TNA TV Reports 2/5 Powell's TNA Impact Live Coverage: Kurt Angle and Sting vs. Team 3D, Great Muta comments on Kiyoshi, final hype for Sunday's Against All Odds pay-per-view By Jason Powell Feb 5, 2009 - 10:00 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing TNA Impact on Spike TV Taped in Orlando, Fla. [Q1] Highlights aired that recapped the issues between Kurt Angle, Sting, and Team 3D. They also aired highlights of Angle singlehandedly beating LAX in a handicap match, and of Samoa Joe's return video... The opening video aired... Mike Tenay and Don West introduced the show and hyped the four-way title match for the pay-per-view, and the Impact main event... The Main Event Mafia walked to the ring. Tenay pointed out that Mafia "founder" Kurt Angle always walks out first, and Sting is always last. He said the others serve as a buffer between the two. Kevin Nash took the mic and spoke about how he did a lot of business in the ring, but he did most of it behind the scenes. Nash recalled Joe insulting Scott Hall. He said Joe is the first person he can recall that he wanted gone that is still around. He said Joe debuted a new haircut and face paint. "I don't know, I guess that makes him a tough guy," Nash said. The crowd chanted Joe's name. "How about I go old school and kick Joe's ass," he said. Nash said Joe has been casted as "the bitch" in their movie. Angle took the mic and glanced at Sting. He said the fans are all wondering what will happen in the four-way title match at the pay-per-view. He said they might get a good indication of how it will go when they team later in the show. Angle said he thought he knew Sting, but he's not so sure anymore. He said the Mafia was about earning respect. Angle told Sting that he and the others haven't lost sight of that. Angle guaranteed that the TNA Title will remain in the Mafia "regardless of what I have to do"... Powell's POV: Nash did his usual mix of clowning around and acting serious. Angle did a solid job of hyping the tag match and the pay-per-view four-way. Backstage, Lauren interviewed Team 3D. Devon talked about what a great wrestler Kurt Angle is. Brother Ray said Angle is taking the mafia talk too seriously. He said Angle tried to have Team 3D soften up Sting last week, so they were going to return the favor by making sure that Angle worked the entire match himself and never tagged in Sting... [C] Powell's POV: This was not one of Team 3D's better promos. Didn't Angle get his payback last week when he worked a handicap match in the same show? Isn't Ray supposed to be more pissed at Sting than anyone? [Q2] A Rough Cuts segment aired on Kiyoshi. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin recapped his history in the business. Great Muta said he didn't see much in Kiyoshi when he first met him, but then he saw his true spirit in the ring. Sting said Kiyoshi must be special if Muta saw something in him... Powell's POV: I didn't care for the way the Machine Guns broke character and spoke so respectfully about another wrestler, but the segment was well done. Getting Sting's comments was a nice touch because viewers who were aware of Muta probably remember his feud with Sting in WCW... Backstage, Lauren interviewed Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal. More Macho Man crap from Jay Lethal... Powell's POV: Why can't TNA creative just admit to themselves that the Black Machismo character ran its course? Ring introductions took place for the Motor City Machine Guns vs. Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed. Beer Money ran out attacked Creed and Lethal before they made it to the ring. They brawled around ringside while the Guns waited in the ring. Beer Money wrapped Creed's arm around the post and struck it with a chair. He writhed in pain on the ringside mat as the show cut to commercial... [C] Powell's POV: Are they shaking up the tag title match that's scheduled for Sunday? I'm all for it if they are. Lethal and Creed haven't been pushed hard enough to seem like a credible team even though they had that flukey title reign. 1. Jay Lethal and Eric Young defeated The Motor City Machine Guns in 4:15. The match started with Creed backstage selling the injury. Lethal worked solo and held his own during the first two minutes. [Q3] At 3:00, Eric Young ran out and took Creed's spot in the match. He took the tag from Lethal and worked over the Guns. Young hit a Double Death Valley Driver on the Guns and scored the clean pin on Shelley... [C] In the ring, Shelley challenged Young to an X Division Title match at the pay-per-view. Young said he would accept the match as long as Shelley's "life partner" wasn't going to be at ringside... The announcers ran through the pay-per-view lineup... Backstage, Jeremy Borash stood by while Jim Cornette told Kongtourage that they are not allowed at ringside during the Awesome Kong vs. ODB pay-per-view match. Sojo Bolt told Cornette it would be on if she ever caught him without his "cracker...jack" (she looked at Jeremy Borash). Powell's POV: Does she think Borash is protecting Cornette? I didn't understand that. It seemed like a big reach just to call Borash a cracker. After the women left the room, Cornette had Borash check his blood pressure. Booker T and Sharmell entered the room. Booker asked if he could referee a match later in the show. Cornette said he'd have to wait until Sunday to get his hands on Shane Sewell... [C] Backstage, Lauren interviewed The Beautiful People. Angelina Love took the mic and cut an angry promo about what they're going to do to Roxxi and Taylor Wilde. [Q4] Velvet Sky took the mic and cut her own angry promo while Cute Kip stood behind them... Powell's POV: They're censoring bitch and ass this week. The censors seem to go back and forth on those words. 2. Sheik Abdul Bashir fought Shane Sewell to a no-contest in 5:50. This is the match that Booker wanted to ref, but Slick Johnson got the assignment instead. Tenay said referees Rudy Charles and Andrew Thomas are still injured from their match against Booker T last week. One of them received medical clearance to work tonight. I missed which one and I honestly don't care enough to exert the energy it would take to hit rewind. Sorry. Sewell dominated the bulk of the match while the announcers discussed the the latest publicity stunt to bring the impeached former Governor of Illinois to serve as the chairman of the Main Event Mafia. Late in the match, Slick Johnson was bumped by Bashir, so Booker walked out in his referee shirt. Two other referees came out to stop him. One of them was Rudy Charles, so that ends the mystery about which referee received medical clearance. Booker blew off the other announcers and entered the ring. Sewell hit a cross body block on Bashir and went for a cover, but Booker kicked him in the head instead of counting the pin. Several referees and security guards entered the ring for a pull apart brawl between Booker and Sewell... Backstage, Borash interviewed Sting, who said he doesn't know where he stands with Kurt Angle. He said people would have to tune in and watch the pay-per-view to find out. Sting said that if anyone else wins the TNA Title, it would be tarnished. Borash asked if he meant the belt would be tarnished if Angle won it. Sting walked away without answering the question... [C] Powell's POV: It was good to have Sting put the belt over even if it was just to set up the line about it being tarnished if someone else wins it. TNA doesn't do nearly enough to make their title belt seem important. They recapped the Sarah Palin impersonator angle with The Beautiful People... Powell's POV: Um, maybe it's best if they just forget that angle ever took place and move on. [Q5] 3. The Beautiful People (w/Cute Kip) defeated Taylor Wilde and Roxxi in 4:00. The babyfaces mocked the heels by laughing at them, so the heels left the ring and fought with them at ringside. They eventually fought their way into the ring. Sky pinned Roxxi. Afterward, the heels gave Taylor and Roxxi the brown bag treatment. The Governor came out dressed in her usual outfit (minus shoes) and caught Kip with a low blow. She cleared the heels from the ring and tended to both babyfaces... [C] Powell's POV: For the love of god, enough is enough with the governor crap. I'm fine if they use the woman, but we've already established that she isn't the real Palin, so quit with the impersonation and campy presidential music. I was going to say it was nice to see the Beautiful People get their heat back, but they lost it just as quickly as they regained it. The second installment of Rough Cuts on Kiyoshi aired. Shelley, Scott D'Amore, and Sting discussed Japanese wrestling and how difficult it is for young wrestlers to break through in Japan... [Q6] The announcers hyped Rhino vs. Matt Morgan, and the Sting and Kurt Angle vs. Team 3D main event... 4. Brutus Magnus pinned Shark Boy in 2:15. Magnus wore some type of gladiator attire to the ring. West said Magnus looks much more physically impressive in person. Shark took control of the offense and hit his Austin moves. He went for the Stunner, but Magnus avoided it and hit his finishing move (the Formentum?) for the clean pin. After the match, Magnus took the mic and issued an open challenge for Against All Odds... Powell's POV: Very indy-like. Magnus did a decent job on the mic until he screamed at the end. Backstage, Borash interviewed Angle while Mafia security (yes, really) stood behind him. Angle said he was going to prove that he could get by on his own during the tag match main event... [C] A video recapped the Abyss and Matt Morgan breakup... 