By: Daniel Wilkenfeld, PWTorch Contributor

Where We've Been: Sacrifice was classic TNA, with awesome wrestling and at least one mind-bogglingly bad booking decision. I actually enjoyed the show greatly, and since my expectations were low for AJ-Booker in the first place, the screw-job finish didn't really put me out that match. Foley's still the loveable but wacky champion, and Sting won the leadership of the Main Event Mafia. I'm not totally sure why Steiner, Booker, Kurt, and Nash can't just quit and then form something like "The Main Shmevent Shmafia", which would be kind of funny but extremely stupid.

The Show: A Shake-Up in the Ranks

[Opening Credits]

(1) AMAZING RED vs. SUICIDE

Wow—what a way to start out Impact. I don't suppose there's any chance they let this end clean? Suicide starts things off with a takedown, but Red comes back with a few quick covers. Suicide floors him with a decapitator clothesline. Suicide tries to pick him up off the mat, but somehow ends up getting flipped. He comes back with an Oklahoma Roll. Red rolls out of the ring, so Suicide whacks him against the barricade a few times. They reenter the ring, and Suicide hits something like an Inverted Arm Drag and something like an Inverted DDT—he really needs to name all his moves, since they're all just a little wacky. Red gets a leg up in the corner to create some distance, but Suicide floors him with a Running Drop Kick. He nails a Leg Drop, but when he shoots Red off into the ropes, Red comes back with a Tilt-A-Whirl DDT. Both men get to their feet. Suicide ducks a spin kick, but gets nailed by the second leg Kofi Kingston style. Red hits a Leg Lariat, but when he goes to finish him off with a Sunset Flip Suicide just overpowers him with an Inverted Crackerjack for two. Red comes back with the Sunset Flip, but it only gets two anyway. The crowd comes alive behind Amazing Red. He looks like he's about to hit the Code Red, but Suicide kicks the back of his head from the mat, then nails the Suicide Solution for three.

WINNER: Suicide in 7 minutes. It could easily have gone another 10 without overstaying its welcome, except that they never really made me believe that Red could win. **

[Commercial Break]

The MEM hit the ring. Sting and Kurt Angle have switched positions; Jenna and Sharmell come along. Sting says that there has been a lot of speculation about what changes he'll be bringing to this family now that he's head of it. Everyone's job is secure, but they do need to mix things up a bit, since he feels like "some people" have lost focus on their goals. Kurt rolls his eyes, and Sting hones in on him, reminding him of their pact to put the group first until they accomplished their goals. Sting can look in the mirror and know that he's been true to their mission, but can everyone else say the same? He says it's obvious when you look around this ring that not everyone can. He shakes his head at Kevin, then critiques Booker for letting his wife's jealousy get in the way of Mafia business. Therefore, from now on, women are banned from the Mafia. Sharmell and Jenna are displeased, but don't go anywhere. Sting says he's just getting started. He points out that Kurt hired his own "plump security guards", who never help anyone else and about whom Kurt never consulted anyone. As of this moment, they're both fired. Kurt's irate. Sting says that if any member of this family has any objections, they should speak now, or forever hold their peace. Joe's music hits, and he appears in the entranceway. He commends Sting for trying to bring some shred of honor back to the MEM. However, one man cannot tame four—that sounds more like the job for a nation. So Scott, Booker, and Nash are put on notice that, over the next few weeks, Joe has been ordered to take them out. But when it comes down to him and Kurt, Joe's "orders" are a bit different—he's going to kill Kurt. This promo was going so well till just then.

JB's in the back with Mick. He's not sure why Jarrett's picture, which was sent to be fixed, isn't back up. Mick says that when it's ready, JB will be among the first to know. He also says that he had a meeting in Nashville that didn't go well, and once he gets the go-ahead from his lawyers he'll be addressing that later tonight. He asks JB to put something up for charity auction that they won't need anymore, and hands him a "Jeff Jarrett: TNA Founder" placard. Finally, he books the first two King of the Mountain Qualifier matches for later tonight: Jeff Jarrett vs. Eric Young and AJ Styles vs. Daniels.

