TNA TV Reports 3/5 Powell's TNA Impact Live Coverage: Beer Money vs. LAX in an Off the Wagon challenge for the TNA Tag Titles, Alex Shelley vs. Kiyoshi for the X Division Title By Jason Powell Mar 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] The show opened with a recap of the Sting and Kurt Angle saga... Backstage, Jeremy Borash held the microphone while Jeff Jarrett announced that Angle had been fined and suspended for one week. Jarrett said he's an executive in the company and is no longer an active wrestler. He added with a smile that the company found a "very worthy cause" to donate Angle's pay to... Powell's POV: Congratulations to those of you who picked less than 90 seconds in the "How long will it take Jeff Jarrett to say he's the Founder of TNA?" pool. Mike Tenay introduced the show and then turned it over to Don West, who started to issue an apology. However, West stopped and said he wouldn't change a thing that he said last week. Tenay fumed as West encouraged viewers to grab a beer and enjoy the ride... Mick Foley stood in the ring and introduced Sting. Foley thanked Sting for saving him from Kurt Angle's ankle lock last week. He said it's probably not the first time Sting has saved him. He recalled the WCW box angle and said it changed his life. Foley said everything he has goes back to that day. Foley said Sting saved him that day and he would like to save him now. Foley said he hopes he's seen the last of Sting in the Main Event Mafia regardless of whether he wins at the pay-per-view. "We need Sting back," Foley said. He added that he's never used Sting the way the Main Event Mafia are using him now. Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Booker T, and Sharmell walked to ringside. Nash took the mic and told Sting that Foley "is office." He said Foley is a stooge. "We're close, man," Nash said. He said they're close to getting the respect they deserve. Sting got worked up and said he doesn't have a problem with the guys in the ring, but Angle didn't showed no respect by spitting in his face. "We all knew when we got in this that Kurt is a hot head," Nash said. "But damn it, he's our hot head." Nash said Jarrett painted them into a corner and he knows they have to fight, but they can fight with honor and respect, and shake hands afterward. Nash said the other option is that Sting could turn his back and walk away. He said Sting might be able to live with that, but the rest of the Mafia could not... A shot aired of Angle walking backstage. Tenay complained that Angle was supposed to be banned from the building... Powell's POV: Decent segment with the Mafia and Foley. You just had to know Angle was going to show up as soon as they said he was banned from the building for the week. [Q2] [C] Another Rough Cuts segment focussed on the Ultimate X. Chris Sabin recalled them taping the belt to the top of the wires because it kept falling off. A.J. Styles said it's possible an Ultimate X cage match could be next... Backstage, Lauren interviewed Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed. They were both wearing suits and Lethal broke into a Ric Flair impersonation. "Wrong guy," he said before going back to being a wannabe Randy Savage... 1. Alex Shelley (w/Chris Sabin) pinned Kiyoshi (w/No Limit) to retain the X Division Title in 4:20. West said he wishes Tenay could stop being so bias regarding the Main Event Mafia situation. Good action during the match. Shelley won clean. Afterward, Suicide made his usual entrance and attacked Shelley and Sabin. West complained about Suicide blindsiding the Guns. He picked up the belt and West griped that Suicide should enter the Ultimate X. "I'm actually going to agree with you for once," Tenay said as if they've been bickering for years... Powell's POV: It figures West's first match as a heel color commentator would be a match between two guys who aren't established as definitive heels or babyfaces. [Q3] Backstage, Nash, Steiner, and Booker tried to talk Angle into going home to avoid problems with Jarrett and Sting. Booker told him that Jarrett gave the fine money to the TNA Frontline and they bought new suits. Angle said they spent his money on the suits, so they are technically his property. "I'm gonna go retrieve my property," Kurt said... [C] The announcers recapped Petey Williams and Lance Rock being eliminated from TNA by Beer Money... Backstage, Lauren interviewed Beer Money. Robert Roode showed no remorse over eliminating two wrestlers. James Storm said LAX doesn't