5. Matt Morgan fought Rhino to a non-finish in 3:30. At 2:45, Rhino went for the gore, but Morgan leapfrogged him and came back with the big boot. Rather than go for the pin, Morgan headed to ringside and grabbed a chair. He placed the chair on the mat and set up for his finisher, but Abyss's music played. Morgan shoved Rhino aside and prepared for Abyss. Abyss entered the ring and brawled with Morgan. Abyss hit the Black Hole Slam. He went to the corner and picked up a bag of tacks that he brought to the ring with him. He poured the tacks in the ring. He motioned for the chokeslam, but Morgan ducked out of the ring... Powell's POV: Weak finish, but good hype for the Abyss vs. Morgan pay-per-view match. [Q7] [C] In the ring, Abyss said he wanted to introduce Morgan to his real best friend. "His name is not Chris, his name is Abyss," he said. He said he's endured a lot in his life including abusive fathers and shock therapy. He said Morgan knew how delicate his situation was. "You befriended me with a false sense of trust that does not exist in Abyss's world." Abyss noted that Morgan calls himself the DNA of TNA. He said he wanted to show him what happens when you add the Abyss chromosome to the mix. Abyss slammed his hands repeatedly into the tax. He screamed that he was going to kick Morgan's ass at the pay-per-view. Lauren ran out and tried to calm down Abyss... Powell's POV: Best Abyss promo yet. That's not the type of promo he can deliver every week, but he pulled out a good one heading into his match against Morgan. That was much better than the muppet crap that Abyss had been delivering. Here's hoping he abandons the lousy white outfit and silver mask and brings back his old look on Sunday. Backstage, Borash interviewed Mick Foley, who briefly hyped the tag match main event. He also announced that Jeff Jarrett would be returning to Impact next week... Ring introductions for the main event took place with Sting and Angle coming out separately... [C] [Q8] 6. Team 3D defeated Sting and Kurt Angle by DQ in 12:00. Team 3D brought the IWGP Tag Titles to the ring even though they're not defending them in TNA. Sting went with the low budget t-shirt look again. Team 3D got the better of Angle early. Sting reached out for a tag, but Angle refused and stayed in the match. Eventually, Angle rolled to ringside and Sting followed. The announcers shut up so viewers could hear their conversation. Angle said he didn't need Sting's help. "I thought we were family," Sting said in a mocking tone. Scott Steiner ran out to play peacemaker for Sting and Angle. [C] After the break, they showed highlights of Steiner interfering in the match by tripping Devon. The referee saw it and ordered Steiner to leave the ringside area. Back "live," Team 3D continued to work over Angle. He came back with a big suplex on Ray. Sting reached out for the tag again, but Angle refused to tag him into the match. Angle pulled his straps down and yelled. Angle went to the ropes, but was caught by Ray, who hoisted Angle onto his shoulders. Team 3D hit the Doomsday Device on Angle. Booker T ran in for the DQ. Steiner came out and it was Mafia beatdown time. "How many times have we seen this in the past?" Tenay asked. No kidding. Team 3D fought off the Mafia. Angle and Sting bickered at ringside. Steiner and Booker held back Angle to close the show as Nash joined them all at ringside. "Friend or foe, what's it going to be?" Sting asked Angle while the others held him back... The James Earl Jones guy ran through the pay-per-view lineup to close the show... The Samoa Joe video from last week aired... Powell's POV: Solid hype for most of the pay-per-view matches. The tease of tension between Sting and Angle was well done. Abyss's promo with him slamming his hands on tacks was gruesome even by wrestling standards. I'm sure it wasn't for everyone, but I enjoyed the overall promo. It was nice to see Abyss focussed rather than clowning around. The old Abyss is back. The real Samoa Joe is here. Is this an admission from creative that they've made some mistakes? I'll have more to say about the show in Friday's TNA Hitlist. Dot Net Members can also look forward to an audio preview of the Against All Odds pay-per-view. Check back on Sunday night for my live coverage report of TNA Again All Odds. HELP SUPPORT DOT NET! BECOME A MEMBER AT OUR CHARTER RATE OF JUST $5 A MONTH - GET THE FIRST LOOK AT EXCLUSIVE INSIDER DOT NET NEWS, TONS OF EXCLUSIVE AUDIO SHOWS, MESSAGE BOARD ACCESS, START YOUR OWN BLOG, AD-FREE MAIN LISTING: SIGN ME UP (or MORE INFO) GOT AN IPHONE OR IPOD TOUCH? THEN BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD OUR NEW FREE iPhone APP: (click here!) (or SEARCH "pro wrestling" in iTunes App Store) FOR MORE BREAKING WWE & TNA NEWS AND COMMENTARY, VISIT OUR AFFILIATE PWTORCH.COM (click here!) FOR MORE MMA & UFC NEWS AND COMMENTARY, VISIT OUR AFFILIATE MMATORCH.COM (click here!) CLICK TO RETURN TO DOT NET MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY TNA TV Reports Latest Twelve Articles 11/19 Powell's TNA Impact Live Coverage: Sting discusses his future with the company and Hulk Hogan signing, A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe and Daniels 11/12 Twilling's TNA Impact Live Coverage: A.J. 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