TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, Fla.

[Q1] The show opened with a recap of last week's episode... The show is titled "Powers Unite"... A shot aired of Kurt Angle and Eric Young exiting a huge limo together.... The opening montage aired... Mike Tenay hyped the second match of the best of three series between A.J. Styles and Matt Morgan, and Sting vs. Brutus Magnus for later in the show...

The Main Event Mafia walked to the ring together. Kurt Angle said Mick Foley allegedly defeated Kevin Nash for the TNA Legends Title. Nash tried hard to look sad about losing the title that no one cares about. Angle complained that Sting's distraction and Bobby Lashley not being the legal man in the match when he entered the ring.

Angle said he spoke to the TNA board of directors and "they agreed the match is a sham." Angle said they agreed to let the outcome stand on the condition that Nash get a rematch against Mick Foley at the Hard Justice pay-per-view. Angle said Nash has a chance to end Foley's career.

Angle said it's his job as godfather of the Mafia to watch his family's back. He said that forced him to strike a deal. He pointed at the entrance area. The World Elite faction walked out. Eric Young debuted shorter hair and new, short tights. Once in the ring, all the heels shook hands. Tenay said the association kicked up the World Elite several notches.

Kurt said it's an honor and a privilege to do business with Young. Eric said he has no doubt that they will be revered as the greatest group of professional wrestlers ever assembled. He said it's his honor and privilege to take over TNA with Angle. Young said his men are 100 percent dedicated to the cause and are ready to do whatever it takes.

Young said it wouldn't have been like this if the Americans had treated them like the stars that they are. Young said it's not just about Lashley and Foley. He said it's about an entire disgusting nation that needs to be held responsible. He said the nation should feel bad about what the Elite is about to do to their heros. "Boys, let the cleansing begin," Young said...

Powell's POV: Young is trying. He overhauled the look in a big way. I'm just not feeling it with the World Elite. I like some of the wrestlers in the group, but they lack chemistry. Maybe it will develop, but I'm honestly not optimistic at this point.

Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviewed Mick Foley, who said he has a feeling this will be a night they'll never forget. Sting and Bobby Lashley entered the room. Sting said, "It's show time, Mick." Foley got up and left with Sting and Lashley... [C]

[Q2] Backstage, Lauren told Christopher Daniels that Eric Young wants to make an example out of him. Daniels told Young to be a man for once in his life. Lauren said Young was waiting in the ring with Kiyoshi and Sheik Abdul Bashir.

Suddenly, the Motor City Machine Guns walked onto the set and knocked on the camera. They mockingly pretended like they didn't know what a camera was because they haven't been on television in so long. Daniels got pissed and told them everyone's jobs are in danger. He said they haven't done anything to get noticed. He told them they could join him in the fight by accompanying him to ringside...

Powell's POV: Daniels and everyone else who acts like their jobs are in jeopardy come across looking foolish. If the Mafia gets rid of everyone, then what the hell happens? It just doesn't ring true.

1. Eric Young (Kiyoshi, Bashir) pinned Christopher Daniels (w/Motor City Machine Guns) in 5:00. The Guns came out and nonchalantly stood in the corner. They even stood by and read video game instruction manuals when the heels ganged up on Daniels at ringside early in the match.

Late in the match, Young went for the Best Moonsault Ever. Young moved, but Daniels landed on his feet and hooked him for the Angel's Wings. Kiyoshi entered the ring and sprayed mist into Daniels's eyes while Bashir distracted the referee. Young hit a piledriver on Young and scored the pin. Tenay said there's a locker room code that prohibits wrestlers from using the piledriver, but Young keeps using it... [C]

Powell's POV: I guess there's not a locker room code for spraying mist into the eyes of an opponent. That said, it was a good five-minute match. I really wish they would establish the Guns as heels or babyfaces. The tweener stuff hasn't worked. Maybe their latest "push" is designed to establish them as one or the other.

At ringside, Tenay and West hyped the eight-man tag match, a sit down interview with Hernandez, the Morgan vs. Styles match, and Sting vs. Brutus Magnus...

[Q3] Backstage, Lauren interviewed Beer Money and Team 3D. Robert Roode said he knows Eric Young better than anyone in TNA because they grew up together and travelled together before they even came to TNA. Roode said Young must have forgotten when he begged Jeff Jarrett for a job. He said he did the same. He said he'll be damned if Young is going to dictate his future.

