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Where We've Been: The ratings have been fluctuating wildly lately, but, for those who missed it, last week marked the first time in recent memory that the main event was the top rated match of the show. I had hoped that would give them cause to build up Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal as the successor to Angle vs. Styles, but I guess not. The announced main event for tonight is Rhino & Cage vs. Team 3D, cause I guess we've all been dying for Team 3D to be in more main events. Lethal-Dutt has been building for about a year, and features one of TNA's best prospects and one of their admittedly (per Don West) most underutilized. It actually occurs to me that it's somewhat sad that Lethal is still their youngest prospect. There was a point when TNA kept bringing in newer and younger talent—first Sabin, then Shelley, then Lethal, but now there hasn't really been anyone new for years (save Consequences Creed). I guess a lot of the women count, but there is still a limit to how much TNA can reasonably lean on them.

The Show: Fur Will Fly at the Pink Taco

Jay Lethal is waiting in the Pink Taco, and I'd forgotten that he could sell intense as well as wacky. I wonder if he's in line for a main event push anytime in the next year. I remember when they first started pushing him two or three years ago and I didn't see what the big deal was. Well, my bad.

They recap "previously on Impact".

[Intro]

Tonight we're seeing the first match in the World X Cup and have an interview with Karen Angle. But first:

(1) BOOKER T. defeats BG JAMES

This is probably a good use of BG. He's still just credible enough to make this mean something. Booker starts things off by throwing BG into the barricade before he makes it to the ring. He rolls him in and lays in with strikes. Booker still has some fans in the Impact Zone. Then he locks in a chin lock that makes me wonder why. Then there's a knife edged chop. I wonder if the Indians are on? BG starts to fight back with some punches, so Booker finishes him with a Scissors Kick. Yawn.

JB is in the locker room with Joe. I thought Joe had his own locker room? JB wants to know what Joe thinks about what Nash said about Booker T last week after study hall…I mean in the ring. Joe is ticked he'd even ask, but hypes all the things Booker has seen and done. Nash comes in, and Joe is annoyed to see him. He's heard Nash going around talking about how he can't beat Booker, but when's the last time Nash beat him? Nash points that he's beat Booker many times, but Joe notes that it probably hasn't happened in ten years. He dares Nash to show him something, instead of just telling him stuff all the time. Nash agrees to step into the ring against Booker next week, when he'll show Joe how a veteran wins matches by making this a mental game.

[Commercial Break]

They hype the International X Cup, which will apparently conclude with an Ultimate X match at Victory Road. I would have stretched things out a bit longer.

(2) THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS defeat DAIVARI & TYSON DUX.

This is the first round of Ultimate X, worth one point. The crowd chants for the USA. Dux starts trying for some power on Shelley, but Shelley trips him up and dropkicks him in the face. He hits a Monkey Flip and a tag to Sabin, who comes in with an Arm Drag off the top rope. I'm not sure that adds any actual force. Daivari pops in and out, and some interference from the illegal man lets Dux hit a DDT. After a brief isolation of Shelley, he's able to get a Victory roll and conver it into a tag. Sabin's a house of fire, but gets nailed by Daivari on the outside. AJ Styles is beating the crap out of Tomko backstage. Why they couldn't cut to that during BG James as opposed to The Motor City Machine Guns is beyond me.

[Commercial Break]

Lux and Daivari are taking turns beating down Sabin, but he cartwheels between them, twists Daivari into Lux and then hits an Ensuguri on the still standing Lux. Whoa. He makes the tag to Shelley, who comes in with a Cross Body Block on both opponents off the top rope. He hits some Spinning Wheel Kicks, tosses Lux, then hits a Mic Check on Daivari and a Frog Splash for two. Daivari gets back up and hits a Frankensteiner for two. Before he can follow up Sabin comes in and hits a Diamond Cutter on Daivari and assists with a Poetry in Motion to knock Dux off the apron. Stereo Superkicks on Daivari get broken up just at two. Dux hits a Brainbuster, which is broken up at 2 and 7/8. The crowd is saying that this is awesome. The Guns hit simultaneous dropkicks on the heels in opposite corners, and then Shelley finishes things off with Sliced Bread #2. Everything the last match wasn't, this match was.

