TNA - The Road Goes Ever On...

[Jaze]

1. Will Jeff Hardy show up at the PPV? Yes

2a. Will there be any debuts at the PPV? Yes

2b. If you answered Yes to 2a - who will the debutant be? Jericho/Lesnar

3. Which team will be the overall winner of the World X Cup? Mexico

Christian Cage

Shocker

Jeff Jarrett

The Naturals

The James Gang

Teddy Hart

Edited April 6, 2006 by Jaze

[ClaRK! Kent]

NWA-TNA SACRIFICE on Pay-Per-View

Sunday, May 21st 2006

Live from the Impact-Zone at Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida

"In times of war…"

Jeff Jarrett's Army is shown beating down Sting, forcing him out of TNA, and then beating up Rhino three weeks ago on iMPACT!

"…do not pray for honour, amity, or surrender."

Christian Cage's title victory over Jarrett is shown, as is Scott Steiner's shocking TNA debut.

"In times of harship…"

Samoa Joe is shown performing the Muscle Buster on various X-Division stars, and winning the X title from Christopher Daniels.

"…do not wish for release."

AJ Styles' horrific beating at Joe's hands is shown.

"In times of famine…"

AMW's ruthless handcuffings are shown now, as are their various run-ins with the Naturals.

"…do not crave sustenance."

The Latin American eXchange's recent feud with the James Gang is recapped via still photographs, featuring the debut of B-Boy last week.

"In times of uprising…"

Alex Shelley's assault on Jeff Hardy is shown, with Hardy's bloodied face frozen on screen.

"…do not yearn for order."

Some images from the World X-Cup tournament are recapped now.

"In all of this… ask only that you outlive the day."

The NWA-TNA logo flashes up on screen for a brief moment, before it is replaced by a battered, battle-ravaged landscape, over which a single crow flies, looking down at the chaos below. It lands on a broken cross, and cries a mournful cry.

"Do not ask for sacrifice - sacrifice is asked of you."

With that, the landscape is replaced by a TNA video montage, featuring the very best action spots and highlight reel moments, set to the tune of "Silverfuck" by the Smashing Pumpkins. With the music still ripping out of the PA System, we head over to Stage 21 at Universal Studios in sunny Orlando - the Impact-Zone - where Mike Tenay and Don West are at the announcer's desk.

Mike Tenay: "Welcome to TNA Sacrifice! It's May 21st, 2006, and TNA is live on Pay-Per-View from Orlando, Florida! And Don, do we have a show tonight or what?"

Don West: "Oh, you said it Mike - we've got everything tonight! Samoa Joe defends the X Division title against AJ Styles after that brutal assault two weeks ago, in a no disqualification match! The James Gang and the LAX go at it again! The Naturals try to regain the NWA Tag Team titles from AMW!"

Mike Tenay: "And then you've got the World X-Cup, of course, which comes to an end tonight. And Don, how can you forget about the big ones?"

Don West: "Rhino gets his shot at Jeff Jarrett, in revenge for months of torture at his hands! And in the main event - Big Poppa Pump himself, Scott Steiner, one-on-one with Christian Cage with the World's Heavyweight title on the line!"

Mike Tenay: "It's gonna be one Hell of a show folks, don't touch that dial. Sit back and relax, because Sacrifice is gonna be off the charts."

Team Canada are out first, the entire group swinging Maple Leaf flags and trying to psyche up their representative, Teddy Hart, as he spies the large red 'X' that is situated above the ring as the prize in this Ladder Scramble match. As Hart warms up in the ring, Team Mexico's Mosco de la Merced heads out unaccompanied, with Kaz Hayashi of Team Japan right behind him. The three men start circling the ring, eyeing each other suspiciously, as "The Original Playa From the Himalaya" Sonjay Dutt makes his way down to the ring. Referee Andrew Thomas reads them the riot act, and the bout gets underway.

- World X-Cup Ladder Scramble - Sonjay Dutt (Team USA) vs. Mosco de la Merced (Team Mexico) vs. Kaz Hayashi (Team Japan) vs. Teddy Hart (Team Canada)

All four men instantly make a beeline for the ladder, which is set up in the middle of the ring. Teddy Hart gets a few steps up before Sonjay Dutt pulls him down by the tights, whilst Hayashi and Mosco begin to trade kicks and punches, forcing each other into the ropes. Dutt slings Hart across the ring and catches him on the rebound for a spinning DDT, before rolling onto him with a flipping senton splash! Dutt then pushes the ladder over, so it is balancing see-saw like on the ropes, and throws Teddy headfirst into the steel. Meanwhile, Mosco de la Merced has taken control of Hayashi, and comes out of the corner with a hurricanrana to knock him down. He follows up with a clothesline to send Kaz over the ropes, and follows outside after a baseball slide. As the two men exchange blows on the outside, however - Team Canada get involved! Bobby Roode and Petey Williams take care of the Mexican and Japanese participants, with Coach D'Amore directing traffic, and this catches the attention of Sonjay Dutt, who breaks off from Teddy Hart and starts yelling at the Canadians. All of this gives Hart the opening he needs - first, he knocks Dutt down with a dropkick to the skull, sending him tumbling out of the ring, and then runs up the see-saw pivoted ladder, launching himself off with a shooting star press to take out everybody at ringside!

Mike Tenay: "Oh my God! Teddy Hart just took everybody out - even his own Coach!"

Don West: "Williams and Roode, they got out of the way, but D'Amore got flattened like everybody else there! Team Canada will do anything to win this one!"

Dutt is the first man up from the tangle of arms and legs, and quickly disposes of D'Amore with a stiff superkick, knocking him for six. He proceeds to pick Mosco up and shovel him back into the ring, before following him in with a springboard elbow drop. Dutt then sets the ladder up in the middle of the ring and begins to climb, almost reaching the top before -

Don West: "Hayashi! Watch out!"

- Kaz hurtles off of the top rope with a dropkick, catching Sonjay in the chest and sending him down hard to the mat! The ladder stays standing, so Kaz is quick off of the mark and starts climbing, but Mosco de la Merced is up and climbing up the other side. The two men meet on top of the ladder, and start to exchange punches at the somewhat precarious height of 15 feet above the ring. Kaz starts to gain the upper hand, and almost knocks Mosco down, grabbing him by the wrist and hauling him up as if for a suplex off of the ladder. We'll never know what he was planning, however, as Teddy Hart is at the bottom of the ladder - and topples it over with a dropkick!

Mike Tenay: "Oh no!"

Don West: "Look out below!"

Kaz and Mosco go crahsing down, with Mosco catching his jaw on the top rope and whiplashing backwards to the mat, and Kaz clearing the ropes entirely, dropping clear onto the hard concrete floor with a sickening thud! Hart takes a moment to deal with a recovering Sonjay Dutt - dropping him with a vicious Hart Attack clothesline - whilst Bobby Roode and Eric Young duck into the ring and set up the ladder! Teddy then starts his climb, unopposed, and unhooks the X! Team Canada win Round 3! *¾

Don West: "Teddy Hart wins, with a little help from Team Canada!"

Mike Tenay: "And remember, Don - Round 3 of the World X-Cup is worth six points - which means that Team Canada are now in the lead with 8 points overall! And that means, folks, that the order of entry into tonight's Ultimate X match is complete - Team Japan and Team USA enter first, Team Mexico enter three minutes later, and Team Canada come in three minutes after that!"

Don West: "That's right, Mike - the points system was designed by TNA management to give the most successful team in Rounds 1-3 the latest start, so they'd enter later and be freshest in the Ultimate X match, and now Team Canada have got that position!"

Team Canada head backstage, bearing Teddy Hart on their shoulders like a conquering hero, whilst EMTs head out to deal with the other three men, who are helped backstage to a round of applause from the capacity crowd.

(MQ 79%, CR 44%, OR 61%)

Next up, Alex Shelley's music hits, and "Generation Next" himself comes strolling down to the ring, bearing the battle-damaged Paparazzi-Cam and its tripod over his shoulder, getting booed to high Heaven by the fans. He sets the camera up, pointing towards the ramp, and grabs a microphone from Jeremy Borash.

Alex Shelley: "My name is Alex Shelley, and I HAVE A PROBLEM!"

He takes a moment to compose himself, and continues.

Alex Shelley: "That problem is named Jeff Hardy - the so-called 'Charismatic Enigma.' That problem is everything - EVERYTHING - that is wrong with professional wrestling today! Overpaid, oversexed, overrated know-nothings who're more interested in how many chicks they can bang and how much they can get up their noses than in this industry!"

There's a fairly strong round of boos for that, although some "Shelley" chants do find their way into the mix.

Alex Shelley: "Oh, shut up! Boo me if you want, it's nice to see that Hardy's months away from TNA haven't diminished his hardcore fanbase. What, you all have a night off of homework? No school dance this weekend, girls? Larry Zybysko, two weeks ago, gave Jeff Hardy until tonight to return to TNA. Two weeks, or he's fired. Well guess what? Two weeks are UP, people! No more Jeff Hardy! That means no more no-shows, no more wasted paychecks, no more valuable pieces of recording equipment broken over his good-for-nothing head! It's all on Paparazzi-Cam, we're rolling right now, filming the entry-tunnel here in the Impact-Zone as Hardy DOESN'T make his triumphant return. He's finished. It's over… in fact, he's got 30 seconds left."

Shelley makes a big display of checking his watch, and a "Hardy" chant breaks out, obviously led by the teenage girls in the audience.

Alex Shelley: "He's not coming! He's not at the arena! The guy in the parking lot hasn't seen his dayglo pink Cissy-Mobile in months! I tell you now - 10 seconds, people - Jeff Hardy is… not… -"

~"Ride this… to the top!"~

Mike Tenay: "HE'S HERE!"

The Impact-Zone goes wild as Jeff Hardy's music plays, and Shelley looks like he's seen a ghost. He drops his microphone, stunned, as Hardy bursts out onto the stage in a hail of colour! Despite sporting a sizeable plaster over his head from Shelley's camera-based attack a week ago, he's still painted like the inside of a New York nightclub, and gyrating like a regular MC Hammer. Finally, he stalks down to the ring, and grabs a microphone.

Jeff Hardy: "What were you saying, Alex?"

Shelley fumbles to pick his microphone back up, but can't seem to form words.

Jeff Hardy: "I'm not what, Alex? Here? It looks to me like I am, Alex, and it looks to me like you're in trouble. You came to my home, Alex, you invaded my home and spied on me… you hit me over the face with that camera of yours, and you thought I wasn't gonna do anything about it? How stupid are you?"

Alex Shelley: "Well, uh, uh… hey! Look on the bright side - you're not gonna get fired now!"

Jeff Hardy: "No, I sure ain't, and to celebrate that - I stopped by Larry Zybysko's office on my way out here. It turns out we've got some time to kill on this Pay-Per-View, Alex - and you know what that means, don't you?"

Alex Shelley: "Uh, a merchandising initiative?"

Jeff Hardy: "You and me, Shelley. Right here, right now, one-one-one. You game?"

Shelley looks white as a sheet, and again drops his microphone. Hardy chuckles at him as he reaches down to pick it up - but Shelley instead grabs the tripod and swings it into Hardy's gut! The Charismatic Enigma doubles over, and Shelley slams the tripod down on his back! He tosses the camera to the outside, seemingly beyond caring for his equipment, and the bell rings.

(73)

- "Generation Next" Alex Shelley vs. "The Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy

Shelley continues his ill-gotten advantage in the opening moments of this impromptu match, stomping down on Hardy's back and shoving him back down to the canvas every time he tries to get back to his feet. After a few repetitions of this routine, Shelley arrogantly locks on the Border City Stretch, hoping to embarrass Hardy with a quick victory, but Hardy is able to power out of the hold! Shelley tries some more stomps, but the Charismatic Enigma grabs his foot and dragon-screws him down to the floor, following up with his trademark leg drop to the groin! Shelley rolls back to his feet and the two men exchange punches, with Hardy coming out on top and forcing the man behind the Paparazzi-Cam into the corner, following up with a frankensteiner! Hardy goes up to the top, looking for the Swanton, but -

Mike Tenay: "Shelley gets the knees up!"

