TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, Fla.

[Q1] Footage aired of RVD defeating Jeff Hardy and then A.J. Styles to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to the sound of Hulk Hogan's voice letting everyone know just how important it is to be a World Champion. Tonight's show is entitled "Mr. Monday Night." ...

Twill's Two Cents: Here we go. Let's see if TNA capitalizes on the momentum they earned with last week's hot show.

The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the Impact Zone. Hulk Hogan's music hit and he made his way out to the ring. Hogan said he has been on a high since Lockdown and Impact last week. Things were really changing and being the TNA Heavyweight Champion means more than even he could ever imagine.

Hogan said RVD had a big target on his back right now. He reminded us of Eric Bischoff's top ten ranking system. He said the fans would have a huge influence on the rankings. He called Jeff Hardy one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and got by him. He then called Styles "one of the greatest of our time." Okay, that meant a little less after what he said about Hardy.

He introduced the new TNA Heavyweight Champion, Rob Van Dam. RVD came out with the belt around his waist and to a hot crowd chanting his name. Hogan and RVD slapped hands and fist bumped in the ring. "Thanks Hulky." ...

Twill's Two Cents: A segment to open the show with Hogan and the new champion, RVD, puts a spotlight and an importance on the title change, so this is a good move to open this show.

RVD said he wanted to be called "Mr. TNA." He kept calling Hogan "Hulky." He said he came to TNA because from the top on down, he was allowed to be himself. "Nobody understands our connection, and nobody understands my connection with Mother Earth's finest." He said he was the best in the world at what he does...

Twill's Two Cents: Hogan cheered for the weed comment. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but it was humorous.

A.J. Styles and Ric Flair came out to the ring. Hogan said nobody invited "you two ex champions out here." Styles asked RVD, "Did you really say you were going to be the best TNA Champion ever? Are you high right now? You must be high?" Funny. Styles said he was stuck in a "BS tag match" instead of a rematch tonight...

Twill's Two Cents: Way to hype the main event A.J.

Styles said he would have his rematch when he wanted it and where he wanted it. The crowd was hot for Styles. Flair took over the mic and told RVD "being World Champion is pretty cool." He said he had a personal problem with Hogan.

[Q2] Flair said he was going to "end Abyss" tonight and end the "mockery" that was Hogan giving Abyss his Hall of Fame ring. Flair said he specialized in big guys and was going to teach Abyss a lesson tonight. His music hit and they took off...

Twill's Two Cents: I really enjoyed that opening segment. That was the best Styles promo I've seen and Flair is right about Hogan and the ring situation. There was some conviction in both of their voices. The crowd was hot we have a solid World Championship program on our hands.

The Beautiful People were all glittery backstage. Madison Rayne complained to her girls about her first title defense being tonight against two former champions. Lacey Von Erich kept saying something stupid and Velvet Sky kept correcting her. Madison said she would cleanse TNA of "two ugly people at a time" tonight... [C]

Footage was shown of that horrible lockbox segment that allowed Angelina Love to win the TNA Knockouts Championship. Footage was shown of Madison Rayne winning the title and Tara attacking Angelina after the match...

1. Madison Rayne (with Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich) defeated Angelina Love and Tara (with Poison) to retain the TNA Knockouts Championship in 8:18. Mike Tenay and Taz both climaxed during the entrance of TBP. Referee Slick Johnson sent Velvet and Lacey to the back.

Twill's Two Cents: I guess his sleeping with Madison way back when was only good for one favor.

Angelina was knocked to the mat and Madison kicked Tara to the floor... [C]

[Q3] Angelina nearly pinned Madison coming back from the break as Tara tried to recover on the floor. Tara threw Angelina into the post and to the floor. Tara and Madison took each other out with dual bulldogs. Angelina jumped back into the ring.

Love hit a jawbreaker on Tara and a bicycle kick on Madison. Tara rose quickly and floored Angelina. Madison whipped Angelina into Tara and applied a school girl on Love for the win...

After the match, Tara and Angelina brawled in the ring as Madison got the hell out of there. Tara said she was sorry to Angelina, but then attacked her from behind...

Twill's Two Cents: Slow in spots and a formula triple threat, but a solid match and win for Rayne. With the post match brawl and TBP looking strong, the Knockout Division has some momentum right now.

The announcers hyped tonight's two big matches... [C]

2. Kazarian defeated Shannon Moore to retain the X Division Championship in 4:19. Tenay mentioned Moore turning down Matt Morgan's offer to be his tag team partner last week, pretty much giving away the finish.

Kaz is still without his belt and they mentioned Douglas Williams' travel issues. Taz said TNA was wrong to strip him of the title. Tenay kissed TNA Management ass saying it was the right call.