AJ is now assaulting Kurt out in the parking lot. He gets him on the ground, but then realizes that it's actually TNA analyst and Angle buddy Frank Trigg. AJ realizes his mistake and storms off.

[Commercial Break]

Gail Kim, inexplicably made up like a prostitute, talks about breaking into the business. It's actually really interesting stuff.

Joining us live from her townhouse in PA is Karen Angle. As I dread this segment, I realize that Karen Angle might have passed Black Reign as my least favorite part of TNA. She's a lot prettier though, so there's that at least. She's coming back to work next week despite the beating she received from Awesome Kong, because to do anything else would be to let Angle win.

Lethal is still waiting for Dutt at The Pink Taco.

[Commercial Break]

We recap Roode & Storm lashing LAX last week. Cornette is in the ring. He welcomes LAX, who have issued a "unique challenge." Salinas is back this week. We're having another Fans' Revenge Lumberjack match, where the fans get to whack people who come out of the ring. That was a lot of fun last time (Joe vs. Jarrett at, I believe, No Surrender 2006). Hector grabs the mic, and warns Storm & Roode that all they did was wake up in the Latino fire in LAX. So they're not just going to, um, something Spanish, for their people, but their going to do, um, that same thing, with their people. It might have had something to do with their mothers. Hector asks us if we're ready, then signs a contract for the match. Cornette says that both teams need to sign off to make this official, which confuses me for a second but actually makes some sense—Cornette can book any match among TNA wrestlers, but it is fairly plausible that their contracts wouldn't cover matches involving civilians. Jacqueline comes down the ramp, and when LAX looks like they're going to make trouble Cornette reminds them of TNA's anti-man-on-woman violence policy. He gets her in the ring and asks where Storm and Roode are. She's not a babysitter, but she thinks one is probably off making money and the other is off being drunk. Salinas starts to get in her face, so Cornette asks them if they want a match. They both do, so he books it, but tells both of them to come alone. Kong's music hits, and she comes down the ramp with JB and Saeed in tow. JB lays out the challenge from the ramp, as I guess this has nothing to do with the people in the ring. That's a weird segue then.

[Commercial Break]

I didn't clock it, but those last two segments seemed really short. Kong is facing down her three potential challengers, and shoves two. I would have thought she'd need to wait till after they sign the contract. The crowd begs her to pick all three, but she picks "Taylor" instead.

(3) AWESOME KONG defeats TAYLOR

West says that Taylor has been trying to get in the ring for weeks, and sure enough she starts off going right after Kong. They acknowledge that she's another wrestler—I wonder if she's the same Taylor who was a finalist on Tough Enough a few years back? [Note: I just checked wikipedia, which claims that that Taylor retired.] Kong goes for the Awesome Bomb, but Taylor crawls through the legs. She hits a dropkick, but it doesn't take Kong down. She tries to bounce off the ropes, but just bounces right off Kong. Saeed brings Kong a chair, but Taylor kicks it back into Kong's face. She grabs it and whacks Kong a couple times, but the ref's letting it go. She follows up with a dropkick off the top rope for the world's longest two count. Kong rolls to the outside, and Taylor follows her with a Cross Body Block off the top rope. Amazingly, the crowd has gotten entirely behind Taylor. Kong catches her and rams her into the ring post. She goes for the Spinning Back Fist on the outside, but Taylor ducks and Kong whacks her fist on ring post. They go back in the ring, where Kong is still just brushing aside Taylor's offense. She goes for the Awesome Bomb again, but this time Taylor pops out over the top. Taylor comes back with an attempted Hurricanrana, but Kong refuses to go down, and instead hoists Taylor back up for the Awesome Bomb and the win. I retract all previous comments about how lame this fan-challenge is—this was awesome.

Team 3D have 3D'd Rhino through a table backstage. This is not a good day to hang out in the back.

[Commercial Break]

JB is in the back with Sonjay Dutt, who says that as a guru he's a man of peace. He's not going to fight Lethal, since he's all about love. Love has taken over him, cause he's always loved Val. JB suggests he go tell Lethal that. Dutt wonders if Lethal will forgive him, but then says that he'll have to once he too learns that Val's in love with Dutt.

