TNA Impact on Spike TV
Live from Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.

[Q1] The show opened with Eric Bischoff playing a guitar in the middle of the ring. No, really. They showed close up shots of his hands, but never showed a full body shot. Once he finished, he said he wrote the song back in '92 when he was running with the bulls in Pamplona. He said the fact that he's a classically trained musician is one of the things people don't know about him.

Bischoff tied it into Jeff Jarrett and invited him out to play the guitar. He said he wanted to know if Jeff could play or if his guitar is just a silly prop. Jarrett walked onto the stage and headed to the ring. Bischoff tried to goad Jarrett into playing the guitar. "Bischoff, if you think you're going to humiliate me, you've got another thing coming," Jarrett responded.

Bischoff continued to taunt Jarrett by saying he just doesn't have the guts. "I double dog dare you," Bischoff said. Jarrett grabbed the guitar and wound up to hit Bischoff with it, but he refrained. Bischoff smiled as Jarrett put the guitar down and left the ring. Eric said the best thing Jeff could do is go home and tell his girls that he didn't have the stones to do it.

Jarrett got pissed and headed back to the ring. When Bischoff turned around, Jarrett blasted him with a guitar shot to a big pop. Bischoff played it like he'd been shot. Jarrett headed backstage. Announcers Mike Tenay and Taz recapped a slow-motion highlight of Jarrett hitting Bischoff with the guitar.

Backstage, Mick Foley applauded Jarrett. "Do you have any idea how good that felt?" Jarrett asked. Foley responded that he does. Another shot aired of Bischoff lying motionless in the ring as the show went to break... [C]

Powell's POV: Interesting opening segment with fun camera work for the Bischoff stunt. The crowd loved Jarrett snapping. Dot Net Members know how Bischoff will get his revenge tonight, but I won't give the details here because I know some of you want to avoid all spoilers.

Back from the break, the announcers recapped another replay of the guitar shot. Bischoff finally stumbled to his feet. He took the mic and said Jarrett and Foley have "crossed my line." He said he could fire both of them, but he won't give them the satisfaction. Instead, he wants to make it fun for himself.

Bischoff announced Foley vs. Jarrett in a match for later in the show. Bischoff stumbled back and pretended to fall onto his butt. He said the loser of the match will be fired from TNA and the winner "is going to be my bitch."

[Q2] Backstage, Foley and Jarrett weren't pleased. Jarrett said it was his fault. Foley said it was both of their faults for lashing out at Eric over the last two weeks. Mick said it looked like a fight that neither one of them could win...

Tenay and Taz put over the career vs. career match at the announcers' desk...

Powell's POV: TNA continues to give away some major events on television. We'll see if they deliver on the stipulation. By the way, the Dot Net Members knew it would be Foley vs. Jarrett, but I must admit that I didn't know it was going to be a career vs. career match.

1. The Beautiful People and Daffney defeated Tara, Angelina Love, Taylor Wilde, and Sarita in an eight-Knockout tag in 8:40. Daffney brought the stupid spider to the ring with her, so the damn thing hasn't been written out of the storyline. Tara ran out wearing a "Spider Freak" t-shirt and begged Daffney not to stomp the spider to death. The heels jumped Tara. The other babyfaces ran out for the save. Tenay said we'd get more of the match after the break.

Powell's POV: I don't think the match actually started before the break, but whatever. It's good to see TNA feature the women heading into a commercial break. They generally do the strongest ratings, so the theory obviously is that viewers are more likely to return after the break.

Fast paced action early, Lacey almost made it out of the ring without screwing up, but she ducked out of the way of a dropkick she was supposed to take and sold it as if the move connected. The rest of the action was solid. Sarita hit a really nice sitout powerbomb on Madison. Lacey came in and chokeslammed Sarita.

Tara entered the ring and hit the Widow's Peak on Lacey. Rather than go for the pin, Tara headed slowly to the corner to get her stupid spider. Daffney grabbed her and used a neckbreaker to get the pin...

Powell's POV: Quality action from the Knockouts. I just wish they'd get rid of the spider and focus on athleticism instead of a pet no one cares about.

