Impact opens with footage of last week’s show where we learned that Hulk Hogan controls 100% of TNA, the marriage ceremony between Jeff and Karen Jarrett, and the return of Sting, who defeated Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Championship.
We then head into the arena in Fayetteville, NC, where Jeremy Borash introduces the new TNA World Champion to the ring. Sting, wearing a modified white/black/red face paint, talks about the fans supporting him every step throughout his career and thanks them for it. Sting then puts over Jeff Hardy and his abilities before saying he hopes he gives back to the fans once he gets his head screwed on straight.
Sting is then cut off by Immortal’s music as Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff come out to the ring. Hogan gives Sting credit for seeing what he was up to even though nobody believed a word Sting was saying. Hogan says he then just took his ball and went home. Sting says he did quit, but he didn’t quit on the fans, but having to deal with Hogan, Bischoff and Ric Flair. Sitting at home ignited a fire inside of him, though, and says he needed to take back what wasn’t Hogan’s to begin with.
Mr. Anderson’s music hits as he comes down to the ring with a microphone and demands to have his rematch. Anderson says he doesn’t care that Sting is the champion or what Immortal or the network wants, as all he cares about is himself. Anderson then introduces himself to Sting before being cut of by Jeff Hardy’s music as he makes his way to the ring. Hardy says he was robbed last week and says he had no chance to prepare for his match. Hardy is then quickly cut off by RVD’s music.
RVD comes down to the ring and says he can’t believe his ears and says this whole thing started when he was stripped of the title. RVD claims that he would have already regained his title back had it not been for a certain special guest referee. As for Sting, he wonders why he thinks he calls the shots after a four month hiatus. Hogan steps in and says he is the one that calls the shots before Bischoff steps in and announces that Hardy will face Sting and RVD will face Anderson at Victory Road. First, however, he books the four in a tag team match with Anderson & Hardy taking on RVD & Sting later on tonight.
We are in the locker room where Angelina, Sarita and Cookie get into a shouting match with the Beautiful People. Winter steps in and says if she has a problem with Angelina Love, then she has a problem with her. Velvet Sky then tells Angelina that Winter better be on the same page as they are or else there is going to be some problems.
Match 1: Samoa Joe vs. D’Angelo Dinero
The Pope sneaks in from the back and nails Okado in the ringside area before Joe chases him into the ring. Joe then begins working over Dinero with a flurry of punches and kicks, but the Pope fights his way back into the match and works over Joe with a series of punches of his own. Joe comes back with an atomic drop and picks up a near fall after landing a power slam. The Pope picks up a near fall of his own with a clothesline leg sweep before he rips the turnbuckle pad off. With the referee distracted with the turnbuckle pad, the Pope nails Joe with his chain necklace before covering for the pin fall.
Bully Ray is seen walking in the backstage area and says that Tommy Dreamer stuck his nose in his business and he wants to meet him in the parking lot later tonight. The announce team then hypes tonight’s card that will feature a 6-Knockout tag team match and Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy taking on Sting & Rob Van Dam.
Madison Rayne and Tara come out to the ring and Madison says she is getting bored with the competition in TNA and issues another open challenge to any woman on the planet. Her challenge is answered by the Hardcore Knockout, Roxxi.
Match 2: Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi (TNA Knockouts Championship)
Madison goes right on the attack as Roxxi enters the ring but Roxxi hits a series of clotheslines to take the champion off her feet. Roxxi picks up a near fall after hitting a spinebuster but Madison come back and picks up a quick pin fall to retain her TNA Knockouts Championship. After the match, Madison continues beating down Roxxi until Mickie James runs out to the ring and chases her off. Mickie and Madison then exchange a few words as Madison and Tara walk up the ramp.
Tommy Dreamer is in the backstage area and is heading out to the parking lot. Dreamer says he is ready for Bully Ray and tells him to get out in the parking lot right now as we head into a commercial break. We return to see Bully Ray in the parking lot and is doing his best Warriors impersonation before being attacked from behind by Brother Devon.
Devon sends Ray into a truck a few times while screaming at him about putting his hands on his kids. Ray pleads for Devon to stop but Devon continues and begins whipping Ray with a chain before pulling out a sledgehammer. Tommy Dreamer then steps in a stops Devon before he does anything else. A security guard then comes out to assist Ray and he ends up beating him up and whipping him with the chain for putting his hands on him.
