By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Aired live from Tupelo, Mississippi.

[Q1] A video recapped Sting winning last week and D-Lo losing…Mike Tenay, Todd Keneley, and Taz checked in on commentary and ran down the card. Sting and Kurt Angle made their ring entrance. Sting put over his win last week and said he didn't want to wait to get his hands on Bully Ray so he got Hulk Hogan to agree to give him a six-man match tonight, and he needed the best of the best on his team, so he picked Angle.

Angle took the mic and said there was a guy who could turn the tide in their favor and called out AJ Styles. Angle said he and Sting were ready for war, and asked if AJ was going to join them. The crowd started a "Yes" chant, but AJ just stared at Angle. Angle said he was sick and tired of asking. He stepped up into AJ's face and said he was demanding an answer.

Sting stepped in and asked for a chance. He said he had been through the same thing Styles had and even hid in the rafters for a while. He said AJ didn't have to hide. He said all the people there knew this was the place AJ built, and asked AJ to join them. AJ stared at Sting and Angle snatched the mic away. He said AJ was either with them or against them.

AJ backed up and left the ring. He walked up the ramp, but Angle followed him. Angle grabbed AJ and spun him around. AJ shoved Angle away and then they brawled on the stage. Referees ran out to break it up. While Sting looked on, Bully Ray, Devon, and Anderson slid in the ring. Anderson hit Sting from behind, and then the Dudleys hit 3D on him. They lfed as Angle ran back to check on Sting…[C]

Shore's Slant: Kind of a flat start when taken as a whole. I'm not sure Sting pointing out the similarities between his story and AJ's was a smart move at all. I have defended the stories as different, and they are, but why even help people make that connection? AJ's peripheral involvement with all these storylines is starting to water him down too. I am digging his character, but there's too many people talking about AJ with AJ not saying, or doing, much of anything.

A video recapped the brawl between Angle and Styles. Backstage, AJ was walking away as the invisible camera guy chased him down and asked if AJ was really going to leave everyone hanging. AJ wiped his mouth, looked at his hand, and then stormed out the door…

[Q2] Tara made her entrance with Jesse. So after not having them together for two weeks they just put them back together? OK. Everyone else made their entrances…

1. Gail Kim and Tara (w/Jesse) vs. Mickie James and Velvet Sky. James and Kim started. Jesse distracted Mickie and that let Kim take control. Tara tagged in and hit a drop kick in the corner. Tara celebrated with Jesse and Kim tagged herself in while yelling at Tara. Mickie hit a kick on Kim and both women tagged out. Velvet hit several clotheslines and then setup for her finisher. Kim ran in and Velvet tossed her out onto Jesse. She hit her finisher on Tara for the win…

Mickie James and Velvet Sky defeated Gail Kim and Tara at 3:28.

Post-match, Kim yelled at Tara and then hit a short-arm clothesline. She dragged Tara to the corner and hooked the figure four through the post. ODB ran over to break it up and Tara sold her knee being injured…Backstage, the Aces and Eights were drinking when D-Lo walked up. He said he didn't know about the get together. Ray said there was another get together in the ring for club business. He asked each person if they were ready, except for D-Lo, and then they all headed to the ring. D-Lo looked sad…[C]

Shore's Slant: Totally meaningless Knockouts match. The post-match attack meant something, but the match was lame at best. Tara said she was going to be off TV for a few months. I wonder if this was the way they will get rid of her. Either way, I like Kim's aggressive attitude, but she's split between Velvet Sky and Taryn Terrell, and much like AJ Styles, that muddies the waters with her.

Backstage, Bad Influence walked into James Storm's locker room with beer and put the hard sell on him. They left and Storm drank the beer…The Aces and Eights gang made their ring entrance, harassing Keneley in the process. It sucks being the play-by-play guy sometimes.

[Q3] Ray took the mic and demanded the music be cut. Ray said later, he and his crew would destroy Angle, Sting, and whoever their mystery partner is. He said they knew it wasn't AJ and said nobody wanted to be that third guy. He said that brought him to club business. He pointed to D-Lo and said a couple of weeks ago (oops, that was last week Bully), D-Lo embarrassed himself. He demanded D-Lo turn in his colors.

D-Lo said no and Bully said he would give D-Lo one more chance. D-Lo said his cut was his life, and repeated his no. Someone snatched the cut off and D-Lo started to fight but Anderson told him to calm down. Anderson yelled that D-Lo quit and this club wasn't for quitters. Ray agreed and asked what D-Lo was going to do. D-Lo said he was going to kick Magnus's ass. Ray said D-Lo was going to sit with the time keeper and watch Doc beat Magnus. He said if D-Lo ever wanted his cut back, he better hope Doc got the job done. D-Lo went and sat down and the rest of the gang left while Magnus made his entrance…[C]

Shore's Slant: Oh thank God, I thought they were going to let D-Lo wrestle again. I'm not sure people care enough about D-Lo to make this compelling TV, but it was well done.