Brother Ray said he and Devon have even more right to be pissed at Eric Young. He recalled Young hitting Devon with the IWGP Title belt. Devon called the British Invasion tea and crumpet eating fairies. West apologized on commentary to the children watching at home...

Powell's POV: TNA got their weekly Jeff Jarrett mention in. When did Eric Young become the talking point of everyone on the show? I'm happy TNA is trying to push new guys, but I just don't believe Young warrants this much attention. If TNA was sorry about Ray's fairy line, they would have pulled it from the show, not had the heel announcer apologize to the children watching at home. Weak.

Ring introductions for the eight-man tag match took place... [C]

2. Booker T, Scott Steiner, Doug Williams, and Rob Terry (w/Brutus Magnus, Sharmell) defeated Beer Money and Team 3D in an eight-man tag match in 7:05. It sounded like the fans were chanting "He's on steroids" at Terry. Ouch. When Team 3D and Beer Money took control, Young and his cronies came out. The Guns ran out and fought them at ringside.

[Q4] Kevin Nash came out and attacked the babyfaces. Mick Foley came out and attacked Nash. Kurt Angle came out. Sting came out, followed by Samoa Joe. Bobby Lashley came out. The match continued in the ring. Terry slammed Roode and pinned him clean to win the match for the heels. The brawl continued as the show went to break... [C]

Powell's POV: World Elite overload! They're trying hard to establish the faction, but it's not working on this viewer.

The brawl continued after the break. Several wrestlers fought into the backstage area. Security cam footage aired from one section. Another group of wrestlers fought around a car. In the ring, Daniels hit his signature spots on Kiyoshi while the Guns enthusiastically cheered him on. Apparently, Daniels doesn't mind that the Guns stood by and watched as three guys worked him over earlier.

The brawl just kept going in the ring and backstage. The Guns and Daniels performed moves in the ring on Young and his wrestlers while the bigger named wrestlers fought behind the scenes. A police car pulled into the backstage area. Most of the wrestlers stopped what they were doing when the cops got out and called for order... [C]

Powell's POV: Lots of brawling and good work by the production team of following the various fights. It looked solid on television, but it just didn't feel all that hot or meaningful. Maybe it's because they have yet to make me care about several of the wrestlers that were involved in the brawl. Having said that, I can't imagine too many viewers tuned out during the commercial break.

[Q5] The announcers recapped the brawl...

3. Taylor Wilde and Sarita defeated Alissa Flash and Traci Brooks in 5:05. Big dive off the top by Sarita onto the two heels at ringside. During the match, Tenay announced that the Asylum match at the pay-per-view will feature the return of Suicide. In the end, Sarita pinned Flash. The heels attacked the babyfaces after the match...

Powell's POV: Good action. Traci strikes me as more of a personality than a wrestler. I assume they're going to push her aggressively with the Playboy pictorial coming out in a couple months.

Backstage, Lauren interviewed The Beautiful People while they sat on their thrones. They griped about Cody Deaner kissing Angelina Love last week. Love said she and Velvet will face ODB and Cody at the pay-per-view...

A shot aired of Kip James picking up trash where the real wrestlers had been brawling. Hernandez showed up and asked what happened. "Where have you been?" Kip asked. "There was like a big brawl around here. Now I've gotta pick all this shit up"... [C]

Powell's POV: Does anyone have any idea what the point of the handyman Kip crap is? By the way, I forgot to mention earlier that the worst part of the brawl was that it was supposed to be a big moment for the Guns, but it didn't stand out because there was so much other brawling going on. I hate roster splitting faction wars and it looks like that's what we're getting now that the Mafia has hooked up with World Elite.

[Q6] Backstage, Lauren interviewed A.J. Styles, who said he's never seen anything like the brawl. However, he said a meteor couldn't take his focus away from beating Matt Morgan and earning a spot in the Hard Justice main event...

The announcers ran through the pay-per-view lineup: ODB and Deaner vs. Love and Sky, British Invasion vs. Beer Money for the IWGP Tag Titles, Booker and Steiner vs. Team 3D, Homicide vs. Samoa Joe for the X Division Title, Foley vs. Nash for the title no one cares about, and Angle vs. Sting vs. either Styles or Morgan... West hyped house shows...