Match 3: Cookie/Angelina/Sarita vs. the Beautiful People & Winter
Velvet Sky starts of against Angelina as the two go back and forth for a moment before this match quickly breaks down. Robbie E. comes out and holds Velvet while Cookie and Angelina argue about what they are going to do. Winter comes in and helps her partner out before biting Robbie’s hand and making him leave the ring. Velvet then rolls up Angelina to pick up the pin fall as the losing team argue about what just happened.
A video recap of what happened last week between Kurt Angle and NY Jets linebacker Bart Scott is aired. Angle talks about how Scott disrespected him and crossed the line by trying to out wrestle him. Mr. Anderson is also interviewed and says people don’t see wrestlers running around the football field. Angle goes on to say that if there is a football strike, he will take on Bart Scott and embarrass him.
Mr. Anderson is seen sitting with Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and Jeff Hardy. Anderson says he doesn’t like Hardy and says he might take him out before he even gets to the main event. Bischoff tells Anderson is outnumbered and he doesn’t want to face RVD and Sting alone. Anderson then walks out and Hogan tells Hardy that this is strictly business.
A recap of Ric Flair turning on Fortune is aired. The friction between Fortune and Immortal is highlighted and AJ Styles talks about how this all started when then threw the TNA World Championship in the trash. Styles says he will no longer stand in anybody’s shadow for one more second.
Ric Flair’s music then hits as he comes down to the ring with Matt Hardy and calls out AJ Styles. Styles comes out and Flair reminds him that he is in Flair Country but Styles says he is in TNA, the house that Styles built. Matt Hardy steps in and says Styles is too young to comprehend what he has gone through. Hardy says he was once like Styles but realized that this business is not about what you want, but what the systems want. Styles then answers back by clocking Hardy as we get this 3-way street fight underway and we head into a commercial break.
Match 4: Ric Flair & Matt Hardy vs. AJ Styles (Street Fight)
We return to the match and see Styles in control until Styles is distracted by Flair and Hardy takes Styles down with a clothesline. Flair finally enters the ring and gets involved but is quickly taken down with an enziguri from Styles. Styles then puts Flair in a figure four leg lock but Hardy breaks it up with a leg drop. Hardy then dumps Styles out to the floor where Flair is there to hit him with a chop and send him into the guard railing.
Styles begins to fight back and busts Flair open but Hardy stalls him momentum with a garbage can. Hardy then sends Styles into the guard railing before rolling him back into the ring. Hardy then slides a ladder into the ring and hits Styles with it. Hardy then tries for a Twist of Hate but Styles counters and sends Hardy into the ladder. Flair comes back into the ring but Styles takes him out with a series of blows, Hardy, though is able to hit the Side Effect for a near fall.
Styles begins to fight his way back into the match and hits Hardy with a Pele kick and sets up for a Styles Clash onto a chair but Flair nails Styles with a low blow. Hardy then hits the Twist of Hate onto the chair and Flair comes in the pick up the pin fall over Styles.
Sting and RVD are seen talking in the locker room where Sting apologizes for what he did when he came into TNA. Sting says he thought that he was part of Hulk Hogan’s overall plan but RVD doesn’t seem to receptive to his apology as he walks away.
Match 5: Generation Me vs. Ink Inc.
Beer Money comes out and joins the announce team for this match and get a closer look at Ink Inc., who challenges them for the TNA Tag Team Championship at Victory Road. Shannon Moore starts off strong against Jeremy Buck as James Storm talks about traveling with Moore about 12 years ago and says that Ink Inc. deserves a shot at the titles. Jeremy Buck takes control of the match and tags in his brother, who continues to work over Moore.
Moore begins to fight back and makes the tag to Jesse Neal, who powers Generation Me around and almost picks up a pin fall. Max Buck slows Neal’s momentum with a kick to the face. GenMe tries for a flashy double team move but Neal counters by hitting a spear in midair. Moore then dumps Max Buck out to the floor as Ink Inc. hits a double team move to pick up the pin fall.
After the match, Shannon Moore addresses Beer Money and says Ink Inc. will be new Tag Team Champions at Victory Road. James Storm disagrees and tells them sorry about their damn luck and Beer Money holds up their titles.
Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy meet in the locker room and Hardy wonders if Anderson is going to stab him in the back during tonight’s match. Anderson says he is a little unorthodox but that’s because he is an asshole. Anderson then stands up and walks away as the announce team hypes tonight’s main event.
D’Angelo Dinero is backstage and says that he is sick of Samoa Joe and his sidekick. The Pope says he will take Joe to the mean streets of Harlem and promises to rid TNA of Samoa Joe.