[Commercial Break]

JB is in the back with The British Invasion, but he can't get them to let him into the shot. He asks about their relationship with Bashir & Kiyoshi, but they pretend not to know what he's talking about. He then comments on their stealing LAX's briefcases. Magnus thinks that the word "steal" is a bit harsh. They just saw something they wanted, and they took it. They just did what everyone else in this country does all the time but, unlike everyone else, they're going to give a chance for someone to get it back. So Doug Williams issues an open challenge for a ladder match for the X Division Championship opportunity. Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa—are they pretending that he can cash that in? That's not cool.

Lauren is in the back with Jenna Morasca, who doesn't understand why Sharmell's mad at her. Booker was out of it at Sacrifice, and would have had his arm broken if Jenna hadn't intervened. Sharmell was just blinded by her own ignorance…That's as far as she gets before Sharmell tries to jump her. Booker quickly pulls Sharmell off.

[Commercial Break]

Lauren is in the back. She's supposed to be with Sojourner Bolt, who's running late. That's convenient, since it gives Dr. Stevie the chance to come by and complain. He says that he's doing tonight what Lauren did on Sunday when she invaded his place of business. He announces that he'll have a live session in the ring tonight, where he'll be demonstrating his mind control over Abyss.

The British Invasion come out to defend the X Division briefcase. Cody Deaner comes out to challenge.

(1) DOUG WILLIAMS (w/ROB TERRY & BRUTUS MAGNUS) vs. CODY DEANER (w/ODB)

Why didn't Homicide come out first? Deaner tosses his vest at Williams and tries to scurry up the ladder. Williams cuts him off with a Back drop. Williams starts to climb slowly, but Deaner grabs his leg. Williams, looking bored, knocks him back, then goes down to the mat to inflict more punishment. Mike Tenay explains that Homicide wasn't there to accept the challenge because of a death in the family. That's a fairly good explanation really. Tenay suggests that TBI knew Homicide wasn't here when they issued the challenge. Williams drives Deaner's head into the cross bar of the ladder, then locks in some sort of inverted chin lock. Williams hoists Deaner onto his back and drives him into the corner turnbuckle. He starts to climb, but Deaner jumps from the top rope to whack Williams in the back on the ladder. Williams and the ladder fall. Williams pounds on Deaner a bit, then Body Slams him onto the ladder. He whiffs on a Knee Drop on the ladder, hurting himself. Deaner looks to climb, but before he can set up the ladder Williams knocks it back into him with a Cross Body Block. Williams looks for a Power Bomb onto the ladder, but it's revered into a Back Body Drop onto the steel. Magnus and Terry pull the ladder out of the ring, but Deaner Back Body drops a charging Williams over the top rope and onto them. ODB passes him the ladder. He sets it up and starts to climb, but Williams gets back in and shoves it down before he can make it to the top. Deaner falls all the way to the floor, which lets Williams pick up the win.

WINNER: Doug Williams in six minutes. This was fun for what it was, though I don't know it was worth the devaluing of the ladder match.

After the match, Kiyoshi & Bashir come down and shake TBI's hands.

JB is in the back with Jeff Jarrett. He points out that none of Jarrett's issues with Foley were resolved at Sacrifice. He also asks about EY's complaints, pointing out that Young has done everything Jarrett's asked of him over the years. Jarrett acknowledges that maybe he's been overlooking EY, but that he won't be tonight. Tonight's Young's opportunity and he just hopes they leave it all in the wrong, and then can start over.

[Commercial Break]

Dr. Stevie is in the ring. He's listed as a professional therapist, which is kind of funny. He calls Abyss down to the ring. I'm very tempted to skip this segment, but then my loyal readers might have to watch it in my stead. I hope you all appreciate the sacrifices involved in this job. Dr. Stevie knows that this might not be their typical therapy forum, but that he wanted to discuss some things in the open. He wants to talk about their shared addiction for violence. The crowd starts a "Dr. Stevie" chant, which I'm going to hope is respect for the wrestler, not the gimmick. Never mind—it was just shouted down by people yelling "sucks!" Dr. Stevie says that Abyss is unfit for society and that, given his actions at Sacrifice, they'll have to start the therapy process all over again. He doesn't want to do this, but he needs Abyss to put the straight jacket back on. When Abyss hesitates, Dr. Stevie yells at him. Is there a PWTorch award for worst plotline of the year? If so, can I nominate this for 2009? This is the biggest waste of talent since Katie Vick. Stevie gets the jacket on Abyss, then says that this will hurt him more than it'll hurt Abyss. He grabs a kendo stick, but Lauren runs down and positions herself between him and Abyss. Dr. Stevie looks like he's about to hit her. Abyss, afraid of ticking off the Spike TV censors, gets in the way. Suddenly, Raven comes in out of the crowd. (!!!) He gets in Dr. Stevie's face and takes the kendo stick. The crowd goes nuts. He then whacks Abyss, and the crowd is less pleased. I wonder exactly how many people they're planning to spend on this plot. If you throw enough talent at it I guess it could turn good eventually.

