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TNA Impact TV review
August 30, 2007
Taped on 8/27 in Orlando, FL
Aired on Spike TV
Report by Rocky Kitts, PWTorch.com contributor

Welcome to the Impact Zone and another episode of TNA Impact! Tonight will finally determine who will be co-holder of the tag team titles with Kurt Angle. Not that it really matters. I mean none of the other teams care. Do they?

The show starts with a recap of last weeks show complete with the beat down on the Steiners by Team 3D.

Team Pac is backstage and PacMan says tonight he's going to give away another autograph. Cue Intro.

Jeremy Borash is backstage with Kurt Angle, Dr. Nash, and Karen Angle. Angle complains that none of those competing in the main event are worthy of being his partner because they all hate him. Nash says hating Angle is like hating the flag.

Team 3D comes to the ring as Tenay recaps Rick Steiner being put down last week.  As the Motor City Machine Guns come to the ring Scott Steiner comes down to the ring and takes on Team 3D by himself. After a couple of belly to belly suplexes, Steiner pulls a table from under the ring and tosses it into the ring. After another belly to belly on Brother Ray, D-Von attacks him and Team 3D hits a 3D. Then after D-Von places a chair on Scotts throat Ray slams it with another chair.  As interns tend to Scott, Team 3D pulls Scott back into the ring and gives him the big top rope powerbomb through a table.

Hot segment that made sense on many levels. It's natural that Scott should want revenge, it's also natural that Team 3D should get the advantage and work over Scott's throat. This spot was very reminiscent of The Midnight Express v. Brian Pillman many years ago where Pillman's larynx was "crushed" by Cornette's tennis racket. The only drawback to this whole segment was the announcing was really bad.

[Commercial]

We come back with Alex Shelley making an open challenge that is answered by Team VKM.

(1) VKM defeated The Motor City Machine Guns. Some good double team moves by Shelley and Sabin, followed up by a cobra clutch slam by Kip for the easy pin. This match was too quick to even have. Seriously, I looked away for a second and it was done.

What a waste of Alex Shelley. Maybe I'm the only one who sees that this guy has "it". Sabin is a good worker but Shelley could be a breakout star. Instead creative chooses to push the Old Age Outlaws while Billy Gunn/Kip James/get the hell off my TV, half asses it in the ring and makes me want to change the channel.

Open challenge by Kip is answered by LAX, about time they are back on TV, XXX also come to the ring followed by Eric Young and Shark Boy (WTF). Some brawling then we go backstage. That wouldn't have been a bad brawl except for two reasons, one being why in the world would Shark Boy and Eric Young be included other than to have to find a spot for Young on the show and second, what are they brawling for since no tag team has mentioned the tag titles?

JB and Karen Angle approach Samoa Joe's dressing room and Karen walks in. Joe asks why she's in his room. Karen gives a very subdued promo that sounds very rehearsed, but at least she's not screaming. Then Joe cuts a very good promo about laying Kurt's broken body at Karen's feet. There'll be some that'll criticize this as Joe threatening Karen, but I thought Joe did a great job of making sure that his threats were aimed at Kurt not Karen. Joe's promo skills are vastly underrated.

[Commercial]

- VKM challenged any other teams who want take face them to come to the ring right now. This brought out LAX, XXX and Eric Young & Shark Boy. All four teams brawled.

(2) Sting defeated A.J. Styles, Christian Cage, and Samoa Joe to become the new TNA Tag Team Champion along with Kurt Angle.

The Christian Coalition is backstage and is interrupted by Karen Angle. Christian tells her that the strip club is down the street. AJ admonishes Christian for talking that way to Karen. Karen offers Christian a title shot if he becomes Angle's partner Christian tells Karen to save it that's he's a bigger liar than her and knows the con. He storms off and AJ asks if the deal applies to him. Karen says yes and starts flirting with AJ who says that he's not gullible and storms off. Then he comes back and accepts Karen's offer.

James Storm still can't find Rhino. Yep this segment was as bad as last weeks. Next.

Karen Angle was much better here than in the Joe segment. She was very natural and did a good job of trying to con a con and then switching gears to work on AJ. I'm getting tired of goofy AJ though and hope that maybe this will be the first hint of a Christian/Styles feud.

The four men for the main event make their entrances. After Cage, Styles, and Joe hit the ring the camera shows Karen trying to convince Sting that if he becomes Angles partner they can do a lot of good. Especially for the children. Sting tells her that if she is concerned about the children to change her dress. Zing!

Sting makes his entrance followed by in Mike Tenay's words "a very interested observer" Kurt Angle.

[Commercial]

Back and action breaks down, with Styles and Joe outside the ring while Sting and Christian battle it out in the ring.  Sting goes for an early Scorpion on Christian but Christian gets out. When Christian and AJ double team Joe, until Joes kicks both their rears with a series of high impact kicks and clotheslines and a sweet back brain kick. Joe goes for the muscle buster on AJ but Christian interferes and AJ hits a great reverse ddt on Joe. Sting follows this up with a clothesline to the Coalition as we go to commercial.

[Commercial]

Sting and Joe are slugging it out in ring when Joe hits a kick to Stings head and then catapults Sting into Styles followed by a big powerslam on Sting.  Joe no sells a Stinger Splash and climbs to the top only to be superplexed off. AJ tries for the pin but Sting kicks out. AJ breaks up a Christian pin on Joe and the two of them argue then begin to battle. A series of attempted pins and AJ goes for the Styles Clash only to be hit by Sting. Styles hit the Pele on Sting and then Christian attempts a frogsplash only to have it countered. And we're going to commercial. Damn I think I need one. So far this has been the best match I've seen on Impact in forever.   Great job by the wrestlers of cycling through spots with the action mainly focusing on two men at a time. Good use of match storytelling with AJ and Christian getting into it and not playing nice. There have been no allegiances in this match and that really adds to the fact that a title is on the line here. Joe has looked like a monster and AJ has been the sharpest he's been in awhile and Sting and CC are keeping up very nicely.

[Commercial]

Christian chokes Sting. During the break Joe took an Unprettier on the concrete floor. AJ and Christian double-team Sting. Christian gives AJ some orders, but Sting goes on the offense and hits a Stinger Splash on AJ. Sting reverses an Unprettier attempt into a Scorpion Death Drop. AJ jumps Sting and Christian goes out for a chair. Joe grabs the chair from him and misses a wild swing at CC's head. Joe and Christian battle outside the ring while in the ring Tomko hits a big boot to Sting's face. AJ goes for the pin but Sting kicks out. Sting blocks an AJ springboard of the ropes into an atomic drop and then makes AJ submit to the Scorpion Deathlock.

After the match Kurt looks disappointed but goes into the ring and Karen gives Sting one of the tag belts. Kurt raises Sting's hand in victory then leaves him in the ring. Team Pac figures this is a good time to ruin the show for me and attacks Sting with Killings giving Sting a flip axe-kick and Pac Man spraying his name on Sting's back before Angle can make the save.

First off, this was a great, great match and the fact that there was limited interference really helped as did the clean win by Sting. Easily the best Impact match I've seen in a long time. The only problem I have is that it's going to be very hard to keep Angle heel and have him go against Team Pac. With Pac unable to wrestle I have the suspicion that this might end up a single's match for the titles between Sting and Killings to push a feud between Angle and Sting.

Overall this was a very good Impact based mainly on the strength of the main event and the Team 3D attack on Scott Steiner.  Also much less time for Team Pac this week and that's a good thing. Weak points were easily the VKM burial of Shelley and Sabin and the James Storm segments. Very solid 3 ∏ stars out of 5 with good build to the PPV.

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