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Styles title match headlines Impact!
By
STEVE JOHNSON - SLAM! Wrestling
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The inaugural edition of Total Nonstop Action
Wrestling “Impact!” was a hit with many wrestling fans
last week.
But nothing is more challenging than satisfying hard
core fans while trying to provide enough basic
information about the promotion so that newbies don’t
feel as though they’re walking into the second hour of
a movie.
Perhaps that accounts for the occasional
breathlessness of announcers Mike Tenay and Don West
on the broadcast, taped June 10 at Universal Studios
in Orlando, Fla., for next day airing on Fox Sports
Net.
Between plugging TNA’s weekly Wednesday pay-per-views,
calling five fast paced matches, and trying to explain
the ongoing feuds and personalities in TNA to novices,
it’s a sure bet that Tenay and West needed a few sips
of water after an entertaining, but very busy, show.
West, especially, emphasized the reasonable $10 price
of the PPV at almost every opportunity.
It will be interesting to see if “Impact!” delivers
more in the way of detailed back stories on future
telecasts to underscore the importance of the weekly
PPVs to the new viewers it hopes to capture with
“Impact!”
Notable quotable: “There’s a little problem
with you. Vince Russo has conversated with me.”
Dusty Rhodes, employing a new conjugation of
“converse” as he spoke to Jeff Jarrett
Match one: Kid Kash (with Dallas) vs Amazing
Red
Tenay set up this match as a sing that Kash is bent on
returning to the X Division “with a bang” after losing
the TNA tag team title belts last week to America’s
Most Wanted. Red started out quickly, with an arm
drags and a spinning kick that floored Kash. Kash
begged for mercy, then threw Red to the floor into the
grips of Dallas. Dallas beat up Red and pressed him
back into the ring (Red had a hand in the ropes for a
little added leverage).
Kash slammed Red to the mat and delivered a pair of
second rope moonsaults, but missed a third moonsault,
this one from the tope rope, as Red brought up his
knees as a counter. With Kash on the ropes, Red
produced what Rey Mysterio calls a 619. Tenay noted,
though, that it’s a 718 to Red, since that’s his area
code. Kash went down for a count of two. Red tried to
finish off Kash with an elbow drop from the top rope,
but Kash rolled out of harm’s way. Kash caught Red
with the “money maker” his double arm underhook into
a piledriver for the pin in 4:11.
Winner Kid Kash
Shane Douglas conducted a brief interview with
Dusty Rhodes, who would serve as the judge for the X
Division title match in case of a time limit draw.
Russo interrupted Rhodes, saying he needed to speak to
him and Rhodes followed suit.
The TNA-programmed part of the show continued with a
plug for a 6-man tag match between Team Canada and
team NWA next Wednesday, which served to give away the
ending of the final bout on “Impact!”
Match two: Frankie Kazarian vs A.J.
Styles
Styles, the top good guy in the promotion, won the
X Division belt from Kazarian last Wednesday; this was
billed as the return bout. Styles caught a lot of
cheers from fans, many of whom are now standing
opposite the television camera in a “Hey mom, I’m on
TV” fashion that wasn’t evident on the first telecast.
The traded quick and crisp moves early on, with
Kazarian getting a two-count with a combination
slingshot into a leg drop off the ropes. Although
Styles was a the hero and Kazarian the villain, Tenay
astutely noted that they have similar ring
methodology.
Kazarian hit a DDT and got a two-count as the show
went to a commercial. Out of the timeout, Kazarian hit
another DDT, but Styles responded with a boot to the
face as he set up his rival for a modified Styles
Clash out of a crucifix. The move looked good, so did
Styles in 7:28. Kash and Dallas raced to the ring to
attack Styles with Heavy D making the save.
Winner: A.J. Styles
Some brief story lines David Young psyched himself
up back stage to try to end his 54-match losing
streak; sort of a TNA version of Barry Horowitz and
the Mulkeys. Didn’t work.
Match three: 3 Live Kru (Ron “The Truth”
Killings, Konnan and B.G. James) vs The Naturals
(Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas) and David
Young
Some quick stuff here. Konnan and Andy Douglas started
the match. B.G. James dropped both Douglas and Ron
Killings came in with Young, and quick pinned him in
2:46.
Winner: 3 Live Kru
Jeff Jarrett came out to proclaim his superiority, on
the basis of holding the NWA world title and the King
of the Mountain crown. Rhodes interrupted to announce
Jarrett would face Killings for the NWA title at TNA’s
second anniversary show on June 23. Rhodes told how
Killings had come to him after winning the NWA title
some time before. “Truth, a black man did not win the
heavyweight title, a man won the heavyweight title,”
Rhodes declared to some puzzlement. Well, you could
probably figure out the civil rights aspect of what he
meant
Match four: Monty Brown vs Sonny Siaki
Tenay touted this as a match of true athletes,
noting that Brown and Siaki both are former
linebackers of at least some consequence at the
college and pro level. Brown controlled most of the
contest, and two clotheslines by Siaki did not faze
the “Alpha Male;” in fact, they looked they might have
set back the wrestling clothesline by several years.
Brown, it seems, rarely hits the deck. He did hit
Siaki with a shoulder block off the ropes his
“pounce” for a pin in just 2:03.
Winner: Monty Brown
Buy the PPV time TNA announced a match between
Styles and Dallas for this Wednesday. Dallas is too
large at 6-9 to qualify for the X Division. A quick
rewind shows Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher,
a better linebacker than Siaki or Brown, throwing
Johnny Fairplay of Survivor out of the ring. Rupert
likely would have been more of a challenge for
Urlacher.
Match five: Team Canada (Eric Young, Petey
Williams and Bobby Roode with Scott D’Amore) vs Team
Mexico (Mr. Aguila, Heavy Metal and Abismo
Negro)
For the first minute, all six men were in the ring,
which showed once again how much room the six-sided
ring has to offer. Aguila, whom Tenay identified as
the former Essa Rios (in the WWE, though that company
escaped mention) took the overwhelming brunt of
punishment early on. Roode hit a knee lift, then
tagged to Williams, who hit a leg lariat for a count
of two. Young punched Aguila into the corner, where
D’Amore could pull Aguila’s head back out of the view
of the unsuspecting referee. Aguila made a comeback
with a flip and double clothesline.
Abismo Negro and Aguila went for sensational double
teams, including a simultaneous suicide dive through
the ropes. That left Heavy Metal in with Roode. As
Heavy Metal climbed to the top rope, D’Amore cracked
him with a hockey stick, causing him to crotch
himself. He was easy prey for a Roode pin and slam in
5:36 of a high-spot fest. Team Canada continued to
pound away at Team Mexico and attempted saviour Hector
Garza, wearing street clothes, for what seemed like a
long time (the Fox box block was off) until team NWA
raced in to clean house. That sets up a Canada-NWA
match for Wednesday
Winner: Team Canada