A Hernandez video aired. He said it's his turn to soar to new heights and be on top...

Tenay interviewed Hernandez in a segment that was taped in the ring while the arena was empty. Tenay asked about his neck surgery. Hernandez said they fused part of his disc with a cadaver disc in his neck, which cut his recovery time in half. Hernandez noted that he played in the Arena Football League.

Hernandez said his father took offense at Konnan attempting to burn the American flag during a past angle. He said his father did 15 tours of Vietnam, and wanted to reenlist after 9/11. He said his father was bothered by the flag burning. Hernandez said some "different things happened," including the flag burning. Hernandez wished Homicide the best in the X Division. He said Homicide will always be his brother. Hernandez said a few words in Spanish...

Backstage, Lauren interviewed Homicide, who shifted the talk away from what Hernandez said onto his X Division Title. Homicide hyped his match against Samoa Joe by saying the 187 is stronger than 13 (Taz's number). His last line was censored...

Powell's POV: There has been a lot of turmoil behind the scenes regarding LAX splitting up. Homicide isn't happy about it. Rich Twilling and I spoke about that today in the Dot Net Weekly audio show on the Dot Net Members' site. As always, you can access all Dot Net Audio for only $5 per month by visiting the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

A shot aired of Matt Morgan walking backstage... [C]

[Q7] 4. Matt Morgan pinned A.J. Styles in 4:50 in the second match of the best of three series. A few minutes in, Morgan went for a chokeslam, but A.J. flipped out of it and hit him a kick. Later, Morgan hit the Hellevator and pinned Styles clean... [C]

Powell's POV: Anyone who didn't think it was going to a third match hasn't been watching wrestling very long.

An video teased that "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero is coming to TNA on Aug. 16...

Powell's POV: Well, I guess we know what Elijah Burke's new name is.

Backstage, Borash caught Angle trying to leave the building and asked if he was retreating. Angle said the Mafia have families. After Angle split, Borash spotted a flustered Abyss hiding in a corner. He said he doesn't know who he can trust because Dr. Stevie put out the $50,000 bounty. Consequences Creed entered the picture and complained about Abyss attacking him on a previous show. Jay Lethal attacked Abyss from behind. Creed joined Lethal in trying to beat down Abyss. They failed miserably. Abyss left them lying...

Powell's POV: Lethal and Creed are glorified jobbers at this point.

A TNA video hyped that they are creating a new kind of wrestling. Insert your own joke here... A shot aired of Sting walking backstage. Tenay said Sting is making his in-ring return to Impact... [C]

Powell's POV: Another return for Sting? They told us earlier that Suicide was returning at the pay-per-view. It's sad the way TNA hypes "returns" for guys that most fans didn't even notice were missing because they were only off television for a few weeks.

[Q8] [C] 5. Sting defeated Brutus Magnus (w/Doug Williams, Rob Terry) via submission in 6:20. The referee sent Williams and Terry before the match. West complained that they hadn't done anything wrong. Magnus was working over Sting's knee when the show went to commercial a couple minutes into the match. [C]

Shortly after the break, Sting caught Magnus jumping off the ropes and quickly applied the Scorpion Death Lock. Magnus tapped out. After the match, Magnus attacked Sting, who dominated him until the rest of World Elite came to the ring. Sting fought off a couple of them. Eric Young entered the ring and he and Sting ended up face-to-face, but never hit one another. Awkward moment.

With the heel ganging up on Sting, Foley and Lashley hit the ring and helped Sting fight off the heels. Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Scott Steiner, Booker T, and Kevin Nash hit the ring. If you thought they really left, you were swerved! Sigh. The heels beat up the babyfaces and left them lying. Tenay said there was no one left to help the babyfaces. Of course, that's when Hernandez came out swinging a chain over his head, which was enough to clear the ring...

Powell's POV: I learned a few things tonight. One, big brawls with 15-20 wrestlers don't mean much. It's just chaotic and nothing really stands out. Two, TNA really wants Eric Young to get over. Three, if you're ever outnumbered in a fight, just swing a chain over your head and everyone will run way like a bunch of pussies. I don't understand what TNA creative sees in Young or the bland World Elite faction. All that chaos tonight and the only thing that really stuck with me is that I don't like having Young shoved my throat. Thanks for watching along with me tonight.

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