Don West: "Oh man, Hardy's down. Let's see the replay - whoa, look at that impact, Hardy's back just slamming into Shelley's knees!"

Shelley regains the advantage by continuing to work on Hardy's back, suplexing him around the ring and continually raining stomps down on his back whenever there's an opening. The Charismatic Enigma does his best to fight back to his feet, but Shelley is always on hand to drop him back down again. Eventually, Hardy tries a different approach, ducking to the outside of the ring. Shelley follows him out, over the ropes with a suicide dive, but Hardy was obviously expecting it and sidesteps, shovelling his opponent into the crowd barrier! There's a "you fucked up" chant to accompany that as Hardy jumps onto the barrier himself, and runs along it tightrope-style before launching off with a dropkick to Shelley as he gets up! Shelley crawls back into the ring, but Hardy is right back on him, grabbing him and setting him up for the Twist of Fate - but Shelley escapes and rolls behind him, before grabbing him for the Shellshock - Hardy escapes as well! This time, after a boot to the gut, Hardy is able to nail the Twist of Fate, and goes up top for a Swanton, which this time connects for the 1-2-3! *¾.

Mike Tenay: "Jeff Hardy's done it! What a return to TNA, and hopefully he's shut that punk Alex Shelley's mouth once and for all!"

Hardy celebrates, to a huge "Hardy" chant from the Impact-Zone faithful, and heads backstage, leaving Alex Shelley to stew in his defeat. Furious, he starts yelling at the official, blaming him for making a fast count - and blasts him with a superkick! There's a chorus of boos for Shelley as he heads backstage, furious.

(MQ 72%, CR 70%, OR 71%)

Next up, the LAX are out with Konnan, who gives them a little pep talk as they warm up. B-Boy is still wearing his bandana, and has added a pair of sunglasses to the mix, whilst Homicide seems to be collecting gangsta-chic clichés at the rate of one per show lately. Anyway, the James Gang - minus Bullet Bob now - head out next, jawing with Konnan as he rolls to the outside, and the match gets underway.

- James Gang vs. LAX w/Konnan

As soon as the bell rings, all four men rush into the middle of the ring and start to duke it out, with the LAX forcing the James Gang to the outside to regroup, and taunting them from the safety of the ring. BG and Kip's second charge is far more successful, and they are able to dump B-Boy over the top rope, before concentrating on Homicide, using their trademark punches in tandem to knock him for six. Finally, referee Andrew Thomas breaks this up and sends Kip to the apron, leaving BG in the ring with Homicide. BG continues to use the shaky punches on Homicide, but the Notorious 187 blocks the combination-ending haymaker and almost takes his head off with a stiff lariat! Homicide kicks into gear now and brutalises BG, slamming him down to the mat with some hard suplexes and a backbreaker, before simply booting him in the teeth and tagging in B-Boy.

Don West: "Here's the newest member of the LAX - now we get to see what he can do in the ring!"

The New Age Punisher starts off with a DDT, before grabbing BG about the shoulders and proceeding to knee him in the face with both legs until he falls over - and then just dropping down and continuing to rain down with the stiff knees! Kip James rushes in to break it up with a well-placed stomp to the back of his neck, but BG is visibly dazed when he gets back up, and walks right into a hurricanrana. B-Boy tags Homicide in again and hooks his arms behind his back whilst the Notorious 187 kicks him repeatedly in the chest and stomach, before letting the New Age Punisher toss him across the ring with a tiger suplex. Homicide goes back on the offensive, this time showing off his technical repetoire, cinching in a crossface hold and again forcing a break from Kip James. This time, BG James has just enough left in him to stagger on autopilot into his corner and tag Kip in. Homicide gets a few licks in before he catches a kick attempt and lifts him up by the leg, drilling him down to the mat with a modified spinebuster! This draws Konnan onto the apron, aiming for the distraction - but BG James comes crashing down onto him from the top rope with an ax handle smash! Both of them go down on the outside, leaving Homicide alone in the ring, where Kip slams him to the mat with a jackhammer and then hits the Famouser! B-Boy rushes in for the save, but he takes a Famouser too, and Kip is able to nail the Missouri Boat Ride on Homicide for the pinfall! **

After the bout, Kip goes to work on B-Boy, who has gotten back to his feet, picking him up for a press slam and simply throwing him over the top rope onto Konnan! He follows up by dumping Homicide to the outside as well, before heading outside himself and helping his still-dazed partner to the back.

(MQ 76%, MQ 62%, OR 69%)

~"You are, you are - I am, I am!"~

Mike Tenay: "Here comes AJ Styles, Don!"

Don West: "And… wow. Check out that bandage. He looks pretty banged up, Mike."

Styles is indeed looking somewhat battered, sporting a large bandage around his head, and generally seeming a little more stiff than usual. He heads down to the ring in good spirits, though, and removes his hoodie, awaiting his opponent. Samoa Joe storms out from the entrance-tunnel, his towel still covered in Styles' blood from two weeks ago, with the X Division title slung over his shoulder. He throws the belt to referee Mike Johnson, tosses the towel aside, and barely waits for the bell before locking up with Styles.

- TNA X Division title, No Disqualifications - "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe © vs. "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles

Joe powers through the initial lock-up, tossing Styles into the ropes, but AJ comes back with a flying forearm to knock him down! The "Joe's gonna kill you" chant is quick in sparking up this evening, but Styles doesn't seem fazed, and nails another flying forearm as Joe gets back up, sending him down again. He drops a leg across the X champion's throat, and makes an instinctive cover, but Joe powers out at 1, throwing Styles up into the air! Styles tries to get back on the offensive with some kicks to the mid-section, but Joe is able to block one of them and simply upend Styles by his boot, sending his injured head bouncing off of the mat. He follows up by throwing the Phenomenal one headlong into the turnbuckle, and climbing the next nearest turnbuckle - flying kick to the head! Styles goes down like a tonne of bricks, and Joe makes the cover… Styles kicks out at 2!

Mike Tenay: "There's life in AJ!!"

Don West: "That's why they call him Phenomenal, Mike! Anybody else would have been out like a light there, with a pre-existing concussion!"

AJ bails out of the ring, hoping to catch a breather and shake some of the pain off, but the "Joe's gonna kill you" chant starts up again - just as Joe comes hurtling over the top rope with a suicide drop! They both go down in a tangle of arms and legs, with the champion getting to his feet first - and drilling AJ headfirst into the ring steps! He continues to batter Styles about the ringside area for a while, slamming him into the ring apron and the crowd barrier, before proceeding to forcibly tear off the bandage around his head!

Don West: "Oh come on! That's not right!"

Mike Tenay: "Styles has that on his head for a reason, damnit - he could get seriously hurt out there!"

Don West: "And it's no DQ, Mike, the referee can't do anything about it!"

Sure enough, referee Mike Johnson's pleas to Joe go unheeded, as he slings Styles back into the ring, and lifts him up into the air - powerbomb! 1... 2... AJ kicks out! Joe looks a little annoyed, but is able to turn the pinning predicament into an STF! AJ is screaming in the hold, and Joe is just cinching it in harder and harder, but Styles is flat-out refusing to submit! Finally, Joe's frustration gets the better of him, and he releases the hold, before whipping AJ into the turnbuckle, surely looking for the Muscle Buster. He heads over to the turnbuckle - but Styles comes flying out with a second-rope dropkick! There's fight in him yet, as he follows up with a flipping senton splash, and some kicks to the midsection. Styles heads up to the top rope. He tries a moonsault, but Joe kips up and catches him in mid-air - burning hammer! Styles looks out on the mat, now, and Joe sets him up on the turnbuckle - but decides against the Muscle Buster, opting instead for a superplex, and heads to the outside - he's got a steel chair again!

Mike Tenay: "This isn't right! Come on, how can this be allowed?"

Joe sets the chair up on the mat just like he did two weeks ago, and hauls AJ up - but Styles drops down behind him - Styles Clash onto the chair! The Phenomenal one looks set to make the cover, but decides to go high-risk to finish Joe off for good. He salutes the crowd, and launches himself off of the top for the Spiral Tap - but Joe rolls out of the way! AJ crashes and burns, and Joe locks in the Kokina Clutch! Styles is almost out, but Joe still utilises the no DQ situation, bracing himself on the ropes for more leverage - and there's nothing Styles can do to escape! Johnson asks him if he submits, and he shakes his head… but just moments later, he passes out in the hold! ***¼

Mike Tenay: "Samoa Joe retains the X Division title - but AJ Styles refused to tap out!"

Don West: "Yeah, and Joe doesn't look happy with that - look!"

Sure enough, Joe has seized the chair again, and is stalking behind AJ as the referee manages to wake him up. There's a thundering "Joe's gonna kill you" chant breaking out, but Styles is in a world of his own as he gets, very shakily, to his feet. Finally, after a tantalising half-minute, AJ is back to his feet, and Joe has a grin a mile wide on his face as he turns around - Smashmouth! Joe just threw the chair right into AJ's face! Styles goes down again, and Joe slams the chair over his head again, before grabbing his towel and wiping Styles' bloody face clean with it. With that, Joe grabs his title belt back from the referee, and stalks backstage, leaving AJ to be loaded onto a stretcher by EMTs and helped to the backstage area, still bleeding profusely from his head.

(MQ 85%, CR 74%, OR 79%)

Next up, after Styles is carted out of the ringside area, the Naturals head down to the ring, looking psyched up indeed for their shot at the NWA World Tag Team titles. They warm up, talking tactics and playing to the Impact-Zone faithful, as America's Most Wanted head out from the back, as ever with Gail Kim in tow. The Tag Team champions taunt the Naturals, motioning to their handcuffs and the belts, before handing everything over to Gail and stepping into the ring to begin the match.

- NWA World Tag Team titles - America's Most Wanted © w/Gail Kim vs. The Naturals

It's bonzo gonzo to start, with Harris and Storm both taking it to the challengers right off of the bat, using their powerful brawling offense to force Douglas and Stevens into the ropes, before following up with stereo clotheslines to send them to the outside. As the Naturals regroup on the outside, Storm and Harris take the time to taunt and pose, drawing some boos from the crowd, before referee Rudy Charles forces James Storm to the apron. Stevens heads into the ring, and goes at Harris with some elbows and fists to the midsection, before slinging him off of the ropes and catching him for a belly-to-belly suplex. He keeps the pressure up with some fast-paced offense, using his smaller size and weight as an advantage, running rings around Harris with quick kicks and cruiserweight-style takedowns to keep him thoroughly on the back foot. After one such takedown, he ventures to the top rope, but James Storm is on hand to bodily shove him down into the ring!

Mike Tenay: "Oh come on! AMW are just double-teaming now!"

Don West: "They're one of the most experienced teams in TNA, Mike, and you can see that on display right here!"

Harris picks himself up and makes the tag, allowing Storm to set about showing how size can be an advantage, picking Stevens up and bodily tossing him around the ring with bodyslams, suplexes, and a powerful Samoan drop for a 2-count. Harris gets tagged in again, and goes to work on Stevens with some powerful stomps and a knee drop, before tagging right back out to Storm.

Don West: "AMW showing their experience here, Mike, tagging in and out to keep fresh here."

Mike Tenay: "And as you can see, Don, all the while they're isolating Chase Stevens and keeping Andy Douglas out of the match entirely!"

