gets on the microphone and invites Ric Flair into the ring. We head to commercial, avidly awaiting a conversation twenty years in the making (Vengeance 2006?). Back from break, Foley and Flair are alone in the ring. Foley challenges Flair to a match next week; one on one for the very last time. Flair grabs a copy of Foley’s new book and knee drops it. Their conversation starts becoming more intense, with them busting themselves open voluntarily. Flair accepts the challenge and they continue to banter back and forth. Foley proposes their match be contested under Last Man Standing rules and Flair once again accepts. Flair goes as far to say that he’ll kiss Foley’s ass if he loses next week. Listen, this was an incredible segment that did a lot to hype next week’s match. I just feel as though they should be building towards Bound For Glory, not some arbitrary Impact special.
Mr. Anderson is backstage complaining to Eric Bischoff. He questions why Hulk Hogan called Kurt Angle and not him. Bischoff says that he has confidence in Anderson and has booked him in a match against Samoa Joe.
Match #2: Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal vs. Max and Jeremy Buck
Ink Inc. control early on. Max lands on his feet after a moonsault attempt and immediately grabs his right leg. He rolls to the floor in pain. Jeremy attacks Neal from behind and Max runs back into the ring to take advantage. Scandalous. Generation Me isolate Neal until he causes some miscommunication and makes the tag. Moore lands a flying crossbody on Max and connects with a spin kick. He snaps off a double hurricanrana on Generation Me and catches Max with a springboard moonsault. Max low blows Moore and rolls him up for the victory at 4:57. This received more time than I thought it would and Ink Inc. didn’t look dumb as a result. These two teams actually work well together and I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch somewhere down the line. *¾
Generation Me attack Ink Inc. after the match. The Motor City Machine Guns come out to make the save. Generation Me run away and the MCMG regain possession of their title belt.
Match #3: Mr. Anderson vs. Samoa Joe
D’Angelo Dinero joins commentary accompanied by Sting and Kevin Nash. Joe connects with a gamenguiri and a facewash kick. Anderson fights back with a dropkick but finds himself in a sleeper. Anderson breaks the hold by hitting a stunner and follows with the Mic Check for the win at 4:00. More so than anyone else on the roster, TNA is hot and cold with Joe. One week he looks like a killer and the next week he looks like an idiot. Guess which week this was. *
Nash comes down to ringside and tells Joe to join them. After a commercial, Nash, Sting, and Dinero are in the ring. Nash explains that the rest of the locker room has been duped by Hulk Hogan. Dinero calls Eric Bischoff a liar and claims that Hogan will ultimately come out on the losing end. Sting proposes Nash/Sting/Dinero vs. Jarrett/Joe/Hogan at Bound For Glory. Bischoff interrupts and starts talking about WCW. I love talking about the past and all but there’s a kind of important pay per view in two weeks. Bischoff says that Hulk Hogan will be in the Impact Zone next week and will answer Sting’s proposal.
Madison Rayne, Tara, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and Lacey Von Erich are called in for a meeting backstage. Rayne provides a waiver to allow Tara to wrestle again in TNA. Nice touch. Random bantering ensues. The point of the meeting is to announce a four-way at Bound For Glory for the Knockouts Title between Rayne, Tara, Love, and Sky.
Match #4: TNA World Television Title: AJ Styles © vs. Brian Kendrick
Ric Flair joins commentary for a minute to cut a promo on Mick Foley. Styles avoids a dropkick but can’t dodge a second one. He recovers with a back suplex and takes control. Kendrick comes back with a series of dropkicks but walks into a forearm. Kendrick hits a tornado DDT on Styles and dives onto Morgan at ringside. He blocks a dive from Styles but Morgan crotches him on the top rope. Styles hits the Styles Clash to retain his title at 4:24. Too much interference and too short. Go figure. *½
Match #5: Cage Match: Abyss vs. Kurt Angle
Angle attacks immediately and throws Abyss into the cage. He runs into a shoulder tackle but responds with one of his own from the middle rope. Abyss gets sent into the cage once again. Angle throws Janice out of reach instead of using her. That is incredibly stupid and actually makes me mad. I’ll get over it. We take a commercial break to give the viewer time to recover from Angle’s stupidity. Back from break, Angle runs into a boot. Abyss throws him into the cage, busting him open. Angle finds some life with a chop block and pounds away at Abyss. He lands a frog splash and applies an ankle lock. Abyss powers out and hits a chokeslam followed by Shock Treatment. Angle avoids a top rope splash and hits an Angle Slam for a nearfall. He goes to escape through the door but decides not to. Angle climbs to the top of the cage as Impact ends. I guess you have to watch Reaction. This is frustrating. Apparently, Mr. Anderson got involved and Abyss ultimately escaped the cage. So I guess he won. He went to retrieve Janice but Angle chased him away. Between Angle’s stupidity throughout the match and having to watch Reaction to see the finish, I really don’t know what to think. “Fine outing”. How about that?
Overall: Figuring out professional wrestling is not hard. TNA has their biggest pay per view of the year around the corner. Instead of providing any interesting build to that show, TNA hyped their “Impact special” next week. This company does not want pay per view buys. Coming out of this show, I’m most looking forward to the Foley/Flair Last Man Standing match. This was your standard episode of Impact except this show suffered from a severe misconception of priorities.
