By: Daniel Wilkenfeld, PWTorch Contributor

Where We've Been: Last week, we saw Jeff Jarrett walking around a lot, then being slowly beaten up slightly off camera. I didn't really get the point of that either. We still have one unknown challenger to Mick Foley's title, though since one of the two people with whom Mick is feuding is not yet in the match, there isn't really a whole lot of mystery there. On second thought, I suppose there is the slight hope that they'll hold off on Jarrett's title shot till his signature King of Mountain Match at Slammiversary.

The Show: Double J in Jeopardy

[Opening Credits]

Based on that title, there go my hopes for holding Jarrett till Slammiversary. Speaking of Jarrett, he comes down to the ring with a mic. He says he's learned in this business that when an action takes place, there has to be a reaction. I think Newton's third law applies outside of wrestling as well, but maybe not. Tonight we're going to see Jeff's reaction to what Mick did last week. He points out that there's still a slot open in the main event at Sacrifice, which he's decided to take. Wow, Mick got him into the ring with a couple of beatdowns? Kurt Angle had to stalk to daughters. Jeff says that Mick's been causing more chaos than the Main Event Mafia. He's no longer fit to be the TNA champion, so he should have three nice days before Jarrett makes sure he loses the title. Mick comes out, mic in hand. He says that first thing's first—he is a man who admits when he's wrong. A couple of weeks ago he implied that Jeff was faking a hamstring injury, but, amid all Jarrett's screaming like a woman last week, Mick's pretty sure he did hear the hamstring tear off his bone. He actually went to Nashville to apologize, till he suddenly realized that he hated Jeff and his father. That gets him booed. He wants to know what Jarrett's going to sacrifice, and suggests he put up his voting shares in the company. Then Mick will have all the stroke in the company. He works in a pointless Deal or No Deal reference, then starts to walk away when it looks like Jarrett won't respond. Jarrett does respond though—he says that he's worked too hard to let things get away from him now, so he's all in at Sacrifice too. Jeff starts to walk away, and his music hits. Suddenly Mick cuts it off, and says that if Jeff's putting himself in main event, Mick should get to put people in matches too. In fact, he'll be putting everyone from the Sacrifice main event in a match tonight. Sting will take on that whiner Eric Young, and Matt Morgan will take on Kurt Angle. Since Mick's worried that Jarrett might not be ready to go, he'll be getting a tune-up match against Samoa Joe. And rumors are that there's a former World Champion who's been wandering the halls backstage who wants a piece of Mick, and tonight he's going to get it. Hmm—Mick clearly wouldn't book himself against Lashley or Taz, so I'm a bit stumped. Maybe Harley Race is in town? Incidentally, I really like Jarrett's music hitting before Mick cuts it off. It makes everything seem a bit less rigged when that sort of thing happens.

Kurt Angle is in a bad mood backstage. He's angrily looking for Sting.

[Commercial Break]

We look back at The Motor City Machine Guns and Lethal Consequences trying to unmask Suicide last week.

Lauren is in the back with Christopher Daniels and Suicide. She wants to know if they'll be able to coexist tonight, since they'll be opponents at Sacrifice. I guess that was the favor Daniels wanted in exchange for keeping Suicide from being unmasked last week? Daniels said he came back to prove that he belongs among the elite of wrestling, so he'll be taking on all challenges. Tonight that means teaming with Suicide, and on Sunday it'll mean taking his X Division Championship. After Daniels leaves, Lauren says that that just leaves the mystery of who Suicide is. When she asks, she just gets a deeply-voiced "I am Suicide." The crowd eats it up.