Storm goes back on the offensive with a DDT and a few elbow drops to the sternum, before hauling Stevens up and whipping him off of the ropes - but the Natural comes back with a hurricanrana takedown! He manages to roll away from Storm, and makes the hot tag to Andy Douglas, who comes in with some hard clotheslines and starts cleaning house! He knocks Storm down a few times and then dropkicks him over the ropes, before turning around and catching a superkick attempt from Chris Harris and DDTing him! Douglas slings Harris over the rope, and sees Storm on the outside - vaulting body press to the outside! The two men duke it out on the outside now, with Storm starting to regain the upper hand despite being a bit shaky on his legs, until Chase Stevens flies off of the apron with a dropkick to the back of his head! The Naturals shovel Storm back into the ring, and Douglas jumps onto the apron, waiting for him to get back to his feet. He signals for a high-risk maneuver, but just as Storm is staggering back up, Gail Kim rushes over and grabs Douglas' feet, pulling him away from the apron! His jaw bounces hard off of the apron, and Gail pushes him into the ring, before handing a pair of handcuffs to Chris Harris - who cuffs Chase Stevens to the ringpost! Back in the ring, Storm picks up the dazed Andy Douglas, and drills him with a Superkick! That gets the pinfall, and AMW retain the Tag Team titles! ***½

After the match, Gail Kim hands the belts back to AMW, and the champions celebrate with their belts and valet, before heading back to the locker room amidst a hail of abuse from the crowd. Chase Stevens remains cuffed to the ring post, although he is eventually rescued by the referee and is able to help his partner to the back.

(MQ 90%, CR 66%, OR 78%)

Next up, it's time for the Grudge match that's been brewing for months under the surface - ever since Jarrett's Army helped him steal the World's Heavyweight title away from Rhino, the War Machine has been gunning for the man at the top of TNA. Jarrett is first out now, with Jackie Gayda somewhat reluctantly accompanying him down to ringside amidst all of his pyrotechnics. The King of the Mountain is looking a little less confident than usual, but his smirk is still present as he ensures the Impact-Zone that he has this one wrapped up. He almost jumps out of his skin, however, as Rhino's music hits and the War Machine comes barrelling down the ramp at full pelt into the ring! Rhino dispenses with the usual pleasantries, and starts laying into Jarrett halfway through his own introduction!

- Grudge Match - "King of the Mountain" Jeff Jarret vs. "The War Machine" Rhino

The bell is forced to ring early thanks to Rhino's enthusiasm, and the War Machine takes it to Jarrett with some brutal lefts and rights, rocketing into his head and body, eventually forcing him into the turnbuckle, where he keeps up the pressure with some brutal shoulder thrusts and a clothesline. Jarrett gets back to his feet, but Rhino isn't letting up, immediately pouncing on him with a Thesz press and laying into him with yet more closed fists to the face. Finally, referee Rudy Charles intervenes, warning him about punching with a closed fist, and Jarrett is able to get back to his feet. Rhino turns around and seems to have taken the referee's words on board, as he starts chopping the Hell out of Jarrett's chest, leaving him red raw and reeling towards the ropes - where Rhino follows up with a knee to the stomach, sending Jarrett over the ropes and himself toppling through them! The two men start duking it out on the outside, with Rhino running Jarrett into the crowd barrier, and then heading over to the timekeeper's table to grab the ring bell!

Mike Tenay: "As you can see, folks, this one has quickly lost all semblance of being a match - this is just a brawl, plain and simple! And look - Rhino's got the bell!"

The War Machine waits for Jarrett to get up, and runs headlong towards him with the bell - but Jarrett grabs Jackie by the skirt and pulls her in front of him! Rhino is able to avoid hitting her with the bell, but does slam into her and knock her down, allowing the King of the Mountain just the opening he needs to boot him right in the crotch! It's Jarrett's turn to brawl now, bouncing Rhino's head off of the ring apron and the crowd barrier, and then forcing his face into the barrier and dragging him along it. Rhino drops to his knees, an abrasion burn lighting up his face, and gets a field-goal kick to the chin for his troubles, before staggering back into the ring with Jarrett close behind. They duke it out a little more, but Jarrett is able to block a punch and suplex Rhino down, before following up with some elbow and fist drops, and a facelock submission hold. Rhino seems to be waning in the hold, but eventually gets a second wind and makes it back to his knees, with Jarrett still clinging onto him. They both struggle, trying to force each other down to the mat, but eventually the War Machine straightens up and runs Jarrett head-first into the turnbuckle! He follows up with more shoulder thrusts and a short-arm clothesline, before retreating to the opposite corner - and signalling for the Gore! Jarrett gets shakily back to his feet and starts to turn as Rhino charges - but at the last second he whips around with a pair of brass knuckles and flattens the War Machine! Jarrett quickly tosses the knux aside so as to avoid a DQ, and points to his head, indicating that he's smarter than Rhino. With that in mind, he heads to the outside and grabs his trademark guitar, before heading back into the ring and waiting for Rhino to get back to his feet. The War Machine struggles to his knees, and eventually straightens up - Jarrett takes a swing, but finds his guitar grabbed by Jackie Gayda! Gayda, on the apron, is furious with Jarrett for using her as a shield, and manages to pull the guitar away from him! Jarrett is irate, and berates her, all of which allows Rhino the time to get to his feet and once again drop into the corner… finally, Jarrett has had enough of Gayda and bodily shoves her off of the apron, before turning around - right into a Gore! Rhino rolls on top for the cover, and gets the pinfall for the victory! *¾

Rhino jumps to his feet as the bell rings, letting out a bellow of relief and joy at his victory, before standing over Jarrett's stunned form and yelling in triumph. He rolls to the outside, and as an afterthought checks on Jackie Gayda, who gets to her feet, wincing a little and holding her back, but otherwise seems fine. Rhino takes the guitar and - as a groggy Jarrett watches from the ring - breaks it into pieces over the ring steps, robbing the King of the Mountain of his trademark weapon! Rhino stalks to the back, with Jackie following close behind to escape more retribution from Jarrett, and the King of the Mountain just flips out in the ring, kicking the ropes and screaming at the referee. Finally, he storms backstage, his face like thunder.

(MQ 70%, CR 81%, 77%)

After Jarrett has made his way to the back, we see a short video package for the final of the World X-Cup, as the finishing touches to the Ultimate X structure are added by the ring crew. When we return to the ring, another large, red 'X' has been hung at the centre of the wires, and Team Japan's music plays as TAKA Michinoku heads out to the ring. Jerry Lynn heads out next, and the two men lock up as the bell rings.

- World X-Cup Ultimate X Match - Jerry Lynn (Team USA) vs. Shocker (Team Mexico) vs. TAKA Michinoku (Team Japan) vs. Petey Williams (Team Canada)

Lynn wins from the initial lock-up, and sweeps Michinoku's legs out from under him, dropping down onto him in one fluid movement with an elbow drop, and locking in a chinlock. TAKA quickly fights out, however, and sends Lynn staggering back with some kicks to the midsection and a dropkick, before jumping up onto the ropes for a springboard dropkick to send Team USA's captain sprawling to the mat. Michinoku follows up with a rolling leg drop, and cinches on a chinlock of his own to keep Lynn on the ground. TAKA keeps the hold locked in tight, but eventually Lynn is able to fight to his knees, and elbows his way out of the hold, spinning around with a kick to Michinoku's temple and a DDT. He follows up with a couple of snap suplexes, and applies a longbow backbreaker, as Team Mexico's music plays and Shocker makes his way down the ramp.

Mike Tenay: "Here comes Shocker, Don! And remember - he's fresh in this one, while Lynn and Michinoku have both already taken their share of blows right now!"

Don West: "And don't forget we've still got Petey Williams to come, Mike!"

Shocker rolls into the ring and waits as Lynn cinches in the backbreaker, letting him do the job on Michinoku, before languidly climbing onto the top rope as Michinoku fights out of the hold - and dropping both men with a double top-rope clothesline! The Mexican captain kips up, and rolls to the outside, where he goes under the ring in search of a ladder, but Lynn and Michinoku knock him down with stereo baseball slides! TAKA follows through to the outside, and starts stomping away on Shocker, but moments later Jerry Lynn comes crashing down on them both with an Asai moonsault! There's a "TNA" chant for Lynn as he runs Michinoku into the steps, and then climbs them himself for a dropkick to Shocker, before jumping up onto the apron and starting to scale the Ultimate X structure. He almost reaches the zip-wires, before Shocker follows him up onto the apron, grabs him from behind, and delivers a German suplex down onto the outside!

Don West: "Oh man! Look at that impact - Lynn's down and out, Mike!"

Mike Tenay: "And there you see the freshness, Don, coming into play - Shocker just that little bit quicker here, that little bit more spry, and he put it to good use there."

Shocker rolls back to his feet, only to be met with some knifedge chops and a couple of stiff kicks from Michinoku, who follows up with a jawbreaker and a dropkick as the Mexican captain gets to his knees. The two men head back into the ring, leaving Lynn to recover on the outside, and lock up in the middle of the squared circle. Shocker wins out, and ducks behind TAKA, shoving him forwards into the ropes and dropping him with a German suplex on the rebound. With both men down, he climbs the structure and starts to make his way onto the wires - just as Team Canada's music hits! Petey Williams heads out, alone, with two men down on the mat and another precariously hanging above the ring!

Don West: "This is Petey's reward for Team Canada's victories, Mike - he's now freshest of all!"

Mike Tenay: "And just to remind you, folks - points now mean nothing to the World X-Cup. Whoever takes this final match is the overall winner, and that means you've got to fancy Petey Williams' chances right now."

Williams rolls into the ring as Shocker edges ever closer to the centre of the wires, and quickly grabs him by the feet. The Canadian captain proceeds to violently shake his opposite number, causing him to lose grip with one hand - now Shocker is hanging by one hand! Williams rethinks his strategy, and heads up to the top rope, but Shocker is able to haul his legs up to grip the wire, avoiding the dropkick from Williams! He starts to edge, sloth-like, towards the centre of the wires, but suddenly TAKA Michinoku comes from nowhere off of one of the Ultimate X pylons, and somehow manages to drill Shocker with a neckbreaker! Both men go crashing down to the mat, of course, and Williams gets back to his feet, quickly locking Michinoku in the Sharpshooter. Michinoku taps out, but submissions mean nothing in this match, and Williams quickly releases him, before dropping him with some quick clotheslines and dropkicks, and turning his attention back to Shocker. He drills him with a DDT and a couple of suplexes, before again heading to the top rope - this time for a moonsault - and crashing down on top of him. Team Canada's leading man kips right back up and climbs up to the wires. He looks to have a free climb to the prize, until -

Mike Tenay: "There's Jerry Lynn!"

Unseen by Williams, Lynn has managed to climb the opposite pylon and is now walking tightrope-style across the wires! It's a very precarious situation, but Lynn is able to maintain his balance until he reaches the centre, where he swings down in an amazing visual, catching Petey with a mid-air spear to send them both crashing down to the mat! Back on the outside, Shocker has gone out and has found a ladder, which he sets up outside the ring and begins to climb. As he does so, TAKA Michinoku and Jerry Lynn start to climb the pylons, and very soon all three men are standing over ten feet in the air! TAKA starts to climb sloth-like across the wires, whilst Lynn opts for the quicker hand-over-hand approach, with the Mexican captain watching on. Finally, as Lynn and TAKA near the centre, Shocker leaps towards them both with a cross body! Michinoku manages to dodge, letting go with his feet and sailing out of the way, but Jerry Lynn takes it full-on and goes spinning down to the mat with Shocker. With all three of his opponents down now, Team Japan's captain climbs hand-over-hand towards the X - and unhooks it! Team Japan win the World X-Cup! **¾.

Don West: "TAKA's won it!"

Mike Tenay: "Despite entering first, with the lowest number of points - Team Japan have won the World X-Cup in the Ultimate X final! This is amazing!"

All of Team Japan rush out to celebrate with their captain, and catch him in their arms as he drops down from the wires, before hoisting him onto their shoulders. There's a bit of booing from the crowd, but the Japanese don't seem to hear them, raising the red 'X' into the air and bearing their victorious captain backstage, as EMTs head out to help the other three men to the backstage area.

(MQ 84%, CR 65%, OR 74%)

With the X-Cup participants taken from ringside in various stages of battered, it's time for the main event. Scott Steiner is out first, unusually unaccompanied for a member of Jarrett's group, wearing his shades and chain mail as per usual. He flexes his peaks on the stage, as he walks down the aisle, and in the ring, just to get over that he has very large muscles in case we've been asleep since 1995. With that, "Captain Charisma" heads out to the reaction of the night thus far, saluting his fans and heading on down to the ring. As Cage hands the belt over to senior referee Earl Hebner and takes off his snazzy black robe, Jeremy Borash is on hand for the introductions.