2. Doc vs. Magnus. The match started before I could run back from the bathroom, but Doc took quick control as D-Lo left his spot and paced at ringside. Magnus hit a kick in the corner and went to the top. Doc caught him there, but Magnus shoved him down and hit a top rope elbow for two. D-Lo dragged Magnus from the ring and tried to throw him into the stairs, but Magnus reversed it. Magnus slipped back in the ring and Doc hit a flapjack for two. Magnus reversed a whip and D-Lo grabbed Doc's leg by mistake. That allowed Magnus to roll up Doc for the win…

Magnus defeated Doc in 4:00.

Post-match, Doc stormed away while D-Lo looked upset…[C]

Shore's Slant: Magnus gains nothing by the win, and this entire match had more to do with a non-wrestler than the guys in the ring. I fail to understand why TNA continues to put focus on non-wrestlers (and old wrestlers) at the expense of younger guys.

Backstage, D-Lo tried to apologize for what happened. They held him down and Ray threatened to crush his skull with the hammer. Anderson intervened and said they should give him a job he could do, so Ray said D-Lo was busted down to a prospect and told him to go clean their bikes…

[Q4] Hulk Hogan was shown talking to Sting and Angle. Hogan acted like he would be the guy to join them, but Sting and Angle said the doctor wouldn't allow it. Hogan said he had a wildcard from a text he received, but Angle wanted a sure thing. They decided on Magnus and went their separate ways…

Austin Aries and Bobby Roode walked up to Storm and pariased him. Aries gave him a bear and Roode said he was always jealous of Roode and the only reason he beat him for the title was because he hit him with the beer bottle. Roode looked at Aries and asked if he said it all. Storm asked Aries if he put Roode up to that. Aries said no and Storm said the boys in the locker room were saying when Aries beat Roode, it wasn't a fluke. He walked off and Aries and Roode started their bickering. Roode made his ring entrance…[C]

Shore's Slant: Almost a full hour into the show and less than eight minutes of wrestling in the show, and half of that was Velvet Sky. Rough when you consider the taped shows often are tons of videos. I wonder who the big surprise is on Hogan's phone, and I wonder if we'll see him tonight.

The two teams made their entrance for the tag contenders match…

[Q5] 3. Bad Influence vs. Austin Aries and Bobby Roode with James Storm as special referee for the number one contendership to the TNA Tag Team Championships. After some silliness to start, Roode and Aries settled in control. Storm was constantly putting out fires with Aries and Roode cheating as they worked over Daniels.

Kazarian hit a dirty kick on Roode and Roode rolled to the floor. Kazarian jumped on him and that allowed Bad Influence to settle in for a moment of control. Roode drove Daniels head first into Kazarian's nuts and that gave him the hot tag to Aries.

Aries hit a flying forearm and spilled Kaz to the floor. Aries dumped Daniels to the floor beside Kaz and hit a suicide dive so hard he crashed into the barricade. Aries no sold it and rolled Daniels into the ring. He hit a frog splash, but Kaz broke the count. The match broke down and Daniels and Aries ended up in the ring.

Daniels rolled up Aries and hooked the tights. Storm saw it, so he refused to count. Daniels shoved him and then stormed away. Aries, who had grabbed Storm's beer and taken a sip, spit the bear in Daniels face. He raised the beer to Storm and took another drink. Storm snatched it away and drank the rest. Aries got mad and shoved him. Storm went for the Last Call, but Aries moved and Daniels took it. Aries put his foot on Daniels and told Storm to count. Storm counted two and then stood and hit Last Call on Aries. Storm's music hit and he left as the match was apparently thrownout…

Bad Influence fought Austin Aries and Bobby Roode to an apparent no contest in 11:30.

Backstage, Aces and Eights attacked Magnus. They battled all over an area with construction equipment. Magnus had a hope spot, but Knux hit him in the head with some sort of breakaway box. They dragged Magnus over to a forklift and then slammed a cart full of metal plates into his head, but the camera was behind the forklift so you couldn't see it…

Shore's Slant: You could almost see the ending of that match coming when Storm was picked as ref. I didn't know what shenanigans there would be, but there were certainly going to be shenanigans. I didn't hate it, but it didn't get me excited either. And I guess we will get to see the "wildcard" now.

[Q6][C] A very cool Suicide video aired and hyped his return as "soon."… A video recapped the return of Chris Sabin last week… Kenny King made his ring entrance to virtually no response. He put over himself and said he was such a good champion, he had to beat two grown men now instead of one. He said he wasn't there to complain, he wanted to bring a guy out who would not quit, and introduced Chris Sabin.

