By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

TNA Impact News & Notes 5/8

- Kurt Angle retained the TNA World Title over Eric Young with Bully Ray as special referee in the TV main event. Bully was revealed as special referee in the opening segment.

During the match, the Beat Down Clan got involved when EY low-blowed Bully. But, The Rising and Chris Melendez ran off BDC, leaving Angle and EY to exchange nearfalls until Angle submitted Young to the anklelock.

Bully framed his return as a one-off in a series of Twitter posts. Ray called his return "fun for one night." Replying to WWE and Triple H "dropping the ball," Ray replied, "Not necessarily."

- Matt Hardy was forced to vacate the TNA Tag Titles due to Jeff Hardy's injury. Then, Davey Richards brought back Eddie Edwards from injury, setting up a Best-of-Five Series against Austin Aries & Bobby Roode for the vacant TNA Tag Titles.

- Velvet Sky, along with Bully Ray, returned to Impact TV. Velvet confronted former Beautiful People teammate Angelina Love and then attacked her until referees separated the Knockouts.

- James Storm and Magnus continued their feud over Mickie James.

- In the Knockouts match of the show, The Dollhouse (KO champion Taryn Terrell & Marti Belle & Jade) beat Gail Kim & Awesome Kong in a handicap match. Marti took finishers after the match.

- Josh Mathews was alone at ringside for commentary.

- The episode was semi-live after being taped a few hours earlier in Orlando. It was the first show with Billy Corgan from "Smashing Pumpkins" in a TV executive role.

- One significant change to the presentation of wrestlers was a black & white theme. Male wrestlers were mainly in black or black & white t-shirts, jackets, or dress shirts, not just Bully in a referee shirt for the main event.

- Full Match Results: (1) Ethan Carter III (w/Tyrus) beat Mr. Anderson in a Falls Count Anywhere match that included Tyrus involved in the match throughout. ... (2) Drew Galloway (w/The Rising) beat MVP (w/Beat Down Clan). ... (3) The Dollhouse (KO champion Taryn Terrell & Marti Belle & Jade) beat Gail Kim & Awesome Kong in a handicap match. ... (4) TNA World Hvt. champion Kurt Angle beat Eric Young via submission to retain the TNA World Title with Bully Ray as special referee.

***

Quarter-Hour Break Down

[Q1] Josh Mathews was alone at ringside for commentary. ... TNA revealed Bully Ray as the special referee for the TNA World Title match between Kurt Angle and Eric Young in the main event. ... Ethan Carter III implored the audience to pick an Arm Wrestling Challenge for his match against Mr. Anderson. Anderson came out and revealed a poll result of 85 percent for Falls Count Anywhere instead.

[Q2] (1) Ethan Carter III (w/Tyrus) beat Mr. Anderson in a Falls Count Anywhere match that included Tyrus involved in the match throughout. ... MVP and the Beat Down Clan called out Drew Galloway's Rising. The Rising cleared the BDC from the ring.

[Q3] (2) Drew Galloway (w/The Rising) beat MVP (w/Beat Down Clan). Afterward, Eric Young crashed the ring with a chair, struck Galloway, and a brawl broke out. This allowed BDC to stand tall over The Rising.

[Q4] James Storm brought a giant gift box to the ring for Mickie James. It was a guitar for Mickie, who received the gift and posed with Storm. Magnus came down to escort Mickie out of the ring, but Storm pushed too much verbally, so Magnus returned to the ring and smashed the guitar over Storm's face.

[Q5] (3) The Dollhouse (KO champion Taryn Terrell & Marti Belle & Jade) beat Gail Kim & Awesome Kong in a handicap match. There was no application of rules, resulting in Taryn sneaking in a counter to Gail's Eat Defeat for the win. Marti took a post-match beat down.

[Q6] Matt Hardy announced that he and Jeff Hardy have been forced to vacate the TNA Tag Titles due to Jeff's leg injury. Matt said he's going home to figure out what's next... After Matt left, Bobby Roode and Austin Aries came out to stake a claim to the Tag Titles. But, first, Aries noted the belts seem to be cursed by injury. Davey Richards answered Aries & Roode, then welcomed back Eddie Edwards post-injury. Eddie proposed a Best-of-Five Series for the vacant Tag Titles.

[Q7] Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway visited backstage. ... Angelina Love cut a mid-ring promo, which was answered by Velvet Sky out of the crowd. Sky, dressed like a pale biker, attacked and took out Angelina until they were separated by referees.

[Q8] (4) TNA World Hvt. champion Kurt Angle beat Eric Young via submission to retain the TNA World Title with Bully Ray as special referee. BDC came down during the match, then got involved when EY low-blowed Bully. But, The Rising and Chris Melendez ran off BDC, leaving Angle and EY to exchange nearfalls off finishers until Angle submitted Young to the anklelock.

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