Jeremy Borash: "Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall and it is your Pay-Per-View main event of the evening. When the bell rings, the man in charge will be TNA senior official Earl Hebner. And now - this contest is for the NWA Heavyweight championship of the WOOOORLD! Introducing first, the challenger - from Bay City, Michigan, he stands at six feet one inches and weighs and weighs in at 280lbs - he is the Genetic Freak, the Big Bad Booty Daddy… this is Big Poppa Pump - Scott STEINER!"

Steiner acknowledges his introduction with a cocky smirk and more flexing, as Borash continues.

Jeremy Borash: "And, introducing now his opponent - from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he stands at six feet one inches and weighs in at 227lbs. He is the current, reigning, and defending NWA Heavyweight champion of the WOOOOORLD! This is Captain Charisma, Christian CAAAAAAGE!"

Cage gets another standing ovation, and Borash quickly exits the ring so the match can get underway.

- NWA World Heavyweight title - "Captain Charisma" Christian Cage vs. "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner

The two men circle the ring as the main event gets underway, sizing each other up, before finally dropping into a lock-up. Steiner overpowers Cage, ducking behind him and forcibly running him into the turnbuckle, driving his shoulders and forearms into the champion's back. Cage eventually escapes from the corner and gets a few shots in, but Steiner shrugs them off and drills him with some hard right hands, sending him reeling into the ropes. Steiner tries to follow up with a kneelift, but Christian is able to dodge and hit a couple of clubbing forearms to his back, before Irish whipping him off of the ropes and catching him on the rebound for a front-legsweep, following up with some stomps to the back of his head. Christian tries to keep Steiner on the mat to negate his powerful offense, and latches on a front facelock, but Big Poppa Pump is able to power his way to the ropes, and Hebner orders Cage to release the hold. He continues stomping on Steiner's head, but the Genetic Freak makes it back to his feet regardless, and knocks Cage to the mat with a haymaker, pausing to kiss his biceps before dropping an elbow across the champion's nose! Steiner follows up with a couple more elbows, and a knee drop, across Cage's face, before slinging him back into the corner and charging into him with an avalanche.

Mike Tenay: "Whoa! Steiner using his size to his advantage there, just crushing Christian Cage into the turnbuckle with that avalanche splash!"

Christian manages to evade Steiner long enough to roll down to the outside, catching a breather, and the challenger takes the opportunity to pose and taunt again, flexing his muscles and trying to intimidate the champion. Cage is having none of it, however, reaching under the ropes and tripping Steiner up by his feet, before pulling him roughly to the outside and dropping him with a clothesline! He follows up with a dropkick, sending Steiner staggering into the timekeeper's table, where Cage hits another clothesline, sending Steiner sprawling across the top of the desk. The timekeeper makes a well-advised beeline out of the way as Cage climbs up onto the table as well, trying to set him up for an Unprettier, but the Genetic Freak is able to power out and shove Cage off of the table, sending him face-first into the crowd barrier! He keeps the pressure up with some stiff forearms across the head and face, drawing himself a warning from referee Earl Hebner. Christian is able to regroup as Steiner is being reprimanded, and has enough presence of mind to hit him with a lowblow as he goes in for another assault, before returning to the ring. Big Poppa Pump is close behind, though, and the two lock up again. This time, Cage wins out and locks on a hammerlock, twisting Steiner's arm around, and backdrops him onto the arm, following up with some stomps to the elbow and a grounded arm wringer, before locking on an armlock. Again, though, Steiner is strong enough to force his way to the ropes, and Christian is forced to release the hold. He goes back to the hammerlock situation, but this time Steiner is able to straighten himself out and use Cage's grip to pull the champion into a brutal lariat that sends him head-over-heels to the mat!

Don West: "Oh man, Mike, you saw Cage just spin right over after that lariat, and Steiner's strength has the NWA World's champion in trouble here!"

Mike Tenay: "You're right, Don, so far the champion hasn't found a way to counter Scott Steiner's impressive physical strength, and his title reign could be in jeopardy here!"

Steiner waits for Christian to get up from that one, stalking him all the time, and finally nails him with a three-point charge, leaving him flat out on the mat again. Signalling for the end of the match, Steiner attempts to slap on the Steiner Recliner, but it's too early in the match and Cage is able to buck his challenger right over his head onto the mat! Steiner rolls back to his feet, frustrated, but is met with a dropkick that sends him sprawling into the ropes, where Christian nails him with a high knee to the face! Big Poppa Pump just barely stops himself from tumbling to the outside, but ends up on the apron, where Cage charges into him with another knee, this one sending the Genetic Freak sailing to the hard concrete floor. Cage takes the opportunity to regroup, and recover from Steiner's hard-hitting offense, and goes straight back on the attack as he rolls back into the ring, with a snap suplex and some more stomps. Steiner is slower back to his feet this time, but is able to hit a belly-to-belly suplex on the champion, before again dropping an elbow across his face. This last elbow leaves Cage clutching his face and crawling towards the ropes, allowing Steiner to kick him hard in the midsection, sending him reeling onto the mat. After another bicep-kiss, Big Poppa Pump again drills an elbow into the champion's face, and this one busts him open!

Mike Tenay: "Cage is bleeding!"

Don West: "Those elbows, and that continued work on the face, have done the job, Mike. Steiner's got Cage bleeding, and you have to believe the advantage is firmly with the challenger!"

Sure enough, Steiner seems firmly in control now, hitting three belly-to-belly suplexes in quick succession, including his trademark spinning belly-to-belly, and goes for the cover – only a 2-count! There's life in Cage yet, but Steiner quickly looks to snuff that out by locking in the Steiner Recliner. This time, Cage doesn't seem to be fighting out of it so quickly, and the arrogant smirk across Steiner's face shows that he thinks he has the title won. Earl Hebner asks if Cage taps out, but the champion refuses, and somehow manages to free one of his arms from Steiner's grip – using it to pull Big Poppa Pump down to the mat, and slap on a painkiller armbar! Steiner desperately tries to fight out of the hold, rolling over onto his back and then back onto his stomach, trying to dislodge the champion, but Cage is clinging on for dear life, cinching the hold in and trying to pull the challenger's arm out of its socket. Eventually, Steiner is able to free himself, but the damage has been done and it looks like he's fighting with one arm now. Nevertheless, he uses his good arm to hit some more hard shots to Cage's face, but the champion halts that with a swift kick to the elbow of his injured arm, causing Steiner to yelp in pain and drop to one knee, where Cage hits a shining wizard kick! Big Poppa Pump is flat out on the mat, and Cage rushes up to the top rope – Frog Splash on Steiner! Instead of covering him, however, Christian drags Steiner back to his feet, determined to finish him off for good, and hits the Unprettier! Exhausted, Cage makes the cover… 1-2-3! **¾

Christian's music fills the Impact-Zone as he gets to his feet, and Earl Hebner hands him the belt. Steiner stays down on the mat, rolling over onto his side and nursing his wounds, as the NWA World Heavyweight champion climbs onto the turnbuckle and celebrates with his title, saluting the fans. As he does so, however, he turns his back to the ramp, and completely misses the huge figure that's barrelling down the ramp into the ring!

Don West: "Wait a minute! Oh my God, is that…?!"

Mike Tenay: "THAT'S BROCK LESNAR!"

The Impact-Zone goes wild as Lesnar jumps onto the apron and ducks between the ropes, stalking Cage as he continues to celebrate. Finally, the champion jumps down from the top rope into the ring, and turns around, coming face-to-face with Brock. His eyes almost pop out of his head at the sight, and Lesnar smirks, before booting him in the gut and drilling him with the Force Five! Cage hits the mat hard, and Lesnar grabs Steiner up off of the mat. He effortlessly powers Big Poppa Pump onto his shoulders, and drops him with a Force Five as well! With both men destroyed on the mat, Lesnar seizes the World Heavyweight title and raises it into the air, before tossing it down onto Cage's downed form.

(MQ 76%, CR 92%, OR 87%)

Mike Tenay: "Oh my God, Don - Brock Lesnar has destroyed Scott Steiner and the NWA World's Heavyweight champion!"

Don West: "I… I just don't know what to say, Mike! Brock Lesnar in TNA?! What the Hell is going on here?!"

Mike Tenay: "Well, I guess we're going to have to wait until next week, Don, on the first-ever primetime iMPACT! on SpikeTV, because that's about all we've got time for here! Christian Cage retains the NWA World's Heavyweight title, but Brock Lesnar has come out of nowhere, and the landscape in TNA has just shifted beyond all recognition!"

Overall - 77%

[ClaRK! Kent]

Post-PPV Goal-Check and Meeting

Okay. One Pay-Per-View in the books, and hopefully many more like that one to come. Straight off of the bat, we achieved Dixie's goal for the buyrate, as Sacrifice turned in a 0.74 buyrate - well in excess of the baseline we set last month. Now that iMPACT! has moved to a primetime slot, starting this very week, we're certainly looking up as far as ratings and buys for the on-air product is concerned, which can only be a good thing for TNA's future.

Brock Lesnar's debut certainly caused a stir on the Internet, and the rumours are already abound that we're in the final stages of negotiations with another "international superstar" to debut on the first primetime edition of iMPACT! in order to push for ratings and to once again get TNA out there as a serious competitor to the WWE. In addition to this, the contracts of numerous big-name WWE talents are reaching their 'negotiation period' at the end of this month, and we've been keeping an eye on two or three names in particular as possibilities to add to the TNA roster.

Thanks in no small part to the immense profitability of Sacrifice, we've been able to open both a training center here in Orlando, and a developmental 'feeder' promotion. The training camp is being run by our newest employee, the legendary Rocky Johnson, with Johnny Rodz and Terry Taylor helping him to train students. The developmental territory is situated in Georgia, and will bear the legendary NWA Georgia name to trade on the region's past successes, and also to strengthen TNA's waning ties with the National Wrestling Alliance. Jerry Jarret, wishing to spend more time closer to home due to his well-documented health problems, has agreed to take over the running of the territory. We've sent a few workers from the roster, including some of those who took part in the World X-Cup tournament, down to the territory, and also signed several promising talents from the independent scene to lucrative developmental deals. The full NWA Georgia roster looks like this…

-- Adam Windsor

-- Alan

-- Alicia

-- Allison Danger

-- Angel Williams

-- Becky Bayless

-- Beth Phoenix

-- Billy Boy

-- Cheerleader Melissa

-- Derek Wylde

-- Francoise

-- Greg Pawluk

-- Jamie Koeppe

-- Jerelle Clark

-- Kevin Fertig

-- Lacey

-- Lance Hoyt

-- LuFisto

-- MAZADA

-- Mosco de la Merced

-- NOSAWA

-- Onyx

-- Rebecca Knox

-- Ryan Wing

-- Stevie Fabulous

-- Vanessa

As you can see, we've signed a few former WWE developmental talents, and a great deal of female wrestlers, which is in part due to one of the goals we've been set in this month's meeting by Dixie and her team.

Coming out of this meeting, we've decided to build upon the goals we've succeeded in meeting this month, and continue to strive for the ones that we haven't yet met. Meanwhile, Larry and the booking team have started to set some more specific, short-term goals as far as booking and the on-screen product is concerned, which is good news from a logic and continuity point-of-view, as hopefully everything should keep itself tied together on TV.

So, our long-term goals now are…

- To go Global before the end of 2006 and comfortably stay there,

- To have a second, primetime television show on a major network within 12 months,

- To be directly competitive with the WWE by the end of 2006,

- To hire and promote a competitive Women's division by the end of the fall.

Whilst our short-term goals are as follows…

- Make use of TAKA Michinoku before his AJPW tour starts on July 20th,

- Gain TV ratings competitive with the WWE's within three months,

- Begin to show Samoa Joe as a force outside the X Division,

- Make full use of Brock Lesnar despite his non-wrestler status,

- Draw a buyrate of at least 0.8 for Slammiversary.