We see that all the members of The Beautiful People, including Cute Kip, are back.

[Commercial Break]

JB is in the back with Dr. Stevie, Daffney, and Raven. He wants to know why Raven's back. Raven asks why anyone does anything. Maybe he wants the attention. Maybe he missed TNA. Maybe TNA missed him. Maybe Dr. Stevie cashed a prescription, and someone needed to cash it. Quoth the Raven, nevermore.

(2) SOJOURNER BOLT vs. ANGELINA LOVE (w/MADISON RAYNE, VELVET SKY, & CUTE KIP)
Knockout Championship Match

Love and Bolt trade quick rollups to start. Bolt lays in with a couple of forearms, but Angelina Love Drop Toe Holds her into the middle turnbuckle. She slams her head again, then pounds and chokes her a bit in the corner. Love takes her down with a Bicycle Kick, but she didn't get all of it and Bolt kicks out at two. When they get up, Bolt nails a quick Samoan Drop, and both women are down. Love gets up first, but Bolt blocks her right hands, connects with her own, and floors her with a One-Woman Flapjack. Madison Rayne distracts the ref while Cute Kip gives Love the hairspray, which she uses. West points out that you'd think Earl Hebner would know better than to get distracted just because someone goes up on the apron. Speaking of Hebner, he turns around in time to see Love nail the Lights Out for the kill.

WINNER: Angelina Love in three minutes. I'm not totally sure what the point of that was.

After the match, Love grabs a mic. She comments on her outstanding performance. Now, it's onto some unfinished business. The three women turn on Cute Kip. She asks why he's still hanging around The Beautiful People, when Love fired him a couple of months ago. He laughs, as if it's a joke. She says that if he thinks that's funny, what about the time she called him to take out Kong, but he ended up on the stretcher? He rightly points out that he was hit by a chair four times. Love tells him that his days of riding their coattails are over. She tells security that he's a stalker, and has them escort him from the ring. For some inexplicable reason, he takes his shirt off as he goes. Love says she has more business. She's sick of beating the same knockouts over and over—she needs some new hos. Isn't there anyone to challenge her? Some generic music hits, and Victoria comes out. They attack her evil ninja style. Love attacks last, and eats a Widow's Peak for her troubles. She says that Love's challenge is accepted. That probably would have been more exciting if they hadn't announced her coming in advance.

JB is in the back with Eric Young. He wonders if EY can pardon Jeff's inattention, given everything else that's going on in his life. Young asks what's so special about Jeff. EY helped build this company from nothing, and as soon as it got big enough Jeff conveniently forgot about him. Well, he'll make sure that tonight is a night Jeff Jarrett will never forget. I'm still loving the heel shift.

[Commercial Break]

JB is with The Motor City Machine Guns and Lethal Consequences. He knows that they haven't gotten along in the past, so he can't figure out why they're together now. Letha says that it doesn't take a rocket scientist—it's all about Suicide. He gets a little overexcited and starts talking about unmasking Kimchi. He tries to do the MCMG hand signal, but can't remember which hand to use.

