6/19 Twilling's TNA Impact Live Coverage: Christian Cage and Rhino vs. Team 3D, World X Cup Tournament begins, Booker T. vs. BG James

TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, FL

[Q1] A video aired of Black Machismo calling out Sonjay Dutt from the Pink Taco. A recap video aired showcasing the happenings of Samoa Joe, Kevin Nash, and Booker T. The opening video played; Mike Tenay and Don West welcomed us to the show…

1. Booker T. defeated B.G. James in 2:56. Booker jumped James on the outside before the opening bell rang. Once the match officially started, he continued the physical onslaught on James. Samoa Joe and Jeremy Borash watched from the back.

With the exception of a few hard right hands by James, Booker squashed him. Booker hit the scissors kick for the pinfall victory…

Twill’s Two Cents: Booker looked good here. A few short weeks ago I could have cared less about him being the top heel, but I do have interest in him and his championship match now.

Backstage, JB asked Samoa Joe if Kevin Nash’s comments had some truth to them. Joe got in JB’s face. Kevin Nash approached Joe and asked how he was doing. Joe said the almighty Oz was here. Joe told Nash he should do something instead of just talking. He said Nash should face Booker T. Nash agreed and said he would face Booker next week and in the process, show Joe how a veteran handles things… [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Good intensity by Joe here.

[Q2] Tenay plugged the World X Cup. Team TNA, Team Mexico, Team Japan, and Team International will battle it out for the World X Cup…

2. The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Tyson Dux and Daivari in a first round World X Cup match in 12:45. Tenay ran down the format of the tournament. Round one will be tag team matches, round two will be singles matches, round three will be a 12 man tag, and round four will be the return of Ultimate X.

Shelley and Sabin had success with Dux early. They hit a nice double team move that consisted of Shelley holding Dux up in a surfboard and Sabin hitting a bulldog. Team International tried to slow things down but Sabin was too quick.

Backstage, A.J. Styles was beating up Tomko. He hit him with multiple chairshots as the show went to commercial… [C]

Daivari had the advantage in Sabin coming back from commercial. The advantage was short lived. Shelley tagged in and hit a double high crossbody. He hit Daivari with multiple closelines and a frogsplash for a very nearfall. Daivari hit a top rope hurricarana for a nearfall of his own.

Sabin and Shelley hit double team moves on both of their opponents, including two sets of simultaneous superkicks. Dux almost scored the win after hitting a brainbuster. Shelley hit Sliced Bread for the victory…

Twill’s Two Cents: This was a very fast paced, high risk match. Very good action with many believable nearfalls. Great start to the tournament.

[Q3] In the parking lot, A.J. Styles was mounted over and punching out Kurt Angle… [C]

A video aired of Gail Kim talking about how she made it to where she was, including comments from Scott D’Amore and Pat Kenney (Simon Diamond). Angelina Love, with braided blonde hair, was prominent in the old footage…

Tenay and West welcomed Karen Angle via satellite from Pittsburgh to the show. Both announcers actually heeled Karen a bit. West said she should leave TNA. Tenay, after questioning those who accused Karen of sleeping with Styles in the past, accused her of it himself. Karen said she would be back to work next week…

At the Pink Taco, Jay Lethal paced around waiting for Sonjay Dutt… [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Karen was much better before she became this whiny version of herself.

Back from commercial, they aired the footage of the brutal beatdown of LAX by Robert Roode, James Storm, and Jacqueline…

[Q4] Jim Cornette stood midring and said LAX made a unique challenge. He introduced them and all four members of LAX came to the ring. Cornette said we could go to TNAwrestling.com to get the complete details of the challenge.

At Victory Road, LAX will face Roode and Storm in a “Fans Revenge Lumberjack Match.” Twelve fans will be selected and will serve as lumberjacks with belts in hand. Hector cut a promo and Cornette told him he hoped it was clean. Hector signed the contract for LAX. Cornette called out Roode and Storm, but Jacqueline came out alone.

Everyone wanted to attack her, but Cornette made it clear that Spike TV will not tolerate men beating up women. Jacqueline said she did not know where her team was because she was not their babysitter. Jacqueline and Salinas started mouthing off to each other, which included Jacqueline saying her boobs were real and Salinas’ were fake, so Cornette made a match between the two for later in the show…

JB, Awesome Kong, and Raisha Saeed came out for the $25,000 fan challenge… [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: It is funny how Hector is known as LAX’s “spokesperson,” but he is terrible on the mic. They should let Homicide do their talking because he can be very good on the stick.

Kong walked up to three women and shoved two of them. One of them looked like Sapphire. Kong chose Taylor, who attacked Kong and hit her with a barrage of punches…

3. Awesome Kong (with Raisha Saeed) defeated Taylor in a $25,000 fan challenge to retain the TNA Knockout’s Championship in 4:08. Taylor played cat and mouse with Kong and it worked from time to time, but Kong caught her and hit various power moves.

Kong brought a chair into the ring, but Taylor dropkicked it into her face. She hit her a few more times with the chair. She then hit a missile dropkick for a nearfall. Kong rolled to the floor. Taylor tried a high crossbody, but Kong caught her and ran her into the steel post.

