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Before the first match, AJ wants to know why Tomko hasn't returned his calls. Tomko tells him they need to focus on defending their championships.

(1) Tomko & AJ Styles defeat BG James & Bullet Bob Armstrong

Mini-Recap
BG James and Bullet Bob are accompanied to the ring by a marine honor guard, which is a nice touch. Bullet Bob does some brawling and not much else. There are some miscommunications between Styles & Tomko, as the former makes some blind tags and accidentally hits his partner with a Flying Forearm. In the end AJ hits a mean Missile Dropkick to the knee of BG, and then it is just a matter of time before he and Tomko hit the Tornadoplex for the win.

Analysis
Not good, but mostly harmless. They told a decent story, and BG sold his injury so well that I'm a little concerned it might have been legit (if it was, then he still gets props for working through it well enough that I thought it might be fake). The marine honor guard and full in-ring introductions gave this match a special feel, so I was fine with it.

Karen Angle is mad in the back that Kurt doesn't pay enough attention to her.

(2) Traci Brooks defeats Payton Banks

Mini-Recap
There is a lot of brawling in and around the ring. Big moves include a Spear, some cool knees to the abdomen, and a School Girl for the win. After the match, Payton attacks with a Northern Lariat.

Analysis
Somehow at five minutes this match still managed to feel like it dragged for ages. TNA gets points for not turning this into a catfight unnecessarily, but loses many more points for it not resembling anything good.

Scott Hudson is in the back with Petey Williams and Scott Steiner. They argue over who has more experience, and Steiner warns Petey that if he mimics him out there he'll regret it.

(3) Scott Steiner defeats Petey Williams

Mini-Recap
The match begins with Steiner toying with Petey, hitting his signature moves and beating him from ring post to ring post. At one point he even lifts him up to the top rope for a big Belly-to-Belly Suplex, only to lift Petey up after a two count. He hits a top rope Fall Away Slam, but again lifts Petey up after two. Petey starts rallying, however, throwing Steiner headfirst into one of the briefcases, nailing a Hurricanrana for two, reversing an attempted Steiner Recliner into a School Boy, hitting a Hesitation Dropkick and a big Cross Body Block off the top rope, a Steiner Recliner, and the all too rare Non-Missile Super Dropkick. When Petey goes to finish things off with the Canadian Destroyer he's distracted by an extremely tall woman semi-flashing him from ringside. Steiner takes advantage by hitting a Last Ride for the win.

Analysis
The trend of all Steiner's TNA matches being better than all his WWE matches remains intact. I'm not sure if Steiner was supposed to be getting more heel heat throughout the match as he started toying with Petey. If that was the story they were trying to tell, I'm not sure how well it came across, but this was certainly a serviceable contest.

Kurt is panicking in the back about his wife, so JB suggests they renew their vows Thursday on Impact.

They hype the importance and history of the World Drinking Championship. This segment is actually somewhat funny (and appropriately short), as Young goes over his training regiment of ribs, donuts, and staring at the wall. I'm starting to hope that this becomes a real belt. My wife had the good point that if Austin ever has another falling out with Vince, there could be a really cool moment where he shows up and they just hand him the belt.

(4) Eric Young defeats James Storm

Mini-Recap
This match is mostly Eric Young. He hits a nice Cross Body Block from the top rope to the floor, but when Jackie Moore distracts him he gets beer in the face and a Hip Toss onto the concrete. He responds with a Suplex onto the concrete for Storm, but then eats an Eye of the Storm in the ring. He battles back with a Power Bomb and a Belly-to-Belly Suplex. Storm retakes control and goes for a Swanton Bomb, which I didn't remember he could do. Storm whiffs, however, which lets EY get a Moonsault for two, and then a Double Death Valley Driver on both Jackie Moore and Storm for a long two count. He tries to follow up with something off the top rope, but eats a Sunset Flip Power Bomb for two. Jackie Moore hands Storm a beer bottle and distracts the referee, but that just gives Rhino a chance to Gore the living daylights out of him for the finish. After the match Rhino grabs the mic and says he'll talk Thursday.

Analysis
I really don't get people's issues with these two. This was just another stellar match, with great high spots and a decent story from both men. Rhino's return was cool, but I'm not sure why he got on the mic just to say he wouldn't get on the mic. Couldn't he have just not said anything and had an announcement on TNA.com that he would talk Thursday? Is there anyone who got the PPV, was planning not to watch Impact, but will watch because Rhino said he would talk? If not, why bother with the plug?

Jim Cornette explains how South Carolina wouldn't let them do the Barbed Wire Massacre match, so they're having to do it out of Orlando.

(5) Awesome Kong (w/Raisha Sayid) defeats ODB

Mini-Recap
Kong hits her usual power moves. ODB tries to counteract with power of her own, but Kong no-sells most of it. She starts busting out more high-risk moves, hitting some quick dropkicks and a Lou Thesz Press off the top rope for two. Kong makes the mistake of going to the top rope, which enables ODB to slam her down to the mat. ODB downs some booze, and then starts throwing clotheslines that seem to actually faze Kong a bit. Sayid goes up on the ring apron, which is enough of a distraction for Kong to nail the Spinning Back Fist and the Awesome Bomb for the win.

