By: Daniel Wilkenfeld, PWTorch Contributor

Where We've Been: Last week, Sting won the right to put his career on the line for a title shot, which they typically let you do for free. There's one slot left in the main event, which will hopefully (but not actually) go to anyone who isn't Jeff Jarrett.

The Show: Nightmare at the Asylum

[Opening Credits]

That's an odd title—I wonder if they're headed back to Tennessee. Mick Foley is out to the ring. I reiterate my desire to see him get better entrance music. He recaps what's on the line so far at Sacrifice. Does anyone else find it awkward referring to Sting's putting his career on the line as "the ultimate sacrifice", when that's also what we say about people who got killed in, say, WWII? Mick says that he just watched Jeff Jarrett's DVD, and it reminded him of all the great things Jarrett has done. If people feel like something's missing tonight, it's because for the first time in TNA history, Jeff Jarrett will not be involved in any capacity. Rachael points out that that's traditional wrestling code for "Jeff Jarrett will definitely be there tonight". He also mentions some other DVD, with dark and scary footage from Nashville TN. He couldn't decide whether to air it, but he wasn't brought here to make the easy decisions.

JB is in the MEM locker room, where Kurt Angle's spot is taken by a poster of him. Kurt Angle's on a movie set, since the MEM is the hottest thing in the world. Steiner says that he's in charge. JB seems surprised, but he reminds JB that he graduated Michigan hakuna matata and a Rhodes Scholar. Is that trur? I'm asking about the Rhodes Scholar part, not the Lion King part. Steiner makes sure Booker has Jethro Holliday covered, and Nash is ready for his match as well. Nash also says that he has gotten Jenna Morasca ready to back the MEM financially—but only the condition that they exile Sharmell. Booker is not happy with Nash, but Big Sexy points out that he's only the messenger. Before Booker can snap, Steiner says that he'll take care of it.

[Commercial Break]

JB goes back to Mick Foley's office. Mick is removing a portrait of Jeff Jarrett, since the crack in the glass shows disrespect for the founder of TNA. JB points out that there's no glass on it. They randomly talk about Three's Company. Eric Young storms in, ticked that his "opportunity" was a tag match along with a partner he'd never met before. Mick tells him not to barge into the office, to which EY responds that Mick should have time for one of the best all-around wrestlers on the roster. Mick books him in a match against Samoa Joe. They're really motivating this Eric Young heel turn pretty well.

(1) CHRIS SABIN (w/ALEX SHELLEY) vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS

Daniels shoots Sabin off into the ropes, then gets taken down with a shoulder block. They trade a sweet series of grapple reversals, with Daniels eventually gaining the advantage with a Back Breaker. They fight into the corner, where Sabin sets up Daniels in a Tree of Woe and dropkicks him to the face. He works Daniels over against the ropes, where Shelley can help out with a rake of the eyes. Lethal Consequences are in the entranceway. Sabin goes for a Running Reverse Elbow in the corner, but Daniels gets his knees up and into Sabin's back; he follows up with another Back Breaker. He drives a foot from the top rope into Sabin's chest—Mike Tenay, missing Daniels's consistent back-focused attack, says it got Sabin's head. Poor Daniels—why is he even trying to isolate a body part on an Impact match? An STO gets two, but Shelley somehow breaks up the cover without drawing the DQ. Sabin takes the time to hit a Flying Forearm off the top rope for two. Sabin looks for a Cradle Shock; Daniels fights out, but eats a dropkick to the knee. Sabin tries for a Springboard Tornado DDT, but Daniels catches him with an Inverted Atomic Drop. Daniels pops Shelley off the apron, takes down Sabin with a Yurinagi, then puts him away with the BME.

WINNER: Christopher Daniels in six minutes. That was a lot of fun, with a bit of psychology for the diehard fans. **

Jarrett tells us to cross the line.

Mick is chilling with JB and the referees. Mick is looking for a referee for the Samoa Joe-Eric Young match. He gets rid of Slick Johnson, since he's friends with Jarrett, and Rudy Charles, since he's too honest. He settles on Earl Hebner, and tells him that under no circumstances is he to disqualify Samoa Joe. JB is worried about his friend, but Mick says that that's what you get for crossing the ES (executive shareholder).