Sabin made his entrance and King said they had all seen the videos, but he wanted Sabin to tell his story. Sabin took the mic and said he had spent the last two years in only two places, physical therapy and his basement. He said he had nothing to lose any more so he was going to fight like it was his last chance every time he got in the ring. He told Kenny to enjoy the belt because after next week, he would be the new title.

King put him over and said it would mean a lot to the people to see him hold the belt again. He handed the belt to Sabin and said he wanted everyone to see this because it would be the last time everyone saw that because that was as close as Sabin would get to the title as long as King was alive. He said it didn't matter if Sabin had two perfect ACLs, he couldn't hang with King. King demanded his belt back, so Sabin tossed it to him and attacked. He got in a couple of shots before King rolled to the floor…

Backstage, TNA officials chased off both Bad Influence and Roode and Aries as they stood over James Storm, who was on the ground with a chair lying beside him…

Shore's Slant: Well, at least it was an attempt to tell an X Division story. It wasn't great, and you could see King's angle straight out of the gate, but it’s a start. Hopefully they expand on it next week. As far as Storm and the tag teams, I have no idea where this is going, and I mean that in the good way. I had no idea how Storm fit in the tag division, but I want to know now. It should be pointed out too that the teams weren't attacking Storm, they were just there.

[Q7] A video hyped a Gut Check tournament, with the winner going on to join the BFG series… A video recapped all the people who either left or were knocked out of contention for joining Sting and Angle…

Backstage, Ray said he knew not everyone was happy with what happened to D-Lo, but they had to do what's best for the club and that's weeding out the weak. He said D-Lo said he quit, and nobody did that. Ray told Knux when D-Lo came back to have the beer cold and the bikes washed because they were going looking for women…

Angle's music started playing as he and Sting stood in Hogan's office. Angle said they had to go and Hogan, who was on the phone, told him to wait. Angle and Sting left and Hogan told the person on the phone it was now or never. Angle and Sting made their ring entrances…[C]

Shore's Slant: Well, any guesses? I have no idea. Honestly. It's a pretty good hook for anyone watching, and with the commercial break, they might get fans calling their friends to tune in. Well done.

Aces and Eights made their ring entrance.

4. Kurt Angle and Sting vs. Aces and Eights. Angle and Devon started. Angle hit a quick throw, but Devon raked the eyes and tagged in Ray. Ray knocked down Angle, but Angle hit a hip toss and tagged Sting. Ray fled back to his corner and tagged Anderson. Sting hit a reverse atomic drop and a dropkick on Anderson and tagged in Angle.

[Q8] Anderson hit a quick knee lift and tagged Devon and the heels settled in control on Angle. All three guys tagged in and out quickly. Devon and Ray hit a combo neckbreaker on Angle and then knocked Sting to the floor. They posed in the ring over Angle as the announce team said there was something going on in the back and the camera cut to show all of the Aces and Eights members knocked out backstage…[C]

Back from commercial, Ray hit a drop kick on Angle and tagged in Anderson. Once again the heels worked quickly in and out on Angle, targeting the neck. Ray tagged in and slapped Angle. He went to slap him again, but Angle ducked and hit the Olympic Slam. He got the hot tag to Sting and hit the Scorpion Death Drop on Devon. He covered, but Anderson broke the count.

Sting dumped Anderson and hit the Stinger splash on Devon. Ray broke the count and he and Sting squared off. They threw hands, but Anderson attacked Sting from behind and the heels beat down both guys. They set a table in the ring, but then music hit and Abyss came to the ring. He took out both Devon and Ray and then chokeslammed Anderson through the table. He hit the black hole slam on Devon and covered for the win…

Kurt Angle, Sting, and Abyss defeated Aces and Eights at 18:24.

Post-match, Abyss stormed around the ring as Taz had a meltdown about his return…

Shore's Slant: Abyss? Seriously? Abyss? I mean, I'll give them credit for not giving it away, but who in the blue hell wants to see Abyss again? Even though the Joseph Park character was a little silly, I was enjoying that more than the idea of another Abyss run. Maybe he's learned something from his time out of the mask that will help him, but his weak history leaves me doubtful.

Overall, a flat edition of Impact until the very end. The tag story with Storm has me intrigued, and I guess I'm a little bit interested in seeing what they have planned for Abyss, but everything else pretty much bored me. D-Lo's character is not important enough to spend as much time as they did on it. The Knockouts match seemed pointless, and Kenny King vs. Chris Sabin was too predictable. Jason Powell and Will Pruett will have more tomorrow. Thanks for watching along with me tonight.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

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