[Q5] Kong tried to spinning back punch but hit the post instead. Taylor posed for the camera and Kong closelined her. Back in the ring, Taylor tried a hurricarana, but Kong used her strength to hit the Awesome Bomb for the win…

Twill’s Two Cents: That was a nice progression in this program for Kong. This was the perfect balance of making Kong look like a monster but possibly vulnerable at the same time.

Backstage, Team 3D boasted over Rhino after they had put him through a table. Tenay automatically assumed Rhino was out of the main event and wondered whom Christian Cage would get to replace him. I am thinking A.J. Styles… [C]

JB interviewed Sonjay Dutt backstage and wondered why he was not at the Pink Taco. Dutt said he was in love with Val and the feeling was mutual. He wondered if Lethal would forgive him…

A video aired plugging Kaz and his ability to hang with TNA main eventers…

4. Kaz defeated Alex Koslov in a World X Cup Preview Match in 5:33. That is not a typo. This is only a preview match and not part of the tournament. Kaz is the captain of Team TNA in the X Cup Tournament.

After a lot of back and forth action, Kozlov springboarded to the top rope and hit a high crossbody on Kaz to the floor. Kozlov applied a surfboard while he was on the apron, Kozlov tried a Russian Leg Sweep but Kaz countered it into a DDT.

[Q6] Kozlov hit an ensiguiri and went for the top rope splash but missed. Kaz hit the Wave of the Future for the pinfall victory…

Twill’s Two Cents: Another very good match. This one was shorter but the pace was very fast and action very solid. This tournament could be a great way to establish Kaz as a legitimate main eventer and not just a guy who is in main events from time to time.

Backstage, JB interviewed Christian Cage. Cage said Rhino had a concussion and would not wrestle tonight. Cage said he what some people see as a problem, he sees as a phenomenal opportunity… [C]

They aired a TNA Rough Cut segment on Matt Morgan commenting on his high school basketball career…

Dutt met up with Lethal at the Pink Taco. He tried to reason with him but they ended up brawling. Lethal hit him with bottles, drums, barstools, and everything else in the place. Lethal threw him through a door or wall… [C]

[Q7] JB interviewed Team 3D backstage. Ray referred to Christian saying tonight turned into a “phenomenal” opportunity. At least he did not play dumb. He did not think the replacement would be King Kong Bundy. He knew it would be Styles. This was a basic promo from Ray and Devon…

5. Jacqueline defeated Salinas in 3:06. Salinas attacked Jacqueline early, but missed a high crossbody. Jacqueline was on the offensive for the first two minutes until Salinas hit an Electric Chair. Jacqueline hit a DDT and held onto the head and sat back, causing Salinas to have to submit…

After the match, Jacqueline whipped Salinas with her belt for a few seconds. She even hit Slick Johnson once for wearing those silly shorts… [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Salinas looks like she is going to hurt herself with the way she sells moves. By the way, where are The Beautiful People?

6. Christian Cage and A.J. Styles defeated Team 3D in 13:12. West thought Team 3D attacked Rhino on purpose because they knew Cage would choose Styles to replace him and they wanted Styles. Okay. I am sure that is exactly what happened.

[Q8] Cage and Styles met Team 3D on the middle of the ramp and attacked them around the ring on the floor. Back in the ring, Styles hit Ray with a huge dropkick. I am impressed Ray ran the ropes that early in the match.

3D turned the tides and worked over Cage. Cage tagged Styles, but Styles missed a Stinger Splash on Devon. 3D hit the “wazzup” headbutt from the top. 3D went up the ramp to get a table. On their way back, Styles, using Cage’s back as a boost, hit a running somersault plancha on both members of Team 3D… [C]

Back from commercial, Ray hit a reverse neckbreaker on Styles while he was tied up between the second and top ropes. Ray locked in a combined camel clutch and neck vice. He even bit the top of Styles’ nose. Styles took a short beating from both opponents, but he finally was able to tag Cage.

Cage successfully attacked both members of Team 3D. He tried the Unprettier but could not hit it. Ray come in and splashed Devon on accident. Christian hit a frogsplash but Ray broke up the pinfall attempt. Team 3D hit the modified 3D for the nearfall.

Styles and Cage hit double top rope headbutts but Ray broke up the pin again. Team 3D hit a Doomsday Device for another nearfall. Cage hit a hurricarana on Ray but Devon hit the delayed reverse DDT. Chaos ensued and eventually, Styles hit the springboard inverted DDT on Devon for the win…

Following the match, Frank Trigg came out to the ring. Tenay said it was Trigg, not Angle, that Styles attacked earlier and that they never followed up on it. They do look a lot alike. Trigg distracted Styles enough for Angle to attack Styles from behind and apply the anklelock. He badmouthed Styles as the show went off the air…

Twill’s Two Cents: Awesome TV main event. Cage and Styles worked their asses off and the many nearfalls added to the excitement. I like that TNA has several legitimate main eventers. However, I think the world champion should have a higher profile spot on the show than to appear in one backstage segment during the first quarter hour. Besides that and no sign of The Beautiful People, this was a very good show.

What did you think of the show? Please feel free to let me know. Rich Twilling can be reached by shooting an email to dotnetrich@gmail.com.