As far as the booking goals go, we were very lucky to secure TAKA Michinoku's services, given his Japanese commitments and how close we are to going Global, which is usually a stumbling-block when it comes to signing wrestlers with foreign tour commitments, due to the number of dates. In addition to this, Michinoku is a supremely-talented worker, and it'd be counter-productive to drop the man who won the World X-Cup for his team off of the roster after the tournament.

With Joe, we're playing more on his winning streak, which is nearly a year long now, and trying to establish him as one of TNA's major players - evidently he's been trying to get himself back into the X Division, a move finished with his victory over Christopher Daniels, but we're now trying to make him into something of a crossover star whilst still keeping him as a figure in the X Division itself.

Brock Lesnar's signing presents a few problems right off of the bat - his status as a non-wrestler, due to his wish to work fewer dates, means that he's largely unwilling to wrestle on free TV, although he'll make appearances and pre-tape segments for the shows in order to keep himself in the mix. Whether he'll consider becoming a full-time wrestler eventually is open to negotiation, but for now Dixie and Larry want him used, and he won't step into a ring until Slammiversary at the earliest, so we have to use him as best as we can until then.

The ratings question was partly brought on by the insistence of SpikeTV that iMPACT! provide some competition not only for other shows on in the Thursday primetime slot, but also for UPN and the USA Network, who air Smackdown and RAW respectively. Aside from that, it's a part of our strive for Global status, and to compete with the WWE on as many levels as we can, and we've got some time to do it, so it's not like we're being forced to draw a 7.0 straight away. We're not on FOX, thank God.

NWA-TNA iMPACT! on SpikeTV

Preview for May 25th edition

As of this week, TNA is going primetime! Now, on Thursday nights at 9/8 CT, TNA iMPACT! is your 120-Minute Adrenaline Rush! To celebrate, this week's show features two 'showcase' matches that will show off the very best that TNA has to offer, on our first night up there amongst the ratings heavyweights.

In the main event, a 'Champion vs. Champion Showcase' match will see Christian Cage, fresh off of retaining his NWA World Heavyweight title, facing off against the unbeaten, unchallenged Samoa Joe, the reigning X Division champion. This will be Joe's first real step out of the X Division, and all eyes will be on him, to see if he can cut it amongst the big boys.

The second showcase match is an 'X Division Showcase' that will feature former X Division champion Christopher Daniels facing the man who recently lifted the World X-Cup for his team - TAKA Michinoku. TAKA is coming off of a triumphant X-Cup tour, and may have the edge in this one, but you can never count out the Fallen Angel, of course.

Aside from all of this, there were only two words on everybody's lips after Sacrifice last week - Brock Lesnar. The former NCAA champion and Heavyweight champion of the World made a stunning appearance after the main event, destroying both Christian Cage and Scott Steiner, and this week he is expected to be in the Impact-Zone, to explain his actions and just why he is in TNA.

Jeff Hardy made his return to TNA at Sacrifice last week, beating Alex Shelley and silencing his critics once and for all. This week, he looks to make his return a done deal, and return to the title hunt, as he takes on "Alpha Male" Monty Brown in what is sure to be a highly-charged encounter.

In other action on the 120-Minute Adrenaline Rush, Konnan's LAX will be facing Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin, Jeff Jarrett will meet Ron "The Truth" Killings, and America's Most Wanted - fresh off of a successful title defence at Sacrifice - will meet Team 3D in non-title action.

Confirmed Matches

"Captain Charisma" Christian Cage vs. "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe - Champion vs. Champion Showcase

"The Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy vs. "Alpha Male" Monty Brown

America's Most Wanted vs. Team 3D

"King of the Mountain" Jeff Jarrett vs. Ron "The Truth" Killings

"The Fallen Angel" Christoper Daniels vs. TAKA Michinoku - X-Division Showcase

LAX w/Konnan vs. Dutt and Sabin

[James_W]

Great coup with Brock Lesnar, will be interesting how he handles a non-wrestling role in the meantime, until he starts competing properly, if he does start competing properly that is.

Edited April 15, 2006 by James_W

[Guest diediedielol]

Wow very nice PPV you need to use more Christopher Daniels!! The man is one of the greatest Technical Wrestlers...

[ClaRK! Kent]

NWA-TNA iMPACT! on SpikeTV

May 25th 2006

Taped at the Impact-Zone at Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida

- The show begins with a legnthy highlights package, encompassing all of the big issues in TNA at the moment, including the lead-up to the big matches that went down at Sacrifice last Sunday. Samoa Joe's undefeated streak and recapture of the X Division title is shown, along with Rhino's blood feud with Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner's debut, followed by his challenge to Christian Cage. We then see some highlights from Sacrifice, finishing with Brock Lesnar's shocking TNA debut after the main event.

- Once the package has ended, we head over to the world-famous Impact-Zone arena in Orlando, Florida, where Mike Tenay and Don West are on hand for commentary. Decked out in their finest for the show's primetime debut, the two men run down the extra-special card, making special note of the two Showcase matches that are sure to be amongst our many highlights tonight.

- Their shilling is interrupted, however, by some unfamiliar music – it sounds like a rip-off of "Infest" by angst-metallers Papa Roach – and the arrival of the new face of Total Nonstop Action – Brock Lesnar! Lesnar, wearing street clothes and a T-shirt that reads "The Big Thing," strolls down to the ring with a grin on his face, getting a somewhat mixed reaction from the Impact-Zone. He grabs a microphone, and starts to speak.

Brock Lesnar: "So this is NWA-TNA? You know, I've spent nearly two years listening to all of the hype coming out of Orlando, watching the Pay-Per-Views and fielding phone calls from TNA management once a week or more. My esteemed former employers informed me that you'd never make it. They told me that TNA was a blip, another two-bit indy promotion not worth to hold their jock-straps. And you know what? I believed 'em."

There are some boos for that, and Lesnar keeps on speaking.

Brock Lesnar: "I believed 'em, I did. But, y'know, lately I had a change of heart. I realised that the TNA hype machine was right on the money, this place is the new face of professional wrestling. No more sports entertainment, no more bull(bleep) match abortions on the biggest show of the year, no more backstage politics or (bleep)-sucking to get ahead. So, I made my impact. I picked my spot and I took it."

Brock smirks again, and there's a mixed reaction for his actions at Sacrifice.

Brock Lesnar: "I wanted to put myself on the map, for one reason. TNA is going to the top, they say, and I believe 'em. And if it's going to the top, that's just where I wanna be. My colleagues up North can quote ratings figures and Playboy covershoots at me 'til they're blue in the face – but TNA is where it's at, so it's where I'm at. Face it – "

He's cut off, at that point, by the sound of Jeff Jarrett's music! The King of the Mountain storms out in his own street clothes, with Gail Kim behind him and an irked expression on his face. He heads into the ring, snatches a microphone from a stage hand, and addresses the newcomer.

Jeff Jarrett: "Whoa, hold up there, Brock. You might be the new kid on the block, the new face of TNA so they say, but you obviously don't know how things work around here. You wanna be in TNA because TNA's the top of the business? Let me tell you right now, 'round here we don't take too kindly to Johnny-come-latelies waltzing in on the eve of our primetime debut and mooching off of the hard work of guys who've been here since day one! You've gotta learn there's a hierarchy around here, Brock, and you've gotta start right at the bottom of the barrel! Are you listening to me?"

Lesnar doesn't appear to have been – he seems a little distracted by Gail Kim.

Brock Lesnar: "Wait a second Jeff. Who's the girl? Didn't you used to open shows for me, sister? Looks like you've got a leech right on your own side there, Jarrett."

He grins, and there's a "gold digger!" chant directed at Gail for a few moments.

Brock Lesnar: "Seriously though, Jeff, I get what you're sayin', I do. But it seems to me that you ain't exactly the person to be lecturing anybody about the hierarchy – after last night, you're hardly first in line for the World's title, are you? Face it, Jeff – you've had your time in TNA. Like you said, you've been here since day one. Hell, you've been in this business since I was in short pants. Don't you think it's time to step aside for the new face of TNA, gramps?"

That's about all Jarrett can take. He drops his microphone and starts laying into Lesnar. Brock easily overpowers him, however, slinging him into the ropes and catching him on the rebound and hauling him onto his shoulders – but Jarrett drops down and avoids the Force-Five! He ducks to the outside, and Gail Kim starts getting in Brock's face. Lesnar tries to leave the ring, but Gail continually blocks him – allowing Jarrett to jump back into the ring and smash his guitar over Brock's head! The King of the Mountain and his valet smirk and taunt over Brock's crumpled form, and we go to a commercial.

(86)

- LAX w/Konnan vs. Dutt and Sabin

Returning from the commercial break, Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin are in the ring to face Konnan's LAX, Homicide and B-Boy. The X-Cup duo start off well, getting some good licks in against the Latin Americans, but soon Homicide's sheer brutality allows him to overpower Sabin. He starts kicking Sabin into the turnbuckle, following up with a shining wizard and a few suplexes. The LAX keep Sabin isolated, tagging in and out, working him over with their hard-hitting, street-fighting offense, whilst Konnan directs traffic on the outside. Eventually, Sabin is able to break away long enough to knock Homicide down with a superkick, but hits the mat himself. The two men crawl towards their corners – B-Boy is tagged in first, and is quick enough to stop Sabin from reaching his corner! Konnan rushes round to distract Dutt long enough for B-Boy to hit the Shining Wizard and get the uninterrupted pinfall. **¾

The LAX celebrate their victory after the match, and Sonjay Dutt drags Sabin out of the ring before they are subjected to any more punishment. As Konnan enters the ring to congratulate his charges, however, the James Gang hit the ring! Kip and BG, swinging steel chairs, clear the ring, knocking Homicide down with a chairshot and dumping B-Boy out of the ring, before throwing Konnan out after them.

(MQ 87%, CR 54%, OR 70%)

- The LAX regroup on the outside of the ring, as the James Gang brandish their chairs menacingly. Konnan talks his charges out of storming the ring, and instead grabs a microphone.

Konnan: "Yo, orale! Hey lemme speak on dis, shut up! BG, Kip – you hermanos need to keep your noses out of our business! You beat us last Sunday, but this ain't over! This is far from over, boys, the LAX is gonna be on you wherever you go, don't forget it! Sleep with one eye open, ese, 'cos you never know when we're gonna come for you. Not today, not tomorrow… but soon."

He tosses the microphone aside angrily, and heads back up the ramp with Homicide and B-Boy. The James Gang hang around a bit longer, and then wander off to the back themselves.

(73)

- X Division Showcase - "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels vs. TAKA Michinoku

Christopher Daniels heads out now, quickly followed by a cocky TAKA Michinoku, for tonight's X Division Showcase match, a special treat for TNA's primetime debut. They start off an absolutely phenomenal bout with a superb chain-wrestling sequence, feeling each other out for strengths and weaknesses, testing every body part with zoned moves and moving on. Tenay and West put over the psychological aspect of the X Divison, as Michinoku heads up to the top for a flying heel kick to take control of the match. He continues to use his aerial prowess, and his unsung technical skills, to keep Daniels out of the running, constantly switching styles to keep him off guard and on the mat. Eventually, it's a top-rope move that backfires, as the Fallen Angels is able to get his knees up and block a 450 splash, and starts to fight his way back into the match. Tenay calls Daniels the "lynchpin" of the X Division as he works Michinoku's neck and back over with some hard-hitting slams and suplexes, and locks on a standing crossface hold. Michinoku backflips out of it, dropkicking Daniels in the back and sending him into the ropes, before attempting the Michinoku Driver – the Fallen Angel counters into a hurricanrana! That's enough to give Daniels enough momentum for the Last Rites, and the 1-2-3. ****½

The Fallen Angel celebrates his victory after the match, as TAKA Michinoku is furious at himself for losing the bout. Tenay and West put it over as the homegrown talent triumphing over the foreign import, and Michinoku storms backstage, snubbing Daniels' offer of a handshake.

(MQ 100%, CR 72%, OR 86%)

- In the back, Shane Douglas is standing by with Ron Killings, who is moments away from his clash with Jeff Jarrett.

