Live from Philadelphia, Pa.
At the Liacouras Center

Pre-Show

Jeremy Borash checked in from ringside and hyped the pay-per-view. He introduced a video package...

Backstage, Lauren interviewed Danny Bonaduce, who was wearing a tooth on necklace. He claims it's Jonny Fairplay's tooth and noted that he was sued for $10 million. He said Fairplay lost and he took the tooth from his lawyer. Bonaduce said he got more out of Fairplay than TNA did. He also said he would consider himself a loser if he walked out of the ring without his own blood on him...

A clip of Bonaduce's angle with Eric Young from inside the radio studio aired... Mike Tenay and Don West are on commentary...

1. Eric Young pinned Danny Bonaduce in 3:30. Yes, they're having the match inside a cage. Bonaduce punched a planted fan on his way to the ring. Bonaduce pulled out nunchuks to start the match. He dropped them and then picked them up again. He distracted Young with the weapons and then kicked him. Young came right back and suplexed Bonaduce for a near fall.

Young powerbombed Bonaduce at 2:50. He tried to follow up with a move off the top rope, but Bonaduce moved. Bonaduce went back for the nunchuks, but Young rolled up and scored the clean pin. After the match, Bonaduce shook Young's hand. When Young tried to leave, Bonaduce hit him from behind with the nunchuks. Rhino ran out and saved Young by goring Bonaduce...

Powell's POV: Bonaduce at least looked the part with professional ring gear. Young looked like an absolute idiot for turning his back and being attacked by a non-wrestler. Worse yet, Rhino had to save him. I don't know if that will make anyone order the actual pay-per-view, but I still like the free preview concept. Borash is hyping the show with Lauren at ringisde. Barring some type of meaningful prematch angle, I'll sit tight until the actual pay-per-view begins at the top of the hour.

Hey, there's more. I forgot about the Dixie Carter appearance. After they aired footage from the fan fest event, Borash introduced Dixie, who joined him at ringside and stated that TNA has the greatest fans in the world. She thanked the fans at home for helping them set viewership records on Impact...

Powell's POV: I'm sure there are plenty of jaws dropped right now from viewers who have never seen a photograph of Dixie before. She's an attractive woman. Her appearance was short and sweet. She came across well and seemed genuinely grateful.

Pay-per-view Broadcast

It's time for the actual pay-per-view event. We know this because there's a warning that essentially says the FBI will come to your house and kill you if you pirate the pay-per-view. Well, something like that anyway...

Separate shots aired from earlier in the day of A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels arriving together, and of the Main Event Mafia all arriving together...

Footage aired of Team 3D cutting a promo from the steps Rocky Balboa ran...

The Smashing Pumpkins tune played as the opening video aired. It appeared Billy Corgan recorded a brief intro in which he said the words to the song and concluded with "rat in a steel cage." Nice touch...

Mike Tenay and Don West checked in as the live crowd chanted TNA. Tenay said the questions regarding Jeff Jarrett's loyalty and integrity would be answered during the show...

1. Suicide defeated Jay Lethal and Kiyoshi and Consequences Creed and Sheik Abdul Bashir in an Xscape match for the X Division Title in 11:35. Suicide popped out out of nowhere in the ring. No wire entrance outside the Impact Zone. Lethal hit a top rope elbow drop on Kiyoshi to eliminate him from the match at 3:15. Bashir eliminated Creed with his WMDDT finisher at 5:15. Suicide and Lethal faced off while Bashir sold an injury. However, Bashir came back and pinned Lethal out of nowhere at 7:50.

The Xscape rules are now in effect as the goal now becomes to escape through the door or over the top of the cage. Less than a minute into this portion of the match, Suicide whipped Bashir into the cage door. He kicked it open and came close to sliding out, but Suicide caught him.

At 10:30, both men were seated on top of the cage trading punches. Suicide knocked Bashir off with a headbutt. Kiyoshi ran out and tried to climb up the cage to block Suicide. Several security guards ran out and pulled him down. Bashir was climbing toward the cage door, so Suicide leapt off the top of the cage onto Kiyoshi and the security guards. Suicide hit the floor and won the match...