[Commercial Break]

Scott Steiner is trying to reason with Jenna Morasca, who rightly points out that Sharmell keeps starting problems. Steiner, equally right, points out that she's Booker's wife and there's not much that can do about her. She says Booker should have her "on a tighter leash". Steiner says that Sharmell wants to apologize, and gets Jenna to agree to attend a sit-down, moderated by him.

Mick wants us to Cross the Line.

We run down the card for tonight. We'll see Amazing Red & Suicide vs. The British Invasion, Foley's mystery DVD, Booker T vs. Jethro Holliday in an I Quit Match, and Kevin Nash vs. No Limit. Wow—the Random Match Generator 3001 is working overtime tonight.

Lauren is in the back with Angelina Love, wanting to know who she called last night. She informs Lauren that it's the one man she trusts, who's right here. It's Kip James—that makes sense. I'm surprisingly glad to see him. When Love comes he calls, and he's annoyed that Kong has been taking out his girls on stretchers. So tonight Kong has another stretcher match, but it's with him. Is he jobbing to Kong on his way out? That's good form.

[Commercial Break]

Throughout the night, the "Cross the Line Cam" will be following Jeff Jarrett around at home. Didn't he just fight a long feud about keeping his daughters out of the business? On the other hand, his girl is super adorable, so we'll let it slide. I can't decide if this gets a Code: Screw You TNA, Stop Featuring People's Kids! I'll give it a pass for now.

(2) SAMOA JOE vs. ERIC YOUNG

Have I mentioned how stupid I think "The Nation of Violence" bit is? If I haven't, I hereby do. Tenay says that Joe might have an "advisor", which might indicate that they at least have a plan for taking this somewhere. Joe kicks Young in the head to start. Young comes back swinging, but gets caught with a series of kicks that take him out of the ring. Joe follows him out, but gets caught with a couple of right hands. Joe sets up a chair, but Young drives Joe's head into it before he can do it. Joe, annoyed, throws the chair into his head. They go back into the ring. EY goes for a quick roll up, but it's reversed into a Kokido Clutch. Earl Hebner checks Young's hand—when it drops three times, it's over.

WINNER: Samoa Joe in three minutes. I'm not sure whether it's significant that Young didn't actually tap out, or whether the Kokido Clutch is now a knock-out move. For the record's sake, even Kurt Angle tapped before passing out—the last person I remember who didn't was AJ Styles about three years ago. It's probably nothing though.

After the match, Joe carries EY into the back.

[Commercial Break]

During the break, Joe put EY in the trunk of some car and had it drive off. How does no one on a wrestling show ever get arrested?

Tenay had a sit-down interview with Sting earlier today. He says that he surprised himself when he put his career on the line. He doesn't want to go down as just another TNA wrestler—he's here to make a difference. He's on a quest to bring respect back to the business, but that quest took a big hit from Mick Foley. Tenay says that he should have expected that, and Sting agrees—he should have realized that as Executive Shareholder Mick would just make up the rules as he went along. When he first lost the title, he wondered if this quest was worth it. Now he knows it was, and so is putting up his career. Now it's all or nothing. Either we'll see the dawn of a new day or we'll see the end of Sting. Or we'll see one of the other six possible combinations, but never mind that.

We go back to last Tuesday, when Lauren accompanies Taylor Wilde on her blind date. Do girls really do that? I seriously hope it's Sonjay Dutt. Or Suicide—that would be amusing. Instead it's Daffney, who's ticked that Taylor had her prank the Beautiful People but then was nowhere to be found when they struck back. Daffney says she'll have her revenge at Monsters' Ball, then beats up Wilde till Lauren wards her off.

[Commercial Break]


We go back to Jarrett with his family. So this isn't actively offensive, but it isn't especially interesting either. Rachael thinks it's really sad that he has to drive them around alone. I still don't get why we're watching someone run errands on national television. I guess since I complained that I didn't care about Jarrett's odyssey I should be appreciate that they're trying to make me? Yet I don't.

(3) CUTE KIP (w/ANGELINA LOVE) vs. AWESOME KONG (w/RAESHA SAEED)

The crowd is also oddly pleased to see Cute Kip. Kong and Kip lock up to start. Saeed distracts Kip, which lets Kong knock Kip down in the corner and charge into him. Kip goozles her, but Saeed strikes him from behind with a low blow. Kong gets a chair, and blasts Kip in the head twice. She then wraps it around his neck and Splashes it twice. She rolls him onto the stretcher, and this time she lets the count go to ten on the first try.

