By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Aired live from Cincinnati, Ohio.

[Q1] The opening video recapped the Dixie storyline and Mike Tenay and Taz checked in on commentary. The Main Event Mafia all came out together and Sting announce they were putting the group on the shelf. He said they all had their things they needed to do and put over each of the other three men as being World Champions.

Sting said he was headed to deal with this thing called entitlement. He said there were those in the back who believed the business owed them anything and that they could come in on top without paying dues. Sting said he wasn't taught that way and he had respect for this business. He said he had respect for the people who came before him and hugged all three men before leaving the ring.

Joe took the mic next and spoke to the other two and said he had their backs for the past few months and it was a pleasure, but the people had been denied a Joe title run for too long. He said his return started with Magnus and would probably go through Angle. He said they were good friends but he would remind them why they make better enemies.

Magnus took the mic and said "And then there were two." He said Angle was on the road to redemption and he appreciated that because Angle was the greatest of all time. He said Angle's road to redemption was also his road to destiny. Magnus said after he goes through Joe, if he and Angle meet he will not hesitate to do what he has to do. Magnus left the ring.

Angle said he had to prove he was Hall of Fame worthy and the tournament was the way. He said he had a setback last week when he knocked himself out. Bobby Roode's music hit and he came to the ring. He told Angle to just admit he was beaten by Roode. He said it about thirty more times and said if their paths crossed in the tournament he would have no problem kicking his ass again. Angle attacked Roode and they brawled into the break…

Shore's Slant: A weird opening segment in how the Mafia broke up but good promos from each guy. I'm very interested to see how the Magnus vs. Joe match plays out as I think it will give us a better idea of what they are going to do with Magnus. Sting comments seem to point to Dixie but I wonder if that actually point to EC3. We'll see I guess.

[C][Q2] Angle was in the ring in a chair with a mic. He said he would wait all night if he had to but he wanted Bobby Roode to come out now and fight. Roode stormed out and they started their pull apart again. The refs and agents finally got Angle to stage. He acted like he would go peacefully but ran to the ring and they brawled again. Bad Influence came out to help with Roode and Joe and Magnus came out for Angle. They finally got Angle to the back to end the brawl…

Bad Influence started jawing with Pacman Jones and another Bengal at ringside. Someone shoved someone else and the Bengals jumped the rail and chased Bad Influence into the ring where they scooped them up for body slams. BI beat it to the back as the Bengals played to the crowd…[C]

Shore's Slant: A wild ass opening to Impact but it was very entertaining. Roode coming back out was not at all what I expected and that's a good thing. I appreciate the intensity they built here and when these two hook up again it will have the big fight feel it should. And as silly as the Bengals actions were, they played off that great brawl and made sense in that regards so I give it a pass. This might be the best start to a show TNA has had all year.

[Q3] Knux and Bischoff were walking backstage and said their club business was none of anyone else's. Anderson walked up and begged off from an attack. He told them he didn't blame them for what they did because the best thing to ever happen to him was what they did to him when they stripped him of his colors. He told them to get out because it wasn't what they started…

1. Brooke vs. Velvet Sky vs. ODB for the number one contendership. Velvet and Brooke started off comparing asses so ODB dropped them in the corner for the double bronco buster. All three women ended up knocked down and Gail Kim and Lei'D Tapa walked out on the ramp…

Back from commercial, all the women chopped each other and ODB anded up in control. She went to the floor to jaw with Tapa so Brooke attacked her from behind. Velvet ran out and clotheslined Brooke and rolled ODB in the ring. Kim and Tapa stood on the apron. Velvet started to hit her finisher on Brooke, but Kim attacked her from behind and ended the match…

ODB vs. Velvet Sky vs. Brooke ended in a no contest.

Post-match, Tapa and Kim destroyed all three women. Kim took a mic and said there was no more competition in the division. She challenged any woman outside of the company to face her and if they could beat her, they get a title shot…

[Q4] The announce team hyped the main event…[C]

Shore's Slant: So we get a fake match to setup some new Knockout coming in? What a terrible idea! Not to mention Lei'D Tapa looks like a dope to stand there while Kim says there is no competition. They still haven't explained their relationship yet so all I can figure is Tapa is a moron who decided to hang out with Kim. I mean, they haven't given me any other reason why the biggest woman in the division decided to hang out with the smallest instead of taking the title. So dumb.

A video recapped Styles leaving with the title and showed him defending it in AAA. The message was paid for by "The Friends of AJ."… The announce team hyped the main event again…Backstage, Bischoff and Knux were talking and said maybe Anderson was right. Ray walked up and said he knew all about their conversation with Anderson. He said he started the club for all of them.

Bischoff said it hadn't felt that way in a while. Knux said they didn't vote anymore and Ray said that was because he was president. They started to fight and Bischoff broke it up. Knux said they were voting right now, including Taz and stormed off. Bischoff started to leave and Ray grabbed Bischoff. He told him to make sure he voted the right way and let him leave…[C]

Shore's Slant: With four guys in the vote how do you think this is going to go?

Backstage, Dixie Carter threw a fit about the AJ video package on the phone. She told the person to do something about it and threw the phone. EC3 walked in and Dixie told him he needed to pick his opponent tonight. EC said he thought when he came in it would be easy but she had picked two world class opponents for him and he was afraid his streak would end tonight. She said that couldn't happen and demanded he pick the right opponent and win. They did their "We're the Carters" gimmick and he left…

[Q5] Knux and Bischoff stood in the ring. They called Taz in the ring and then called Ray out. Ray started to do his gimmick and Bischoff shut him down. He said from day one it had all been about Bully's ego and they had had enough. He said they were having this vote right now. Anderson's music hit and he walked to ringside. He told them not to mind him he was just there to watch.

Bischoff again said it was happening right now and said he was done/ He took off his cut and put it on the turnbuckle. Ray played up to Knux and told him to do the right thing. Knux said he was done too and took his cut off. Ray said they were going to have a tie and the tie went to the president. He voted to keep the club together and said Taz was going to do the right thing because he knew how to follow what the president says.

Taz told him to pump the breaks. He said Ray had let his ego go too far and he was with the other two. He took his cut off and held it out to Ray. Ray told him to put it on and Taz said to make him. Ray repeated it and Taz told him he would end him. Ray blamed Anderson for what happened and Anderson said Ray did it to himself. He said he wanted to fight Ray at the No Surrender Impact in two weeks in a no DQ match.

Ray said considering Anderson loved Stone Cold Steve Austin so much he was surprised he didn't remember the first rule. Bischoff and Knux attacked Anderson from behind and threw him into the stairs. They rolled him in the ring and Ray said, "Never trust anyone" while hitting Anderson with the chain. He said the club slogan and the four men left Anderson down in the ring…[C]

Shore's Slant: Pretty good swerve. I thought they were finally going to break the group up. They don’t mean anything at all anymore so it seemed the right move, but I admit I was surprised by what happened.

[Q6] Chris Sabin was shown getting ready backstage. Taz laughed at ringside and Tenay called them despicable. They started to say more when Bobby Roode stormed up and demanded Kurt Angle be brought out. He took the mic and said he was going to kick Angle's ass tonight. Roode stormed off demanding Angle come out, but EC3 made his entrance instead. Dewey Barnes was his opponent…

2. Ethan Carter III vs. Dewey Barnes. Carter won with his finisher after Barnes hit one move…

Ethan Carter III defeated Dewey Barnes at 2:21.

Post-match, Carter took the mike and said his catchphrase…Backstage, Joe Park was looking through Halloween candy as Bad Influence came in and harassed him. Eric Young came in and stopped them. He challenged them to a match tonight and they agreed…[C]

Shore's Slant: We'll just wait until Carter faces someone of stature to critique him fairly. This gimmick is drawing pretty good heat so far. And why are Bad Influence scared of EY? They always jump when he comes in. So dumb.

[Q7] 3. Bad Influence vs. Eric Young and Joe Park. The first minute of this match happened in the last quarter. EY started for his team and was winning singlehandedly, but Daniels hit a cheap shot on the apron for the heels to take control. Park got the hot tag and the crowd had checked out as they had no response to the hot tag or most of the finishing sequence. Daniels threw his appletini in Park's face to allow Kaz to roll Park up for the win…[C]

Bad Influence defeated ET and Joe Park at 5:40.

Shore's Slant: It's the feud and the angle that will not die. No matter how much I pray for it to do so.

Kurt Angle's music hit and he came down the ramp calling for Bobby Roode to come out any time. Austin Aries's music hit and he came out. He said he understood Angle's frustration, but next week Angle had to face him, not Roode. He said if Angle wasn't 100 percent focused on Aries he would lose. Dixe appeared on the screen and spun the wheel for their match and it landed on a submission match.

Aries walked away and Roode attacked Angle from out of nowhere. Roode beat Angle down and Aries made the save. He beat up Roode until Angle shoved him aside and went after Roode himself. Aries attacked Angle and they all brawled until the refs and agent broke it up again…

[Q8] Jeff Hardy made his ring entrance…[C]

Shore's Slant: I'll say it again, the wild brawl between Angle and Roode has been very entertaining tonight and has carried the show on its shoulders. I worry after Full Metal Mayhem the crowd will be burned out for next week, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Chris Sabin made his ring entrance…

4. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Sabin in a Full Metal Mayhem match in round one of the TNA Championship Tournament. Hardy brought a ladder in the ring quickly but Sabin drove him into the corner with it to take control. Sabin hit a twisting suplex on the ladder and Hardy came right back with a back drop on it. Hardy followed with a trash can shot for two.

Hardy went for a table but broke it and so had to get another one. He walked past one to get the one he used. Hardy set the table in the corner and lifted Sabin. Sabin reversed it into a ranna. Jeff fought back and ran up the buckle but Sabin crotched him on the top and then hit him with a chair in the back. He tied Hardy in the tree of woe and then a baseball slide with a chair to the face.

Sabin climbed the buckle and Hardy no sold everything to hit him with a chair. He hit a kick in the corner off the chair and clothesline Sabin to the floor. He set Sabin on the table he ignored earlier and went to the top rope. He jumped off for a splash but Sabin moved and Hardy crashed and burned. Sabin rolled Hardy in the ring and setup the table Hardy had put in the corner. He set Hardy on it and jumped off the top. Hardy got the knees up for a tough looking spot. Hardy hit whisper in the wind and setup the ladder. He chit the senton over the ladder for the win…

Jeff Hardy advanced in the TNA Championship Tournament at 10:39.

Trainers and Velvet Sky checked on Sabin to end the show…

Shore's Slant: A good match that made good use of the shortcuts. I would have been happier with a straight match since it's a title tournament but TNA has to gimmick everything up. The biggest problem with that is that this crowd now has to sit through a submission match next. Angle and Aries can have a great match but it's going to be compared to this match which isn’t fair when you consider all the shortcuts this one had.

All in all a pretty good episode of Impact that Angle and Roode carried on their shoulders. The lack of wrestling until the end was frustrating but forgivable, and there were no new logic problems created that I saw. 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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