By Rich Twilling

TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, Florida

[Q1] Footage aired of Matt Morgan defeating Ric Flair and Morgan teasing for tonight's show who the special guest referee will be. Tonight's show is entitled, "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner." ...

Immortal was having Thanksgiving dinner and Eric Young was serving them. Eric Bischoff toasted the group and everyone celebrated. Eric said there a few things he wished happened differently. He informed the group he invited Dixie Carter to dinner. The group threw a fit and Hulk Hogan said those types of things need to be discussed first...

The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the Impact Zone. Matt Morgan was introduced and he came out to the ring. Morgan said the only reason Jeff Hardy still has the TNA Championship is because of a nervous, rookie referee.

He said he needed a referee to keep Immortal out of the match. He needed a referee willing to take ass, take names, and be able to stand up to anything. He needed someone like Matt Morgan. He said he would prove to everyone that the fans would have a TNA Champion to be proud of.

Doug Williams' music hit and he came out to the ring. Williams said Morgan needed to look no further for a referee. He called Immortal a bunch of tossers. He ran down each member of Fortune and did so in pretty comical fashion.

Doug said he did the right thing and that he was there for Morgan last week. Morgan agreed and said Williams had balls of steel. Morgan said he appreciated it and told Williams he was in the running. He said he needed to make the decision quickly and would tell Williams first.

Fortune's music hit and they came out to the top of the stage. Flair took the mic and said Morgan and Williams were on the outside looking in. Flair said his eyes were now open. Flair took his jacket off and said he was pissed off. Fortune had to hold him back.

[Q2] Kazarian took the mic and said it was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving meant to him there was live professional wrestling. He suggested Morgan and Williams find partners for an old school, traditional elimination match. He said they were going to take out Morgan for Hardy...

Twill's Two Cents: Decent mic work by Morgan, but very impressive work by Williams. Kaz was good as well. Not sure he needed to directly reference the Survivor Series, but the elimination match should be a good one.

A short history of EV2 video was shown, with Sabu being fired and Rhino selling out Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer was shown walking backstage... [C]

The Immortal Thanksgiving party continued backstage. Flair downed an entire bottle of Smirnoff Ice before leaving to find some women. Bischoff let everyone know Dixie was on her way. Hogan said they needed to talk about it first...

1. Tommy Dreamer defeated Rhino in a street fight. Rhino attacked Dreamer at the bell but Dreamer grabbed the advantage. They fought up the entrance ramp and Rhino suplexed Dreamer before hitting him in the head with a garbage can.

[Q3] Back in the ring, Rhino set up a table in the corner. He set up Dreamer for the gore, but Dreamer hit Rhino in the head with a cookie sheet and school boyed him for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Decent while it lasted and the crowd was into it, but neither guy means a whole lot in TNA right now. Besides, the last street fight we saw on Impact was a near classic between Ric Flair and Mick Foley.

Dreamer took the mic and said he and Rhino were friends for fourteen years. He said if EV2 was over, they can know they gave it their all. He told him to remember what friendship was. They hugged, but Rhino picked up Dreamer and ran him through the table.

Rob Van Dam hit the ring and made the save. RVD said he was going to bust Rhino open at Final Resolution. He said it will be a First Blood match, hardcore style...

Dixie Carter's return was hyped...

Flair was shown walking around backstage... [C]

Backstage, Morgan approached Samoa Joe and asked him to join the team. He said "we" need to be smart and handle this. Joe said there is no 'we.' Williams said Joe had a screw loose and called him a madman. Joe got in Doug's face but then said he would see them out there...

Twill's Two Cents: I like that Joe is getting involved here as this has the potential to elevate past main eventers back to that status, or new main eventers to the scene.

Ric Flair approached the Beautiful People to invite them to the party. Mickie James thanked Angelina Love when Tara and Madison Rayne appeared. Mickie and Tara began to brawl. The others got involved and Mickie even accidentally knocked Angelina down.

TBP began to double team Madison, but Sarita came in and went to work on everyone. As Sarita continued onto Angelina, Winter appeared to protect Angelina. She said, "Leave her... She is with me now." ... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: TNA is trying to and succeeding at making their women more physical than what WWE is offering right now. Winter is a nice addition, but I would still like to see more depth.

[Q4] The Thanksgiving party was shown again. Eric said it was a time for reflection and said it was time to give thanks to Dixie Carter. He introduced the guest of honor, and Jeff Hardy entered to loud applause.

For some reason, Hardy cut a promo. He said he was the sky, the stars, the water, and the earth. He was all things to all people. "But I will eat." He smiled and took a seat for dinner...

Twill's Two Cents: Funny stuff from Hardy.

Footage was shown of The Motor City Machine Guns and Generation Me in an empty arena match last week on Reaction. The Guns spoke to each other about their Full Metal Mayhem (TLC) match at Final Resolution against G-Me. Madison Rayne approached, screaming for the whereabouts of Sarita... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: The Guns have been having good matches ever since winning the belts, but I think they need another feud with Beer Money to really elevate the titles, so hopefully that feud is fast approaching.

Morgan and Williams approached The Pope and asked him to be the fourth member of their team. Pope said he couldn't trust either guy because he was just feuding with them when they were with Immortal. Pope respectfully declined because he had Abyss in his sights. He wished them luck.

Morgan stopped him and said if he got by Abyss, he would have Jarrett, then Fortune, and then Jeff Hardy. He said the odds were insurmountable. Pope said it was going to be interesting, so he changed his mind and said he would see them out there...