WINNER: Awesome Kong in 3 minutes. It was a good idea, but it became clear very early that they weren't actually going to let Kip get in any awesome.

Scott Steiner is in the back, promising Sharmell that in the meeting Jenna will apologize to her. After she leaves, JB asks what Steiner's going to do when neither apologizes, but we cut away before he can answer.

Lauren is in the back with Team 3D, who think that their tournament is going well. Ray says that tag team wrestling is alive and well in TNA. The reason they left the other company was that they were sick and tired of wrestling the same teams every night. The British Invasion suddenly attack with LAX's briefcases. Sheik Abdul walks by, amused. It's good that they're giving someone other than Beer Money a feud with Team 3D, but shouldn't they wait till after The British Invasion make it past Red & Suicide? I actually The British Invasion could lose that match, till now.

[Commercial Break]

We go to more footage of Jeff Jarrett, this time hitting up the Nashville night life. As they cut to the footage, we hear Don West mutter "Another one?" That's what I was thinking. Jarrett bumps into JB outside nude karaoke, where he (JB) has a $100 tab he can't pay.

(4) THE BRITISH INVASION vs. THE AMAZING RED (!!!) & SUICIDE

I'm still excited to see Red. Suicide appears on the announce table. I miss the zip line. Suicide starts things off with a kick and a couple of roll ups on Doug Williams. Williams responds with a Backslide and an Arm Drag before tagging in Magnus. They work the five count, but then when Suicide leaves Magnus takes control. He tags back in Williams and they hit the Double Union Jack for two. Williams Body Slams Red and hits a Knee Drop for two. Magnus tags back in, and he works over Red for a bit. A Leg Drop gets two. Red gets a leg up when Magnus charges in the corner, then hits some sort of awesome Top Rope Flatliner. Both men tag out. Suicide trips Williams onto Magnus, then gets a Small Package for two. He hits a Springboard Back Elbow and an Oklahoma Roll on Williams. Magnus breaks up the cover at two. Red clears Magnus from the ring, then follows him out with a Somersault Splash off the top rope. As the ref goes to look at Red and Williams outside The Motor City Machine Guns sneak in and hit their Stereo Superkicks. Williams finishes him off with his "Bombs Away" Knee Drop off the top rope.

WINNER: The British Invasion in four minutes. It was good while it lasted. *
After the match the Guns come in after Suicide. Red tries to shield him, so they whack him with a Double Team Dominator/Neck Breaker. The Guns have Suicide cornered when Lethal Consequences run down to the ring for no discernible reason.

[Commercial Break]

Lethal is telling "The Rockers" to chill out. He says that he knows Suicide is Daniels, and that they're going to prove it when they take his mask off. Suicide tries to make a break for it, but can't get by all four men. They're just about to rip the mask back when Daniels runs down to make the save. West says that he's still convinced that it's Daniels in the Suicide costume, so he can't understand who they got to impersonate Daniels. So does this mean Kaz is back? I still think he wrestles a lot like Senshi, but that's just me. Suicide extends his hand to Daniels, who takes it.

Jarrett tells us to cross the line. Again.

[Commercial Break]

JB, Steiner, Jenna, and Sharmell are there for the sit-down. Steiner tries to start off calmly, but Sharmell wants him to cut the crap and just tell this "be-yotch" to apologize. Things break down quickly. Steiner tries to keep the women apart.

(5) KEVIN NASH vs. NO LIMIT

Am I missing some logic behind this match? That's not entirely rhetorical. No Limit get a quick Poetry in Motion Dropkick to start. Naito follows up with a Dropkick off the top rope, but when he comes off the top again he gets caught in a Choke Slam. Yujiro comes in, but Nash beats him down in the corner. Naito comes back at him—Nash whacks him with the cast on his elbow and puts him down with a Side Slam. Nash floors him with a Big Boot, pulls down his straps, and takes off his cast. Is his new finisher giving his opponents staph infections? That would be pretty devastating. Nope—it's just a Jackknife for three.

WINNER: Kevin Nash in 3 minutes. I guess they're trying to convince us that Nash can beat Samoa Joe? Steiner already did.