Shane Douglas: "Ron, after a few weeks out in the cold in TNA so to speak, you have a chance to put yourself back on the map tonight with a victory over the King of the Mountain himself, Jeff Jarrett. Any thoughts before the bout begins?"

Ron Killings: "Y'know somethin', Shane? TNA's left me out in the cold, you got that right, lately. But now, we're on primetime, the ratings have gotta come in, and look who's on the card once again. Coincidence? Nuh-uh, Shane. They know I'm money, they know I'm ratings, and they know I'm the most dedicated athlete in TNA. They can flirt with Scott Steiner, Christian Cage, even Brock Lesnar, but when it's all said and done, I'm the man they always come back to. Jeff Jarrett's been talkin' big lately, but y'know, I don't see a title belt around his waist and I haven't for months now! He's gonna be lookin' to get back on track tonight, but I've got news for him – so am I! Hell, Jarrett can't handle the Truth!"

With that, Killings heads off towards the ring, and we go to a commercial break.

(85)

- "King of the Mountain" Jeff Jarret vs. Ron "The Truth" Killings

Back from the break, and Killings is already in the ring, as Jeff Jarrett makes his entrance. They start off by pacing around the ring, sizing each other up, before Killings launches in with a clothesline. He's evidently looking to finish this in record time, starting to nail Jarrett with some high-impact moves from the offset and covering him after every one. The King of the Mountain kicks out every time, and soon snatches a way back into the match with a lowblow. He starts to fight his way back into the match with some typically-underhanded tactics, raking eyes and hooking tights all over the ring. Finally, the referee starts giving him a verbal bashing for his conduct, during which time Gail Kim rushes out to the ring, making a beeline for the guitar! She's just about to reach it, when another figure comes steaming out – it's Rhino! The War Machine scares Gail off, and attracts Jarrett's attention. The two men yell insults back and forth at each other, allowing Killings to rush up from behind, spin Jarrett around, and hit the Truth or Consequences! Rhino watches on as The Truth makes the pinfall, and gets the 1-2-3! ***¼

Killings looks ecstatic with his victory, and offers a cursory nod of thanks to Rhino. Gail and Jarrett are furious, but soon have more on their minds – Brock Lesnar is racing out to the ring! Jarrett tries to run, but Rhino heads him off and forces him into the ring, where he falls prey to the Force-Five he avoided earlier! But, Lesnar doesn't stop there, booting Ron Killings in the gut and delivering the deadly Force-Five to him as well, and even giving one to Rhino! Lesnar stands over the broken forms of thee of TNA's impact players, taunting, as we head to the back.

(MQ 84%, CR 82%, OR 83%)

- We're in the parking lot, where Samoa Joe has just pulled up in a chauffeur-driven HumVee, and is collecting his bags from the trunk. The X Division champion, who is wearing street clothes, carries his bags into the arena, where he is promptly met by Larry Zybysko, who has a face like thunder.

Larry Zybysko: "There you are! First of all, Joe – you're late.

Joe shrugs.

Samoa Joe: "Traffic."

Larry Zybysko: "Second of all – what you did to AJ Styles on Sunday night was unforgiveable, Joe, just unforgiveable! You won the match, Joe, what happened afterwards was an unprovoked attack in cold blood! Hell, I've half a mind to strip you of the X Division title right here and suspend you from TNA indefinitely!"

Now it is Joe's turn to wear an angry expression, but Zybysko is unfazed.

Larry Zybysko: "Luckily for you, my hands are tied by the board of directors and by TNA Management. But, what I do have the authority to do is warn you that if you try anything, and I do mean anything like that against Christian Cage tonight, your life just won't be worth living. Understand?"

Samoa Joe: "Oh, I understand perfectly, Larry. But let me just ask you one thing – what are you gonna do to stop me? You can't fire me, you can't take this belt from around my waist – you're just TNA Management's little lap-dog, and they won't do anything to touch me, because I'm the single hottest commodity in TNA… Hell, in the business, right now. Now get out of my way before I do something we both regret."

The X Division champion elbows Zybysko out of the way and storms into the arena. Zybysko watches him go with a disgusted look on his face, and digs a cellphone out of his pocket, dialling up a number.

Larry Zybysko: "Hello? It's Zybysko. Is he on his way? Excellent, tell him we're ready for him here."

He hangs up the phone, and a wry smile crosses his face.

Larry Zybysko: "I might not be able to do anything, but I sure as Hell know somebody who can."

Tenay and West wonder who Zybysko was talking to, and who he's talking about, as we go to a commercial break.

(67)

- America's Most Wanted vs. Team 3D

As we return from the break, AMW's non-title meeting with Team 3D is getting underway in typical style, with both teams duking it out and trying to force a member of the opposition to the outside. Ray eventually clotheslines Chris Harris over the top, and goes out after him, so it's Brother Devon and James Storm who spent the opening minutes in the ring. Brother Devon uses his sheer size and power to dominate Storm, tossing him around the ring with some powerful slams and also using his roughneck-style offense to keep the pressure up. Storm resorts to a lowblow to claw his way back into the match, and makes the tag to Harris, who enters fresh and starts to fight back. After hitting a military press slam, he makes the cover, but Ray is on hand to break it up and get himself tagged in. Harris and Ray continue to brawl it out, with neither man able to make a real advantage, until that rarest of things – an unforced error by Brother Ray – allows Harris to hit a powerbomb. Brother Devon instantly springs into action, going to the top and launching himself at the covering Harris with a diving headbutt, but the Wildcat sees it and dodges, leaving Devon to crash headlong into his brother! He rolls away, clutching his head, and AMW are able to nail the Death Sentence for the pinfall. ***¾

A rare moment of miscommunication cost Team 3D the match there, and AMW are clever enough to exit quickly to avoid their wrath. As they backtrack up the ramp, however, they walk right into the Naturals! Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas, not letting things lie from their cheap defeat at Sacrifice, start laying into the Tag Team champions, furious, until security rush out to separate the two teams. Douglas and Stevens assure AMW that "it's not over" between them, and we head to the back.

(MQ 93%, CR 71%, OR 82%)

- Backstage, Christian Cage is seen lacing up his boots in preparation for tonight's main event. As he does so, his cellphone starts ringing, and he fishes it out of his bag to answer it.

Christian Cage: "Hello? Oh, hey honey. Yeah, I'm fine, how're you?"

He listens, concerned, as his wife answers the phone.

Christian Cage: "Hey, don't worry, okay? I'll be fine, I made it through Sacrifice okay and I've no intention of getting myself crippled by Joe tonight. Just calm down, okay, it's gonna be okay. Hell, if I can ward off Scott Steiner – "

Speak of the devil. As he speaks, a figure comes crashing into him from behind – it's the Genetic Freak! Steiner, brandishing his infamous lead pipe, slams Cage into a locker and swings with the pipe. He misses, and drops it, but quickly axe-handles Cage to the floor and grabs his telephone.

Scott Steiner: "Mrs. Cage? When your husband wakes up, tell him this – it ain't over between us, sweetheart! When I'm done with your man, you'll be begging to be one of my freaks. Holla if ya hear me, bitch!"

The Genetic Freak walks off, the job done, and we take a commercial break.

(91)

- "The Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy vs. "Alpha Male" Monty Brown

Monty Brown is in the ring as we return, and Jeff Hardy is on his way down to the ring for only his second match in months. He's on good form in the opening stages of the match, however, catching Brown off guard with some high-speed offensive maneuvers and somewhat unexpectedly matching the brawler punch for punch. It's not long before Brown is able to block a punch and start laying into Hardy with some of his own, forcing him off guard, to take control with his hard-hitting brawling style. After a powerslam, Brown eyes Hardy's downed form and signals for the Pounce, but Jeff has it scouted and drops the Alpha Male with a drop toe-hold! He follows up with his leg drop lowblow, and goes to the top rope – Swanton! That gets the pinfall, and Hardy is victorious. **¾

The Charismatic Enigma celebrates his victory, revelling in the support from the Impact-Zone, seemingly looking reinvigorated and glad to be back in TNA. His good mood is short-lived, however, as Alex Shelley rushes out from the back, wielding a steel chair! The man behind the Paparazzi-Cam jumps into the ring as Hardy is posing on the turnbuckle with his back turned, and cracks the chair right across his spine! Hardy falls back into the ring like a tonne of bricks, and Shelley pounces on him, locking on the Border City Stretch! Security try to rush the ring, but Shelley is too quick for them and escapes into the crowd, leaving Hardy in pain on the mat as we take our final commercial break of the evening.

(MQ 82%, CR 74%, OR 78%)

- Champion vs. Champion Showcase - "Captain Charisma" Christian Cage vs. "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe

It's main event time as we return from the break, with two of TNA's top players fighting it out. Christian Cage offers a handshake before the match, as Tenay and West notice he's looking a little sore following Scott Steiner's backstage assault, but Joe snubs it and opts to kick Cage in the chest. The X Division champion dominates Cage in the opening few minutes, utterly closing him down with some stiff strikes and powerful suplexes, leaving him thoroughly on the back foot. Cage tries to slow the match down, but Joe is more than a match for him on the mat as well, leaving the World Heavyweight champion with little way out. Eventually, Christian is able to counter a suplex with one of his own, and goes on the offensive himself with a DDT and a series of chops and strikes, before going to the top rope for a Frog Splash! Amazingly, it only gets 2, and Joe is back to his feet. The two men lock up, and jockey for position, with Cage sweeping the X Division champion's legs out from under him and tossing him to the outside. Joe seizes a steel chair, which draws Larry Zybysko out to the ramp. Joe stares the DOA down, and again asks what he's going to do to stop him. In response, Zybysko makes a signal toward the backstage area, and leaves without a word. Joe re-enters the ring, dodging a superkick, and nails a roundhouse kick, but is suddenly distracted by a figure tearing down the ramp – it's Bill Goldberg! The Impact-Zone is stunned into silence as the most feared man in professional wrestling storms into the ring and Spears Joe right out of his boots! It's right in front of the referee, however, and he awards Joe the bout via DQ. ***¾

There's a huge "Goldberg" chant ringing through the Impact-Zone now, and even Christian Cage is stunned by the sight of Bill Goldberg in a TNA ring. Goldberg picks Joe up, and unceremoniously dumps him to the outside, before roaring a feral battle cry as pyro fireworks shoot from all six turnbuckles! Mike Tenay and Don West are at a loss to explain Goldberg's presence, and the camera lingers on his face as the show cuts out.

(MQ 90%, CR 80%, OR 85%)

Overall - 80%

[Jaze]

Couple of thoughts:

- Monty over Hardy, Hardy gets beaten up by Sheely. Poor Monty deserves better than a feud with Killings or Rhino.

- Steiner/Cage pt 2? No thanks.

- Lesnar. I was worried that you were turning him face. Good job of keeping him a tweener. I would turn him heel but Steiner is already there.

- You swerved me with GoldBLAH and not in a good way. Waste of money, especially with Lesnar around. This "streak vs streak thing" better have Joe come out on top.

[TGC]

Remember to each and every one of you that when posting in prediction contests you MUST give reasoning for why you picked whom you picked. Verbal warnings for all in this thread. If I see it again I will warn.

TGC

[Hajjhowe]

- Nice promo by Lesnar,a s he has a good attitude for a tweener right now. It'll be interesting to see who he feuds with, but hopefully he doesn't stick around Jarrett too much.

- Sad to see Dutt and sabin be somewhat jobbed out, but LAX will helpt he tag division and Konnan will cover for their lack of charisma well. I just hope this fued witht he James Gaang doesn't last forever.

- Kind of an odd promo, but seems to lead us to believe the feud isn't ending anytime soon. I suppose the poor ing ame rating caused you to write a shorter promo.

- PERFECT idea to display the X-Division tot he new TNA fanbase. Daniels and Taka would probably tear the house down, and do so here. Not sure about Taka going over, but hopefully you have him put someone over before he runs off to Japan.

- Good, quick promo that more than earned it's high rating. Hopefully Killings can get moved back intot he TNA main event again soon.