A shot aired of A.J. Styles getting out of a van in the backstage area while using a crutch with one hand while his other arm was in a sling. Meanwhile, Flair was being lowered from the back of the van onto the ground in his wheelchair... [C]

Powell's POV: As silly as I think it is to have Flair in a wheelchair, I chuckled at the image of him being lowered to the ground.

[Q3] The commercial cut-in showed Flair and Styles in the backstage area... A video recapped the Destination X pay-per-view...

Hulk Hogan and Abyss came to the ring for a promo. The live crowd was very pro-Hogan. Hogan vowed to the TNA fans and "my boss Dixie Carter" that he's going to get the company back on track and that it will be "only business" starting at Lockdown.

Hogan announced that it will be Team Hogan vs. Team Flair in the Lethal Lockdown match. Hulk named Abyss as the captain of his team. Hogan turned over the mic to Abyss, who recapped slamming Styles through the mat. He said he didn't get the title at the pay-per-view, but he won his own respect. Abyss said he's going to take care of business for Hogan at Lockdown.

Ric Flair's music played and he was wheeled onto the stage by Chelsea while Styles hobbled out along with them. Flair cut a promo and then turned it over to Styles, who said he had Abyss beat before Hogan got involved. Flair announced that his team captain for Lockdown will be Sting.

The lights went out and Sting's entrance music played. When the lights came back on, Sting was seated on the top rope with a baseball bat, Hogan was handcuffed to the ropes, and Styles was beating up Abyss. Hogan pointed his bat at Hogan and eventually left the ring while Styles put the boots to Abyss.

D'Angelo Dinero's music played. The Pope ran to the ring and roughed up Styles. Pope sent Styles toward Hogan, who hit him with a boot to the head. Dinero hit the DDE on Styles in another corner. Pope unlocked Hogan.

[Q4] Hogan, Abyss, and Dinero pointed at Flair, who comically tried to wheel away. Hogan caught up to him, wheeled him to the top of the ramp, and then rolled him down the ramp toward Abyss, who nailed Flair with a clothesline. Pope shoved a $20 bill in Flair's mouth and the babyfaces celebrated to end the segment... [C]

Powell's POV: A good segment if you can get past the silliness of Hogan being handcuffed to the ropes. I'm not sure how Pope got the key, but they may have covered that. Good hype for the pay-per-view. Maybe it's just me, but I still have such a bad taste in my mouth regarding last night's show that I'm not ready to think about ordering another TNA show this quickly.

Backstage, Christy Hemme caught up with Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, and Shannon Moore. Hardy said they were there to have fun and it would be at someone else's expense. He showed off his new t-shirt, which did look pretty cool. RVD and Moore just exchanged pleasantries with the giddy Hemme...

2. Rob Terry defeated Tomko in 1:00 to retain the TNA Global Title. Quick squash win for Terry...

Powell's POV: Tomko just hasn't meant anything since he returned to the company. I'm not crazy about seeing Terry pushed so aggressively, but I can't say I have any problem with Tomko being fed to him if they are going to have Terry squash people.

The announcers recapped the Jarrett, Foley, and Bischoff issues. Separate shots aired of Jarrett and Foley prepping for their match backstage. Tenay said their match was coming up next and the loser will be fired by TNA... [C]

Powell's POV: Just a heads up, the WWE NXT spoilers for tomorrow night are available on the main page.

The cut-in featured a shot of Beer Money backstage wearing referee shirts. Tenay said they'd both been named referees for the Jarrett and Foley match... After the break, a long video recapped Bischoff's feud with Jarrett and Foley...

Backstage, Borash interviewed Jarrett and Foley together. Foley said he's talked about walking way from TNA in the past, but he'll do it on his own accord, not because Bischoff forced him out. Jarrett said they both have TNA pride and they both deserve to stay in the company.

[Q5] Foley said he doesn't want to be the guy who forced out the founder of the company, but they owe it to each other to go out and show the TNA fans how much the company means to them. Jarrett said he was on the outs with the company for a few months, but Foley put the passion back in him. Jarrett said he owes his performance to the fans, his family, and to Foley...

Beer Money came to the ring to serve as the referees. Foley came out next. Jarrett came out minus entrance music again...

3. Jeff Jarrett defeated Mick Foley in a loser leaves TNA, no DQ match. James Storm was the in-ring referee, while Robert Roode watched from ringside. Foley and Jarrett shook hands to start the match. There was a loud "Foley" chant to start the match, then the crowd started dueling chants for both wrestlers. The Foley chants were louder.

Foley was in control early. Jarrett ran the ropes and Roode tried to trip him up. The match spilled to ringside with Foley still in charge. Eric Bischoff walked toward the announcers while holding an ice pack on his head as they cut to commercial. [C]

After the break, Bischoff was on commentary. He spoke about his desire to see either Foley or Jarrett fired. He cracked that he could have done it by Fed Ex, but this way everyone gets to see it. Funny line, as Bischoff did just that in WCW. In the ring, the wrestlers traded offense.

[Q6] In the end, Jarrett hit The Stroke on a chair and got the pin. Jarrett was disappointed afterward, but Foley consoled him and raised his arm. Jarrett returned the favor and they shook hands while Beer Money and Bischoff mocked them. As Foley walked up the ramp, Bischoff wished him the best in his future endeavors. Funny.

Once Foley made it backstage, Bischoff instructed Beer Money to go after Jarrett. Beer Money obliged. Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam ran out for the save and cleared Beer Money from the ring. "You got a format?" Bischoff asked Tenay. "Anyone see this written down?" Ugh.

Van Dam took the mic and introduced Hardy and himself to Beer Money, who were standing on the entrance ramp. Van Dam said they were just looking for fun and agreed that it would be a blast to bounce Beer Money around the ring. Bischoff vented that it was "B.S." on commentary. Van Dam asked if Beer Money was interested. They accepted the match. Hardy shook hands with Hardy and RVD while Van Dam's music played... [C]

Powell's POV: Good effort from Foley and Jarrett. Beer Money didn't really serve a purpose during the match, but it played nicely into the followup with Van Dam and Hardy. Bischoff was mostly good on commentary. He had some good one-liners, but I could do without the "format sheet" talk. My guess is that Cactus Jack returns instead of Foley, but who knows? It would be a huge mistake to give away his actual retirement match on television with zero buildup, but I doubt we've seen the last of him.

The announcers recapped the previous match... Backstage, Foley shook hands with various TNA wrestlers. He hugged Abyss and told Borash to "tweet me" sometime. Bubba The Love Sponge showed up out of nowhere and stuck a mic in Foley's face. Foley said Bubba is one of the last people he'd want to talk to. Bubba told him not to let the door him on the ass on the way out. Foley punched Bubba, turned back to the camera, and said, "Bang, bang"...

Powell's POV: Welcome back, Jack.

Backstage, Bischoff entered Hogan's office and was gloating about getting rid of Foley. Hogan said he thought he could have been an asset. Hulk asked Eric to keep it business between him and Jarrett. Bischoff said he would. Bischoff started to ask if Hogan was responsible for Hardy and RVD going after Beer Money. Bischoff stopped short of asking Hogan and dismissed himself while Hogan flashed a smirk...

Powell's POV: So Foley will return as Cactus Jack with Hogan's blessing. It's easy to see coming, but that's not always a bad thing.

[Q7] On the interview set, Hemme interviewed Beer Money. Hemme fought the urge to smile during Storm's half of the promo. Well, at least she's trying... The announcers hyped Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez... [C]

Powell's POV: TNA should have been hyped Morgan vs. Hernandez throughout the show. It should be portrayed as a big deal anytime the current tag team champions are going to face one another. Didn't they just make this same mistake in the Eight Card Stud tournament?

Backstage, Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam were preparing for their match. Hardy was applying face paint, while Van Dam taped up his hand...

Powell's POV: A throwaway promo, but Hardy has the makeup thing down to a science. I still want to hear these guys talk about why they came to TNA and what their goals are.

A video recapped the Matt Morgan and Hernandez drama...

4. Matt Morgan apparently defeated Hernandez via ref stoppage in 2:00. Hernandez jumped Morgan from behind as he was making his entrance. Hernandez beat up Morgan at ringside and Morgan came up bleeding from the nose or mouth. Inside the ring, Morgan begged off the announcers questioned whether they'd ever seen him do that before.