Mick Foley hits the ring. He says that it's been a tough week for him, as the honeymoon between him and TNA Management is finally over. He has to announce the end of a long tradition. But before he gets to that, he has next week's KOTM qualifiers. First it'll be Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash, which Mick Foley has tweaked into Lethal Lockdown rules. So they won't be able to start till all eight of them are in the ring? Mick says that TNA has always put on monthly, if not weekly title matches, and that that they were second to none. On Sunday Mick put up an amazing defense, and held off three challengers. How does TNA reward him? At Slammiversary the main event is a match conveniently named after Jeff Jarrett. It's a little too much to ask Mick to overcome ridiculous odds two months in a row. Video evidence to the contrary, he's only human. However, this company and this business need Mick to stay champion as long as possible. He's not talking about weeks or months, but years. The only way to make sure this company's associated with his face is not to defend the title very often. So at Slammiversary, he'll defend it against impossible odds. But after that, he'll only defend the title once a year. So I guess we'll see Mick lose the title at Slammiversary, though I can actually come up with a few awesome scenarios if he retains—I'll get to those a bit later.

JB is in the back with AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. AJ says that they knew this moment would come; they've been here before, and they're professionals. They came to fight the best, and that's what they're going to do. Daniels is grateful for the second chance. Samoa Joe walks onscreen. AJ's about to stalk off, but Joe has something to say. He's not very good at this, but he's sorry, he just snapped. He wants things to go back to the way they were. AJ says they'll talk after the match. I hope they're pulling back on the Joe wackiness, and this won't be a pointless swerve.

[Commercial Break]

(3) ERIC YOUNG vs. JEFF JARRETT
King of The Mountain Qualifier

Jarrett and EY jockey for position. EY hits a shoulder block, but Jarrett responds with a high dropkick. Young floors Jarrett with a 360-Degree Clothesline for two. An Inverted Atomic Drop and a Cross Body Block get two more. Jarrett reverses a whip into the corner, but EY floats over with an attempted Sunset Flip. Jarrett blocks it with a quick cover for two, then gets a Crucifix Rollup for two more. He hits a right, and whips Young out to the apron. Young looks for an Ensuguri on his way back; Jarrett almost reverses it into a Figure Four, but EY re-reverses into a Small Package for two. They brawl and end up running the ropes; Jarrett goes for a Hurricanrana, but EY reverses into a Powerbomb for two. He tries to press the advantage with a Moonsault off the top rope, but whiffs. Jarrett hits The Stroke, but EY gets a foot on the rope. EY tries to come back with a Wheelbarrow Plant, but Jarrett reverses it with a Victory Roll for three. Eric Young is not happy.

WINNER: Jeff Jarrett in three minutes. That's about as fun as a three minute match can be. You can choose how to take that.

Jarrett tries to applaud EY. Young extends his hand. Jeff takes it, and EY gives him the clean shake, then starts to leave. Jarrett calls him back in, which doesn't seem very bright. Jeff hugs Young, then raises his hand. He starts to leave, but EY clips him from behind. He works over the left leg, then drops an elbow from the top rope. I thought it hit the leg too, but Tenay called it as a shot to the back. We have our heel turn.

[Commercial Break]

On the replay, it seems EY hit Jarrett's butt, so either the back or leg interpretation was acceptable.

JB catches up with EY on his way out. Young says that he warned him that he wouldn't let him forget tonight. If JB wants answers, he should ask Jarrett if he'll ever forget Eric Young again.

Team 3D are in the ring, with a big check and even bigger trophies. They call Beer Money down to the ring, and Roode & Storm comply. Brother Ray leads the crowd in a chant for Beer Money. Ray says that they had a hell of a win. They should be proud of themselves, since Team 3D and every TNA fan is proud of them too. What they should be most proud of is that they work in a company that shows off the best tag team division in professional wrestling today. Ray gives them the trophies and Devon hands over the novelty checks. I wonder where you get one of those. Storm parades around with the check, which Roode doesn't seem thrilled by. Ray reminds them of their forthcoming title match. Roode wants to thank Team 3D for giving them another chance to prove that they're the best tag team in the world today. If we don't believe that fact, we will after Slammiversary. Ray grabs a six-pack from ringside, and they all have a good time. What an odd segment. Next week, they'll try running the whole show without conflict.

Two people I've never heard of (or else whose names I didn't catch) perform AJ's music live. They don't do the "You are, you are, I am, I am" part, which I would think would be the fun part.

[Commercial Break]

Daniels comes down to the ring. No one performs his music.