(1) LETHAL CONSEQUENCES vs. THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUN vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & SUICIDE

Suicide appears among the crowd, and they go ballistic. Don West suggests that Daniels is pulling the Los Conquistodores trick, and that he'll win the title while everyone else is distracted trying to figure out who Suicide is. He also notes that suddenly Suicide has stopped coming down from the rafters, as if suddenly he were a whole different person. That's actually pretty good color commentary. Lethal starts things off with an attempted Handspring Elbow on Daniels. It misses, but he connects with a follow-up dropkick. Shelley tags out Lethal, but runs into a Leg Lariat and a Bomb from Daniels for two. Shelley yanks Daniels into the ropes, where Sabin is able to help out with a stereo kick to the head. They tag, then work their double team magic—a Slingshot Elbow Drop followed by a Slingshot Senton Splash followed by a Double Team Leg Drop/Splash. Creed breaks up the cover at two. The Guns keep working the double team, till Creed gets annoyed and interferes. Daniels takes advantage of the distraction to nail a Matt Hardy styles Bulldog/clothesline on Creed and Shelley at once. He makes the tag to Suicide, who hits his running dropkick on Creed and a running Neck Breaker on Lethal. Suicide whiffs in the corner though, which lets Lethal Consequences gain a momentary advantage. Sabin comes back in with a Tornado DDT from the top rope on Lethal, then tosses Creed. Shelley comes in with a Frog Splash on a downed Suicide, but Daniels makes it back into the ring to break up the cover. Daniels knocks out Sabin, then hits a Split Legged Moonsault on Lethal on the outside. In the ring, Shelley looks for Sliced Bread #2, but Suicide slips out, whacks Shelley's head into the bottom turnbuckle, then hits something like a Code Breaker (but much stiffer) in the corner for the win.

WINNER: Daniels & Suicide in seven minutes. **1/4 This was good, old school X Division wackiness, and allowed West to tell a surprisingly decent story on commentary.

[Commercial Break]

JB is in the back with Kurt Angle, who's still looking for Sting. Steiner's trying to calm him down. Kurt heads up to the rafters, but Steiner just gives up.

We run down the card for Sacrifice. It looks decent, but a lot will depend on whether anyone in the main event manages to get the match kicked out of first gear.

Sting tells us to Cross the Line.

Earlier today, Booker T and Nash sparred in preparation for their respective matches. Nash tells "The Nation of Violence" that when he was born and the doctor slapped his ass he poked him in the eyes—he's been violent his whole life.

[Commercial Break]

Team 3D come down to the ring. Ray talks about starting their tournament, which he thinks is achieving its goal of reinvigorating tag team wrestling. He and Devon won't be around forever, and they want part of their legacy to be a great tag team division in TNA. They owe their lives to tag team wrestling. However, while they've been trying to give back to tag teams, one team has crapped in the hand that's been trying to feed them—The British Invasion. They're trying to make a name for themselves, but they're doing it the wrong way. As a TNA tag team, they have an obligation to carry themselves with a certain degree of class—hell, even Beer Money has class these days. Last week TBI got the jump on them, but that will never happen again. Here are the Brits right now, coming down the ramp. Magnus says calling them out was unnecessary, since they were planning to come down anyway. If anyone is wondering how they have the bullocks to confront Team 3D, it's because they got the best insurance money could buy in the form of Rob Terry. Ray and Devon pop them, but they get nailed by Terry with the Feast or Fired briefcase. Ray eats a European Uppercut off the top rope from Williams, and Terry floors Devon with a Running Power Slam. They set up a table, when suddenly—Beer Money come down to make the save? Neat. TBI scatter. Roode says that if there's one thing Team 3D have taught them, it's that when you want to pick a fight, you should do it fairly. They shake hands with Ray and Devon. Bashir and Kiyoshi watch from the entranceway with interest.

In the back, Eric Young was apparently complaining to Jarrett about his match, cause Jarrett tells him to stop complaining. He reminds EY that he was a nobody before Jarrett found him, so he should just be a man and take the opportunity Mick gave him. EY says ominously that, as a friend, he has to warn Jarrett that he'll regret what he just said. I'm still digging the heel shift.

[Commercial Break]

Angle has found Sting in the rafters. He says that he can't do this again—a few weeks ago Sting got himself put into a title match, and Angle can't figure out why. Sting asks if Angle watches the show, or is just in it. Angle responds that of course he watches the show. He sometimes even Tivos it so he can watch three or four times, depending on how much he's in it. Sting asks if he watched Lockdown. Kurt says the only thing he remembers about Lockdown was that he got screwed by Jeff Jarrett. Sting points out that he got screwed too, when Mick started making up rules to help himself win the title. He loses his temper for a moment, talking about he's fed up with it. This Sunday is about getting the title away from Foley and back into MEM hands. Kurt is suddenly excited—he realizes that Sting is proposing they team up to make sure one of them gets the title. They shake on it.

(2) ERIC YOUNG vs. STING

EY applauds Sting on his way to the ring, and they shake hands to start. I'm loving the nuance. They lock-up. When the ref goes for the break, EY hits a semi-cheap shot. Sting tosses him into the corner and kicks him in the gut. EY tries to go to the top rope, but Sting brings him down and clotheslines him out of the ring. EY comes back in, so Sting bashes his head into the turnbuckle and whips him over the corner and out of the ring again. EY slides in between Sting's legs, hits and Inverted Atomic Drop and a clothesline for two. He pounds Sting on the ground a bit, but when he goes for a dropkick off the top rope, Sting catches him (sort of) in a Scorpion Death Lock. EY tries to make it to the bottom rope, but Sting pulls him back and gets the tap-out. Young looks disgusted.

WINNER: Sting in four minutes. This wasn't really a match, but I assume it will play some broader role in the Eric Young turn.

Angelina Love is surrounded by security as she heads towards the ring for the contract signing with Awesome Kong.

[Commercial Break]

JB is in Mick Foley's office. He says that in the last week there have been hirings and firings in TNA. I should apparently pay closer attention to backstage news, but I hate getting spoilers. JB asks Mick if his opponent is who he thinks it is. Mick says that depends on whether JB is thinking of who he thinks he thinks he is. JB says that he thinks he's thinking of who Mick thinks he's thinking of. Mick suspects that he just thinks he's thinking that he's thinking of the person Mick thinks he's thinking of. JB just gives up and asks who it is. Mick tells him to get a steel chair, since his opponent is one of the toughest warriors he's ever seen. If it's the Ultimate Warrior I might just mark out.

Jim Cornette is in the ring with a few referees and a table. He calls Angelina Love down to the ring—she's surrounded by four security guards. Of course they're all men, so they wouldn't be allowed to hit Kong anyway. Cornette says that this will be conducted on a professional basis, and so he sends the security to the back. He then calls out Kong and Saeed. I have to go back and check, but I think the women have been getting the 10 o'clock spot a lot lately. Cornette gets Love to sign first. Wouldn't it be funny if one of these contract signings went off without a hitch? As the manager of record, he gets Saeed to sign on behalf of Kong. He asks if either of them has anything to say. Love says that she knows she and Kong have had their differences in the past, but that now they should put it all behind him. She also knows she's done some bad things, but she's really sorry. So they should just tear down the house with a really great match at Sacrifice, for the most coveted prize in women's wrestling (which is hers and hers alone). Then after the match she'll treat Kong to a real makeover, since she's nice like that. She'll get her new makeup, since the clown thing isn't working for her. She'll also take her to get new clothes, since she's been wearing the same thing since she got here and that's just gross. Finally, she'll send her to the bestest fat farm in the world to get her into shape. Then she'll be able to officially join Mi Pi Sexy, instead of being the hideous beast she is now. Cornette says that that was the most insincere apology he's ever heard—I'm not sure what that added to the segment. Love extends her hand to Kong, who takes it. Cornette does a good job on the mic acting as if the proceedings have come to an end, despite the fact that Kong is conspicuously still holding onto Love's hand. Kong pulls Love close and starts choking her. The refs break things up, which allows Love to escape, but Kong to Power Bomb Rudy Charles through the table. That was fun.

[Commercial Break]

We recap what happened moments ago. I'm not sure why either. Maybe someone in the truck just enjoys watching Rudy Charles get beat up.

Lauren (in footage from earlier this week) is trying to hunt down Dr. Stevie. Abyss is trying to calm her down, but she's ticked. Taylor Wilde was her sorority sister even before they got into wrestling, and she's not getting into the ring with that nutcase Daffney. Dr. Stevie's receptionist says that he's out of town and unreachable.