Powell's POV: Fun spot to end the match. Sure, you could see it coming, but it was still fun. Decent opener. I wish they'd treat Kiyoshi better. And, yes, I hate the tired Black Machismo gimmick. I'm also disappointed with how poorly the building is lit. It's really dark and it's and hard to see even the top of the lower bowl.

Backstage, Lauren interviewed A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels. She tried to pump them for information about possible tension between them and their tag partners. However, they delivered quick promos and headed away together...

2. ODB (w/Cody Deaner) defeated Daffney, Madison Rayne, and Sojourner Bolt in a Queen of the Cage match in 6:30. The women ganged up on ODB early. Cody slipped her flask through a hole in the cage and poured it into her mouth. She fired up like Popeye and worked over her opponents.

Daffney hit a couple of good offensive spots in the match around the 5:30 mark as she worked over Bolt and Rayne. ODB took another swig from her flask, powerslammed Bolt, and scored the pin. She celebrated with Cody afterward...

Powell's POV: Forgettable match, but you pretty much knew what you were getting coming in. The announcers were had some fun when ODB swigged from her flask. Tenay said they tried something like that with West and it didn't work so well. No kidding.

Tenay and West ran through the pay-per-view lineup. Suddenly, they stopped because they received word that Jeff Jarrett was arriving. A shot aired of Jarrett arriving in a black SUV backstage...

Powell's POV: Shouldn't the founder of the company be there for the entire pay-per-view? I'm just saying.

3. The Motor City Machine Guns defeated LAX and No Limit in a three-way for the New Japan Jr. Tag Titles in 11:50. All six men fought at the same time. Hernandez popped the crowd by delivering a big shoulder block that knocked Chris Sabin into the cage around 3:00. The Guns teamed up on Hernandez, but he came right back and suplexed them both simultaneously.

Homicide overshot a move off the ropes. The announcers acknowledged it and eventually made it worse by continuing to talk about it for at least 30 seconds. Can Taz come out now? Homicide came back with a great move at 7:30. Hernandez held Yujiro on the ropes while Homcide jumped off the ropes and drove him into the ground with his feet.

At 8:15, Hernandez grabbed Sabin by the head and then flipped him over his own head into the cage. Cool spot, but Sabin landed awkwardly and came up holding his head. He got up about a minute later and got right back in the action. At 10:30, Sabin and Shelley hit a simultaneous legdrop and splash off the top for a near fall. In the end, the Guns hit Made in Detroit on one of the No Limit wrestlers and scored the pin...

Powell's POV: Fun match with some big spots. Nice to see the Guns get a win. West said TNA should get them into the TNA Tag Title picture quickly. No kidding.

Backstage, Lauren lectured Abyss about facing Matt Morgan and what he might do to him. Abyss said she's a great girlfriend. He said he knows how to survive. He brought up his father abusing him and spoke about Dr. Stevie... A video hyped the Abyss vs. Matt Morgan match...

4. Matt Morgan defeated Abyss in a Doomsday Chamber of Blood match in 12:40. Tenay said viewers shouldn't confuse this with a first blood match. He explained that the goal was to make your opponent bleed and only then could you go for a pin or submission. Morgan came out and threw chairs and other weapons inside the cage. Abyss came out looking like the Michelin Man, as always. The fans chanted for blood early.

Abyss picked up the chair and hesitated again, so I guess they're still playing that game. Morgan kicked it into Abyss's face as Tenay explained that Dr. Stevie doesn't want Abyss to use weapons. The crowd chanted for blood and Abyss granted their wish by blading early.

At 4:30, Morgan emptied a bag filled with glass and pushed Abyss's face toward it. Abyss was already bleeding heavily and it dripped all over the glass. Later, Morgan went for a cross body block, but Abyss moved and Morgan took out the referee. Abyss picked up a handful of glass and slammed it into Morgan's head to open him up. With both men bleeding, they can now go for pins and submissions.

Abyss hit the Black Hole Slam and covered Morgan, but the referee was still out. A second referee ran out and counted, but Morgan kicked out. With the cage door open because of the ref coming in, Abyss headed to ringside and grabbed a chair. Stevie Richards came out and took the chair from Abyss. Tenay acted shocked that it was Stevie Richards. Idiot. Morgan recovered and hit the big boot on Abyss for a near fall.