Analysis
This was a legitimate title match, but I've been somewhat spoiled by the Kim-Kong feud. The finish was well done, as it was dirty enough to give ODB a credible reason to ask for a rematch but clean enough that Kong doesn't look like she needed the assist.

James Mitchell says some stuff about beating Abyss.

(6) Abyss defeats Judas Mesias

Mini-Recap
There's a lot of brawling and some close encounters to start, but so little happens that the crowd has time to start a "We want blood" chant. They tease a lot of close spots before Abyss finally tosses Mesias belly first into a table covered in barbed wire. He follows up with a Choke Slam through a different table covered in barbed wire, and then Black Hole Slams James Mitchell just for kicks. He gets Mesias with a Black Hole Slam too, but it only gets two. Abyss finally eats barbed wire when Mesias just shoves him into a covered table set up in the corner, but comes back with a Black Hole Slam onto the barbed wire for game.

Analysis
The last Barbed Wire Massacre was between Abyss and Sabu, an opponent who was willing to take wicked bumps, could pull off awesome moves, and knew how to work a great match. This one was between Abyss and Judas Mesias, who was willing to take wicked bumps, and…um…yeah. There were some cool spots, but a lot of dullness before and between them. I think the verdict is on Mesias, and while he gets an A for effort, it's just not working otherwise. It was nice to finally see a match where someone else took sicker bumps than Abyss.

Robert Roode cuts the same promo he's been cutting for a month.

Booker T does too.

(7) Booker T and Robert Roode fight to a Double Countout

Mini-Recap
If you've seen Booker T wrestle, you know the deal here. There are some kicks, some slams, and a lot of brawling in and out of the ring. Roode looks about as crisp as he ever does against Booker. At one point Payton comes up behind Booker, and in a nice counter-point to Roode's actions last month Booker spins around but doesn't swing. Eventually Roode takes off, and Booker chases him out for the double count out. They brawl all the way to Roode's car, where he creates enough distance to take off (leaving Banks behind).

Analysis
This was never bad, and was at many points good, but it's certainly nothing you'll remember in a month. In fact, I've already forgotten most of it. It was foreseeable that they would want to stretch this out another month, but I was ready to see Booker kill Roode tonight. Next month I'll probably not care anymore, unless they have some way to keep me interested.

Kurt tells Karen about the recommitment ceremony. AJ, behind everyone's backs, rips off his crown.

Brother Ray says that he knows Jay Lethal has heart, but he doesn't think the Guns do, and he doesn't think any of them have what it takes to beat Team 3D in a street fight.

(8) "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal & The Motor City Machine Guns defeat Team 3D & Johnny Devine

Mini-Recap
There are several minutes of a foreign object-laden brawl, with street signs and trashcans and whatnot. Ray and Devon hit a cool spot where they Suplex Lethal while Shelley and Sabin have Sleepers locked in on them from behind. The Guns hit a bit of tandem offense before eating one 3D apiece. Lethal gets isolated and is beaten down so badly that SoCal Val comes down to the ring to protest. Ray teases hitting her, but ends up licking her instead. That turns out to be the hot button, because suddenly Lethal is going ballistic. There are chair shots and a big Hurricanrana to Ray, a Somersault Plancha to Devon on the outside, a Lethal Combo on Devine, and a Superkick on Devon before finally getting caught in a Bubba Bomb. The crowd is going nuts at this point. Team 3D set up a table, but Lethal Back Body Drops Devon out of the ring, gets Ray with an Ensuguri and then lays out Devine with a road sign, knocking him back onto the table. Lethal goes up top and hits the Savage Elbow for the win and the X Division Championship. Sonjay Dutt comes out to celebrate.

Analysis
We didn't get to see much greatness out of the Guns, but this wasn't about them. For the first time since this feud started Lethal was the hero of the X Division, competing for about five minutes after both his partners had been taken out. He really sold that this match mattered, and that he was going to take on all comers. I would have liked a better writing-out of the Guns, but otherwise this was just about pitch perfect.

Christian Cage says he has extra information that lets him know he'll be winning tonight.

(9) Kurt Angle defeats Christian Cage

Mini-Recap
This was a high-octane match from the opening bell. I couldn't do it justice with a quick play by play—there were reversals into finishers into reversals all over. About 20 minutes in there's a ref bump, and Karen tries to get involved. Christian thinks about punching her, and Joe decides not to interfere. Kurt accidentally takes her out though, and she's a non-factor for the rest of the match. AJ tries to jump into the ring, but Joe catches his leg in mid-air and chases him out of the building. Angle takes advantage of the lack of enforcement to nail a chair shot, when Tomko runs out. He grabs Angle, but then throws him aside and slams Christian instead. Angle makes the cover just as the referee recovers enough to make the three count.

Analysis
This match was simply incredible. It suffered from the fact that you knew it couldn't end until, at the very least, AJ Styles had tried to interfere, and I sure can't figure out how the ending made any sense. That being said, this match lifted this PPV mightily, and it was simply a pleasure to watch these two at work.

Overall: This was another very good but very flawed outing for TNA, which seems to be TNA's M.O. lately. A not so stellar under-card had the potential to hold this show back a lot, but great showings by Lethal, Angle and Christian elevated it at the end. I'm going to give this grade assuming that Tomko's turn will be adequately explained—otherwise consider this grade retroactively dropped. B+


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