TNA iMPACT
January 21st 2010
TNA began tonight with your usual epilepsy giving firework display, followed by the ramblings of the commentators known as Mike Tenay and Taz. They go on about this night being the turning point for TNA, a new beginning (another one?) and how this is the night where TNA turn the corner and become the big promotion they were destined to be.
Tenay and Taz run down the card with us, announcing four matches. Two notable matches are Bobby Lashley facing off against the man who knocked him unconscious at Genesis, Abyss. Then we’ve got as one of our higher card matches a five-man elimination match featuring Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Homicide, Suicide and Brian Kendrick. They announce that the winner of this match will also receive an X-Division title match.
|rockhouse|
Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff step out onto the entrance ramp to a great applause from the crowd. They strut down the ring, with Hogan performing a few of his more famous poses. Hogan enters the ring first. The Hulkster steps straight over the ropes, while Bischoff swiftly steps through the second and third ropes.
Hogan begins to speak about how this is a new beginning for TNA, yada, yada, yada. However then he moves on to thanking the fans in attendance and at home for tuning in tonight and at Genesis and helping them in their to becoming a household name all around the globe. Hogan suddenly begins to sound more serious.
He says that at Genesis we saw the debut of many great superstars, emphasizing Mr. Anderson in this list and praising a team and a knockout who managed to pick up wins earning them there respected titles. Despite this Hogan says that he mainly out here to discuss what happened in the Main event.
Bischoff cuts Hogan off just as he is about to speak and asks the fans if they are happy with what went down in the Genesis event. The fans boo loudly, clearly on Angles side on this one (unrealistic, but a necessity) and Bischoff says him and Hogan agree. So he says that Angle deserves one more shot!
|get ready to fly|
AJ steps out onto the ramp, ultra serious face, with Ric Flair beside him, who is joking around, woo’ing at the fans who in return shower the duo in jeers. AJ enters the ring after Flair, mimicking his every move. Styles snatches the microphone from Eric Bischoff saying that he cannot let Angles get another opportunity at the TNA title.
Flair backs this up saying it was written down in a contractual agreement that if AJ Styles defeated Kurt Angle at Genesis, Angles wouldn’t get another title shot for the remainder of the year. Hogan counters this saying that while this is true, it also stated that the agreement could be terminated at any time if Angles was to prove himself. What perfect timing.
|gold metal|
Angle becomes the fifth man of the segment. He is focused and ready, not taking his eyes of AJ Styles once. Angle doesn’t enter the ring, instead stays at the top of the ramp. He says firmly and confidently, whatever I have to do to prove myself, I will do. Angle drops the microphone and leaves, as we go into a commercial break.
We return just in time for our first match of the night.
|singles match|
|Orlando Jordan vs. Eric Young w/ Kiyoshi|
A general face versus dirty heel match, with Orlando Jordan getting the upper hand often in the match, only to lose all momentum by the interference of Kiyoshi and the dirty tactics of Eric Young. However he did eventually manage to bury the hatchet and get a debut win over the Global Champion after hitting a Blackout.
|winner @ 7:07 Orlando Jordan|
After the match ends, Young and Kiyoshi have a large disagreement, over Kiyoshi seemingly not doing enough to help Young pick up the win. Young leaves the ring without who does too eventually leave. We cut backstage after a break to see Eric Bischoff walking towards Hulk Hogan’s office. Before he opens the door, he is stopped by a certain Mr. Anderson.
Anderson asks if he has a match tonight. Bischoff answers no, but if he wants one next week, he can have one. Mr. Anderson smiles cockily, but it’s short lived as Bischoff suddenly announces he’ll be taking on Samoa Joe! Eric winks at Anderson, before walking back into Hogan’s office. Anderson grits his teeth and walks away with his collected approach to things still intact.
|singles match|
|Abyss vs. Bobby Lashley|
A pretty huge match-up sees these two freakishly strong men go toe to toe in a wild match. After an intense battle between the two, Bobby Lashley gets the win after interference from Mr. Anderson, the man who beat Abyss at Genesis. Abyss, on the verge of getting the win, delivers a huge black hole slam. He gets the pin, but Anderson dragged the referee out of the ring. After a confrontation between Abyss and Anderson, Abyss turned around to be met by a huge spear.
|winner @ 8:43 Bobby Lashley|
After the match, Anderson entered the ring with Lashley and they began a beat down on Abyss. Abyss, in a mangled mess in the TNA ring is left, as Anderson and Lashley leave together, holding their hands up.
|the band|
Kevin Nash, Syxx-Pac and Scott Hall step out onto the entrance ramp, as they are met with boos. They are wearing newly revealed “BAND” shirts. All three men enter the ring simultaneously and Nash takes the microphone first, naturally. He says that basically what happened at Genesis was completely in the past now and that the little mishap was simply a scratch on the surface of The Band’s ever growing greatness.
Scott Hall takes the mic next; stating that The Band will eventually become the strongest faction in TNA, saying that ‘Against all Odds’ is their starting point. He says it will be the place where The Band acquires the TNA Tag Team Titles for the first time in TNA history, on just their second ever pay-per-view appearance.
|te gusta o no/sleeping giant|
Matt Morgan and Hernandez enter the iMPACT zone with their TNA Tag Team Titles strapped around their waists. Morgan and Hernandez stand proud at the top of the ramp, looking at The Band. Morgan begins his speaking part of the segment, asking why exactly The Band think they deserve to get a tag title shot already.
He says that they have only just formed as a tag team and there are plenty of other teams on the TNA roster who have been waiting long enough for an opportunity like this to arise. Syxx-Pac takes the mic this time, saying that on behalf of Nash and Hall as well, he has no problem obliterating any other teams in order to prove they should get Tag Title shots.
Hernandez says that if that is so, how about they do it now! The crowd are pleased by Hernandez’s abrupt and direct entry into the conversation with a bold statement right off the bat. He says that if they really want to prove themselves they’ll take on all comers in this ring right now!
Nash and Hall looks bemused and are about decline but before they can Syxx-Pac accepts the offer. Hernandez and Morgan are taken back by Pac’s sudden confidence but eventually they announce that any team who want to prove themselves too can enter the ring.
|take a fall|
Robert Roode and James Storm, Beer Money, step into the iMPACT zone to a huge cheer from the TNA fans. The Band starts to prepare for the match when suddenly...
|watch out, watch out|
The fans give a mixed reaction as Team 3D too put their names forward for a match with The Band. Syxx-Pac gulps, wishing he had never said anything. Mike Tenay makes a few comments on how this must mean a three-way match as if we didn’t know already. We go into a quick commercial break and upon return all three teams are in the ring, ready to begin.
|three-way tag team match|
|Beer Money Inc. vs. Team 3D vs. The Band (Syxx-Pac + Scott Hall w/Kevin Nash)
The match is full of hard hitting action with Brother Ray dishing out the majority of the beatings, but it is actually him who gets pinned once the dust is settled. The Band win this one after some sneaky wrestling from Syxx-Pac who capitalized on James Storm’s super kick to Brother Ray. Storm delivered the move, but was quickly thrown out of the ring by Pac who then proceeds to cover a bleeding Brother Ray.
|winners @ 12:34 The Band|
We go backstage to see Desmond Wolfe in the interview area along side Christy Hemme. He basically recaps what happened earlier in the night regarding AJ Styles and Kurt Angle and he backs up the voices of Styles and Flair. He says that Angle missed his chance at Genesis and if anyone should be given a shot it should be him.
Angles steps into the view of the camera and looks at Wolfe, reminding him that the last time they met in the squared circle; it was Angle who came out on top. Wolfe’s serious face suddenly turns into a smirk as he asks how about we settle their differences once and for all in the ring later. Angle accepts and the match is set in stone.
We return to the iMPACT zone ready for our fifth match of the night.
|x-division number one contenders’ elimination match|
|Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Homicide vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Suicide|
The first elimination comes around 3 minutes into the match when Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin deliver some classic tag team moves on Homicide. However, what they don’t realize is that the Suicide/Brian Kendrick brawl prior to this has ended and Suicide is stalking them. He jumps up onto the ropes and flied taking both of the Guns out. He follows this with a combo of moves on Homicide and to finish him off, the Suicide Solution.
The second elimination is Chris Sabin by Brian Kendrick and the third is Suicide by Brian Kendrick, both men falling to the same fate; The Face Breaker Knee Smash. In the final moments of the match, Alex Shelley and Brian Kendrick remain in the ring as Shelley gets a number of near falls on his opponent. Kendrick however, does in fact get the win after reversing out of the Shellshock and hitting the Sliced Bread
|winner @ 10:22 Brian Kendrick|
After the match, Brian Kendrick cuts a promo hyping up his X-Division title match. He says that he will revolutionize the X-Division and he will become the best, most charismatic, most athletic champion of all time. He says that wrestlers across the world will be at their knees begging for my advice and teachings. His speech is interrupted however, when Amazing Red steps into the iMPACT zone. Red cuts a generic speech about how Kendrick doesn’t have enough pride and heart to take the title off him. Kendrick blindsides Red when he is leaving the ring, taking him out with his microphone leaving a strong message.
We go into a commercial break as Taz and Tenay leave us with the message that when we return, the main event will be upon us. Taz botches his lines... again. When we return we see AJ Styles at ringside on commentary with Ric Flair standing behind him. AJ is doing his duties well, bitching out Angle with Tenay defending Kurt and Taz impartial.
|singles match|
|Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle|
This was a classic match for these two bitter rivals and contenders the TNA Championship. Wolfe got the advantage at the beginning but Kurt quickly levelled the playing fields and it stayed quite tight right up to the end of the match. Eventually Kurt Angle got a big break after reversing the Tower of London, getting the Ankle Lock locked in. Despite Desmond Wolfe looking as though he could break up the hold, Ric Flair distracted the ref while AJ Styles cracked Angle over the head with his title belt. Wolfe reluctantly pinned Angle to win the match.
|winner @ 14:56 Desmond Wolfe|
The show is ended with the scene of Ric Flair and AJ Styles standing over a bleeding Kurt Angle. Desmond Wolfe is walking up the entrance ramp looking quite disappointed at the events that have just transpired.
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