Twill's Two Cents: That didn't take much convincing from Morgan.

[Q5] Madison Rayne hit the ring with referee Earl Hebner. She cut a loud promo on Sarita and told her to get her ass out there now. Sarita obliged and the referee rang the bell...

2. Sarita defeated Madison Rayne in a non-title match. Sarita nearly won with a roll up early on and then the action was back and forth, and physical. Madison was mocking Sarita, but Sarita rolled her up for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Sarita winning adds more depth to this division as well. Physical match that played well to the strengths of both women.

Jeff Jarrett told Immortal he was going to give back to everyone in the group. He had a DVD and planned to show it to them after the break... [C]

Beer Money, Kazarian, Abyss, and A.J. Styles all shared what they were thankful for. Ric Flair called his package a fountain of youth. There is a visual none of us need.

[Q6] Jeff Jarrett showed his video and he had a kid from a karate class put the ankle lock on him. Jarrett then made a bunch of kids tap out to various moves. He said they had a lot to work on...

Twill's Two Cents: That was pretty awesome, but imagine if someone a bit more over the top, like Kurt Angle, was in Jarrett's role. Nonetheless, great video.

Hulk Hogan said it was a great Thanksgiving and he was looking forward to having Dixie Carter join them for dinner...

Jesse Neal said Jeff Jarrett had no idea what he was getting himself into by challenging him to a MMA match. The main event was hyped... [C]

3. Jeff Jarrett defeated Jesse Neal in a submission match. Neither man wore boots and Jarrett wore MMA gloves. Jarrett locked in an armbar but Jesse was able to get to the ropes. Jarrett applied the ankle lock and Hebner had to pull Jarrett off of Neal after Jarrett did not break the hold.

Neal fought back and went for a spear, but Jarrett pulled the referee in his way, so Neal to took him out. Jarrett pulled out a guitar and smashed it over Neal's head. He then applied a rear naked choke to an already knocked out Neal. The referee called for the bell...

Twill's Two Cents: That was a waste of time. Why not give Jarrett some credibility and allow the fans to think he actually has a shot to beat Joe? Instead, he pulls out the guitar to beat Jesse Neal and we never needed to see the guitar again.

The main event elimination match and Dixie Carter's appearance was hyped...

[Q7] The announcers briefly went over Brother Ray attacking Brother Devon. Ray will appear on tonight's show... [C]

Brother Ray was in the ring. He said he was told some fans and wrestlers in the back were mad at him for attacking Devon. Ray said Devon deserved it and had it coming to him. Devon was the weak link and he was the reason Ray did not retire a tag team champion.

Ray said the audience were wrestling fans, so they are not too bright. He put together a video package showing him as the lifelong leader of Team 3D. The first part of the video showed Devon taking moves over the years.

The second part of the video showed Brother Ray hitting various moves over the years. Ray called Devon "kid" and invited him to come to the Impact Zone next week to meet him face to face. He said if not for him, Brother Devon's fifteen years would have been fifteen minutes...

Twill's Two Cents: That seemed rushed, down to the video packages. I will reserve too much judgment for now. I just don't see money in a Brother Ray vs. Brother Devon feud.

Dixie Carter was shown exiting her limousine backstage... [C]

[Q8] Bischoff asked everyone to hide the liquor because of her ability to drink. Hogan said he was not going to be responsible for what he does to Dixie Carter. Wait a minute, if he isn't responsible, then who is? ...

Williams, Pope, Joe, and Morgan made individual entrances. Fortune came out as a unit...

4. Fortune (Robert Roode, James Storm, A.J. Styles, and Kazarian) vs. Matt Morgan, The Pope, Doug Williams, and Samoa Joe in an elimination match ended in a no contest. Pope surprised Storm and pinned him pretty early on. Roode came in and starting beating on Pope... [C]

Styles nearly pinned Pope after a double team move with Kazarian. Morgan tagged in. Styles tagged out and brought in Kazarian. Samoa Joe went to work on all three remaining members of Fortune before tagging in Williams.

[Overrun] Rolling Chaos by Williams eliminated Kazarian. Roode was angry and mounted offense that showed his mood. Joe and Pope both tagged themselves in. Joe and Pope went at it and fought to the back, eliminating themselves.

Roode pinned Williams with a spinebuster. Morgan was left to face Roode and Styles. Jeff Hardy interfered and knocked out the referee, causing the no contest. Hardy, Roode, and Styles all beat on Morgan...

Twill's Two Cents: I wish they would have given a finish of some sort, and then had Hardy come down to begin the beat down of Morgan. To have an elimination match with no winner is just weird and the waste of what could have been a hot main event.

Backstage, Dixie thanked Hogan and Bischoff for having her. Eric thanked Dixie for giving them the chance to take over. Hogan said they could all work together again and offered her some secretarial work back in Nashville.

Dixie said Hogan was busy signing contracts the TNA Board of Directors agreed he did not have the authority to sign. A judge agreed. She handed Bischoff some papers and said she would see him in court. She drank some wine and left. Hogan and Bischoff looked very concerned...

Twill's Two Cents: Not my favorite episode of Impact by any means. I might be a bit more interested in Hardy vs. Morgan if I thought there was any way in the world there would be a title change, but with Hardy just getting his own belt, I seriously doubt it. The Dixie stuff needs to play out, but it has been ridiculous so far. Her lawyers are "hard at work?" What the hell has taken them so long? Thank you for reading and I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday.

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