TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, Fla.

[Q1] The show opened with a still shots and a recap of the Bound For Glory pay-per-view... The show is called "Black Thursday"... The opening montage aired... Pyro went off the stage as Mike Tenay introduced the show and hyped the two gimmick matches...

Kurt Angle came to the ring dressed in a suit. Tenay and Taz discussed the Mafia losing their titles at Bound For Glory. Angle said he was in the ring without a family. He said it's been one year since the Main Event Mafia was formed. Angle said the Mafia was misunderstood. He said it wasn't about security spots in the company. He said maybe it was for some of the members, but not for him.

Angle said the Mafia was about respect, pride, and wanting to be the best. He said he initially believed the young wrestlers in TNA were looking for handouts. He said he was mistaken. He said he sees a bunch of young boys who have grown into men. He put over A.J. Styles by saying, "Damn, does that kid have talent."

Angle said the fire and determination in Matt Morgan's eyes at BFG reminded him of himself when he started in pro wrestling. He also put over Eric Young. He said the younger wrestlers in the back have nothing to prove to him. "You are now my peers and I am now willing to fight the fight that you're fighting."

Kurt thanked the fans and started to leave the ring, but Rhino's music interrupted him. Rhino came to the ring and said he couldn't believe what Angle was saying. Rhino noted that the Mafia was finished. He said Booker T was gone. Rhino said the young wrestlers haven't earned respect. Rhino bitched that the company brought in Bobby Lashley and pushed him aside.

Team 3D walked down the ramp with security holding them back. Brother Ray had his head wrapped. Bubba yelled (minus a mic) that Rhino injured him and cost them the tag titles. Rhino asked what Team 3D were going to do outside wrestling. He said management is trying to get rid of them. Rhino noted that Team 3D isn't wrestling tonight and said management must not think they're drawing ratings like they once did.

Rhino invited them to come to ringside to watch his match with Hernandez since they didn't have a match. Brother Ray stormed the ring, but Kurt held him back. Rhino said he wasn't leaving TNA. His entrance music cut him off to close the segment...

Powell's POV: Solid opening segment. It is funny that all the talk is about the young guys taking over, yet the opening segment featured Angle, Rhino, and Team 3D rather than the young guys who won at BFG.

[Q2] Backstage, Lauren interviewed A.J. Styles and Daniels. Styles said Angle's comments are a huge step for TNA. Lauren announced with no fanfare that the Turning Point main event is Styles vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe for the TNA Title. Daniels said that match would exceed their previous encounter. They hyped the main event tag match...

Powell's POV: Lame way to announce the Turning Point main event.

Tenay hyped the TNA Knockouts appearing in Muscle & Fitness... Backstage, Lauren interviewed Raisha Saeed about her match with Awesome Kong. She implied that Kong doesn't want her anymore. She said she knows Kong's weaknesses. "You are my puppet," Saeed said. "I pull your strings"...

Powell's POV: A nice promo with good verbiage.

The announcers hyped the rest of the card... Homicide and Amazing Red brawled into the studio. Homcide roughed up Red and slammed his head into the ring post. Homicide threw him inside the ring and the referee called for the bell to start the match...

1. Homicide defeated Amazing Red in a non-title match in 2:25. Don West came to ringside and played cheerleader for Red. Homicide dominated the match. Red snuck in some good hope spots, but Homicide cut him off and hit his finisher for the win... [C]

Powell's POV: The announcers did a nice job of putting over the importance of pinning the champion in a non-title match. It didn't seem like a throwaway setup for a future match. It was a short match, but a good showing for Homicide.

Backstage, Lauren interviewed Scott Steinter, who said there's still a Main Event Mafia. He said Angle doesn't speak for him. He pretended like he didn't know Matt Morgan's name and said he was going to beat him up...

[Q3] 2. Matt Morgan pinned Scott Steiner in 4:30. After Morgan made his entrance, Steiner came out, found Kristal Lashley, and posed in front of her. She blew him off. Steiner took control early. Morgan came back and hit his signature spots. They fought to ringside. Steiner got the better of the exchange and threw Morgan back inside the ring.

Steiner grabbed Kristal's hands and rubbed them on his chest and abs. He went Clubber Lang on her by referring to himself as a real man. Bobby Lashley ran out and beat up Steiner and then threw him back inside the ring, where Morgan drilled him with the Carbon Footprint and got the pin... [C]

Powell's POV: Where's the emotion from Lashley? He came out and threw a bunch of weak wrestling punches. It was impossible to buy into this angle even though Steiner is the perfect guy to play the Clubber role.

Backstage, Lauren tried to interview Kong, who ripped the mic out of her hand. She said, "No more orders...tonight...finish"... [C]

After the break, Lauren was running after the Lashley. She apologized on behalf of TNA to Bobby. Yes, to Bobby! He said Steiner needs to apologize to Kristal and added that this is a game that Steiner doesn't want to play...

Powell's POV: Bad acting from Bobby. He's killing the angle.

[Q4] 3. Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash defeated A.J. Styles and Daniels in 5:15. Late in the match, Daniels crawled to his corner to make a tag, but Styles was injured at ringside. Daniels turned around and Nash chokeslammed him for the win. Afterward, Lauren came out and congratulated Nash and Joe on their victory at ringside. Nash said he wasn't happy because Eric Young stole his belt and owes him money...

Powell's POV: Wait, there's three guys in the match who are main eventing the next pay-per-view and this company is in the midst of a youth movement, yet Nash got the pin? Am I missing something? It got better when Joe just had to stand there with his dick in his hand while Nash bitched to Lauren about Eric Young.

Backstage, Eric Young told Jeremy Borash that he has a big announcement that "will rock TNA to it's foundation".... [C]

Lauren interviewed The Motor City Machine Guns in the backstage area. Alex Shelley said he was hit in the throat during their last Ultimate X match, so he asked viewers to turn up the volume because he couldn't turn up his larynx. He said they're going to make TNA take notice of them...

The Beautiful People had a camera crew with them for their new "reality show," which is called "Meanest Girls." They went to catering and poured food on two women. They promised a sequel for next week...

Powell's POV: That had to be fun to shoot. Maybe TNA can make amends with Samoa Joe by calling in his catering buddy for the sequel. Man, I really wanted to like this show, but the first hour was disappointing.

[Q5] 4. Awesome Kong beat Raisha Saeed in 3:15. Tenay told the logical story that Saeed should know Kong's weaknesses better than anyone. Saeed got some offense, but Kong finished her off with the Implant Buster. Kong took her up the stage and powerbombed onto tables set up next to the stage...

Powell's POV: Months and months of building up to this moment and we get a three-minute television match? Maybe there's more to come from these two. The powerbomb definitely made Kong look badass.

The announcers narrated highlights of Kong powerbombing Saeed off the stage...

Powell's POV: For those who remember, think about how effective it was when Kevin Nash did that to Eric Bischoff back in the day. We've so many table spots since then that it still doesn't pack half as much punch even when it happens to a woman. It's not TNA's fault, but it is kind of sad when you think about it.

5. Hernandez beat Rhino in 3:10. Team 3D sat in on commentary. Brother Ray bitched about Rhino throughout the match. Rhino got some offense, but Hernandez came back and finished him off with a top rope splash.

[Q6] Rhino attacked Hernandez afterward. Hernandez came back and set up Rhino for the Border Toss, but Team 3D hit the ring and stopped him. They raised his hands and he left the ring...

Powell's POV: Ray went from being pissed at Rhino to sounding conflicted by what he said to him earlier in the show.

Backstage, Borash interviewed Angle, who stood by what he said earlier in the night about the young wrestlers. Angle said Rhino is being paranoid when it comes to TNA management wanting to replace the veterans. Angle said he gets his title shot next month.

Desmond Wolfe entered the room wearing a suit and shades. He shook Angle's fan. He referred to him as "sir" and shook his hand. He said the reason he's a pro wrestler is because of Angle. He said the reason he came to TNA is because of Angle. Kurt shook Wolfe's hand and welcomed him to TNA. Kurt started putting him over to Borash as Wolfe walked way. Suddenly, Desmond removed the shades, turned around, and attacked Angle. Once he was finished, he put his shades on again... [C]

Powell's POV: Very good introduction for Wolfe, who came across cool as hell with the suit and the shades. A few readers have pointed out that Taz said Wolfe looks like someone he knew as Nigel McGuinness.

After the break, the announcers recapped Wolfe's debut. Tenay said you may not agree with how he did it, but that's how you make an impact...

