By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Aired live from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[Q1] Dixie Carter made her entrance to a smattering of boos, but it grew to good heat as she cut her promo. She said we saw last week what happens when a selfish individual puts their own interests first. She said because of that, that person would no longer be mentioned by name. She said she didn’t need him or anyone telling her how to run her wrestling company. She said she didn't need "that has been Eric Bishoff, Mr. Stephanie Levesque, or the good ole boys Jarretts."

She brought up AJ Styles and said he was out of line last week. She said she asked him nicely to leave but he still came back and interjected himself in a match. She said she was giving her hard-working champion carte blanche to book AJ in any match he wanted. She defined carte blanche as "blank check in trailer talk."

Sting came out yelling "Hey" but Dixie ignored him until he got to the ring. She said she was happy to see him. She said they had all heard what AJ was saying about Bound for Glory being her wakeup call, but she was already awake. She said every guy in the back needed to know that they were all under review, including Sting. She said he went too far last week when he came to the ring and booked a match with Magnus.

Sting told her to cut the crap and tell him what was going on. She said he had pushed them right up to the ledge last week by making that match and now she felt like she had to raise it to the next level. She booked Sting and Magnus vs. Kazarian and Christopher Daniels and added the stipulation that if they didn't win, neither of them would be on Bound for Glory. She closed by saying she held his career in the palm of her little hand, and that was what was going on. She left him in the ring…

Backstage, Austin Aries cut a promo about his match with Jeff Hardy. He put over his accomplishments in the X Division and repeated his dislike for Ultimate X. He said Jeff Hardy picked that because he needed a spectacle. He said he was a professional wrestler, and a good one, and he would go on to win the X Division Championship and once again use Plan C to win the TNA Championship…[C]

Shore's Slant: OK, Dixie is trying way too damn hard. She tried to say 11,000 words in six seconds and cover way too much ground. She also called Sting "Steve" which as I have noted in WWE is totally unnecessary and calls attention to the fact that everything on the show is fake. That's not good business. She may have called her "Mrs." Stephanie Levesque, but I went back and listened again and it sure did sound like she said "Mr."

[Q2] Backstage, AJ said it was nice to be back in the building without security all over him. He blew off Bully's revenge and said he never backed down from a fight. He said at Bound for Glory he would make Dixie pay…

1. Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy. Aries hit a big elbow on the head to take control and he focused on the head and neck after that. Hardy hit a head scissor to dump Aries to the floor and then dove on him from the apron…[C]

Aries dumped Hardy to the floor and Hardy hit the announce table hard. Aries hit a double sledge off the top rope to the floor and played to the crowd before hitting another one. He rolled Hardy in the ring and went back to the top for a missile drop kick, but Hardy moved and started his comeback.

[Q3] Aries shut the comeback down with a neckbreaker through the ropes and hit the missile dropkick. He went for the corner dropkick, but Hardy got his feet up. Hardy went for the Twist of Fate, but Aries shoved him away. Hardy hit the Twist if Fate and setup for the swanton, Aries dropkicked the top rope and hit a brainbuster from the second rope for the win…

Austin Aries defeated Jeff Hardy at 14:18.

Samoa Joe's music hit and he came out to the stage. He congratulated Aries on his win. He mentioned talked about how the Ultimate X match came to be and then announced he would be the fifth participant. He said live on PPV, "Joe is going to kill you."…The Bro-Mans cut a promo backstage where they ragged on each other for their stupid losses to ODB, EY, and Joseph Park. Jesse said Dixie was respecting people who stepped up so he was going to fix their problem. He walked off leaving Robbie confused…[C]

Shore's Slant: A lot to cover here. First, a good match with an unnecessarily dangerous finish. There's no reason to have that spot here and Hardy took it straight on the top of his head. Second, is Dixie Carter going to punish Aries, Hardy, and Joe now? I mean, Sting booked a match without permission. Are these guys screwed too? Did anybody in creative bother to think about that continuity problem if they don't? Looks like the X Division match is the "get everyone on the show" match. What a waste of talent.