We are treated to a recap of what happened last week during the renewal of wedding vows between Jeff and Karen Jarrett. We see Jeff and Karen backstage where Jarrett says Kurt Angle wrecked things but the entire experince was great. Jarrett then tells Karen about their honeymoon plans in Orlando.
A video package hyping Ultimate X is aired. Kazarian will defend his X Division Championship this Sunday in an Ultimate X Match against Robbie E., Max Buck and Jeremy Buck. The announce team then hype the Victory Road pay-per-view and run down all of the matches.
A video package highlighting Sting’s career is aired. Sting talks about not wanting to get into the wrestling business but saw how the crowds reacted to it. The rocky past few months in TNA while Sting has been gone is focused upon with Sting returning to capture the TNA World Championship.
Jeremy Borash is backstage with Sting and he says has issues with RVD but he apologized to him for what happened in their past. Sting says he will defend the title against anybody and play the game in TNA. Mr. Anderson then runs in and attacks Sting and nails him with a series of punches and tells Sting that he wants his rematch before leaving him lying on the ground.
Match 6: Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam & Sting
Sting doesn’t come out during his ring introduction and Anderson goes right after RVD to get this match started. Anderson then tags in Hardy by slapping him across the head and RVD is able to take control of the match with a series of kicks. RVD then hits the Rolling Thunder for a near fall and Anderson refuses to help his partner out. Hardy then fights his way back into the match and tags Anderson in with a chop across the chest but Anderson refuses to enter the ring.
While Anderson is taking his time, RVD knocks Anderson off the ring apron but Hardy is able to take RVD down with a Twist of Hate. Hardy goes for the cover but Anderson breaks it up takes his partner out with a Mic Check. The lights then go out in the arena as Sting’s music hits and he is standing face to face with Anderson as they come back on. Sting then hits the Scorpion Death Drop on Anderson and RVD hits the Five Star Frog Splash to pick up the pin fall victory.
After the match, RVD and Sting stare each other down for a moment before the two of them begin to pose for the crowd and Impact comes to a close.
Quick Results
– D’Angelo Dinero defeated Samoa Joe by pin fall.
– Madison Rayne defeated Roxxi by pin fall to retain the TNA Knockouts Championship.
– The Beautiful People & Winter defeated Cookie/Angelina/Sarita by pin fall.
– Ric Flair & Matt Hardy defeated AJ Styles by pin fall in a street fight.
– Ink Inc. defeated Generation Me by pin fall.
– Rob Van Dam & Sting defeated Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy by pin fall.
Starman’s Thoughts
Tonight’s show was the second taping in front of the crowd in Fayetteville, NC, and while there were some drawbacks, at least the show wasn’t as backstage heavy as it was last week. There wasn’t a whole lot in the form of memorable matches or was there very much meaningful hype for Victory Road, but it was an improvement over last week’s show.
The opening segment of the night seemed to go on for a long time and there were so many people involved that I was starting to think that the entire locker room would eventually come out to the ring. As I stated before, the hype for Victory Road was lacking and this was a perfect example of it. To me, it almost seemed that Eric Bischoff booked the Victory Road main event, a rematch between Sting and Jeff Hardy, and a match between RVD and Mr. Anderson as a minor afterthought in booking tonight’s main event.
To make matters worse, it seemed to me that there was more focus put on the relationship between Sting and RVD and Anderson wanting to get his shot at the TNA World Championship than there was between a rematch between Hardy and Sting. I have to give TNA credit for bringing up the past between Sting and RVD, especially considering continuity isn’t TNA’s strong point, but the main event for Victory Road could not have come across any more weak than it did tonight.
It was good to see Jeremy Borash conduct a backstage interview once again as he interviewed Sting. Borash is performing well in his ring announcer role, but I can’t help to think that he is being underutilized. He is great as an interviewer and I hope this leads to more screen time for Borash in the future.
It was also great to see Roxxi in a TNA ring again. Like ODB a couple of weeks ago, I haven’t heard if this is leading to other things, but I will take a one-time appearance for now. If anything, the brief returns on ODB and Roxxie just goes to show you how much depth the Knockouts Division is lacking. I mean, what was the reason of that six-knockout tag team match? That was beyond pointless.
Maybe it was just me, but the crowd didn’t seem to be quite as hot as it was last week. This was surprising to me since there was a lot more in-ring action this week than there was on the last episode. Of course, leave it to TNA to have a parking lot brawl take place in front of a fresh, non-Orlando crowd.
In case you missed it, Victory Road takes place this Sunday on pay-per-view. The hype was in short order tonight, so I don’t blame you if you did miss it, but I will return this weekend to give out my preview and predictions about the event.