6. The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Lethal Consequences in an Ultimate X match in 7:24 to earn shot at the TNA Tag Titles. The red "X" symbol was hanging from the center of the wires where the title belt would normally be.

[Q7] They set up the big Tower of Doom spot in the corner at 3:30, but Lethal snuck away and made a play for the symbol. Sabin caught him and knocked him off the wire. The crowd reacted to the nonstop action by chanting "TNA." The teams took turns hitting double team moves. Sabin came very close to getting the symbol, but Lethal ran in from ringside and stopped him at the last moment.

The Guns teamed up to hit a Sliced Bread combo move on Lethal in the corner. Shelley came up holding his knee in pain. Shelley climbed the wire and went for the symbol. Creed came up after him, but Sabin got the symbol before Creed could stop him. The Guns will challenge the winners of the tag title cage match at Turning Point... [C]

Powell's POV: Nowhere near as hot as the BFG match at the pay-per-view. So if you enjoyed this match, then order BFG when it's released on DVD and you'll be even more impressed. By the way, what the hell have Lethal Consequences done lately to even earn consideration for a tag title shot? They lose constantly.

Don West hyped the upcoming live events... Backstage, Lauren congratulated The British Invasion on winning the tag titles. They hyped their cage match with Beer Money. "Alcohol and money," Brutus Magnus said. "The only thing Americans care about. Tonight we make you sober and poor. Sorry about your bloody luck"...

In another part of the building, Borash interviewed Beer Money and stressed that it was their last opportunity at the tag champions. Roode said it's the only chance they need. Storm said Roode hasn't been poor since he was born. Storm said he hasn't been sober since he left Brutus's mother's house on the night Brutus was conceived...

Powell's POV: The only thing I got out of that is that Brutus's mom must be attractive since Storm didn't have to drink to hook up with her. Okay, so I'm a little warped. Anyway, I am happy to see this match in the main event spot.

[Q8] [C] 7. Beer Money defeated The British Invasion (w/Rob Terry) by DQ in a cage match in 7:30. Taz said there's more steel because there's six sides to the ring in TNA. I never cared for geometry, so I'll just take his word for it. At 6:00, Beer Money hit the Tower of Doom spot on British Invasion. Williams took the big bump from the top of the cage.

Beer Money hit the DWI on Williams, but Brutus decked referee Slick Johnson. Earl Hebner ran out and disqualified British Invasion...

Powell's POV: A DQ in a cage match? They've already killed the ladder match and now they're trying to ruin the cage match. Sad. Fun while it lasted. A few readers pointed out that Taz mentioned Desmond's previous name, so I made that edit to my earlier recap.

The announcers noted that Kurt Angle was in his ring gear and was headed to the ring... [C]

Backstage, Lauren approached Styles outside the building and said she heard there was some type of issue between him and Daniels. He said they were just talking strategy and nothing happened. He headed over to his vehicle. A bald man attacked Styles from behind and then ran off. They never identified the bald man...

Powell's POV: Welcome back, Tomko.

Angle headed to the ring in his ring gear and called out "whatever your name is" to come get some. The crew was still tearing down the cage. He said Wolfe could run, but he couldn't hide. He started to head backstage when Wolfe came out of nowhere and blasted Kurt. He folded his jacket and placed it on the ring apron.

Kurt got a shot in and threw Wolfe back inside the ring. Wolfe headbutted Angle in the gut and then kicked him low. Wolfe smiled in the ring as the crowd booed him. Wolfe placed Angle on the top rope and hit the Tower of London.

Wolfe grabbed a chair from ringside and brought it inside the ring. He placed it over Angle's throat and said, "I never thought it would be this easy, Mr. Angle." He said his name is "Wolfe, Desmond Wolfe"...

Powell's POV: Awesome stuff with Angle and Wolfe. Sure, it's going to take a while for Nigel fans to get used to the new name, but how many people think twice when they hear Dolph Ziggler's name these days? I mention him only because so many of us thought his name sounded silly initially. Well, it still does when you think about it, but names grow on you quickly. The character he's playing is awesome so far. He's already over as a heel, and he's playing a key role in turning Angle babyface. Great start. The show kicked into another gear during the last 45 minutes. Thanks for watching along with me tonight. Check back for Rich Twilling's TNA Impact Hitlist on Friday.

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