(4) AJ STYLES vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS

AJ and Daniels lockup to start. The crowd starts a "TNA" chant solely in virtue both of them being in the ring. Daniels starts things off with a couple quick hip tosses. They trade hammerlocks and headlocks. AJ shoots Daniels off into the ropes; they do some leapfrogging, and Daniels nails the dropkick first. When they get up, AJ flips over Daniels's back and dropkicks him out of the ring. When he tries to come back in, AJ knocks him back to the ground. AJ looks like he's going for a Vaulting Body Press, which Daniels moves to avoid. However, AJ lands on the apron and hits an Asai Moonsault instead. That was seven kinds of awesome.

[Commercial Break]

AJ takes Daniels over for a Hangman's Neck Breaker for two. He cinches in a chin lock, allowing the crowd to start dueling chants. Daniels shoots him off and into the apron, where Daniels hits him with a wicked Swinging Neck Breaker onto the middle rope. Daniels follows him out with a beautiful Split-Legged Moonsault. He rolls AJ back into the ring, but then whiffs on an attempted Cross Body Block. AJ goes to the top rope, and nails a Flying Forearm. He hits some punches and a Spinning Heel Kick. He goes for his Flip-Inverted DDT, but Daniels cuts him off with a Snapmare. A Bomb gets two. Daniels hits a Yurinagi, but AJ gets to his feet before Daniels can connect with a BME. Daniels lands on his feet, only to eat a Pele. AJ looks for a Styles Clash, which is reversed into an attempted Angles Wings, which is re-reversed into a Hurricanrana for the win. Holy shit.

WINNER: AJ Styles in nine minutes. That was about as good as a nine minute match can be, and that should definitely be taken as a good thing. Except for the bookers, who only gave this match nine minutes. **1/2

Daniels and AJ share a hug in the ring. Daniels raises AJ's hand and signals that he wants him to win the belt. AJ heads to the back. As Daniels mopes a bit, The Franchise Shane Douglas shows up and whacks Daniels in the head with a belt.

Where We're Going: This is the time of the year when, looking forward to Bound For Glory, I start playing with fantasy booking. The obvious way for Slammiversary to end is for Mick to lose the title to, say, Kurt Angle. Mick keeping the title would thus be a cool swerve, if they had a plan for a decent program following it. Here are three such programs, all of which could be awesome. TNA can take any of them:

1) Sometime during Slammiversary, The British Invasion are found taken out in the back. Mick wins the main event, then grabs a mic. He declares that he's not going to schedule another title match till next year's Slammiversary. Hernandez's music hits. He points out that Mick doesn't have to schedule a title match to be in one—he then cashes in Feast or Fired and wins the title. The Main Event, believing that Hernandez is a thug, spend till BFG trying to get the title back.

2) This is a variant of #1, assuming Hernandez won't be healthy enough to do anything by the end of Slammiversary. It plays out exactly the same way, except that that instead of Hernandez, Homicide comes out and says that Hernandez is letting him take the title shot in his stead. This is obviously more of a long shot, but they could really sell it as an awesome Rocky type story.

3) Mick wins the title and says that he won't schedule another match. The next night, AJ Styles makes the point that the title only means what it does because it's respected. If Mick won't respect his title, there's another champion on the brand who will. For the next two months, the Legends' Championship main events PPVs. Mick goes progressively more and more ticked about this, finally agreeing to a title unification match at BFG. To make up for Foley's physical shape, they make the match some sort of wacky brawl. AJ wins, and they get rid of the Legends' title. Alternately, Foley wins, then Hernandez cashes in to win the heavyweight championship. Foley remains Legends' champ.

Star of the Night: Christopher Daniels & AJ Styles. I know it's a cheat, but the match wouldn't have worked without either of them.

Overall: With the returns of Raven and Shane Douglas, along with the debut of Victoria and a Styles-Daniels main event, there was absolutely no reason for this to be anything less than an A show. However, Raven got tied down with the worst plot on the show and Douglas's return didn't make much sense. Also, the opening and closing matches, which could have been phenomenal given enough time, were only awesome. B-

Daniel is a graduate instructor at The Ohio State University. He missed Thursday night for Shavuos. Complaints can be sent to dawilk316@gmail.com

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax