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SPECIAL DISCLAIMER: Due to the fun that is Passover, I'm running a little behind and a little underfed. This recap is a bit more cursory than my usual treatment.

Where We've Been: I've been in Cleveland, Ohio, not eating. TNA, however, has been up to a lot. The Tag Team Championships were vacated in a situation that actually looked a lot more amusing than it seemed to be on paper. The X Division Championship changed hands, but no one seemed to care much. Booker might be feuding with Sting [he's not], and Brother Devon might be feuding with Brother Ray [he's not either]. Thankfully someone is feuding with someone else, as Joe will be defending his title against Kurt Angle here tonight. I'm a little worried that TNA will, for the fourth time, have a popular face win the title at a major PPV only to drop it within a month. Hopefully they're not that silly [they, for once, aren't either].

The Show: "What are You Willing to Sacrifice?"

Matt Morgan is backstage, showing how you can get famous by beating up Kip James. I totally want to become famous now.

[Opening Credits]

Booker T hits the ring, and he has something to say to Sting. The Stinger joins him, and Booker apologizes for disrespecting him last week. Sting accepts. That was surprisingly adult. Roode and Storm come out and say that everyone wants to see them fight. Cornette mysteriously appears by the ring, and he says that he makes the matches around here. Oddly enough, he doesn't argue with the fact that we want to see Booker vs. Sting, so apparently what he doesn't do is make matches people like. He announces a tournament to fill the vacated Tag Team Championships. Four established teams will qualify, and then eight singles wrestlers will be randomly paired to form four more teams. [He doesn't say what will happen then, but that could just be foreshadowing the fact that he's going crazy later tonight.]

JB is in the back with AJ, who is meeting Karen Angle. She tells JB not to tell Kurt she's there, as he apparently doesn't watch the program. In all fairness, Kurt has made it clear that he's focused entirely on Joe, so it makes more sense than usual that he wouldn't be watching anyone else's segments.

(1) Team 3D defeat Black Reign and Rellik

I'm going to go ahead and play the "hasn't had real food for a week" card as my excuse for not having the energy to watch Black Reign & Rellik.

[Commercial Break]

Team 3D seem to be friends again.

The knockouts, in the back, have all gotten invitations from Jim Cornette. They make catty comments and then go "oooohhh" a lot.

[Commercial Break]

JB runs panting into Angle's locker room. How far away is that locker room from where Karen arrived, if JB ran all the way and is just getting there now? Angle says he knows what JB is going to ask, but that he is ready for Joe, since he never loses to the same person twice. Umm…Kurt? You've already lost to Joe twice. Anyway, Angle says that he's beating Joe and then going on to beat Rick Steiner. JB points out that he has the wrong Steiner brother, but Angle doesn't much seem to care. Borash finally remembers to tell Kurt about Karen, and Angle does not seem happy.

[Commercial Break]

We see video of Joe training with Nash, who points out that winning a title is a lot easier than keeping one. Joe says that Angle's punishment will last well beyond tonight.

[Commercial Break]

Kaz & Eric Young are in the back with Lauren. EY still denies that he's Super Eric. Kaz says that he found it hard to forgive him for having them stripped of the titles, but it's just too hard to stay mad at him. He does however want to make sure that Young contacts Super Eric to make sure that he doesn't interfere next week. After protesting that he's probably busy, Young finally agrees to call Super Eric on the "Super Eric phone" and tell him not to drop by next week.

(2) Christian Cage & Rhino defeat The Motor City Machine Guns

The Guns start off in control, as the story of the match is that they're just too experienced at working as a team for Rhino & Cage to keep up. Rhino misses a Gore and roles to the outside. Sabin goes for a move off the top rope, but Christian shoves him out to the barricade. Shelley throws Christian out of the ring and follows up with a Somersault Plancha onto him and Rhino.

[Commercial Break]

Things in this life that don't get old:
1) Pizza
2) Chocolate
3) The Motor City Machine Guns
Technically LAX should be on that list as well, but they don't seem to be doing much this week. Even so, Rhino and Christian stole the show with some cool double-team action, prompting the crowd to proclaim the match's awesomeness. The finish came when The Guns went for stereo Ensuguris on Christian, only to have Rhino pick off one with a Gore and Christian pick off the other with an Unprettier for the win.

[Commercial Break]

The knockouts come out (sans champion) to meet Cornette in the ring. Kong and Saeed then come far enough to glare from the entranceway. Cornette announces that there will be a modified gauntlet for the #1 contender's spot, where the final two will compete in a ladder match. The loser will have her head shaved. Rachael and I actually came up with some pretty funny ways for that to play out. Suffice it to say that TNA will do none of them, but that it is nice to have a women's ladder match.