An early match exchange prompted the crowd to cheer both men. The screen crawl said Daffney was recovering from a stinger and bruised stinger at home. Kaz scored a two count with a spinning neckbreaker. The referee was knocked out inadvertently.

Moore went to the top and Kaz kicked him before meeting him at the rope. He attempted a hurricarana and Moore held on. Morgan came out and pushed Moore off the top rope. He put Moore back into the ring. Kaz hit the reverse piledriver for the win...

[Q4] Samoa Joe's music hit and he came out. He viciously attacked Kazarian as his music continued to play, New Jack style. He hit the muscle buster on Kazarian... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: There was once a time where it could have been easily argued that the X Division Championship was just as important as the TNA Heavyweight Championship. That probably won't happen again, but Joe is a guy to really up the prestige of that particular title. Predictable match and cool post match attack.

Abyss cut a promo about Hulk Hogan giving up his Hall of Fame ring. Abyss revealed the ring actually did not possess magical powers and it just represented the confidence he now has because of the confidence Hogan has in him. He said he might lose the ring, but he won't lose what the ring means...

Twill's Two Cents: At least Abyss isn't completely nuts, but that was hardly a confident promo. He basically said he might lose tonight, but it's cool.

Backstage, Morgan tried to get Jesse Neal to be his tag team partner. He brought up the promise Neal made to his military buddy when he said he would be a world champion. He instructed Neal to think with his heart and remember his promise...

Twill's Two Cents: Morgan said "We aren't looking for a partner anymore. We want you, Jesse." I like how he refers to himself and the two belts as "We." Funny.

A.J. Styles cut a short promo backstage about tonight's match... [C]

Styles made his entrance sans Flair. Tenay finally mentioned the history between Styles and Sting. Finally. Showing a nice touch, Styles ordered the referee to hold the ropes open for him. Sting made his entrance, followed by Jarrett and then Hardy...

[Q5] 3. A.J. Styles and Sting defeated Jeff Hardy and Jeff Jarrett in a Falls Count Anywhere match in 6:15. All four men fought as the bell rang. The accidentally almost ran into each other during a double Irish whip. Sting wrestled in a shirt.

Sting and Jarrett fought into the crowd. Hardy almost pinned Styles after a suplex on the ramp. This is a no DQ match. All four men found their way back to the ring. Styles and Jarrett began in ring action. Sting chose the near left corner for his team, which looks weird on TV.

Hardy and Styles made tags, sort of. The referee tried to keep Hardy out of the ring but didn't care when he pushed him away. Sting took off and left Styles by himself. Styles and Hardy brawled to the ramp again as Jarrett wondered where Sting went.

Jarrett found Sting and they fought up the stairs to the rafters. Hardy set up Styles on a table as Sting beat the crap out of Jarrett with a baseball bat. Hardy set up and climbed a ladder but before he flew off, Sting pinned Jarrett...

Twill's Two Cents: They certainly teased a big spot there and it will certainly pop the crowd when Hardy finally goes through with it. Jarrett looked like a fool for chasing Sting instead of utilizing a double team advantage, but it plays into their feud. Solid brawl that furthered two more programs.

Backstage, Jesse Neal asked Team 3D for their blessing to team with Morgan tonight. He said he respected them and would become a tag team champion by helping defeat them. Ray and Devon laughed, but said Neal had a big set of balls and that is how they taught him. They gave him their permission to take the match...

D'Angelo Dinero was shown coming into the Impact Zone... [C]

The Pope made his entrance and had his right arm in a sling. He also had a patch over his eye. The crowd gave him a very nice reception and he soaked it up before entering the ring.

[Q6] Pope asked why Styles would try to end his career and take food off of his table. He said he had no excuses for losing, but he said it was a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. Pope said he fell, but will get back up. He got the crowd to repeat the phrase. The lights went out...

Mr. Anderson's music hit and he came out to the ring engaged in a mocking applause. He waited for his microphone and said he was now going to refer to Pope as "the Kool-Aid Man." He said he understood and said the crowd was gullible. He called the crowd a bunch of names.

He asked if Pope had a booboo. He said Kurt Angle was home licking his wounds and nursing his injuries. He asked if Pope was going home. Pope interrupted and told Anderson to make a point or shut up. Anderson challenged Pope to a match at Sacrifice. He made chicken noises as the crowd chanted for Dinero.

Pope said his arm may be in a sling, but the pimp hand was still strong. He hit Anderson with a backhand slap. I'm guessing that was a yes to the challenge. Anderson beat down Pope and put his thumb in Pope's eye before being ran off by security guards... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Pope is over with the live crowd but that promo was not one of his best. Anderson was great and I guess Pope is his next feud. Nice transition from Angle for him because Styles needs his rematch, but Pope cutting a promo on Styles and then dealing with Anderson seems misguided for him. Pretty good segment.