Kurt tells us to Cross the Line.

We run down the Sacrifice card again. This show was going so well till this non-segment.

Lauren is in the back with AJ Styles. He stresses that this match is about more than the Legends' Title. It's about pride, and not saying "I quit". He grew up poor, but he never said "I quit." People laughed when he said he wanted to be a pro, but he never said "I quit." When he was going state to state, making fifty bucks a match, even his own wife suggested he give up wrestling and get a real job, but he still didn't say "I quit." It's not even in his vocabulary. But Booker's in the same place. He's made it this far, which tells AJ that he's never quit either. But on Sunday, one of them will have to, and it's not going to be him. Lauren asks whether AJ's situation with Samoa Joe could negatively impact AJ's psyche, but he says that there is no situation with Joe. That was a very effective promo—I particularly like the acknowledgement of Booker's triumphs as well.

[Commercial Break]

Lauren is in the back with Matt Morgan. She suggests that tonight is his ultimate opportunity to show the MEM what he's made of. He responds that when you're a big time athlete, eventually you have to make a big time decision, like how Kevin Garnett ditched the Timberwolves to sign with a winner. And why wouldn't the MEM want him? If you look around the wrestling world, you won't find a younger, more talented seven footer. Hmm—that might actually be true. He can only hope that Kurt Angle won't take tonight's loss personally.

(3) MATT MORGAN vs. KURT ANGLE

Angle brings a rose down to the ring. The crowd is pretty much entirely behind him. Morgan dominates a lock-up to start. Angle shoots him off into the ropes, but he comes back with a shoulder block and a Splash in the corner. He hits his cool Guillotine Leg Drop against the ropes. He then follows Angle out of the ring and swings him into the barricade.

[Commercial Break]

Angle is briefly in control when we get back, when suddenly Morgan hits a Back Breaker for two. He starts working some sort of Camel Clutch/Chin Lock while we watch some quick replays. Angle powers out and hits a trio of German Suplexes. Angle drops the straps, but Morgan escapes the attempted Olympic Slam and comes back with a Carbon Footprint for a long two count. Morgan signals for a Choke Slam, but Angle reverses it into a Victory Roll into the Angle Lock. After a few seconds Morgan's able to kick Angle off. Kurt tries to come off the top rope with a Cross Body Block, but he gets caught in a Fall Away Slam. Morgan looks for a Hellavator, but Kurt reverses it into a quick (almost) Small Package for the win.

WINNER: Kurt Angle in seven minutes. It's hard to judge this match, since almost half of it took place during a commercial break. I liked what we saw though, and the ending managed to give us a clean finish without making Morgan look weak.

Morgan and Angle shake hands in the ring. Angle looks impressed.

Jarrett tells us to cross the line.

Lauren is in the back with Jeff Jarrett. She says that rumors are going around that his hamstring is actually torn, so maybe he shouldn't be wrestling tonight. He's not even in his gear yet. He says that this a battle of wills between him and Mick Foley, and the first one to blink will lose. She reminds him that his opponent is Samoa Joe, and maybe he shouldn't risk being injured given all that's at stake at Sunday. He knows what's at stake—someone other than Mick Foley becoming champion, and business getting back to normal.

[Commercial Break]

Lauren is in the back with Jenna Morasca. She wants to know her current relation with the MEM. Jenna says that they were just about to sign the financial agreement last week, but then one little issue wouldn't go away. Sharmell had better apologize by Sunday, or else. Lauren asks what'll happen if she doesn't, but Jenna is confident that she will—she'd better.

Mick tells us to cross the line again. I'm quickly running out of lines to cross.