A video from "earlier today" showed Jeremy Borash talking to EY and Park about taking a road trip to San Diego. They started to leave, drove 10 feet, then stopped and got out. EY said ODB had a match tonight and they couldn't leave yet…Bro-mans stood in the ring and Jesse challenged ODB to a match. She made her entrance with EY…

2. ODB vs. Jesse. ODB got all the offense until Robbie grabbed her leg on a whip. EY chased him to the back and ODB pulled out her flask. Before anything could happen, Lei'D Tapa made her entrance and attacked ODB…

ODB apparently defeated Jesse by disqualification at 2:07.

[Q4] Tapa continued her assault and then posed over ODB with the Knockouts title… Backstage, the IQG asked Bully Ray about the revenge match and Ray asked him what was hard to understand. He said he was headed to the ring to take care of it right now…[C]

Shore's Slant: So wait, Jesse challenged ODB, but EY knew earlier today that she had the match? Is anyone reading these scripts for continuity? That's two massive gaffs in the first 45 minutes! Tapa is a beast, but it's going to take some time to draw heat. She got a decent reaction at the end of the attack, but she needs to win some matches before the fans will really hate her.

Backstage, Baby Bischoff complained about what Ray had done to the club. Knux agreed. Ray said their judgment had been clouded by Ken Anderson. He said it was Anderson's ego that had caused all the problems. Knux agreed and said that piledriving him on the stage wasn't the answer. Ray said maybe he was right, but tonight he wanted to put the spotlight on them. He said he wanted it to be them that took AJ Styles and that meant the title would stay in the club because of them. They bought into it and said they would do it…

Sting and Magnus spoke backstage and Magnus thanked Sting for setting his head straight, but he was taking their match very seriously. Sting said he had something to prove too and that they would tear the house down. Magnus said they had to put that behind them tonight and beat EGO to make sure it happens and Sting agreed…

IQG knocked on the door of the "talent" locker room and EGO popped their heads out in comedy fashion. They said there would be a big party for their Hall of Fame induction tonight and sent the cameras away…[C]

Shore's Slant: Other than Knux waffling, the Aces and Eights segment was well done, and I liked the psychology Bully used their to get his way. It also clearly points to a new contract for Ken Anderson. Sting and Magnus was a snooze fest, and EGO was…well, EGO.

Kazarian and Daniels made their ring entrances wearing matching suits with top hats. Daniels wore all powdered blue and Kaz wore all orange. And I mean all. Even their shoes. The ring had a podium and a giant wooden chair. Daniels trashed the fans and then Kaz trashed the MLB, Rock 'n' Roll, and TNA Hall of Fames and then introduced Bobby Roode.

[Q5] Roode made his entrance and was dressed like a normal human at a black-tie affair. He entered the ring and sat in the chair while they revealed the photo of Roode under a black cloth. Kaz setup a poorly edited video with different guys talking about Sting (I think) going into the hall of fame with Roode's name laid over the top. I have to admit, it was pretty funny.

Daniels said Roode was definitely the It Factor of professional wrestling and introduced Roode to the podium. Roode thanked Kaz and Daniels first and then got emotional. He said he promised himself he wouldn't cry. He said there was one more individual who needed to be recognized. He said one more person needed to be recognized, him. He said he was the man deserving of the Hall of Fame induction, not Kurt Angle.

He blamed the fans for putting Angle in the Hall of Fame. He asked what Angle has done for TNA recently. He ran through his own accomplishments and asked where Angle was now. He started to say where Angle was, but Angle's music hit and he came to the stage to a huge pop. Angle pulled his shirt off and stepped into the ring.

Angle had a mic and asked Roode who the other two were and asked if they were his girlfriends. He hit a belly-to-belly on Kaz and a German suplex on Daniels. Roode tried to run and Angle grabbed the ankle. Roode escaped and made it to the ramp. Angle said he only had one thing to say, "You, me, Bound for Glory." Roode dropped to his knees to sell the moment…Brooke and Velvet Sky were shown walking backstage. Velvet's ribs were taped up and she was favoring them…

Shore's Slant: An amusing segment that drew good heat and made the Angle return that much bigger. I'm glad they didn't go back to why he left. They told the truth when he went to rehab and there was no reason to bring it back up here. Well done.

[Q6][C] Backstage Roode raged about Angle interrupting his Hall of Fame induction. He said he accepted the challenge for Bound for Glory. Velvet and Chris Sabin made their entrance. Velvet tried to do her ass gimmick, but Sabin covered it with his jacket. Brooke got almost no reaction…

3. Velvet Sky (w/Chris Sabin) vs. Brooke. Tenay announced it would be triple threat with ODB and Gail Kim plus the winner of this match. Velvet had Brooke down, but Sabin told her to come over. He coached her up until Brooke recovered and rolled her up for the win…[C]

Brooke earned a spot in the Knockouts title match at Bound for Glory at 3:53.

Shore's Slant: Not a lot of interest for the Knockouts not named Lei'D Tapa right now, but I will use this as an opportunity to talk about how TNA's crash TV style hurts them. This was a perfect chance to get some more heat on Sabin by staying with him as he harassed Velvet over the loss, but instead they cut away to the main event graphic and Magnus and Sting backstage. They never let anything sink in; they just push on to the next moment. It’s completely counter intuitive and yet no one in control seems to have developed that basic level of intuition.

A new Ethan vignette aired and we finally saw his face and got his full name: Ethan Carter III or EC3…

[Q7] 4. Bad Influence vs. Magnus and Sting. The fight spilled to the floor where the heels took control into the break…[C] Back from commercial, Magnus took the heat from the heels. They used Sting to distract Earl Hebner again and again. Sting got the hot tag at 9:50 and caused Daniels to hit an elbow drop on Kaz.

Sting dumped Daniels and tagged Magnus. Magnus hit the top rope elbow, but instead of covering he hooked the cloverleaf. Daniels broke it up and Sting tagged himself in. He hit the Stinger splash and Scorpion Death Drop for the win…

Magnus and Sting defeated Bad Influence at 10:59.

Post-match, Magnus sold being irritated with Sting…Backstage, Dixie walked up on AJ and told him he didn’t have to go to the handicap match. She handed him a check and told him with that much money he could buy trailers and teach redneck kids to read. She told him to shake hands and call it a career. AJ said she was right, you could buy a lot of things with that much money. He said it couldn’t buy him and tire the check up before throwing it in her face and walking off. Dixie said, "I didn't sign that check anyway," before walking away…

Shore's Slant: An OK tag match, but the continued tease of the Magnus heel turn is a bad idea. I don't think a turn helps him get over. Dixie is still trying too hard with all the insults. It's like she can't find a good one so she just hits us with a thousand. Quality over quantity is her friend here. I also don’t like her equivocation either. Comical heels equivocate, not legitimate ones.

[Q8][C] Aces and Eights made their ring entrance. Bully Ray kicked Tenay off the headset and took his spot. Styles was out next…

5. AJ Styles vs. Knux and Garett Bischoff. AJ attacked before the bell and Bischoff started. AJ continued to wrestle in his t-shirt. AJ had total control until Knux got a blind tag and beat down AJ. AJ started his comeback and pinned Bischoff with a roll-up…

AJ Styles defeated Knux and Garett Bsichoff at 4:47.

Post-match, Knux attacked AJ from behind and they beat him down. Ray ran in and shoved them away. He beat AJ with the chain and then hit a backdrop on AJ to the ramp. He climbed on top of AJ and talked trash to him to close the show…

Shore's Slant: Shitty match but a good close to the show. It sucks that it took until a week before the PPV to have this moment, but it put good heat on their match. The rest of the show failed to deliver much hype otherwise. Angle vs. Roode was well done, but Joe adding himself to the Ultimate X match was flat, Brooke getting into the Knockouts match was instantly forgettable, Sting and Magnus was ho hum, and Dixie Carter is still distracting from the main event. It wasn't a bad episode of Impact, but it wasn't all that good either. That's forgivable most weeks but not with only one more show before your biggest event of the year. Jason Powell and Will Pruett will have more tomorrow. Thanks for watching along 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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