Team 3D's music played but they did not come out right away. The camera met up with them backstage and they were standing next to a broken table with Syxx Pac knocked out and bleeding. They told him to go home after he got out of his coma...

4. Matt Morgan and Jesse Neal defeated Team 3D by disqualification to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championships in 1:05. Morgan brought both belts to the ring again. The crowd did a "yay-boo" chant for Neal and Morgan, respectively. Neal opened the match and 3D dominated him.

The Wolfpac music hit. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash came out and were met on the ramp by Team 3D. Neal helped out Team 3D, but Morgan attacked him and brought him back to the ring. He chokeslammed Neal and mocked him with both belts... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: The crowd was dead silent for The Band. That isn't a good sign because they have been hot all night. Hopefully Morgan picks the "right" partner because they could have something with this storyline depending on how they have it play out.

[Q7] After the match, Team 3D tried to console Jesse Neal. He screamed at Morgan to come back to the ring so he could kick his ass. Backstage, Christy Hemme approached Morgan and asked what he was going to do. Morgan said he was off the clock and started to leave, but was stopped by Hogan.

Hogan told Morgan to deal with Neal or deal with him. Morgan backed off and went out to the ramp. Neal knocked him down and chased him with one of the belts. Morgan dropped to his knees and outsmarted Neal. He knocked him out with the belt.

Shannon Moore's music hit and he came out to aide Neal. He hit a missile dropkick on Morgan and both men shook hands. Tenay and Taz sent it back to Eric Bischoff...

Twill's Two Cents: Where in the hell did Team 3D go? I'm not a punk guy, but the TNA Impact crowd seems really into both guys. I guess them being a team is about as natural as anything TNA could have come up with.

Backstage, Bischoff said the fans could go to the website and vote for who they think should be wrestling for the TNA Championship. That was the ranking system announcement. Black Machismo came in and said he was voting for Andre the Giant. He mentioned a few other guys and the Hart Foundation too... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: That was the big announcement? At least Bischoff could have given us the first set of rankings. By the way, was it a good idea for Machismo to mention the Hart Foundation given that Bret Hart is over on Raw as we speak? Another thing, is being ranked six through ten a good thing? That seems a long way from a title shot.

Orlando Jordan cut a promo wearing nothing but rainbow tissue paper. He put over Rob Terry and said he would debut his new show, "The O-Zone" next week with Terry as his guest...

Twill's Two Cents: I'm sure we'll all look forward to that.

Ric Flair cut a "behind the scenes" style promo and absolutely nailed it. He talked (not yelled or screamed) about how Abyss wearing Hogan's ring is a disgrace and how it offends him because he worked for it for 38 years. He said he was the best of all time and that was the bottom line, and he was saying that before Steve Austin... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: That was awesome. Flair can cut the best "conversational" promo now too. I love the "behind the scenes" style of promo TNA does from time to time. It gives them a different feel and it's something different.

[Q8] Bubba the Love Sponge asked Hall and Nash what was next. Nash blew a gasket and said they were going to check on their friend. Bubba said they were a man down. Hall tried to be the voice of reason and said their beef was with Team 3D. Nash continued to yell and said they would bring somebody to even up the sides...

An Abyss vs. Ric Flair video package aired. Flair made his entrance and Abyss came out next...

5. Abyss defeated Ric Flair for Flair's and Hulk Hogan's WWE Hall of Fame rings in 5:12. They fought to the floor and the referee let them go. Abyss opened Flair up and slammed him from the top rope into the ring. He hit the big boot and a side slam.

Flair took a corner splash and hit a couple of air jabs before falling on his face. Flair hit a low blow and the referee went down. Flair put on brass knuckles and hit Abyss. Abyss no sold it but Flair hit a second shot into Abyss' nuts. Flair pinned Abyss...

After the match, referee Earl Hebner saw the brass knuckles on the floor and after a shoving match with Flair, he restarted the match. Abyss Hulked up and hit the Blackhole Slam for the win...

Hogan came out to the ring and pulled Flair's ring off of his finger. He got on the mic and said, "I know exactly who I am going to present this ring to next week." Tenay and Taz wondered who that would be. Abyss and Hogan each posed with a ring as the show went off the air...

Twill's Two Cents: Is Hogan going to bring out one of Flair's ex-wives? I assumed Abyss would get both rings, but nice teaser for next week's show. I thought TNA did a nice job of making Flair wrestling a big deal. Actually, Flair did that. I think it is bullshit that a referee can reverse a finish he did not see. Flair winning would have been great. Abyss winning took steam out of what I thought was a good show. I am intrigued about what Hogan will do with the ring.

What did you think of the show? Feel free to let me know by shooting an email to dotnetrich@gmail.com.

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