- This is a good way of doing it, as Rhino continues his feuding and even better Lesnar gets intot he mix. A four-way between these guys would be nice.

- Bit of a ratings killer here, but it sets up the main event business well.

- Hopefulyl we hold off the Team 3D and AMW stuff for awhile, as I feel the feud has been beaten to death. Stevens and Douglas will be a relief to the title scene I think.

- Good segment whihc helps how us that Steiner is indeed a freak. The high rating doesn't hurt either.

- Not sure where you are going with Monty, but it seems you are in the same boat due to him losing out here. I am enjoying Hardy/Shelly right now however and hopefully the two match up well in the ring.

- Here is "Da Man" to kill Joe but hopefully he is going to be used like he should be, to put over Joe. Not sure aboout hiring him with some of the guys out there, but at least it will lead to a somewhat easonable feud between him and Joe.

-Good show overall, and hopefully you continue this. Just noticed the last post, but hopefully this wasn't declared dead somewhere without me noticing...

[ClaRK! Kent]

NWA-TNA iMPACT! on SpikeTV

Preview for June 1st edition

Last week, in the first-ever primetime iMPACT! on SpikeTV, Larry Zybysko had a surprise planned for Samoa Joe. At the close of the show, as Joe was battling NWA World champion Christian Cage, the phenom that is Bill Goldberg debuted in TNA to take out the Samoan Submission Machine. This week, Goldberg will be in the Impact-Zone to explain his actions, and by order of TNA Management he has been given a match with "The Monster", Abyss, to showcase his talents.

In this week's main event, "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner will return to action for the first time since his loss to Christian Cage at Sacrifice, and will be looking to get back on the winning trail against Ron "The Truth" Killings. Killings was vocally critical of TNA Management last week, and rumours are flying around in the locker room that he has been 'fed' to Steiner this week as punishment, and to placate the rampaging Genetic Freak.

In other action, Rhino will be facing off against "Alpha Male" Monty Brown in singles action, Alex Shelley meets Christopher Daniels in the hope of climbing up the X Division rankings and getting closer to a title shot, whilst Konnan's Latin American eXchange face off against The Naturals in a match that may well determine the lay of the land in the tag team division.

Outside of the ring, we will also be hearing from NWA World Heavyweight champion Christian Cage, who will be in Hollywood this week doing post-production on his latest movie venture, but has promised to speak to TNA fans about his current rivalry with Scott Steiner via satellite.

Confirmed Matches

"Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner vs. Ron "The Truth" Killings

Bill Goldberg vs. "The Monster" Abyss

"The War Machine" Rhino vs. "Alpha Male" Monty Brown

"The Fallen Angel" Christoper Daniels vs. Alex Shelley

LAX w/Konnan vs. The Naturals

Edited June 27, 2006 by Sephiroth Clone

[ClaRK! Kent]

NWA-TNA iMPACT! on SpikeTV

June 1st 2006

Taped at the Impact-Zone at Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida

- This week's show begins with a highlights package detailing the arrival of two of the biggest names ever to set foot in TNA. We see Brock Lesnar's shock debut at Sacrifice two weeks back, and his subsequent appearance on last week's Impact, and then the stunning end to the Champion vs. Champion Showcase match last week, where Bill Goldberg arrived in TNA to take out Samoa Joe.

- With the highlights over, we head over to Stage 21 at Universal Studios, where Mike Tenay and Don West are on commentary. West is still speechless from last week, and still can't believe Goldberg of all people is in TNA. Tenay says that things have been tense all week backstage, and that Goldberg is scheduled to be in the Impact-Zone tonight.

- As if on cue, a military drumbeat starts up, combined with some Disturbed-esque guitar thrashing, and pyrotechnics launch from the top of the stage – here comes Goldberg! Goldberg is wearing a new T-Shirt that dubs him "The One-Man Wrecking Crew" along with jeans, a leather jacket, and shades. He steps into the ring, and grabs a microphone.

Bill Goldberg: "You thought it'd never happen, didn't you? They all said Goldberg would never come to TNA, that he'd never set foot in a ring again. Well, Larry Zybysko knew how to speak my language, people. Laughing Larry coughed up the green, and here I am. But y'see, it ain't that simple. The last year or so, since I've been sittin' at home feelin' my ass grow, there's been one question burnin' at the back of my mind, makin' all the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end every time I think about it."

Goldberg pauses for effect, letting the tension rise.

Bill Goldberg: "WHO'S NEXT? Lucky for me, Zybysko had a prime candidate. Some island lard-ass called Samoa Joe! I've been hearin' the dirtsheets and the boys on the Internet cream about this guy for months. He's undefeated in TNA! He's a wrecking machine! He's the next Goldberg! Well, time just ran out for Samoa Joe, people, because I'm here to take out Samoa Joe and put him in his place once and for all!"

That gets a pretty mixed reaction from the TNA audience, what with Joe's 'heel we love to hate' status, but nobody in the Impact-Zone is courageous enough to start the "Joe's gonna kill you" chant with Goldberg around. The former WCW World champion smirks, and continues.

Bill Goldberg: "But, you see, that's only the beginning. I'm gonna beat that bitch so hard he scurries back to the islands before you can say 'coconut,' but from then on – I'm out for the gold, and I'm out for –"

At that moment, though, he is cut off by the wailing sirens, and the TNA faithful start to pour a stream of abuse towards the ramp as Scott Steiner walks out, wearing street clothes and his chain mail, holding a microphone. He remains safely on the ramp, of course, with Goldberg prowling around the ring like a feral creature.

Scott Steiner: "Well, look what the cat threw up! Goldberg, I thought I'd seen the last of you when you got forcibly retired out of WCW, but it looks like you just can't resist a paycheck. Need another fix? You say you're here to take out Samoa Joe, is that right? What's wrong, Billy boy? You can't hang with the big dogs anymore so you're punching below your weight in the X Division, now? Is that it? Or maybe you're just afraid of the talent TNA has in the main event – maybe you're afraid of Big Poppa Pump, Goldberg!"

There's an "ooooh" from the Impact-Zone, and Goldberg stops his pacing, staring Steiner directly in the eye. Big Poppa Pump doesn't flinch, and for a second it looks as if it's about to kick off. Goldberg, however, backs down and raises the microphone to his lips.

Bill Goldberg: "Afraid? AFRAID? Afraid of YOU, Steiner? You wanna know how afraid I am? Well, I might be all booked up for tonight, Steiner, but how's about this? Next week, how about you take me on, Steiner, and we'll see just who's scared! Y'see, Samoa Joe might be next, but YOU'RE FIRST!"

With only a moment's notice, Goldberg throws his microphone down to the ground, charges forward, and catches Steiner with a Spear! The Genetic Freak hits the ground, clutching his stomach in agony, and Goldberg storms to the back. Tenay and West put over what looks to be next week's main event match, and we go to commercials.

(76)

- LAX w/Konnan vs. The Naturals

We return from the break to see both the LAX and the Naturals in the ring, ready for this match. B-Boy starts off against Andy Douglas, with the two men jockeying for position and Douglas winning out with a legsweep and a few quick stomps, but B-Boy is soon able to overpower him with his hard-hitting strong style, forcing him into the corner and kicking seven shades out of him with some brutal shots, before tagging in Homicide. The Notorious 187 continues the strong style offense, and the LAX are soon brutalising Douglas, quickly tagging in and out, leaving Chase Stevens isolated and increasingly frustrated on the apron. Finally, he snaps and interferes, stopping the LAX from hitting a double suplex on his partner, and is able to tag himself in. Fired up, Stevens begins to make some headway against B-Boy, wrestling him to the ground and starting to work on his legs, hoping to neutralise his arsenal of kicks. He manages to lock in a leg grapevine, but Konnan takes the opportunity to jump onto the apron and start yelling abuse, giving Homicide time to retrieve a heavy-duty steel chain from his corner and blast Stevens over the head with it! Andy Douglas rushes in to break up the pinfall attempt, and takes matters into his own hands, launching himself onto Konnan with a suicide dive! Homicide rushes out to defend his friend, and completely misses BG and Kip James rushing out to the ring! Kip hits the Famouser on B-Boy, and drapes Stevens over him, before alerting the referee and fending off the rest of the LAX – Stevens picks up the pinfall and the victory! ***½

After the bout, all Hell breaks loose between the LAX and the James Gang, with Konnan's team quickly gaining the numbers advantage – until the Naturals come to the rescue! Tenay and West are screaming that we have lost all control of these three teams, when suddenly America's Most Wanted rush out! Never ones to let an opportunity go to waste, AMW use the elements of surprise and two steel chairs to blindside the Naturals, and even give chairshots to Homicide and Kip James for good measure! Security come pouring out from the back now, and soon the ringside area is awash with heavies, desperately trying to keep the eight men's hands off of each other.

(MQ 92%, CR 59%, OR 75%)

- With the loss of all control at ringside, it's not long before NWA Director of Authority Larry Zybysko is out, microphone in hand and a face like thunder.

Larry Zybysko: "Hey, hey! You all just calm the Hell down! What the Hell is this, people? You want to get us kicked off of this network, do you? In all my years in the business, I've never seen such a display of lawlessness as I have out here tonight! You know what? Tonight you can all sweat yourselves down in the cells! Go on, boys, drag their asses out of here!"

At Zybysko's behest, the security team starts to move the four teams to the back, but the DOA has a few more words before they go.

Larry Zybysko: "And, once you're out of there, you can all forget about being paid this week, and next week too! And, finally – next week, if you want to fight, you can do it in a match! Next week on Impact, it's going to be America's Most Wanted, the Latin American eXchange, the Naturals, and the James Gang in a four corners match – with the NWA World Tag Team titles on the line!"

With that, and with the four teams being forcibly ejected from the arena, we go to a video package.

(59)

- The video package starts out with some black-and-white shots of a disused gymnasium. A dilapidated old ring sits in the middle of the room, and a lone figure is standing there, staring at the camera.

Lone Figure: "I am not a superstar. I am not a sports entertainer. I am not a gimmick, a marketing ploy, or a product to be sold. I am a wrestler. I was cast out for speaking my mind, for holding true to what I do, and for that crime I will reap my vengeance. Nothing I do is a 'work,' nothing I do inside a ring is fake or planned. Who am I? My name is Brent Albright, and every man that comes across me in TNA will find out just why they call me 'The Shooter.' Go on – tell me I'm fake."

The figure, revealed as Brent Albright, turns away from the camera. Tenay and West inform us that this new face will be debuting right after the upcoming commercial break.

(65)

- "The Shooter" Brent Albright vs Shocker

We return with Brent Albright standing in the ring, and Shocker making his way down the ramp, high-fiving fans and playing to the crowd, looking to get back on track after Team Mexico's loss in the World X Cup. Albright eyes him with disdain before the bell, and instantly charges towards him as the match begins, forcing him into the corner and following up with some hard shoulder thrusts. Shocker forces his way back out with some punches and a quick snapmare, but Albright is straight back up and able to catch another punch, coiling Shocker's arm around for an arm wringer, before driving an elbow into his upper arm, and forcing him down to the ground, dropping a leg over the arm to follow up. Shocker desperately tries to work his way back into the match, but Albright is impressive on his TNA debut, constantly shutting him down and zoning in on his arm with an almost maniacal focus, stomping away on it in fury every time the Mexican is down. Finally, Shocker is able to get back into the match with a desperation hurricanrana, before attempting the Guapo Bomb – but the damage to his arm is all too evident, and Albright is able to drop down behind him and pull him into the Crowbar! Shocker, his arm worn down throughout, is quick to submit, and give Albright his debut victory. **

After the match, Albright lets go of the hold and raises his arms in triumph, before suddenly latching the Crowbar hold back on! The referee tries to break it up, but Albright has it clamped on tight, cinching it in until Shocker finally passes out from the pain! Albright, his job done, storms to the back, with Tenay and West almost speechless at the sheer ferocity of the young technical wrestler.

(MQ 79%, CR 56%, OR 67%)

- We go to the back now, where Abyss is standing, cracking his knuckles and gripping his steel chain, with Father James Mitchell standing in front of him, staring maniacally into the camera. He grins, somewhat disturbingly, and begins to speak.