Abyss went to ringside and asked Richards for the chair, but Stevie wouldn't give it to him. "No more violence," Richards said. Abyss picked up a bag from underneath the ring. "Don't you do it," Richards said. Abyss headed into the ring and poured the tacks onto the canvas. Stevie entered the ring and attacked Abyss with slaps to the head. Morgan low-blowed Abyss and then slammed him onto the tacks and pinned him.

Powell's POV: I can't believe they made the announcers look like goofs by having them act surprised by the Dr. Stevie reveal. Worse yet, they didn't event let the match finish soak in. They almost immediately cut to a pre-tape.

Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviewed Jeff Jarrett, who said his teammates should worry about themselves rather than him. He said the real question is whether he needs to start worrying more about himself than he used to. He said the answer is, "You're damn right he does." Jarrett said that means he'd going to do the right thing like he always does.

Jarrett tried to leave the room, but Samoa Joe was in the doorway holding his giant f'n Rambo knife and wearing a leather jacket from the Rob Halford collection. Joe mumbled something. Jarrett shook his head and walked around him... A video hyped the Knockouts Title match...

5. Angelina Love (w/Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne) defeated Awesome Kong (w/Raisha Saeed) and Taylor Wilde in a three-way match for the TNA Knockouts Title in 6:50. Love looked nervous when Kong came out. Nice facial expression given the big angle with the Beautiful People cutting off Kong's hair.

Love and Wilde worked together early by hitting dropkicks on the seated Kong, but they ended up fighting over who would get the pin. At 2:40, Kong slammed Wilde into the cage in a painful looking spot. Kong worked over Love with a giant swing. Nice. The announcers did their bickering bit when West stuck up for Love. Lame. Anytime now, Taz.

At 5:00, Kong flipped off the top rope and missed a splash on Love, who rolled out of the way. Huge spot and the live crowd reacted accordingly to Kong going for that move. The Beautiful People tied Kong's braids to the cage door.

At 6:00, Wilde hit a cross body block on Love and went for the cover. Love clearly hit her head and appeared to be out of it, as Wilde had to help her with the kick out. Love locked in a chin lock. Eventually, a groggy Love rolled up Wilde and scored the pin...

Powell's POV: Scary for Love, who has suffered multiple concussions in the past. It didn't look like a blown spot. Wilde hit her high with the cross body block and her head may have taken the bulk of the impact when they hit the mat. Too bad. The finish was clearly improvised because of Love's injury.

Lauren interviewed Team 3D in the concourse of the arena. Brother Ray used the "You're in the jungle, baby," line again while the fans chanted "TNA" behind them... A video hyped the tag title vs. tag title match...

Powell's POV: 90 minutes left for the big three matches. The first-half of the show was decent, yet unspectacular. That said, I saw this as a three-man show and the last three matches will likely determine whether this is considered a quality show or not.

6. Team 3D defeated Beer Money in a Philadelphia Street Fight to retain the New Japan (IWGP) Tag Titles and win the TNA Tag Titles in 15:15. Ring announcer Dave Penzer stated that the cage door will remain open and pinfalls count anywhere. The two teams slugged it out in the ring to start the match. The live crowd chanted for "tables."

Roughly one minute in, both teams fought into the crowd. A split-shot followed as Brother Ray fought with James Storm in one aisle, and Devon fought with Robert Roode in another aisle. All four wrestlers met up and fought in the same section a short time later. Atlas Security, which worked the big ECW shows, was following the wrestlers closely.

The two teams fought their way back to ringside around five minutes in. Storm spat beer in Ray's eyes. A short time later, Storm whipped the cage door into Ray. Beer Money set up the ring steps in front of a table and then double suplexed Devon through the table. Beer Money brought a bloody Ray back inside the ring and worked him over while Devon sold the table spot at ringside.

At 9:30, Ray came back with a top rope Bubba Bomb on Roode. Tenay begged for a replay and got one. As they were replaying the move, West started flipping out about what Roode was showing him. It turns out that they completely missed the near fall while showing the replay. Oops. Cool spot off the top rope, though. West continued to put over Roode for kicking out a couple more times. The crowd chanted for tables again.