Booker and Sting go over some ancient history from WCW. I know I'm in the minority, but I love that. Booker says that tonight it's all about winning, which seems to bother Sting for some reason I didn't quite catch.

(3) Roode & Storm defeat Sting & Booker T

This match-up starts with some brawling. Booker and Sting start off as a well-oiled machine, which my father rightly points out is an almost surefire sign that they'll end up losing because of some miscommunication. Storm nails a Superkick on Booker as we go to break.

[Commercial Break]

Booker's being isolated for a bit, and it is somewhat dull. Eventually he gets the tag to Sting, and it's less so. Roode and Storm try to work together, so Booker comes into the ring and we start the fun "countdown to miscommunication." The heels knock down Booker. Sting attempts a Superplex on Robert Roode, but Storm catches him with the all-too-rare Main Event Tower of Doom. Roode and Storm go to attack Booker, and they hint that they are going to collide, but they hit the breaks at the last second. Sting and Booker take advantage of the momentary hesitation to pick up the win with the Scorpion Death Drop. Storm and Roode shove each other around. I'm going to leave the predictions of doom between Sting and Booker in my recap to give TNA credit for drawing my attention to the wrong team.

[Commercial Break]

Kurt Angle comes into the room with AJ Styles and Karen Angle. Don West: "This is going to be bad." He was, unsurprisingly, correct. Kurt says she can't win him back till after he's done with Joe. He starts to get in his face, but AJ grabs him and makes back off. Are we coming up on AJ-Kurt finally?

Cornette has snapped in the back, and is complaining that all the wrestlers hate him and are out to get him. He also works in the word "make-up" for about the fifth time tonight, making me wonder if one of the writers lost a bet with his daughter. He says he's going to force them into a match in some sick, sadistic, structure that could even cost a lifeI wonder if this means that the last Elimination Chamber match did especially good numbers?

[Commercial Break]

(4) Samoa Joe defeats Kurt Angle

They start with a slow build-up again, though eschewing the MMA style this week in favor of some more traditional strikes and grapples. Angle misses a big charge in the corner and eats ring post. That cannot be good for his surgically reconstructed neck.

[Commercial Break]

Joe is extremely dominant, powering Angle all around the ring. Angle turns things around with a Release German Suplex and buys some time with a Chin Lock. Joe powers out, only to be caught in an Overhead Belly-to-Belly Suplex. Angle charges Joe in the corner again, but gets caught in a Yurinagi. Maybe Angle should just stay away from the corner altogether. Joe starts striking back, and Hebner gets in his face about the closed fists, which is weird. Angle takes advantage of the distraction to low-bridge Joe, who takes a hard fall on his knee.

[Commercial Break]

Angle is working the leg, locking in a Figure Four. Joe makes it to the ropes, but Angle comes back with another Leg Lock. Joe escapes and tries to get this match away from the ground game, nailing a big Spine Buster and a Snap Power Slam for two apiece. Angle gets an ankle, but Joe spins him off before he can do any real damage. He comes back with an Olympic Slam for two, and follows up with a Moonsault that gets nothing but canvas. Joe quickly goes for the Rear Naked Choke, which is reversed into an Angle Lock, which is reversed into a Rear Naked Choke again. Angle, however, is next to the ropes. Joe sets Angle up for the Muscle Buster (still, to his credit, selling the leg), but Angle fights him off. Joe goes for a Spinning Wheel Kick and accidentally takes out the ref. Angle takes advantage with a low blow and another Olympic Slam. He goes for the Angle Lock, but even if Joe were to tap there'd be no ref to see it. Joe shoots Angle off to the ropes, where he eats a shot from a lead pipe from Scott Steiner. Joe hits some type of Power Slam for the win.
Steiner stands proud over Angle, muttering something about Angle disrespecting him. The moral of today's show: remember which Steiner is which. Joe and Steiner stare down, and Joe slaps him in the face. Cornette comes out and says that since nothing was settled here, the match at Sacrifice will be a Triple Threat.

Star of the Night: Rick Steiner?

Where We're Going: Apparently we're going to try to make the Tag Team Championships seem important again, which is kind of funny when you consider that this plot line began with Eric Young pretending to be a super-hero. TNA could use some new tag teams, and there really are a lot of singles wrestlers not doing anything better. The key to TNA's success will most likely be picking up the pieces WWE neglects. They started with lighter weight wrestlers, and are now focusing a lot on women. When your competition is Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes, tag team wrestling fans seem ripe for the picking as well.

Overall: A decent enough show. The Guns' match was excellent, and the main event was very good free-TV fare. There was nothing particularly exciting, but it was still a step up from last week. B


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