9/28 TNA Impact Recap (No Surrender Fallout)
It has been a huge week for TNA as we are only four days removed from the No Surrender PPV – the PPV that included the blockbuster announcement that Kurt Angle is heading to TNA. Also, what does the new Vince Russo era have in store for TNA fans? We’ll find out tonight on Impact.
Impact begins with the video package aired at the No Surrender PPV showing that Kurt Angle is coming to TNA.
The Impact intro plays as the fireworks go off in the Impact Zone. Mike Tenay hypes tonight’s show as it will feature a Bound For Glory press conference and they will also see some of the fallout from No Surrender. Tenay also announces that Angle is heading to TNA, for those of you hiding under a rock.
Mike Tenay and Don West also run down some of the other, non-Angle, happenings at the PPV this past Sunday as AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels regained the NWA Tag Team Championship from LAX in the Ultimate X match. Also, after keeping his winning streak alive, Samoa Joe walked out of his match against Jeff Jarrett with the NWA World
Title. After discussing the PPV, Tenay and West also tell the fans about TNA’s move to primetime on November 16th.
Match 1: Lance Hoyt vs. Jeff Jarrett (non-title match)
Lance Hoyt is attacked from behind by Jeff Jarrett while walking down the ramp during his introduction. Jarrett, wearing street clothes, begins beating Hoyt all the way to the ring. Inside the ring, Jarrett takes his belt off and begins to whip Hoyt in the back.
The action spills to the outside and Jarrett bashes the head of Hoyt against the announce table followed by a chair to the gut. Hoyt is thrown over the railing as the mugging makes its way through the crowd. Jarrett sends Hoyt into the set a couple of times as a loud “Joe” chant makes its way through the audience.
Jarrett and Hoyt make their way back to the ring area and Jarrett continues to use his belt to his advantage. After a few more whips, Jarrett starts to choke Hoyt with his belt as the referee calls for the bell and throws this contest out.
Winner of the Match: Lance Hoyt by disqualification without one offensive move.
After the match, Jarrett grabs a mic and takes off his shirt to reveal the welts on his back from the Fans Revenge match at No Surrender. He tells Cornette that he wants his NWA World Title back from Samoa Joe by the end of the night or Joe will be left in a pool of his own blood, which will be on Cornette’s head.
We head to the Bound For Glory press conference. Cornette is heading it up and has three wrestlers on each side of him – two of which are Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell. Cornette announces that at Bound For Glory it will be Samoa Joe vs. Raven vs. Brother Runt vs. Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match.
Also, already signed for the event is Senshi vs. Chris Sabin for the X Division Title and, of course, Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett – career vs. title. Cornette follows that up by saying the Kurt Angle will also be a part of Bound For Glory, which he will announce later. Tenay says we will stay with the press conference all night.
Samoa Joe is shown backstage by the entrance ramp with the World Title in his hands.
- Commercial break –
Austin Starr/Bound For Glory video airs. Starr says that at Bound For Glory, TNA will become “star struck.”
Match 2: Samoa Joe vs. Raven
Samoa Joe comes to the ring with the NWA World Title in his possession. Raven makes his way through the crowd. The bell sounds as both men stand face-to-face staring each other down. The two trade blows back and forth to start the match off. Samoa Joe sends Raven flying over the ropes with a kick to the face. Joe goes for a suicide dive but Raven is able to counter by holding up a steel chair.
Jeff Jarrett is shown watching the match backstage on a monitor. Brother Runt comes down to the ring and begins to choke Raven from behind with a chain as Joe distracts the referee. Brother Runt takes Raven down to the mat and Joe finishes him off with a rear naked choke.
Winner of the Match: Samoa Joe via submission.
After the match, Brother Runt once again makes his way into the ring to talk smack to Joe. Runt tries to leave the ring but Joe stops him. Runt slaps the face of Joe, who answers back with a punch of his own. Brother Runt then gets hoisted up into the air by Joe, who press slams him over the top rope and onto Raven.
Abyss makes his way down the ramp. Joe meets him in the ring and the two beat each other. Joe lands a clothesline on Abyss, which sends him over the top rope. Abyss, Runt and Raven battle it out on the outside as Joe takes the World Title and heads backstage. Jim Cornette meets Joe on the ramp and asks for the title back. Joe tells Cornette to tell either Sting or Jarrett to get it from him.
- Commercial break –
A video recap of Christian Cage vs. Rhino at No Surrender was aired, which brings us back to the pre-taped press conference. Rhino is at the podium and tells the people there that the doctors have told him to not wrestle for 12 weeks. He says that he can’t do that, not with a score to settle with Christian Cage and Bound For Glory taking place at his hometown of Detroit, Michigan, next month. He then issues a challenge to Cage for an 8 Mile Streetfight at Bound For Glory.
Match 3: Team 3D vs. Brandon Tomacelli & Vaughn Doring
Quick squash match with the returning Team 3D in control the whole time. Team 3D win the match after executing the 3D on Doring scoring the pin fall.
Winners of the Match: Team 3D by pin fall.
After the match, Brother Ray grabs a mic as the fans chant, “welcome back.” Brother Ray tells the crowd that they are now back in TNA and are refocused on becoming NWA Tag Team Champions. Ray also states that upon their return, since they have been tag champs 18 times, management told them that they could have a shot at the titles whenever they wanted. They told them that they would take a shot at the title when they earned one. Team 3D is doing it old school, starting at the bottom taking on the likes of their opponents tonight and working their way to the top of the ranks. Their quest for the titles has just begun.
A Sting vignette airs. At the end we get to see the new face of Sting, which now has a green and black Crow look on the left side of his face.
We are shown more footage of the press conference. Luger is at the podium and says that Sting has been in solitude and has been training with Bagwell and himself. He says that Sting’s match against Jarrett means the world to him and Jarrett will see a new side of Sting that he has never seen before. Bagwell adds that Sting will be victorious at Bound For Glory.
- Commercial break –
Interview footage with Luger and Bagwell are shown. Bagwell states that Sting wanted to end his career in WCW, but it didn’t end well for anyone. Luger goes on to say that Sting wanted to work for a promotion with class, which is why he came to TNA.
Backstage, Jeremy Borash is with Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett calls over Eric Young and offers him a second chance. He tells Young to go and take his title back from Samoa Joe. Young nervously refuses Jarrett’s request and Jarrett says he would deal with him later.
Match 4: The Paparazzi & Senshi vs. Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt
As the match got underway, Christian Cage made his way to the announce table. Christian accepts Rhino challenge for his 8 Mile Streetfight. Cage says that at Bound For Glory, he will make Rhino his man-bitch. On that note, Rhino makes his way to ringside but is stopped by security.
- Commercial break –
As we return, Rhino is still being held back by security. He begins to leave, but runs back to the announce table and pulls Cage over it. The two brawl in the entrance ramp and Christian makes a quick exit.
With Cage and Rhino out of the picture, we finally get to see the six-man X Division action in the ring. Glad to see the match is almost half-over with. That was sarcasm.
The match ended with all six men in the ring. Sonjay Dutt threw in a suitcase from the outside that was picked up by Johnny Devine. Jay Lethal landed a dropkick from the top rope that sent the suitcase flying into Devine. Sabin covered him to get the pin fall. During those events, the fans in the Impact Zone were heavily booing the Jackass antics of Sabin, Dutt and Lethal.
Winners of the Match: Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt
A video recap of Styles & Daniels winning the Tag Titles at No Surrender is aired. It is also announced that at Bound For Glory, Styles & Daniels will be defending the titles against LAX in the Six Sides of Steel.
- Commercial break –
A red carpet and podium are in the ring. Jim Cornette is standing at the podium as Luger and Bagwell sit in chairs on each side of him. Cornette says that with Sting training with Luger and Bagwell, he will be ready to face Jarrett at Bound For Glory. Cornette thinks that it will be Sting’s night as he announces that Kurt Angle will be involved in the match as a special ringside enforcer.
Jarrett’s music hits as he makes his way to the ring. He tells Cornette that he wanted his title back by the end of the night and he still hasn’t gotten it. Cornette tells Jarrett to get it from Samoa Joe himself. Bagwell began talking trash to Jarrett but didn’t last long before Jarrett took out both him and Luger. Samoa Joe runs out to the ring with the NWA World Title in tow and begins to brawl with Jarrett as Impact comes to a close.
Quick Results:
- Lance Hoyt defeats Jeff Jarrett by DQ
- Samoa Joe defeats Raven via submission
- Team 3D annihilate Brandon Tomacelli & Vaughn Doring
- Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt defeat the Paparazzi and Senshi by pin fall
Samoa Joe vs. Raven
Starman’s Thoughts:
Wow. After one of the biggest pay-per-views TNA has had in a long time, they follow up with this. I don’t even know where to start.
I like what they are doing with Samoa Joe and the title. I guess we’ll have to wait next week to see if he still has it. However, what I don’t like is what match they put him in at Bound For Glory. A Monster’s Ball match against Raven, Brother Runt and Abyss? Did I just miss something? How did Joe get put into this match with the other three that are already working a program together? Not a good place to put one of the biggest stars on the rise during what is being billed as the “biggest pay-per-view of the year.”
I know Impact is only an hour long, but there was not one mention of the No Surrender undercard. You would think that they would at least show a Shane Douglas/Naturals video package about them winning the Triple Chance Battle Royal or some backstage interview with Borash or something. Furthermore, I guess the shot the Naturals won at No Surrender will be put on hold for some time, as Styles & Daniels will face LAX at Bound For Glory.
Cage accepted Rhino’s challenge to an 8 Mile Streetfight. Let’s hope for the sake of TNA fans around the world that it is not a rap contest.
The X Division is quickly becoming a joke. The match tonight was basically pre-empted by the action going on outside the ring with Cage and Rhino that by the time the match returned to focus, all of the life had been sucked out of it, which is sad considering that Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Senshi and Jay Lethal can put on great matches.
Additionally, the Jackass antics have got to stop, and stop soon. I don’t mind them doing a promotion with a brand or movie or whatever, but the Jackass tie-in is over with. I was glad to hear the crowd in the Impact Zone boo the ending of the match. Hopefully, this will give TNA a message to stop doing that angle. I don’t care if it is jai alai with oranges or a good old fashioned antiquing, please stop. The shopping cart and bowling ball was enough. I don’t remember seeing any type of Morphoplex tie-in like that.
Since we are on the topic of matches that have the life sucked out of them, I will go as far as saying all of them were sub par tonight.
The opening bout ended in a disqualification after Jarrett mauled Hoyt in and out of the crowd. Why did it last that long before the ref called for the bell?
It was good to see Team 3D in action again, but did they literally have to start at the bottom? I didn’t think there was a team lower than Maverick Matt and Kazarian.
You know when I have to pick a two-minute match with Samoa Joe against Raven as the match of the night, something is wrong.
TNA’s biggest acquisition has come to TNA in the name of Kurt Angle. Angle got some hype tonight, but is TNA really going to make the fans wait until Bound For Glory to see or hear from him? I’m starting to think so. I’m not saying that he should have wrestled his first TNA match on Impact tonight or anything, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a pre-taped interview or something from Angle to hold my interest over until the PPV.
Today in Wrestling History: Rob Van Dam defeats Christian in a ladder match to win his fourth Intercontinental Championship on Monday Night Raw, live in Chicago, IL. 2003.
Posted by: starman on 9.29.2006 at 2:15 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Blockbuster Announcement Pays Off Big Time
Early last week, it was announced by TNA that there was going to be a major announcement going down at the No Surrender PPV. Shortly thereafter, rumors spread across the Internet that TNA had rehired Vince Russo to head up the booking/creative department. According to some, this was going to be the big announcement.
For those of you not familiar with Russo, he was the lead creative man in charge during the WWF’s rise to the top of the wrestling world in the late 90’s. After a spat between him and Vince McMahon, he left the WWF and headed south to WCW. People at the time thought it was going to re-ignite the Monday Night War battle between WWF and WCW.
It didn’t.
With Russo at the helm of the controls, the World Title landed their way around the waists of actor, David Arquette, and even Vince Russo himself. Less than two years with the company, WCW would be bought out by the WWF. After the demise of WCW, Russo would popup from time to time in TNA both as a creative figure and an on-screen character.
Many wrestling fans have been hypercritical of Russo’s booking style. Sure, it worked great in the WWF, but that was all under the watchful eye of Vince McMahon. In WCW, it was the opposite. He did whatever it was that Turner/Time/Warner would let him get away with. Fans spoke frequently about his all too confusing storylines and some have even single-handedly blamed him for the death of WCW.
When news broke about TNA hiring him as the creative lead for the company, TNA’s major announcement at No Surrender turned into a bust… or did it?
People from within TNA refuted that Vince Russo had nothing to do with the announcement. It was something major, something groundbreaking, something historical, and Vince Russo was none of that.
Tonight at the end of pay-per-view, Jim Cornette announced to all of the fans in the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL, that starting on November 16th, TNA Impact would finally be moving to primetime at 9 PM/8 PM Central on SpikeTV. 
However, that wasn’t the major announcement. Cornette told the audience that he was going to leave the announcement up to the person who was scheduled to make it – and that is when Kurt Angle made his announcement through a pre-taped segment that he is coming to TNA.
This is a huge announcement for TNA, which lived up to all of the hype that they put into it. I, personally, would have never thought that Angle would ever go over to TNA, even after he was let go by the WWE.
As I stated in an earlier entry today, I am now the TNA Impact recap writer for Gerweck.net, and what a better time than now to have that position. I can’t wait to see what is in store for all of the TNA fans this coming Thursday.
Today in Wrestling History: Kurt Angle announces that he is coming to TNA at the No Surrender PPV in Orlando, FL. This makes the fourth “promotion” in the span of a year for Angle as he went from Raw to Smackdown then ECW and finally to TNA. 2006.
Posted by: starman on 9.24.2006 at 10:56 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
A Star is Born
You don’t have to search far on the Internet to find wrestling news related Web sites. As a matter of fact, they are about a dime a dozen. However, to find a wrestling news site of good quality, well, that may take some time.
It has to be at least eight years ago when I first laid eyes on one of these sites. I can’t even remember what I was even searching for when I came across one.
Many sites back then, and even some today, would post “news” that wasn’t even real in order to gain visitors. I can’t remember how many times I read that Steve Austin had quit the WWF and had signed a contract with WCW and will be debuting on Nitro next week.
After doing some extensive searching and weeding through the crap web sites, I came across two that were legitimate news sites. Those two were the Internet Outlaws and the Mayhem.
At the time, the Internet Outlaws (www.internetoutlaws.com) was the site I went to most frequently. The site had noteworthy news, show reviews and columns. Unfortunately the site had to close its doors shortly after I became hooked. Thanks to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, I was able to find a snapshot of what it had looked like during that time period. Not all of the graphics work correctly, but you should at least get the idea.
After doing some searching on Google, I was able to find out that the site was actually relaunched shortly after it closed down, but the man that was in charge of it was looking for someone to buy the site from him. My guess is that a buyer never was found since the site is no longer there.
The Mayhem (www.themayhem.com) on the other hand, was the site that I turned to once the Internet Outlaws closed down. Much like the Internet Outlaws, it featured reliable news and reviews, but it also featured one more thing – popup ads.
Yes, good ‘ol popup ads in the time before popup blockers, and if that wasn’t annoying enough, a new popup ad would rear its ugly head on every news article you clicked on. It wasn’t long before that started to wear thin on my nerves and I was out looking for another news source.
On a side note, the Mayhem is still alive and kicking today, except it has been renamed No DQ. However, some things remain the same, such as a popup ad for every news article you read.
My quest for a new wrestling news site didn’t take too long. Actually, I didn’t even have to search on the Internet for it at all. Ironically, I found the new site by reading a Saturday edition of the Fargo Forum – the same company who also made AreaVoices possible.
Back in the day, the Forum would run a weekly wrestling column in Saturday’s sports section called “Wrestling With Attitude.” A man named Steve Gerweck wrote the column, and he had a wrestling related site in his name called gerweck.net.
If his column was good enough for my hometown paper, then his Web site should be good enough for me too. I decided to check it out and I was hooked. This was back in 2000. Since then, there have been very few days that I have not been to his site.
Sure, there are “big” wrestling news sites out there. Some of the bigger ones are the Wrestling Observer (www.wrestlingobserver.com), which is run by dirt sheet king, Dave Meltzer. Then there is 1Wrestling (www.1wrestling.com). Bill Apter, the same man behind the successful Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine, controls that site. Finally, the Pro Wrestling Torch (www.pwtorch.com) rounds out the big three in my mind. This site is owned and maintained by Wade Keller.
All three of those sites started out as a print newsletter or magazine. And much like newsletters and magazines, those sites are loaded with advertisements. Just visit the homepage of 1Wrestling once and you’ll be greeted with three popup ads. That doesn’t include the ten other ads on the page itself.
The PW Torch also has three popup windows waiting for you on the homepage, however, the site does have an ads-free pay version. If you don’t feeling like buying a subscription, you can still access the site but you will be bombarded with ads – seven ads per news page.
Now I know Web sites need to have advertising on the pages to help cover the costs of hosting and bandwidth amongst other things. Sure, a few ads won’t bother me at all, but I shouldn’t have to either close several popup windows or scroll half way down the page to even begin reading a single sentence.
That is one of the reasons why I like Gerweck.net. His site not only posts articles several times a day, but he also has very few annoying banner ads on the site, and for the most part, no popup ads to speak of. Only once will you see a popup ad on his site and that is when you vote on a poll, in which I believe the ad comes from pollhost.com.
Furthermore, his site is very simple and clean. Many wrestling news sites have things scattered all over the place, that even me, who spends umpteen hours of the day on the Internet, can find it hard to locate what I am looking for.
Finally, his site is usually right on the money when it comes to accuracy and reliability. Which brings back the issue of quality.
All of the reasons stated are why his site, and only his site, got a link under my Web Sites Links on my blog over there on the right side. The other three I don’t consider being news sites.
Well, I guess I can add one more reason.
Back on July 25th, I wrote an entry to this blog called “Still Alive.” In it, I stated that since I had been busy with other projects, I hadn’t been writing as frequently as I would have liked to. I also said that some of the projects would be written about in this very blog.
A few weeks prior to that post, I had read on Gerweck.net that he was in need of a TNA Impact recap writer. Figuring that I never miss a show and have had about nine months of writing experience under my championship belt, I would throw in my hat and I contacted Steve Gerweck about possibly writing for his site. I threw in a link to my blog as a sample of my writing ability.
I wasn’t really expecting to hear back, so it came to me as a surprise to find a reply from him waiting for me in my inbox the next day. He thanked me for my interest and said that he received many e-mails from people wanting to do the recap, but my e-mail impressed him the most. He then asked how quickly I could get the recaps done.
After some e-mailing back and forth between the two of us, I began writing weekly recaps of TNA Impact for his site the following Thursday. Starting on July 17th, 2006, the Starman became a contributing writer for a Web site has been visiting for the past six years.
He usually posts my show reviews on Friday mornings. Most of the time, he posts a quick rundown of the nights events himself for the time being until my review is done. This past week, though, was the first time I noticed this – in his quick recap, he posted a note saying that the Starman will be doing a full recap on Friday morning.
Yes, the Starman has made it big time. No, the Starman isn’t getting paid for this either. I am doing from the love in my heart for both wrestling and for the wrestling fans. Much like the reasons I am writing the Squared Circle.
Starting this Thursday, I will be posting my TNA Impact show recaps on this blog as well as on Gerweck.net. I guess you can kind of say it is syndicated Starman.
Today in Wrestling History: During a leather strap match between Jerry “the King” Lawler and Tazz at the Unforgiven PPV, Raven makes a surprising debut to assist Tazz in defeating the King in front of a crowd in Philadelphia, PA. 2000.
Posted by: starman on 9.24.2006 at 2:46 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid
ECW is known for pushing the envelope. Even with the brutality of the matches that involve barbed wire, tables, chairs and thumbtacks, there is a line that should not be crossed. On Tuesday night, that line wasn’t just crossed, but it had dirt kicked over it and spit on.
The sad part about it is the fact that it didn’t happen during a match. It was also so subtle that many people may not have even realized it had happened. The “it” that I am talking about involved Matt Striker, who was on the mic at the time, and a certain tasteless comment he made about the untimely and tragic death of Steve Irwin, better known as the Crocodile Hunter.
Matt Striker, the former schoolteacher who was fired for using sick time to perform at WWE events, was jawing to the crowd. He was telling them how Columbus, GA, was nothing more than a city full of dumb jocks, and that he was superior to them all because of his intellect. He then threw in a comment about how he was also smart enough not to swim with stingrays.
Obviously, if he was so smart, he would have known not to say something like that in the first place, let alone about something that was so unexpected that only happened a day earlier. If it was a scripted line that he was told to say, he should have had the decency to reject actually saying it. Either way, it has put both the WWE and ECW in a bad light.
Surprisingly, the WWE Chairman of the Board himself, Vince McMahon, issued a statement on Thursday apologizing for Matt Striker’s comments that were aired on television. Here is what he had to say:
"We at WWE apologize for the remark alluding to the death of Steve Irwin which was made on ECW on Sci Fi Tuesday night. The remark was, in the least, disrespectful to Mr. Irwin's fans and family."
Not only was it disrespectful, but it really didn't even fit with what Striker was saying in the first place. As a matter of fact, it really had no business being mentioned at all.
The worst part of all of this is the feeling I get that this was all part of the plan in all along – which is to make ECW seem more edgy and hardcore. In my opinion, it didn’t work, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it were true. It wouldn’t be the first time they dragged the name of the deceased through the mud.
Isn’t that right, Eddie Guerrero?
Today in Wrestling History: In a moving speech taped for WCW Saturday Night, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, dressed in a suit, tells the audience that he has to retire from wrestling due to being diagnosed with cancer. Duggan would later go through successful radiation treatment and surgery to have the cancer removed. He would return to the ring a year later.
Posted by: starman on 9.08.2006 at 2:27 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
The Goatee Isn't Fooling Anyone
On May 22nd, 2006, Chris Masters took on John Cena, who was then the WWE Champion, in a non-title match on Raw. Cena managed to defeat the Masterpiece by making him tap out to the STFU. After the match, Masters seemed to have fallen off the face of the Earth.
Prior to May 22nd, Masters had opportunities aplenty to capture gold. He had two shots at the WWE Championship, two shots at the World Tag Team Championships with his then partner, Carlito, and a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. Not bad for a person who made his WWE debut only one year prior.
However after the 22nd of May, Chris Masters disappeared from our television sets. Weeks had gone by with no sign of him. What happened?
Finally, on August 28th, the world would once again get to see Chris Masters, but this time, something was different. Sure, his first return match was against John Cena. Yes, he somehow managed to get himself into the same predicament and once again got locked into the STFU. But something wasn’t as it was before on May 22nd.
Oh, wait… I know what it is – he has a goatee now!
Damn. Does the WWE and/or Chris Masters think wrestling fans are that dumb?
If you couldn’t have guessed just by looking at him, the proclaimed “work of art” had been an avid user of steroids. Steroids, as you all know, have now been banned due to the WWE’s wellness program. Due to failing a random test, Masters got to sit the summer out - or he was on a “sabbatical,” as the announcers love to call it.
Upon his return, he sported a new goatee and was what Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were saying “leaner and meaner.” Yes, losing 60 pounds of muscle will do that to you. No, growing in a goatee will not hide that fact.
If you need a refresher to compare the Chris Masters of May 2006, to the Chris Masters of August 2006, look no further than to these two photos.
Sure, he was once proclaimed as a “work of art,” seemingly chiseled out of marble or granite, but now I don’t think Masters could even scratch talc.
Today in Wrestling History: The Enforcers, Larry Zbyszko & Arn Anderson defeated Rick Steiner & Bill Kazmaier in the finals of a tournament to win the vacated WCW Tag Team Titles at Clash of the Champions XVI: Fall Brawl, in Augusta, GA. 1991.
Posted by: starman on 9.05.2006 at 11:40 PM | Comments (134) | Permalink