At 11:30, Team 3D hit the Doomsday Device on Storm for a near fall. They came back with the "Whassup?" spot at 12:00 for a nice pop from the crowd. Team 3D did the "Get the tables" spot and let the crowd chant the words. Fun. Devon obliged by pulling a table from underneath the ring. They set it up, but Beer Money made their comeback and hit a cool twisting neckbreaker on Devon off the top for a good near fall.

Storm and Roode mounted opposite turnbuckles and both missed attempted moves on Ray. However, they came right back with moves on both 3D members. They slid the table into the center of the ring. Roode tried to whip Devon toward the cage door, where Storm was waiting to slam it. Instead, Devon reversed the whip and Storm slammed the door onto his own partner's head. Team 3D hit 3D through the table and scored the pin...

Powell's POV: A really fun brawl. As much as I rag on the announcers, they did a nice job of putting over Beer Money. More importantly, Team 3D gave them plenty of offense and Beer Money came out of the match looking stronger than ever despite dropping the belts. Best match of the night so far.

Backstage, Borash interviewed Kurt Angle (who hasn't shaved his head in a couple days) while the other Mafia members sat behind him. Kevin Nash entered the room and Angle raved about how he was making his return from the elbow infection. Angle said their opponents might be younger and faster, but they know something the young guys don't. You win with your head and not your heart... A video previewed the Lethal Lockdown match...

7. Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels defeated Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, and Booker T (w/Sharmell) in a Lethal Lockdown match in 23:30. It's a War Games style match with weapons. Angle and Daniels started the match for their respective teams. They went face-to-face and then Angle shoved Daniels and they started wrestling with Daniels grabbing the early advantage. Cool spot at 3:20 with Daniels standing on the ropes and holding Angles hands. Daniels placed his foot on Angle's chest and then drove him into the mat with it.

The five-minute clock counted down as Daniels had Angle in a submission hold. Angle tapped out, but the ref waved it off because pins and submissions don't count at this stage of the match. Booker T was the next man out and the heels worked over Daniels.

Two minutes after Booker entered, A.J. Styles came out for the babyface side. Scott Steiner was out a couple minutes later for the heels. Samoa Joe was supposed to come out next for the babyface side. His music played, but he didn't come out. Rather, they aired a shot of Joe standing backstage with something over his head.

Joe mumbled something, but the announcers were yelling and it was impossible to hear what he said. Tenay said it looked like he was receiving last minute instructions from someone even though there was nothing to indicate that was actually happening. Joe finally came out and entered the cage. He hit Steiner with a suplex, rammed Booker into the cage, and suplexed Angle. The live crowd didn't seem to care, though.

A couple minutes later, Kevin Nash came out with a big white hockey elbow pad covering his right elbow. Joe attacked Nash before he could get inside the cage. Nash got the better of it and left Joe lying on the floor. Nash chokeslammed Styles and hit a side slam on Daniels. Joe returned and fought with Nash. Styles hit a Pele kick on Steiner. Daniels hit the Best Moonsault Ever on Booker T. However, the heels came right back.

Jeff Jarrett was the final man in the match. Once he was in the ring, the cage roof lowered. There were a slew of weapons attached to the top of the cage. The babyfaces grabbed weapons and attacked the heels. They actually cut to a six-camera shot of all the action, which was absolutely worthless unless you were watching on a 200-inch television.

At 18:45, Angle broke through the top of the cage and went up top. Styles followed him and they traded punches on top of the cage. Angle tried to suplex Styles off the top of the cage, but A.J. blocked it. Angle got the better of the brawl and headed back inside the cage.

At 21:00, Styles dove through the cage roof toward three heels, but none of them caught him and he hit the mat hard. "That was awesome," chanted the live crowd. A short time later, Jarrett tried to hit Booker with a chair, but he moved and Jarrett struck Styles instead. Joe backed Jarrett into the corner.