Nash grabs a mic. He says that our nation is all about violence. Now there's someone running around claiming to be a nation of violence, but, come Sacrifice, the damage will be done by Kevin Nash.

Mick is reviewing his footage backstage. He agrees that it's graphic, and knows that they have a PG-14 rating. Rachael thinks they set up this scene to mention that and draw a contrast with WWE's.

[Commercial Break]

Lauren is in the back with AJ Styles, who will be defending his Legends' Title at Sacrifice against Booker T in an I Quit Match. Booker is preparing with an I Quit Match tonight—Lauren wants to know how AJ is preparing. He says that he's been preparing his whole life. His whole life he's been facing chances to say I quit, but he's got too much heart. On the other hand, he knows that Booker's ego is just as big as his heat, so it should be a pretty good match. In the end though, there's no way AJ will ever say "I quit".

(6) BOOKER T (w/SHARMELL) vs. JETHRO HOLLIDAY

I feel obligated to point out that this is technically your Impact main event match. That makes me sad on several levels. They jockey for position till Booker connects with a right hand and some chops. Holliday comes back with some rights of his own, then takes Holliday down with a back elbow. He elbows Booker's head, then clotheslines him out of the ring. Holliday follows him out, but Booker catches him with a back kick and drops him into the railing. Booker beats Holliday around the ring. They go back into the ring, where Booker floors him with a Superkick. He follows up with a Vertical Suplex and a Back Drop. Booker mounts him and starts teeing off, but Holliday is not ready to quit, and in fact nails some stiff shots from the canvas. He follows up with some chops, but gets taken down with a Leg Lariat. Booker mounts Holliday, but when the ref comes over with the mic Holliday just says that Sharmell looks good naked. Booker tries to put him away with an Axe Kick, but Holliday dodges and nails a stiff kick. Booker creates some distance and floats over in the corner, but Holliday meets him with a clothesline. Sharmell distracts the ref as Booker plants Holliday with a chair. I'm not sure why they bothered distracting the ref. Booker nails an Axe Kick and mounts Holliday, but Jethro's had enough.

WINNER: BOOKER T in 7 minutes. *1/2

Mick Foley is walking into the production truck. He instructs them to play the DVD when he says "now". He comments on each of their work and how much he likes them, but also says that if they don't play the DVD then they're fired.

[Commercial Break]

Mick Foley comes down to the ring. He once again warns us about the graphic nature of the footage. I seriously hope that this isn't the nude karaoke. Mick calls for the DVD.

We see Jarrett go into the Asylum, where he wrestled his second match, then established TNA's early years. He shows us around backstage. It's pretty dull, so the payoff better be really good. Here's Mick, choking Jarrett with a cable. He drives him into a cage, talking about how he's always hated Jarrett's old man. He knocks him around some. Jeff tries to beg off, but Mick isn't done. For some reason we keep cutting to reaction shots of Foley, so it's hard to follow exactly what's happening. Mick whacks Jarrett with a chair, off camera. Jarrett tries to crawl away, but gets nailed with more chairs (still slightly out of sight). Somehow, this footage is finally enough to get Mick roundly booed. Mick says that Jeffrey has learned a valuable lesson—sometimes you can't go home again. That was extremely anti-climactic.

Where We're Going: We're building towards the million dollar payoff feud of…Jeff Jarrett vs. Mick Foley? I'm not sure why. I suppose Jarrett's proven that he can still work a good, slow main event match when he has to, but this is not the direction I would have gone. Remember when AJ kicked Rhino and Team 3D out of The Front Line because it was time for the originals to stand on their own? Play a game of "spot the original in the last three months' main events." It's big fun.

Star of the Night: Eric Young, due to his believable heel shift. Steiner and Daniels also had good nights.

Overall: I didn't much care for the show. I found all the Jarrett business dull; I assumed it was building to something cool, or at least faux funny, but the final footage was dull as well. It got Foley booed, so TNA might be pleased, but I was not. It would have been okay if the rest of the show had been amazing, but it wasn't. It wasn't bad—in fact most of it was pretty good—it just wasn't good enough to make up for a wanting main event angle. C+

Daniel is a graduate student at The Ohio State University. His wife is sick, and hence missing her graduation from law school. People can send nice thoughts care of dawilk316@gmail.com

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