James Mitchell: "Goldberg. Goldberg. Gooooooldberg. They say that tonight's a foregone conclusion. That my monster, Abyss, is being given to you so you can show off in front of the primetime crowd! Well, all I've got to say is this, Goldberg – you may have beaten 175 men in a row, you may have beaten men like Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Jeff Jarrett… but you've never faced a man like Abyss! You've never faced a man so violent, so unpredictable, so primal as Abyss, and you've met your match tonight! When my monster beats you tonight, nobody will be able to claim he doesn't deserve a shot at the NWA World's title, and that is all the motivation he needs!"

To punctuate the point, Abyss roars in agreement, and Mitchell smirks as we go to a commercial.

(63)

- "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels vs. Alex Shelley

We return from the break to see Alex Shelley heading down to the ring, setting up the Paparazzi-Cam, and Christopher Daniels already inside the six-sided ring. The two men circle each other to start off with, before dropping into a tie-up in the middle of the ring and jockeying for position. Shelley wins out with a belly-to-belly suplex, and immediately starts a chain-wrestling exhibition, landing move after move on the Fallen Angel and never giving him time to catch his breath. Very quickly, Shelley has him positioned for the Shellshock, but Daniels has it scouted and is able to escape to the outside, where he has time to take a breather and re-enter the ring. Now, with Shelley's momentum gone, Daniels is in control, throwing him all over the ring with some great suplexes and throws, returning the favour and showing Shelley no quarter between maneuvers. Finally, Daniels nails a spiked DDT and signals for the Last Rites, but Shelley counters with a sneaky lowblow and rolls the Fallen Angel up - with a fistful of tights and a foot on the ropes! That gets the pinfall, and Shelley takes an extremely cheap victory. ***½

Shelley is quick to escape from Daniels after the match, stopping only to collect his precious Paparazzi-Cam before backtracking up the ramp, away from the angry Fallen Angel. That hesitation is all it takes, however, to give Jeff Hardy the time to rush out from the back! Shelley, unawares, keeps backtracking until he walks right into the Charismatic Enigma! He turns around - right into a hard right hand! Shelley goes sprawling out on the ramp, dropping his camera, which Hardy grabs before leaving.

(MQ 88%, CR 76%, OR 82%)

- We switch to a satellite feed now, with NWA World Heavyweight champion Christian Cage, direct from California. The champion is sitting in a leather chair, with what looks like a laminated pass to a movie set hung around his neck, and the title belt draped over his shoulder. Before he speaks, we hear Mike Tenay, so presumably this will be a Q&A session.

Mike Tenay: "Now, ladies and gentlemen, we have - live via satellite - the NWA World's champion, Christian Cage, all the way from California. Now, Christian, you're not in Florida this week due to commitments in Hollywood for your latest movie venture, but you'll be back next week, correct?"

Christian Cage: "That's right, Mike. We're doing post-production now, and it's overrun a little, forcing me to remain in California and miss this week's show. For that, I can't apologise enough, but I can promise that I'll be back in the house next week."

Mike Tenay: "We received word a few moments ago that next week, you're scheduled to meet the King of the Mountain himself, Jeff Jarrett, in non-title action. Do you have any words?"

Christian Cage: "If that's the way it's gotta be, Mike, I'll face Jeff Jarrett next week and be damn happy beating him 1-2-3. Right now, Double J is just about the last thing on my mind, but don't let that fool you - I'll be bringing my A-game to the show next week and I'll show him just why he isn't getting his grubby paws on the NWA World's title any time soon."

Mike Tenay: "The other things on your mind, I assume you're talking about Scott Steiner, and the recent TNA debut of Brock Lesnar?"

Christian Cage: "Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head. As far as Steiner's concerned, I beat him fair and square at Sacrifice, Mike, and it looks like he just can't accept that. Well, if it takes another round to show him who's the better man, if I have to beat Scott Steiner ten times to get him off my back, then I'll do it. I'm a fighting champion, and as long as he's on the contenders list then I'll keep fighting him off."

Mike Tenay: "And, what are your thoughts on Brock Lesnar? And, for that matter, Bill Goldberg, who debuted in TNA during your match last week?"

Christian Cage: "Goldberg… I have no beef with Goldberg. Sooner or later, I'm sure he'll want this twenty pounds of gold around his own waist, but until then it's simple - he stays out of my way, and I stay out of his. That's all there is to it. Lesnar? Brock's got it into his head that he wants my title, and that's fine by me. Sure, they'll say he's the Big Thing. They'll say he's Brock Lesnar, one of the youngest champions in history, and they'll say that I'm not good enough to beat him. But, look at the facts here, Mike - they said I wasn't good enough to beat Jeff Jarrett. They said I wasn't good enough to beat Scott Steiner. They said I wasn't good enough to break out of the midcard and up into the title picture. But look who's the champion now, Mike. Look who had the last laugh - me. And I'm going to keep on laughing, if Brock Lesnar gets into my business, and I'll show him that I am good enough to hang with the Big Thing… because THAT… is how I roll."

Mike Tenay: "Christian, thank you, and we'll see you next week."

With that, the satellite feed fades out, and we take another commercial break.

(92)

- "The War Machine" Rhino vs. "Alpha Male" Monty Brown

Back from the break, both Rhino and Monty Brown are already in the ring, being read the riot act by the referee. Brown comes out of the blocks running as the opening bell sounds, tearing into Rhino with a shoulder tackle and some knees to the gut, sending the War Machine staggering into the ropes, where Brown follows up with a clothesline, knocking him to the outside. Rhino rushes back in straight away, and immediately recieves another onslaught from the Alpha Male, who is looking fired up and impressive tonight. Eventually, Brown's enthusiasm gets the better of him, as he overextends himself on a clothesline, allowing Rhino to dodge and take him down with one of his own. Rhino displays his much-overlooked arsenal now, working on Brown with a series of rib-breakers and slams, working constantly on his midsection, finally isolating him in the corner and delivering ten brutal shoulder thrusts in a row, before taking a run-up. He charges for the Gore, but the Alpha Male makes an instinctive dodge and Rhino slams into the turnbuckle! Both men fall to the floor, and TNA official Rudy Charles starts the count. As he checks on Monty, he completely misses Jeff Jarrett rushing to the ring! Rhino is up before Brown, but Jarrett blindsides him with a Stroke out of nowhere, and sneaks away as Charles turns around! That's all Brown needs, once he's back on his feet, to stalk Rhino and nail the Pounce for the 3-count. **¾

After the bout, Jarrett dives back into the ring, and starts whaling away on Rhino with some brutal stomps, quickly joined by the Alpha Male. The dastardly duo beat the War Machine all over the ring, with Monty even hitting him with a second brutal Pounce, before Jarrett finally breaks a guitar over his head and decides it's time to leave. Rhino is helped to the back by EMTs, as Tenay and West run Jarrett down for his low-brow tactics, and we take another commercial.

(MQ 83%, CR 73%, OR 76%)

- Bill Goldberg vs. "The Monster" Abyss

As we return from the break, Abyss is making his way to ringside, accompanied as ever by Jim Mitchell, and anticipation is building. For the second time in TNA, the military drumbeat hits, and the Impact-Zone goes wild for Goldberg! The One Man Wrecking Crew storms down to the ring in his usual style, and immediately goes to work on Abyss as the bell rings. The monster is caught off guard by Goldberg, who quickly grounds him with his strong, MMA style, and continues to work him over him with some powerful slams and suplexes. Eventually, Abyss is able to force his way back into the match with some roughneck, closed fists, using his sheer size and power to get back into the game, but Goldberg quickly closes him down and hauls him into the air for a military press - he presses Abyss three times and then drops into an Oklahoma slam! Abyss writhes in pain, and Jim Mitchell jumps up onto the apron, trying to force a distraction, but Goldberg simply shoves him bodily off of the apron and into the security barrier! The One Man Wrecking Crew turns around, and lands the Spear on Abyss… Jackhammer Slam! That's all she wrote, and Goldberg picks up his debut victory in emphatic style. ***¼

With his music echoing around the Impact-Zone and the familiar "Goldberg!" chants echoing around the arena, Goldberg raises his arms in triumph, but is suddenly struck from behind - it's Samoa Joe! A furious Joe blasts Goldberg in the back with a steel chair, and slams the chair into him another four times, leaving the big man staggering forward into the ropes. Joe upends him out of the ring, and the two men exchange a heated staredown. Goldberg yells that Joe is next, and Joe fires back "I'm gonna kill you!" as we take our final commercial interruption of the show.

(MQ 85%, CR 78%, OR 81%)

- "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner vs. Ron "The Truth" Killings

Tonight's main event is on hand as we return, and Tenay reminds us than Ron Killings has apparently been 'fed' to Steiner here to placate the rampant Genetic Freak, and to punish Killings for his words last week. Whatever the case, Killings has no intention of playing by the script, starting strong with some fast-paced and agile offense, catching the much older Steiner off guard and quickly putting him on the backfoot. Killings is smart enough to know that Steiner could change things in an instant, and quickly tries to wrap it up with the Lie Detector, but Big Poppa Pump has it scouted and simply upends him onto the mat, following up with a bicep kiss and an elbow drop. Steiner drops a couple more elbows, and a knee, before hauling Killings up and tossing him to the outside with a belly-to-belly suplex right over the top rope! The fight thus spills to the outside, with Steiner slamming the Truth's head off of three of the six ringposts in a row, before slinging him back into the ring and hitting a brutal spinebuster. With that, he latches on the Steiner Recliner, which gets the tapout victory. **½

The bell rings, but the music that plays over the PA system isn't Steiner's - it's Brock Lesnar's! The Big Thing storms out down the ramp, eyes fixed on Steiner, who is ready to fight. It isn't much of a fight though, as Steiner is worn out from the match and can't mount much offense before Lesnar scoops him up - Force-Five! And, for the second time in two weeks, Ron Killings gets nailed with the Force-Five as well! Lesnar stands over the broken bodies, a sight fast becoming familiar in TNA, as the programme cuts.

(MQ 76%, CR 87%, OR 81%)

Overall - 74%

[ClaRK! Kent]

NWA-TNA iMPACT! on SpikeTV

Preview for June 8th edition

At the close of last week's show, Brock Lesnar struck yet again, this time destroying Scott Steiner and Ron Killings with brutal Force-Five faceslams. This week, Lesnar has been instructed by TNA Management that if he intervenes himself in a match again, he will have to suffer the consequences.

In the main event this week, as we learned last week, Christian Cage will meet Jeff Jarrett in non-title action, in the champion's return to the ring. Cage has vowed to be a fighting champion, and Jarrett plans to test that theory this week, vowing that if he beats the champion, he'll be taking a shot at the NWA World's title.

As announced last week, TNA's newest talent Bill Goldberg has challenged Scott Steiner for a bout this week, after being incensed by accusations from Big Poppa Pump last week that Goldberg was afraid of Jarrett's head henchman. We have no idea whether the match has been sanctioned by TNA Management, but we're sure to have a decision.

After a four-way tag team brawl last week, Director of Authority Larry Zybysko intervened into the Tag Team division, ordering a four-corners match for this week. America's Most Wanted will be defending their titles against their long-time enemies The Naturals, with the LAX and the James Gang thrown in for good measure.

In other action on iMPACT! this week, hot young talent Brent Albright looks to continue his winning streak, Alex Shelley hopes to move up in the X Division by beating the "senior partner" of the division, Jerry Lynn, and recently-returned Jeff Hardy will be taking on the monster, Abyss.

For all of this and more, don't forget to tune in to iMPACT! on SpikeTV, this Thursday night!

Confirmed Matches

"Captain Charisma" Christian Cage vs. "King of the Mountain" Jeff Jarrett - non-title match

"Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy vs. "The Monster" Abyss

America's Most Wanted © vs. The Naturals vs. LAX w/Konnan vs. James Gang - NWA Tag Team titles

Jerry Lynn vs. Alex Shelley

"The Shooter" Brent Albright vs. Norman Smiley

[JStarr]

lol, america