We see a neat package hyping Kaz as the leader of Team TNA.

(4) KAZ defeats ALEX KOSLOV

This is not an official X Cup match. Tenay talks about how as captain Kaz has to fill the giant shoes of former captain Jerry Lynn. I'm pretty sure Sabin was captain when they won last time, which makes me wonder why he got demoted. Meanwhile, Kaz kicks Koslov's head off. A Scoop Slam and a Slingshot Leg Drop barely get two. He goes to the apron, but Koslov kicks him down to the floor. Koslov hits a high Springboard Body Press. He rolls back in and hits a series of kicks mixed among steps of the "Cossack dance". He locks in a chin lock, but Kaz powers out right away. They start trading quick roll-ups for two apiece. Koslov catches Kaz in the ropes with "The Parastroika", which is sort of like a Surfboard, with the ropes between Koslov and Kaz. Koslov tries to finish hit a Russian Leg Sweep, but Kaz gets out and starts taking it to Koslov with quick strikes. A clothesline gets two. He sets Koslov up on the top rope for the Flux Capacitor. Koslov fights it off, then tries for something off the top rope. Kaz ducks whatever it was, but Koslov lands on his feet and hits an Ensuguri to the back of Kaz's head. He tries to end things with the Springboard Body Splash from the apron, but Kaz rolls out of the way and hits the Wave of the Future for game.

JB is in the back with Christian, who's annoyed that he can't leave his buddy alone for five minutes without having him put through a table. Rhino has a concussion, but that's alright, cause you can't keep him down long. JB thinks Christian's pretty calm about things, but Cage prefers to think of himself as cool. Besides, where people like JB see a problem, people like the champ see "a phenomenal opportunity".

[Commercial Break]

"Rough Cut" is back, and we go to Matt Morgan's childhood. He says that people thought he misbehaved as a child, but really he was just desperate for attention, which is apparently different somehow. He talks about his early basketball career, and how his ultimate dream was to make the NBA.

Sonjay Dutt has arrived at the Pink Taco, and he's trying to calm Lethal down. He wants thirty seconds of Lethal's time. Sonjay says he's sorry, and acknowledges that his timing wasn't so good. He also says that Lethal should ask Val what's in her heart, cause she's in love with him (Sonjay). That's all Lethal needs to hear, as he slaps Sonjay in the face. They start brawling. Lethal chokes him out with an extension cord, Elbow Drops him on a table, runs him through the shot glasses on the bar, dumps trash on him, and Spears him through the steel covering of the window. Dutt's offense consisted of, by my count, two punches.

[Commercial Break]

JB is in the back with Team 3D. Brother Ray talks to Christian, asking if he thinks they're dumb. They heard him say that he had a "phenomenal opportunity". He wonders who his partner is going to be tonight, and he's got it down to King Kong Bundy and AJ Styles. He's seen AJ ambushing people backstage, though he can't quite figure out how he finds the time between stints in Karen Angle's dressing room. Ray says that they're fine with AJ Styles, since the last couple of times they've faced him they've crushed him. Ray talks about how he wiped AJ's blood on his face last time they met, and how this time there'll be blood, blood, tables, and more blood. And they'll do it all for Kurt Angle, cause AJ is a home wrecker. Now, for our listening pleasure, here's Devon. He doesn't understand why AJ keeps getting involved. He wonders if this is a Southern thing or a hick thing, but says that either way tonight there'll be a massacre. AJ will learn that thou shalt not mess with Team 3D. Oh my brother, testify. I give Team 3D a hard time, but when they're on they're really really on.

(5) JACQUELINE defeats SALINAS

Salinas is also mysteriously made up like a hooker. Did TNA get a new make-up person or something? [Note part two: Tough Enough Taylor, according to Wikipedia, left wrestling to be a makeup artist—maybe TNA's having her multi-task? I didn't think so either.] Salinas starts things off with a Body Slam, but when she tries to follow up with a Splash from the top rope Jacqueline rolls aside. She takes advantage by beating Salinas from corner to corner, then rolling her out of the ring and whipping her into the barricade. She rolls her back in and hits a T-Bone Suplex. She tries to jump on Salinas in the ropes, but Salinas turns it around into an Electric Chair Drop. Salinas hits a couple of clothesline, and then an STO that barely gets two. Jacqueline hits a DDT as she gets up, and flows from it into some sort of sitting Front Chancery. Salinas taps out.
After the match Jacqueline takes off her belt and gets in a couple of shots on Salinas and referee Slick Johnson.

[Commercial Break]

Christian Cage hits the ring sans partner. AJ Styles is out next—you know, Team 3D saying it was him actually faked me out a bit. Cool.

(6) CHRISTIAN CAGE & AJ STYLES defeat TEAM 3D

AJ and Christian assault Team 3D on their way to the ring. AJ pairs off with Brother Ray while Christian fights Devon, still on the outside. AJ and Ray finally make it into the ring. Ray freezes AJ with a chop to the chest, but AJ leapfrogs him and hits a dropkick. He tags in Christian, whom Ray Back Body Drops. Devon gets tagged in, and after a bit of brawling Cage hits a Corkscrew Elbow off the middle rope for two. AJ tags back in, and but misses a big Stinger Splash in the corner. Team 3D hit a Wussup? on AJ behind the referee's back, and then give the crowd what they want by going for a table. Christian catches them on their way back with a dropkick to the table, then kneels down to serve as a platform for AJ to hit a Somersault Plancha to the outside.

[Commercial Break]

Brother Ray is taking it to AJ as we come back. A recap shows Devon taking control with a sick Neck Breaker. Ray cinches in a face wrench, complete with a disgusting bite of AJ's nose. He taunts Christian into the ring, and then brings in Devon to keep up the beat down. Devon hits a Hogan Leg Drop, complete with post-move poses. Ray comes in and tries to shoot Devon into AJ in the corner, but AJ ducks Devon and nails Ray with an Ensuguri. He makes the tag to Christian, who takes out both members of Team 3D with a Double Clothesline. He goes for the Unprettier on Devon. Devon tries to reverse it into the Saving Grace, but Christian re-reverses it into an Edge-O-Matic for two. He gets Devon in the corner. Ray tries to charge, but Cage sidesteps and Ray ends up Splashing Devon. Cage nails a Frog Splash on Devon, but Ray recovers enough to break it up at two. Team 3D hit a double-team Neck Breaker on Christian for two. AJ blind-tags himself in when Cage gets close to the corner, and comes in with a big Springboard Flying Forearm. He and Christian hit Stereo Flying Headbutts on Devon for two. Ray comes back and tosses Cage, and they nail nail a Doomsday Device on AJ for two. Cage comes back in and Frankensteiner's Ray. AJ goes for another Flying Forearm on Devon, who sidesteps. AJ's in position for a 3D, but he hits a Pele first. Cage comes back to deal with Ray as AJ hits a Springboard Inverted DDT on Devon for three.
After the match Frank Trigg makes his way to ringside. He stops on the apron and starts yelling at AJ, which gives Kurt Angle all the distraction he needs to blindside AJ and Christian from behind. Angle locks in the Angle lock, and for the second week in a row Angle ends up on top.

Where We're Going: The most interesting place we're going is, oddly enough, in Kong's $25,000 challenge. Originally this seemed like a lame excuse to beat up some jobbers while they rehabilitated a real face to take on Kong, but the last three weeks it's become something else. A few months ago I advocated bringing back the gut-check list, which was a bunch of new prospects who were sort of being tried out every time they appeared. That's pretty much the function Kong's challenge appears to be filling for the women's division, and, if Taylor is any indication of things to come, it's doing so with stellar results. When TNA was one hour they were able to find time for a mix of new and old talent. Now that they have two I'd love to see a bit more of the new.

Star of the Night: Tonight was something of an ensemble effort, but I'll give the nod to Jay Lethal for reminding us all what he can do when he isn't kidding around.

Overall: Karen Angle's promo, Matt Morgan's back story, and Booker vs. BG James were all pretty bad, but also all mercifully short. Everything else was solid as a rock. The World X Cup is great, and AJ continues to shine more brightly every week. A-

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