understand English. He added that he is sorry about your damn luck... At ringside, the announcers ran through three upcoming matches... West got giddy as he said that Angle was in the building even though Jarrett suspended him for the week... Homicide and Hernandez walked to the ring with the briefcases they won in Feast or Fired. Hernandez took the mic and said neither one of them will be going home because they're going to become the tag champions again... Backstage, Booker T spoke to an unidentified person on the telephone and said he was going to set someone up so the mystery caller could knock them down... [C] [Q4] The latest "Win a Date" video entries featured Shark Boy. He mentioned something about crabs and asked, "Have you ever been eaten by a Shark?" Something tells me he's used that line before... Backstage, Angle beat up Consequences Creed for wearing one of the suits that Jarrett bought using his fine money... 2. The Beautiful People (w/Cute Kip) defeated Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed, Sojourner Bolt and Rhaka Khan, and Taylor Wilde and Roxxi (w/The Governor) in a four-way tag match in 7:00. Early in the match, Bolt had Roxxi pinned, but the referee stopped counting because The Gov stood on the ring apron and complained. A shot aired of Madison Rayne walking to ringside. [C] The Governor got involved again after the break. In the end, Rayne hit a missile dropkick on Roxxi while the referee was distracted, which helped Angelina Love score the pin... Backstage, Jarrett told Borash there would be repercussions for Angle blowing off his one-week suspension... [C] [Q5] A video recapped the Booker T and A.J. Styles storyline... Booker, Sharmell, and Steiner walked to the ring. West went into heel mode by saying he can't believe how cowardly A.J. has been by attacking Booker from behind. Tenay said he wanted to get past week and get beyond the nonsense. In the ring, Booker delivered an insincere apology for comments he's made about Styles. He called for A.J. to come out and return the Legend's Title. Styles came in from the crowd and attacked the Mafia members from behind. West cried foul on commentary. Styles eventually slipped out of the ring, but three masked security guards grabbed him from behind. Two of the masked men handcuffed Styles and carted him off. One of the guards showed up in the ring behind Steiner. He unmasked to reveal himself as Samoa Joe. He held the giant f'n Rambo knife to Steiner's throat. "I can't blame Samoa Joe," Tenay said... [C] Powell's POV: The announcing situation is beyond bad. I'm all for a heel commentator, but West's delivery seems forced and, worse yet, it requires Mike Tenay to act like he's offended. Will TNA ever learn that Tenay can't act? The knife thing is beyond ridiculous. Holding a knife to someone's throat should not warrant an, "I can't blame Samoa Joe" response from the babyface announcer. What a mess. Backstage, Booker mocked Styles as the security/policemen locked him in a car and drove him away... Powell's POV: This is so absurd. So apparently we're supposed to believe that the cops/security guards are aligned with Booker, yet didn't mind that Samoa Joe dressed up like them. And if the cops are neutral in the matter, then shouldn't they arrest Joe for holding an f'n knife to Steiner's throat? Inside the arena, Kurt Angle beat up Jay Lethal and took his suit jacket... A shot aired of Jarrett and Borash watching on a backstage monitor. Jarrett said Angle left him no choice, he's going to kick his ass... [Q6] [C] The latest Abyss and Dr. Stevie therapy session aired. Abyss said he was confused by the way Tom and Jerry fought throughout their cartoon show, but always looked like they were friends at the end. Abyss told Stevie that he was cured and would no longer use weapons... Powell's POV: Oh, I forgot to mention that Don West walked off the show again. He couldn't stand Tenay's face. Really. 