Later, Jarrett grabbed a guitar and pointed at Styles. In the swerve of the century (sarcasm), Jarrett hit Booker T instead. Styles made the cover and got the 1-2-3 to win the match for his team.

After the match, the lights dimmed and new entrance music played. Bobby Lashley walked onto the stage in street clothes. He pointed at the ring. The babyfaces looked surprised and Angle laughed. The announcers questioned whether there was a relationship between Angle and Lashley. The lights went out again and they cut backstage...

Powell's POV: The swerve with Jarrett was a lousy way to end the match. There were some good moments, but there was also a lot of forgettable punching and kicking. Not bad, but that finish sucked. Lashley in TNA? He's been teasing a return to wrestling lately and he supposedly has a third MMA fight scheduled, so he might be doing double duty. Nice surprise.

Backstage, Lauren interviewed Sting, who hyped his match against Mick Foley. He spoke about what the TNA Title means to him and TNA. He said he wouldn't roll over and die because the belt means too much to him...

In another part of the backstage area, Jeremy Borash asked Foley if he thought six months ago that he thought there was a chance he'd enter a cage with Sting. Foley turned around with his barbwire baseball bat in hand and said that Foley couldn't be there because he had a corporate function. Cactus Jack said the cage door would be shut because the fans don't want to see someone just walk out to win the match...

A video hyped the main event... Tenay ran through the Tale of the Tape...

Borash handled the in-ring introductions for the championship match. He introduced Foley as "Mick Foley" without protest even though Foley just made it clear that he's Cactus Jack tonight. Oh well...

8. Mick Foley defeated Sting to win the TNA Title in a six sides of steel match in 15:55. Foley brought the barbwire bat to the ring with him, but referee Earl Hebner made him give it up before ringing the bell. Foley punched his bandaged eye to start the match and opened up the cut he gave himself on Impact. After throwing several punches at his own face, Foley lunged at Sting and knocked him down with a punch.

Foley climbed the ropes and Sting followed. Sting eventually hit a side suplex on Foley off the top rope. Foley came back with punches that left Sting in the corner. He headed back up the ropes, but Sting caught him and knocked him down. Foley's left left got caught up in the ropes. Foley held his knee once the referee let him loose.

Foley limped on the knee as he came back with offense on Sting. At 8:45, Foley caught Sting in the Scorpion Leg Lock. He eventually released the hold and then asked the ringside official to open the cage door. The referee wouldn't do it. Foley dropkicked a cameraman through the cage and then attempted to climb through the hole the cameraman was using.

Sting caught Foley and applied the Scorpion Leg Lock. Foley reached through the hole in the cage and told the cameraman he kicked to hand him his barbwire baseball bat. The cameraman actually obliged. Sting released the hold. Foley swung the bat at him, but Sting avoided it. Foley eventually hit the back of Sting's leg with the bat.

Foley held the bat above his hands with both hands, which, of course, meant that Sting was going trip him. Sting got the bat and hit Foley with it a few times. Sting stood behind Foley and held the bat to his eye. Foley kicked Sting low, but the camera missed it and so did the announcers initially. Foley picked up the bat and hit Sting with it a couple times.

With Sting bleeding, Foley pulled a sock out of his pants. He put the sock on his hand and wrapped some of the barbwire from the baseball bat around the sock. Foley punched Sting repeatedly (minus the barbwire) and then climbed to the top of the cage. Sting started to climb over another part of the cage. It was a race to the floor and Foley won. Foley fell to the floor and was named the new champion. The referee held up Foley's arm and presented him with the title belt to close the show...

An ad aired for the TNA Sacrifice pay-per-view, which takes place on May 24... 

Powell's POV: That will put asses in the seats. Oh, wait... The match was very slow paced and the finish kind of came out of nowhere. I'm not sure if the chase was mistimed, but there wasn't much suspense since Foley had such a big lead over Sting as they climbed the cage. The title change is definitely a surprise. No, I don't think we'll be seeing a full-time return to the ring from Foley. I guess Stevie Richards must be the second former World Champion, but I have no idea what that was about.

I'll have a lot more to say about the show in tonight's Dot Net Member Exclusive Audio Recap. You can gain access to all Dot Net Audio for only $5 per month by visiting the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

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