12/25 Powell's TNA Impact Coverage: Mick Foley announces his in-ring debut for TNA, Chris Sabin vs. Kiyoshi, Kurt Angle vs. Rhino, A.J. Styles and Brother Devon vs. Scott Steiner and Booker T

TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, Fla.

[Q1] The show opened with a recap of the latest Main Event Mafia attacks... The opening video aired... Mike Tenay and Don West introduced the show... Mick Foley walked to the ring with a mic in his hand and wished the fans happy holidays. Foley complained about the Mafia breaking their promise to stop the gang attacks.

Foley said he couldn't book pay-per-view matches for the Mafia members who don't already have them because he feared they would just put a hit out on their opponents. However, he booked Booker T and Scott Steiner vs. Brother Devon and A.J. Styles, plus Kurt Angle vs. Rhino as the double main event for Impact. He said Jeff Jarrett would appear at ringside for Angle's match... [C]

Powell's POV: Solid opening segment.

[Q2] Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviewed Rhino, who said he came to TNA for the rush of the chase. He said it starts with Kurt Angle. He added that Jeff Jarrett would be in his corner, and he would punish Angle like an animal. He said the pinfall means nothing to him. The match is about revenge...

Powell's POV: The ratings for Rhino's big match with Sting were disappointing, but he's doing a good job on the mic as one of the mouthpieces for the Frontline.

1. Chris Sabin (w/Alex Shelley) defeated Kiyoshi in an X Division Title tournament match in 4:30. Sheik Abdul Bashir watched the match from ringside because Shane Sewell was working as the referee. The announcers mentioned that Sabin and Shelley had vowed to face one another in the finals. In the end, Sabin scored the clean pin. Tenay noted that the finals would take place at the Genesis pay-per-view.

After the match, Bashir walked to the ring and taunted Sewell by pushing him several times and then slapping him across the face. Sewell was in the process of Hulking up and taking his shirt off when the lights went out. Suicide rappelled to the ring and then cleared Bashir to ringside...

Powell's POV: The match didn't live up to my lofty expectations. Solid, yet unspectacular action. Give these two more time!

Outside the building, the Sarah Palin impersonator pushed the Beautiful People behind a barrier with the fans. [C]

[Q3] A video hyped the Angle vs. Jarrett feud...

Tenay conducted a pre-taped interview with Jeff Jarrett. He thanked Jarrett for letting him be part of TNA. Jarrett said TNA wouldn't be the same without Tenay (no joke, too easy). Jarrett told the story of handpicking Angle to replace him. He said he wanted to build the entire company around Angle. Jarrett said Kurt lost his wife, children, and dignity. He said Angle thinks he's bigger than TNA.

"Does TNA need Kurt Angle?" Jarrett asked. "Without a doubt. But does Kurt Angle need TNA? Absolutely." Tenay brought up the comments Angle has made about Jarrett's family. After a long pause, Jeff said the comments turn his stomach. He said Angle isn't the same guy he was two years ago.

Powell's POV: Effective interview. Jarrett makes the puppy dog face well and draws sympathy well. I just wish they would eliminate all the talk about Jarrett's daughters because it's unnecessary.

The announcers spoke at ringside until Angle interrupted them. He asked if they felt sympathetic toward Jarrett and nudged West's face with his forearm when he tried to say he did. Angle said he was bringing Sting to ringside with him to counter Jarrett... [C]

Powell's POV: Good interview. I like the way he intimidated the announcers. It was short, yet effective. By the way, why do the announcers have their backs to the ring now? I know they watch the action on a monitor, but it still looks odd.

The latest "Rough Cuts" with Beer Money Inc. aired. They displayed more heel tendencies than in the past interview segments... A video recapped the Beer Money vs. Abyss and Matt Morgan feud...

Backstage, Lauren interviewed Big Bird and Snuffleupagus. Morgan took the mic from Lauren and dismissed her. He told Abyss not to say a word. Morgan looked into the camera and spoke in a quiet voice while saying that their match at Genesis would be the final act...

Powell's POV: Solid. They took a serious approach and let Morgan do the talking. This had to happen given how much campy comedy they've done with Abyss lately.

Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviewed A.J. Styles and Brother Devon. Styles recalled the Mafia's attack on Samoa Joe from last week. Styles said Joe was informed before the match that his wife was in labor. Styles said he didn't get into the business because of stunts like the Mafia pulled. He said Joe has to hold his son in his arms for the very first time with a sling on his arm. Styles challenged the Mafia to come after him while growing intense to close out the interview. Devon said Brother Ray is like a grizzly bear in that you can hurt him, but you can't put him down. However, he added that he'd never seen Ray question himself until the attack...

Powell's POV: Devon is a really good talker when he has something to sink his teeth into. That said, I hope they limit his promos so that it means something when he talks. Impressive mic work on the show tonight.

[Q4] [C] Backstage, Borash interviewed Sabin and Shelley. Sabin joked that "The Not-So-Great-Muta" wasn't good enough to take down one of the Machine Guns. Eric Young walked into the picture and bickered with Alex Shelley, who had been putting him down. They fought backstage and eventually into the studio. They ended up fighting in the ring. Consequences Creed prevented Sabin from getting in the ring to help his partner. Several referees and wrestlers pulled Shelley and Young apart...