(4) SAMOA JOE vs. JEFF JARRETT

I just noticed that Joe's been coming down to the ring with a towel draped around his head…and he has a mysterious mentor in violence…I could very much get behind a Joe & Taz alliance. Joe meets Jeff on the ramp, but Jarrett blocks the charge and connects with some right hands. Joe whips him over the barricade and slams his (Jarrett's) head against a wall. Joe beats him up through the crowd. He tries to punch him by the wall, but Jeff ducks and Joe hurts his hand. They take turns slamming each other into the wall, with Joe gaining the upper hand. Joe flips Jarrett back over the barricade and back to ringside. Jarrett tries to fight back, but Joe starts targeting the hamstring with a series of kicks. For some unclear reason, Slick Johnson gets in the way. West says it's because he and Jarrett are friends, which makes sense. Joe tosses Johnson into the steel steps. He then steps on Jarrett's hamstring and pulls back. The ref has gotten up and called for the bell.

WINNER: Jeff Jarrett in four minutes by DQ. Or at least there was a final bell—I never heard the opening bell ring.

Joe continues his assault after the match, getting a chair and driving it edge-first into Jarrett's leg. AJ Styles comes out to make the save, and he and Joe have a pull-apart brawl. If the Nation of Violence bit was supposed to signal a return to Joe's ass-kicking self, this is the closest I've seen to it succeeding.

[Commercial Break]

Mick Foley comes out for his match, chair, title, and mic in hand. Mick says that it's a great night not only for him, but for TNA and all of us fans around the world. Tonight, in a non-title matchup, Mick will do battle with one of the greatest superstars of all time. So here, from the City of Brotherly Love is…Rocky Balboa? Someone who looks sort of like Mickey brings a cardboard cutout of Rocky to the ring.

(5) MICK FOLEY vs. SOME CARDBOARD

The crowd chants for Rocky. A member of TNA security helps Rocky drive some "jabs" into Mick. Mick Hulks up, lands some punches, then Suplexes him. He hits a Pile Drive and starts bouncing between the ropes. He trips, which I don't think was intentional. He drops an elbow and picks up the win.

WINNER: Mick Foley in two minutes. That probably set the record for the longest match ever by a piece of cardboard. At least I hope it did.

Mick grabs a mic and does a quick Rocky impression. He wants to thank Rocky for coming out, and the fans for supporting him. He wants us to know that this was greatest night in the history of his life. He just wants to say something to his wife—"Yo Collete, I did it!" Jarrett's music hits, and he comes down to the ring. He says he doesn't want to hear any more of Mick's crap. For the last time Mick's made a mockery of the promotion Jeff started. So he only has one thing to say—he starts teeing off on Mick. Kurt, sensing an opportunity, runs down to the ring, slams Jarrett, and then puts him in the Angle Lock. Sting saunters slowly to the ring, and suggests Angle let Jarrett go. While doing so, he turns his back to Mick Foley, who whacks him with a chair. Foley makes a move towards Angle, who backs into a Stroke from Jarrett. Mick then plants Jarrett with the chair, and is once again the last man standing.


Where We're Going: After a month of trying, they've finally sold me on the current storyline—Mick has all the power, and he's nuts. It would be a shame if, after finally solidifying that, they just made it go away. So, odd as it may sound, I would say Mick should keep his title; given TNA's proclivity for long heel title reigns, I'm guessing he probably will as well. The best way to ramp up this story would be to give Mick full control of the company by taking out Jarrett's stock, which could allow some unchecked rampaging for a few months.

Star of the Night: Matt Morgan. Tonight's show was more of an ensemble performance, but anytime you get in the ring with Kurt Angle and keep up you deserve at least some props, right?

Overall: This is the first show in weeks I've really enjoyed. They managed to put on entertaining segments that made me care more about the PPV matches, which is the goal of any pre-PPV shows. They even sold me on Jarrett being in the main event, which I wouldn't have thought possible. No doubt some people will be annoyed by the lack of wrestling, and even I could have gone for a bit more. Also, there were some weird pacing issues with the plethora of replays, previews, cross the line packages, etc. Those are small gripes though. Good work. A-

Daniel is a graduate instructor at The Ohio State University. He is ticked that someone in the comments picked on his wife last week. That's not cool. It makes him wish he had an apple. Future disses should probably be sent directly to dawilk316@gmail.com

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