TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, Fla.

[Q1] A video recapped last week's show... The opening video aired... Mike Tenay and Don West hyped Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle vs. Scott Steiner and Petey Williams as the main event...

1. The Motor City Machine Guns fought Shark Boy and Curry Man to a no-contest in 5:20. The Guns took control of the match and cleared their opponents for the ring. They hit double suicide dives at ringside. Scott Steiner's siren went off and he walked to the ring with Petey Williams and Rhaka Khan. Steiner and Petey cleared the ring. The ref called for the bell and ruled the match a no-contest...

Steiner took the mic and said bragged about costing Kurt Angle his match last week. He said he wasn't just going to cost Samoa Joe the title, he's going to take Angle's medals and make him his bitch. Angle stormed out and beat up Steiner and Petey. Angle locked Steiner in the ankle lock and Steiner tapped repeatedly. Petey struck Angle with a lead pipe. Steiner locked Angle in the Recliner until Joe came out and cleared Steiner and Petey from the ring...

Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviewed A.J. Styles, who said Tomko got hurt in an MMA match he told him not to go to. Jim Cornette walked out of his office. Styles asked him for more time to find a tag partner. Cornette gave A.J. an hour to find a partner or he'll forfeit his tournament match... [C]

Powell's POV: William died his hair and goatee and is officially a mini Steiner. Poor guy. It's not like he can take that costume off when he gets home.

[Q2] Don West hyped the main event match... In the ring, Mike Tenay interviewed Velvet Sky and Angelina Love. They did the Chris Jericho bit by using the video screen to show what Gail Kim and ODB would look like without hair. Sky said the fans could look, but they'd never be able to touch. Kim and ODB walked to the ring. ODB said she could put her hands all over them. She shoved her to the mat. The heel duo left the ring. There must have been a nip slip because they digitized Love's chest. West hyped that the two female teams would face off later in the show...

Backstage, Borash followed around Styles while he tried to search for a tag partner. Angle cut him off and asked if A.J. has spoken with Karen. Styles said no, and Angle responded, "Let's keep it that way." Styles entered Booker T's locker room and asked if he'd be his partner. Booker acted like he didn't know Styles. He said he didn't appreciate autograph seekers barging in his locker room... [C]

Powell's POV: So that's how Booker elevates the younger wrestlers.

Backstage, Lauren interviewed Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash. Joe got angry and yelled into the camera while Nash stood there with the TNA Title draped over his shoulder. Joe said he loves being the champion and walked off. Nash reminded him that he should love the money too...

[Q3] 2. LAX (w/Salinas) defeated Eric Young and Kaz in a tournament match at 5:20. Standard action until Homicide rolled up Young for the pin. After the match, LAX bumped fists with Young and Kaz in a sign of respect. LAX remained in the ring. Homicide took the mic and called for Hector Guerrero, who was on Spanish commentary, to join them in the ring... [C]

Powell's POV: Even with the win, I can't believe how meaningless LAX has become. They were the coolest act in wrestling a while ago and now they're just another TNA tag team. Hopefully that changes with this tournament. By the way, didn't they earn a shot at the tag titles by winning that three-way pay-per-view match a while back?

In the ring, Homicide said he and Hernandez studied tapes of the Guerrero, especially Eddie. Hector made a sad face while the crowd cheered. "Be careful what you say," Hector replied. Homocide said they respect the Guerrero family and asked Hector to be in the corner and lead them to the top...

Powell's POV: I could have lived without the mention of Eddie, and Hector's acting in reaction to the mention of his late brother.

Backstage, Cornette told Matt Morgan that he'll have to wait until later in the show to find out the names of the wild card wrestlers in the tag tournament. Kip James entered the office and attacked Morgan from behind and brawled with him... A shot aired of Love and Sky walking backstage and Tenay hyped their match was coming up after the break...

[Q4] Backstage, Styles entered Nash's locker room. Nash was talking with Christy Hemme and told her that when it comes to dreams, sometimes a banana is just a banana, and a rubber glove is just a rubber glove. Christy stood up and yelled at Styles, "We're gonna rock you tonight." Styles and Nash looked at her like she was nuts as she left the room. Nash turned down Styles request because the real money is in the TNA Title. Styles pointed out that Joe is the champion. "Damn right he is," Nash said before getting up and leaving the room. Nice tease...

3. ODB and Gail Kim defeated The Beautiful People. The heel duo worked over Kim early in the match. [C]

[Q5] In the end, ODB used a running powerslam to finish off Sky. Roxxi Laveaux walked out and attacked Love from behind at ringside. Roxxi joined the babyface duo in the ring for a swig from ODB's flask...

Powell's POV: I miss the good old days when the creative team ignored the Knockouts Division and just let them work standard matches. Suddenly, we have fights after the fights, and ladder matches after battle royals.

Backstage, James Storm was drinking beer with Jackie standing behind him while Robert Roode sat around reading the financial page. Styles entered the room and offered Storm a bottle to team with him. Storm didn't like the booze, so he turned down the offer and insulted Karen Angle. Roode got in Styles's face and rejected the offer. After Roode and Storm left the room, a dejected Styles sat on a bench. He looked to a person who was standing off camera and if the mystery person would be his partner... [C]

4. A.J. Styles and Super Eric defeated Rock-n-Rave Infection (w/Christy Hamme) in 5:30 in a tournament match. Early in the match, Lance Hoyt picked up Styles for a slam. He stopped and pretended to play guitar, which did look good because he was pretending to strum his ass.

[Q6] In the end, Young pinned Jimmy Rave. Solid action...

Backstage, a stressed out Sting told Borash that you never know who your friends are in wrestling. Borash asked if he was referring to Booker T, but Sting never really answered him... [C] West and Tenay boasted over TNA's various match innovations. A video hyped TNA's newest concept, which is called "The TerrorDome"...

Powell's POV: Will they be passing out 3D glasses for TerrorDome viewing? Seriously, that sounds like a campy horror movie. Corny name...

4. Cheerleader Melissa defeated Daizee Haze at 2:25. That's one mean cheerleader. Good match for the little bit of time they had to work with. Melissa was really aggressive...

Powell's POV: For those who don't know, Melissa is actually Raisha Saeed. She worked as Cheerleader Melissa on the indy scene before she came to TNA and became Awesome Kong's manager.

Backstage, Scott Steiner (with Petey, Khan) cut a comedy promo in which he used intentionally flawed math to describe his chances of winning the TNA Title at the pay-per-view. Funny...

Powell's POV: Steiner's promo was funny, but he'd sell more pay-per-views if TNA would do more to establish him as a serious threat to Joe's title. Maybe that will happen in tonight's main event.

[Q7] [C] 5. Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle beat Scott Steiner and Petey Williams (w/Rhaka Khan) at 10:20. Good back and forth action to start the match. Oddly enough, Petey got in more offense on Joe than Steiner did early on. [C]

[Q8] Good action after the break with Joe going off on the heels with his trademark offense. Joe locked in the Kokina Clutch on Petey. Angle attacked him from behind and went for the Olympic Slam. Joe slipped out and caught Angle with a kick to the head. Joe hit the Muscle Buster on Petey for the clean pin.

After the match, Angle caught Joe from behind with a suplex. Kurt locked in the ankle lock on Joe until Steiner entered the ring with a pipe and ran him off. Joe stood up and Steiner struck him with it. Steiner and Petey celebrated in the ring to end the segment...

Powell's POV: The pipe has more credibility than Steiner at this point. The match was a nice showcase for Joe, which is definitely a positive given that he's the new champion. However, they built up Steiner as more of a nuisance to Joe than a serious threat for his title.

Backstage, Jim Cornette told Borash he was heading to the ring to cause chaos and shock the world with his announcement... [C]

Powell's POV: Cornette has been more in control this week and that's a good thing. He's not stressed out and painful to watch.

The announcers recapped the previous segment... Cornette stood in the ring and introduced the "Egotistical Eight" men who will appear in the tag team tournament: Matt Morgan, Kip James, B.G. James, James Storm, Booker T, Robert Roode, Sting, and Awesome Kong...

Powell's POV: I'm cool with Kong entering the tournament. It could be fun if they do it right. My guess is that she teams with Sting. It just seems like that would be an interesting pairing. Either way, I thing she'll add something to the tournament and they could draw some curiosity buys if they build it up properly. I'll have more to say about the show in Friday's TNA Impact Hitlist.

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