TNA Impact Review
October 22, 2004
Taped October 19, 2004 in Orlando, FL at Universal Studios
Aired on Fox Sports Net
Report by James Caldwell, Torch Team Contributor

- We opened up with a highlight package from last week showing us how Jeff Hardy defeated Monty Brown to become the #1 Contender to Jeff Jarrett's TNA Title. We also saw bickering between Dusty Rhodes and Vince Russo which led to a Taboo Tuesday style decision where the fans will vote for who should be the Director of Authority. We also saw the brawl between the three runner up's, Monty Brown, Raven, and Abyss. That led to our final "last week recap" where Team Canada was shown winning the Tag Titles.

- To live action this week where AMW and Triple X were brawling backstage with Shark Boy serving as security until Heavy D and other TNA officials could arrive on the scene to separate the two tag teams.

- Mike Tenay welcomed us to the Impact Zone and asked if Jeff Jarrett would accept the Ladder Match stipulation for the TNA Title Match at Victory Road vs. Jeff Hardy. Excuse me while I turn up the volume as Impact's sound production goes out...That's better. Speaking of the devil, out to the ring right after Tenay's intro is TNA Champ, Jeff Jarrett...and he's dressed for a squash.

(1) Jeff Jarrett defeated Ryan O'Reilly at 1:33 in a Non-Title Match. The bell sounded and O'Reilly did the Riverdance in the middle of the ring. This isn't 1998 man. Jarrett ended the dance and sent O'Reilly to the outside. Jarrett pulled out a ladder and set it up on the outside. Jarrett sent O'Reilly head first into the ladder then folded up the ladder and sent it back inside the ring. Jarrett stomped on O'Reilly in the corner then propped up the ladder on the opposite corner. Jarrett with an Irish Whip sending O'Reilly back first into the ladder. Jarrett with a Stroke followed by the pin for the win.

- After the match, Jarrett mounted O'Reilly in the corner and landed a series of right hands to the side of the head. Jarrett sent O'Reilly back first into the ladder once again. Jeff Hardy ran to the ring and delivered a series of weak right hands to the face. Hardy whipped Jarrett into the ladder then delivered a face first plant in the middle of the ring. Hardy set up the ladder in the middle of the ring and set up for a Swanton Bomb off the top of the ladder, but Jarrett slid out of the ring and out of harm's way.

Match View: Same Jarrett formula. Take the jobber to the outside, beat him around, deliver the Stroke, and in under two minutes, you have your good ole fashioned Non Title Squash Match. Good intensity from Hardy after the match. The fans wanted to see Hardy deliver that Swanton Bomb. Good idea to save that for the actual PPV and build up the anticipation. Decent segment.

- A very large, gray-haired, and out of shape Scott Hall was shown in a Carlito Carribean Cool type promo. ;) Hall challenged Kevin Nash to a match at Victory Road to see who the better wrestler is.

- A Presidential style commercial aired touting Dusty Rhodes as the right choice for the fans as the "Director of Authority." I hope John Kerry was taking notes on Rhodes' promo.

(2) Chris Sabin & Sonjay Dutt defeated Kazarian & Michael Shane (w/Traci) by Judge's Decision at 10:00. Looks like a good match up here. Tenay let us know that these four will be in the X Division Gauntlet Match at Victory Road. To the match where Sabin locked up with Michael Shane to begin the match. Sabin flipped out of a side suplex and locked up Shane with a waistlock. Sabin ducked a clothesline and scored a jawbreaker. Dutt tagged in and took a punch to the face. Kazarian tagged in and was instantly taken down by Dutt with a side head lock slam. Dutt locked in a side head lock to wear down Kazarian then scored a tilt o whirl slam. Shane entered the ring and was drop kicked by Sabin. Sabin and Dutt clotheslined Kazarian & Shane over the top rope. Before going to commercial, we saw AMW bickering backstage as D Ray 3000 and Shark Boy tried to play the intermediary. Ya, that's going to work.

Back from commercial, we came back to see Sabin and Kazarian locked up in the ring. Kazarian landed a clothesline on Sabin then tagged in Shane. Shane picked up Sabin and slammed him in the middle of the ring. Shane with a knee drop across the chest for a two count only. Shane locked in a neck-wrenching submission hold in the middle of the ring. Sabin fought back to his feet as we went back to the backstage area where Triple X were tossed out of the Impact Zone by TNA security. Back to the ring where Kazarian and Shane double teamed Sabin. Shane left the ring leaving Kazarian in the ring with Sabin. Kazarian with knees to the face then a side kick to the head. Kazarian missed a corner move, but recovered to catapult Sabin throat first across the middle rope. Kazarian with a cover only for a two count. Kazarian went for a top rope moonsault, but Sabin ran up top and flipped him off the top with an overhead German Suplex. Awesome move! Shane and Dutt scored tags leading to Dutt tossing out Kazarian. Dutt with a swinging knee smash followed by a cover, which was broken up by Kazarian. Time expired as Michael Shane scored a pinning combination. Jeremy Borash gave us the word from our TNA Impact Judge, Larry Zbyszko, that the winners of this match are Sonjay Dutt & Chris Sabin.

Match View: Really nice action, from what we saw. There was about seven out of ten minutes of action actually shown minus the commercial and two break aways to the backstage area concerning AMW and Triple X. If only the TNA writers would give the X Division guys some character depth. I've said it for months, they just need to give some promo time to these guys. The fans already enjoy their action, it's only a matter of time until they are the stars of the show if given a second layer of character depth.

- Shane Douglas was in the back with Dusty Rhodes. Douglas asked Rhodes if we were going to see some mudslinging. Rhodes said the people across the country want to see TNA rise to higher heights and that will only happen with Rhodes running the company. Jeff Jarrett interrupted and said the only reason Rhodes is here because he let him. Jarrett said he was going to send a message to Rhodes through "his boy" Jeff Hardy.

- We went to a Roddy Piper promo where he talked about Jimmy Snuka and his cliff diving, which might have left his brain a little damaged. Piper continued to ramble about seashells and seashores and pineapples and Jimmy Snuka. Piper recounting smashed Snuka across the head with a coconut at the Piper's Pit. Wow. I want that minute of my life back.

(3) "Alpha Male" Monty Brown defeated Eric Stevens at 1:43. The opening five seconds of the match saw Brown knocking Stevens to the mat with clubbing right hands. Brown with a double underhook suplex then a stomp to the back of the head. Brown with a Scott Hall-esque overhead sidewalk slam followed by The Pounce at 1:00. Brown made the cover, but pulled up at two. Brown's music started in anticipation of the victory, but the match continued to the chagrin of the referee. Brown scored another Pounce on a lifeless Eric Stevens, sending a message to anyone watching. Brown made the cover after the second Pounce for the pin and the win.

- After the match, Brown took the mic and told Raven that he's just added his name to the Endangered Species List. Brown told Raven that he's going to lead him to the Sarengheti with a Pounce. The lights went out. We came back to see Raven standing over Brown landing right hands. Brown fought back and scored a Pounce on Raven, who had brought a straight jacket in the ring. The lights came back on and Abyss was in the ring. Abyss had Brown in a Torture Rack Position. Brown slipped out and clotheslined Abyss. Brown slammed Raven to the mat, then turned around and walked into a Torture Rack Slam from Abyss. Abyss and Raven went at it leading to security entering the ring. Brown no sold the Torture Rack Slam and entered the brawl that security had a hard time breaking up.

Match View: Good to see Brown back in his "Two Minute and Under" squash role that Abyss was keeping warm while Brown was chasing the TNA Title. Good storyline involving the three runner ups to Jeff Hardy. Since all three are basically tweeners, showing no true babyface characteristics, this feud is built perfectly for a Triple Threat Match.

(4) NYC (Johnny Swinger & Glen Gilberti) (w/Triniti) defeated Scott Papper & El Fuego at 1:49 . Triniti joined West and Tenay at the announcers table and challenged any woman to a match at Victory Road. To the match where NYC was met by chants of "Let's go Red Sox." El Fuego scored a nice chop on Swinger, then took a Russian Legsweep. NYC double teamed El Fuego and scored a combination finishing move for the pin and the win.

- After the match, Triniti stood over El Fuego as NYC looked in in approval. A brawl between Triple X and AMW spilled to the ringside area. Apparently Triple X found their way back inside the building after being kicked out. Officials and wrestlers separated the two tag teams. Christopher Daniels took the mic and challenged AMW to a Last Team Standing Match at Victory Road. Another brawl almost ensued, but was broken up by more security.

Match View: NYC is back...and no one really cares. They really did nothing impressive and are just a side note in TNA. A fresher, more original gimmick would really serve them better. Good intensity from the two top tag teams in TNA. This feud is really becoming one of the best aspects of TNA similar to how London vs. Kidman is one of the best aspects of WWE Smackdown despite being a "second tier" feud.

- A Presidential promo for Vince Russo aired to combat Dusty Rhodes' plea to be the Director of Authority.

(5) A.J. Styles & Jeff Hardy & Ron "The Truth" Killings defeated Team Canada (Eric Young, Bobby Roode & Ruff Silverstein) (w/Coach Scott D'Amore) at 6:55. All six men brawled in the ring to begin the match. Team Canada was cleared out of the ring right away. The faces scored baseball slides on all three members of Team Canada as Coach D'Amore asked his team what was going on. Off to commercial we went.

Back from the break, we found Styles being double teamed by Team Canada. Young isolated Styles with a stomp to the gut, sending him crawling to the Team Canada corner. Young and Roode double teamed Styles as the referee was distracted. Roode went to work on Styles with a head first slam to the corner. Styles fought back with right hands, but ran into a hard clothesline from Roode. Roode with a cover, but a two count only. Roode with a front facelock and tag to Silverstein. Silverstein took a dropkick from Styles ending Team Canada's offense. Styles with a tag to Hardy. Hardy with a Twisting Corkscrew kick on Roode. Hardy was dropped in the middle of the ring by Silverstein with a Mickinoku Driver. Hardy blocked a suplex and scored Twist of Fate after Silverstein blocked the first attempt. Hardy with a cover on Silverstein for the pin and the win.

- After the match, the other members of Team Canada entered the ring to work on the faces. On the outside, Styles and X Division Champ Petey Williams brawled. A ladder was set up in the middle of the ring. Team Canada went for some high risk offense on Hardy, but 3 Live Kru entered the ring and took out Team Canada. Scott D'Amore was left in the middle of the ring with Jeff Hardy. Hardy with a front face slam on D'Amore below the ladder. Hardy climbed up to the top of the ladder and scored a Swanton Bomb on D'Amore's gut. Hardy celebrated on the top turnbuckle as Jeff Jarrett snuck into the ring with a guitar in hand. Hardy hopped down off the top turnbuckle and took a guitar shot across the head. Jarrett grabbed a mic and accepted Hardy's challenge for a Ladder Match at Victory Road as the show went off the air.

Match View: Good action to close the show with the focus on the Ladder being a good closing note. I would liked to have seen Killings actually in the match. Just throwing people in a main event for the sake of giving them face time does more damage than good.

Closing Thought: Wait...where's Impact's Lead Analyst, Jeff Hammonds? Not even an update from a NASCAR event? No Six Points of Impact? No way. All kidding aside, this show was a really nice advancement show towards Victory Road. Good storylines. Good action. Good match set ups. The PPV card is stacking up nicely as we draw closer to the show and there seems to be a new sense of intensity from the wrestlers. Jeff Hardy was much better this week than last week. Last week's "miming" episode with Shane Douglas was a prime example of how not to be a #1 Contender. Nice turnaround by Hardy who added some much needed excitement to the show. Now, if he can just throw a promo out there and open his mouth for once, we'll be on the right track. Good performance all around.

As always, feel free to send me feedback on today's show at revenge_nwo@yahoo.com. I'm open to any and all reader comments. I am also in need of grief counseling after watching another Astros post-season loss last night, so if anyone knows a good shrink, send him/her my way. I'll see everyone next week in the Impact Zone.

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