Powell's POV: Sabin has been delivering some nice lines over the last couple weeks. I don't know if someone is writing his material or if he's starting to come out of his shell, but I like it either way.

Backstage, Borash told viewers how to sign up for TNA Mobile... Lauren interviewed Christy Hemme, ODB, Roxxi, Traci Brooks, and Taylor Wilde. They were all dressed up in Christmas garb for their gimmick match... [C]

Powell's POV: Did we really just go a full hour with one match? I've enjoyed most of the mic work, but that's just too much talking.

[Q5] At ringside, Tenay and West joked that Angle gave them "the two best Christmas presents" they could have asked for. I thought they were going to credit Angle for Taylor Wilde's cleavage, but instead they said Angle spared their lives in the earlier segment...

2. A.J. Styles and Brother Devon fought Booker T (w/Sharmell) and Scott Steiner to a no-contest in 11:00. The match was a slugfest, which fit with the theme of their feud. The two teams brawled at ringside. [C] After the break, a split screen shot aired of Devon and Booker fighting outside the building while Styles and Steiner fought in the crowd. Cool production work.

[Q6] After the ref called off the match, the Mafia members (including Nash and Booker, but not Sting) ganged up on Styles. Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal ran out to help, but they were outnumbered. Rhino ran out and cleaned house on the Mafia until Angle caught him with a shot from behind. Steiner blasted him with a chair. The fans chanted for Mick Foley.

Eventually, Foley ran out and threw punches at the Mafia members. Foley pulled a sock out of his sweatpants and applied the Mandible Claw on Angle for a second, but Nash reached in and pulled Angle to ringside. "What does Mick Foley have to say to the Main Event Mafia?" Tenay asked. "We'll find out after this commercial break"... [C]

After the break, Foley announced that there would be a six-mag team match between Nash, Steiner, and Booker against Styles, Devon, and Foley himself. "Yeah!" screamed West. "You've got to be kidding me"...

The announcers hyped the Foley announcement and ran through the TNA Genesis pay-per-view lineup quickly...

Powell's POV: The announcers sold the Foley announcement nicely, but they didn't get enough time to sell it properly. That's the type of announcement that should close out a show for maximum impact. instead, they raced right into the next match. It probably seems contradictory for me to complain about the lack of wrestling in the first hour and then gripe over them rushing into a another match in the second hour, but Foley announcing his return to the ring should have been treated like a major moment...

3. Christy Hemme, Taylor Wilde, Roxxi, and ODB vs. Awesome Kong, Sojourner Bolt, Rhanka Khan, and Raisha Saeed in a Santa's Workshop match. Taylor did a big dive off the top onto the heels at ringside. In the end, Taylor rolled up Khan for the win... [C]

Powell's POV: Um, does anyone else notice the big difference between the heel and babyface sides? No, I'm not talking about the babyfaces wearing Santa garb. TNA should really address that issue.

Sting was introduced. He came out wearing a suit. He looked to the crowd and acknowledged their cheers, but he didn't go overboard by howling for them. The rest of the main event introductions took place...

[Q8] 4. Kurt Angle (w/Sting) defeated Rhino (w/Jeff Jarrett) by DQ in 10:00. They fought to ringside early. Rhino threw Angle back in the ring. Angle caught Rhino with a good elbow shot and then spat at Jarrett. Jeff climbed inside the ring and Angle backed away. Three referees and Rhino held back Jarrett as the show cut to commercial. [C]

After the break, order was restored as far as Jarrett is concerned. He was back at ringside while Angle and Rhino worked the match. Late in the match, Angle caught Rhino in the ankle lock, but Rhino flipped out of the move and sent Angle to ringside, where Jarrett taunted him. Angle stood up and slapped Jarrett. Jeff tried to fire back, but Angle moved and Jarrett slammed his ribs against the guardrail.

Angle climbed back inside the ring and caught Rhino in the ankle lock. Jarrett took his shirt off at ringside. Jarrett entered the ring and attacked Angle for the DQ. They fought briefly, but security members and backstage personnel such as Terry Taylor and B.G. James intervened to keep them apart.

"You control yourself you stupid son of a bitch," James told Angle. James turned around and said something to Jarrett. Angle broke free and punched James when he turned around. Tenay said it was a sucker punch. James was knocked out lying on the mat to close the show...

Powell's POV: Jarrett looked a little silly for flipping out and interfering to end the match, but the pull apart brawl was well done. James is clearly being set up as Jeff's little buddy. They are tight behind the scenes and they have a long on-camera history together, including the Double J and Roadie days in WWE. The first hour needed more wrestling and I am tired of the predictable cheap finishes with run-ins and DQs, but this was a solid show with good hype for the Genesis pay-per-view. Unfortunately, the Foley announcement wasn't treated like the major moment that it should have been given that it's his first TNA match. Does Foley turn on the Frontline or does James turn on Jarrett? I really hope we're not on the verge of getting another unnecessary TNA swerve just for the sake of having a swerve.