3. Matt Morgan pinned Shane Sewell. Tenay complained that West disrespected him and the fans by walking off the show. You know, like anyone really gives a shit. Tenay announced that Jim Cornette told the Legends Title back from Booker T. Morgan hit a fallaway slam, but pulled Sewell when he could have pinned him. A short time later, Morgan hit the Hellevator for the clean pin. After the match, Morgan brought a bag of tacks inside the ring and said they were the most important thing in the world to Abyss. Morgan bragged about his college performance and said Abyss is a loser because he needs a therapist. Morgan challenged Abyss to a 10,000 tacks match at the pay-per-view... Powell's POV: Why in the blue hell would Cornette take away Booker's toy belt? Anyway, nice to see Morgan and Abyss get a second try. Morgan was still reeling from shoulder surgery when they wrestled at the pay-per-view last month. Backstage, Lauren interviewed Eric Young. He said he got his suit at the Salvation Army and spent the rest of Angle's money on a new surround sound system. Angle showed up and brawled with Young... [Q7] [C] Backstage, Cornette tried to talk Jarrett out of fighting Angle. Mick Foley sat on the couch and said, "Once a wrestler always a wrestler." Sting entered the room and said it would be over in two weeks. He asked Jarrett to let him have the fight. Jarrett said he would save a piece of Angle for Sting... 4. LAX defeated Beer Money (w/Jacqueline) by DQ in an Off the Wagon Challenge/TNA Tag Title match in 8:15. Good action early. Hernandez picked up Homicide and threw him Border Toss-style onto Beer Money at ringside. [C] After the break, the heels took turns working over Homicide. [Q8] Hernandez tagged in and dominated both heels. He powerbombed Roode and had the pin, but Storm broke it up. In the end, Roode hit Hernandez with a chair in front of the referee for the DQ to save his team. The heels beat up the babyface duo until Team 3D came out and ran them off. Brother Ray took the mic and complained about the Off the Wagon Challenge. Ray said they take food off the tables of the people they cost jobs. "Yep," the heels responded at ringside to everything negative Ray said about them. Funny. Ray challenged them to a tag title match at the pay-per-view... Powell's POV: Why is it that whenever LAX challenges for a title, it ends in a cheap finish and then the people who run out to save them cock block them and take the pay-per-view title match? That said, I enjoyed the match and Ray's "Pullout" t-shirt. I wasn't even disappointed by the finish simply because it was so damn predictable given the stipulation and TNA's history. Angle came to the ring and told the Mafia security to go backstage. "Hey, boss, are you looking for me?" Angle asked. "Because I'm looking for you." Angle said he was going to eat Jarrett alive tonight, then eat Sting as the main course at the pay-per-view. A shot aired of Jarrett taping his wrists backstage... [C] Jarrett came out and in his street fighting clothes (really) and traded punches with Angle in the ring. Jarrett dumped Angle to ringside and dominated the fight as they entered the bleachers of the Impact Zone. Angle came back by crotching Jarrett on a handrail. The fans chanted Jarrett's name and "Double J." Angle came back with a low blow, but Jarrett reversed a whip attempt and sent Angle crashing into the wall back on the floor. Jarrett threw Angle out the door and slammed it shut. Mick Foley and Team 3D showed up to congratulate Jarrett. They headed to the ring and held their hands in the air to close the show... Powell's POV: Man, you have to love the way the young guys are getting over as a result of this Main Event Mafia saga. That said, the Jarrett and Angle brawl was a crowd pleaser. I'm not sure what purpose it served given that Angle is challenging for the title at the pay-per-view, and Jarrett isn't advertised for a match, but the live crowd enjoyed it. The last 30 minutes of the show were entertaining. Unfortunately, the first 90 minutes featured some downright absurd moments and not nearly enough in-ring action. I'll have more to say about the show in tomorrow's TNA Impact Hitlist. 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. Styles vs. Samoa Joe, Abyss vs. Dr. Stevie; if Abyss wins, Dr. Stevie must leave TNA, go home show for Turning Point 11/5 Powell's TNA Impact Live Coverage: More on Hulk Hogan joining the company, Team 3D vs. Matt Morgan and Hernandez, Bobby Lashley vs. Homicide, Tara vs. Daffney 10/29 Powell's TNA Impact Live Coverage: Hulk Hogan makes his Impact debut, Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle, Eric Young vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA Legends Championship, Tara vs. Alissa Flash 10/22 Powell's TNA Impact Live Coverage: Desmond Wolfe debuts, British Invasion vs. Beer Money for the TNA Tag Titles, Ultimate X match for a shot at the TNA Tag Titles 10/15 Powell's TNA Super Impact Live Coverage: A.J. Styles vs. Kurt Angle headlines the three-hour show before Bound For Glory, Amazing Red vs. Suicide for the X Division Championship