Morgan came back on offense while they were fighting on the floor. Hernandez missed a clothesline and hit the ringpost instead. As Hernandez tried to recover, Morgan delivered the Carbon Footprint on Hernandez, which drove his head into the ring post.

Referee Slick Johnson geeked out while holding up the "X" sign to make it seem like a legit injury. Terry Taylor and a trainer ran out and tended to Hernandez. Homicide came out and the announcers used somber voices. One fan was shown in near tears. The EMTs put Hernandez in a neckbrace as the show went to break...

Powell's POV: Morgan looked ruthless after hitting the Carbon Footprint by picking up Hernandez's head briefly and dropping it back down. A decent angle, but Morgan needs to drive it home with a promo or something before they move on to the next segment. It was cool to see Homicide come out. I hope it leads to an LAX reunion, but it was a nice touch even if that's not the plan.

[Q8] [C] The cut-in showed the trainers were helping Hernandez onto the stretcher... After the break, they recapped the angle...

Backstage, Hulk Hogan, Dixie Carter, Homicide, Simon Diamond, Shannon Moore, and others were huddled around the ambulance. Hogan told Ed Ferarra to call Hernandez's wife. He said he already had. The ambulance sirens wailed as it exited the building...

At the desk, the announcers spoke about Hernandez. Tenay recalled that Hernandez had neck surgery. Taz acted flustered while saying: "Yeah, go a step further... he got hit in the head in the skull...brain trauma...God forbid."

Powell's POV: The backstage scene helped put the angle over. Taz's comments were a turnoff. I'm sure defenders will justify it by saying it was effective, but I don't like seeing an injury angle played up as if the guy might die on his way to the hospital. Maybe it wouldn't have been such a turnoff if it wasn't for the Owen Hart tragedy.

A video recapped the Wolfpac reuniting at Destination X...

5. Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam defeated Beer Money in 14:30. Tenay said they would be sticking with the match until it's conclusion. The teams were fighting at ringside when the show cut to an early commercial break. [C] A clip of the match was shown during the cut-in. After the break, hardy was working over Storm.

Tenay announced that he'd just received word that Knockouts Champion Tara would face Daffney in a "first blood" match on next week's show. Tenay also hyped that they would provide updates on Hernandez throughout the week at the TNA website. Meanwhile, the heels regained control of the match by working over Hardy.

[Overrun] Roode hit a big spinebuster on Hardy for a near fall. Storm tagged in and mocked Van Dam by holding Hardy down while just out of RVD's reach. Later, Storm went for his Eye of the Storm, but Hardy blocked it and eventually made the hot tag to Van Dam.

RVD hit some trademark kicks on Roode and nailed one in the corner on Storm. VAn Dam went up top and hit a kick off the top rope on Roode. He went for the cover, but Storm broke it up. Van Dam hit Storm with a kick and followed up with a split legged moonsault. He went for the cover, but the referee didn't make the count because Roode was the legal man.

Beer Money worked over Hardy and then Roode catapulted Van Dam into Storm's DDT for a really good near fall. Hardy came back with a Twist of ate on Roode. He and Storm fought to ringside. Inside the ring, Van Dam hit Rolling Thunder on Roode. Hardy followed up with a Swanton. Van Dam went up top and hit the Frogsplash on Roode and got the pin...

The announcers recapped the match highlights. A shot aired of RVD and Hardy celebrating after the match. Suddenly, Eric Young entered the ring wearing street clothes. He said he just spoke with Hulk Hogan and booked a six-man tag match with Sean Waltman, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash vs. Eric Young, Jeff Hardy, and Rob Van Dam. Young held up the arms of Hardy and RVD to close the show...

Powell's POV: The main event was really hot and one hell of a way to close the show. I'm happy they are finally advertising matches for future weeks, but did we really need heat killer Eric Young rolling into the ring to make the announcement? What does the company see in this guy that the rest of the world does not? Again, though, that was one hell of a television main event. Overall, the show was a major improvement over the last two weeks. I'll have much more to say in the Dot Net Member exclusive audio review later tonight. You can get in on the fun by signing up for $5 per month membership via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: