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Impact: The new champ rolls in
By
CHRIS SOKOL - SLAM! Wrestling
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New champ! New champ! New champ! Christian Cage
finally reached a career high after capturing the NWA World
Heavyweight Championship from the man once referred to as "The King of the
Mountain." Now Cage stands atop that mountain with a target placed on his chest.
He will walk with the title in hand, but how long can he avoid the
POOOUNNNCEEE! Period.
We get an overview of Against All Odds, one of
TNA's best PPVs in quite some time, which leads us into...
Christian Cage's first appearance as champion.
Cage talked about his rise to the title and about having "It." He talked about
all the champions that came before him, from Ric Flair to Ricky Steamboat and
back again. Cage celebrated his victory, but also threw in a few words for the
number one contender, "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown. He told Brown that at
Destination X, he would be facing "It," because that's how he rolls.
In the back, Jeff Jarrett whined about how he was
screwed over at Against All Odds. However, he agreed that he would move on. Team
Canada's Coach, Scott D'Amore was with him and presented him the tape that Alex
Shelley took via his Shelley Cam. He and Jarrett got ready as they were going to
check it out. Can we please drop this and move on?
Match One - THREE WAY DANCE TO DETERMINE
WHO ENTERS TEAM TNA IN THE WORLD X CUP - "The Prince of Punk" Shannon Moore vs.
Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal
Excellent "X match" here. Lethal really has a
strong following no matter where he goes. Moore got a few shots on on Lethal and
Strong, dropping a leg and executing a nice suplex. Strong and Lethal didn't
take that lightly, firing back on Moore with a backbreaker.
This left Strong wide open, as Lethal hit the Full Nelson Backdrop Suplex for
the win.
Winner Via Pinfall - Jay Lethal
Next up was a video package that highlighted Ron
"The Truth" Killings. Where does he go from here?
In the promo area, Jeremey Borash stood by with
The James Gang and "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. BG and Kip were all fired up about
LAX, laying down the gauntlet on them. Armstrong added to the frustration,
complaining about how it's always a three-on-two attack. He went on to say that
it would all change at Destination X, because "The Bullet" was going to even the
odds in a six-man tag match.
Match Two - LAX (Konnan, Homicide and Machete) vs. LA MIGRA (Michael Modest, Donovan Morgan and Ryan Drago)
Squash match! LAX tore apart La Migra, finishing
them off with the Top Rope Bulldog Slam. After the match, the beatdown
continued, before Konnan got on the mic and bad mouthed Bob Armstrong, telling
him that he would send him back to the hospital.
Winners Via Pinfall - LAX (Konnan, Homicide and Machete)
In his office, "The Living Legend" Larry Zybysko
was speaking with "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe. Zybysko told Joe
that the Championship Commitee was very proud of all of his accomplishments, but
at Destination X, he would be in a match that he has yet to participate in, an
Ultimate X match, alongside "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles and "The Fallen Angel"
Christopher Daniels. Joe left saying that soon they might be calling him "The
Legend" as opposed to "The Living Legend." This is probably the best way for Joe
to drop the title and enter the Heavyweight title scene.
Match Three - "The Fallen Angel"
Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries
The match started with Aries getting the momentum
going in his favor, delivering a few chops and punches to Daniels. Daniels
mounted his comeback, taking Aries down with an STO. He went to deliver The
Angel's Wings, but instead applied The Rear Naked Choke. Before Aries could tap
out, Samoa Joe hit the ring and set forth on a path of rage. Joe took a steel
chair and went to crack Daniels in the head, but Styles came down and turned the
tables on him. Styles then told Daniels that he didn't save him for the sake of
saving him. Back to intersecting storylines, what happened to the Styles/Moore
feud?
Winner - No Contest
In the back, Team 3D and Ron "The Truth" Killings
were chatting about their match with Team Canada.
In the lockeroom area, Jeff Jarrett and company
were getting ready to check out the Jackie Gayda footage when she burst into the
room and told Jarrett that he won and she was leaving TNA. She said that in
order for that to happen, she would need the tape back. Jarrett refused to give
it to her, telling her that she wasn't going anywhere. Jarrett continued to
torture Gayda, telling her that he was in control. Eric Young was in the room
and when Jarrett mentioned Sting, he was quick to remind him that Sting wasn't
gone. D'Amore smacked Young and told him that Sting was indeed out of TNA.
Jarrett, after listening to Young sent Shelley back out to pick up footage of
Sting. I like the Sting ideas, but Gayda, not so much.
Match Four - SIX MAN TAG TEAM MATCH -
Team Canada (Petey Williams, Bobby Roode and A-1) vs. Ron "The Truth" Killings
and Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon)
The Canadians used their typical cheating tactics
to gain the upperhand in this one. Isolating members of the opposing team. The
cheating became too much and the match broke down into an all out brawl. Team 3D
took Williams and Roode to the outside and proceeded to send them all over the
place, while in the ring, Killings hit A-1 with an Axe Kick for the three count.
After the match, AMW came down and attacked Killings, putting the boots to him.
This prompted "The War Machine" Rhino to make his way to the ring to help out.
He threw "The Tennessee Cowboy" James Storm out of the ring, before hitting "The
Wildcat" Chris Harris with the Gore! Gore! Gore!
Winners - Ron "The Truth" Killings
and Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon)
In the back, "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown told us
that he would show us how to hunt. He then barged into Christian Cage's
lockeroom as we left the Impact Zone.
TNA does have some promising feuds and great
stars. The current Heavyweight Title scene is awesome. There is actually
something interesting going on. The whole Sting angle is another tremendous
addition. Against All Odds was a great PPV. TNA is back on the ball and with any
luck, they'll keep rolling.
Chris Sokol is from Long Island, NY and wants to know if Greg Oliver ever gained the acceptance he desired into Team Canada?
