By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

TNA Impact on Spike TV
June 26, 2008
Taped June 23 in Orlando, Florida
Report by James Caldwell, Torch columnist

They opened with footage of the Kurt and Karen saga. It plays out again this week with Karen returning to the Impact zone.

1 -- CONSEQUENCES CREED vs. A.J. STYLES

Tenay said Styles got Creed in the door to get his TNA try-out, so it's teacher vs. student tonight. A few seconds into the match, they cut to an exterior shot of Kurt Angle sitting in the parking lot waiting for Karen to show up. Creed did a B.G./Killings combo of shake rattle, do the splits, and punch on Styles at 4:00 to take control. He tried to follow with a suplex, but Styles nailed a sweet Pele soccer kick. Styles then followed right up with the Clash for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Styles in 5:00. Nice, competitive match to showcase Styles as a top star in the ring in juxtaposition to the young buck Creed. (*1/4)

Post-match: Borash came to ringside and looked very concerned about something. He gave Styles a throwaway congratulations before telling Styles that Kurt is in the parking lot waiting for Karen. Styles took off running.

[Commercial Break]

Backstage: Styles found Karen trying to hide from Kurt in the parking lot. Styles grabbed her from the hand and calmed her down. They left together for safety.

Impact Zone: Brother Ray came to the ring and said one punk down, one to go. He bragged about taking out Rhino last week. Tonight, it's Christian's turn to be stretchered out of the Impact Zone. Ray addressed the "couch potatoes at home." He said don't go to the fridge or make love to your ugly wife because he's guaranteeing something we've never ever seen before. Workrate from Ray? Nope. He said it will be Christian's final night in his wrestling career. On cue, Christian Cage came to the ring.

[Commercial Break]

2 -- BROTHER RAY vs. CHRISTIAN CAGE

Ray tried to take Christian up top early on, but Christian bit his forehead to escape. He then landed a top rope frog splash for a nearfall. Johnny Devine suddenly entered the ring with Kendo stick in hand. Christian fought him off, but Ray took the stick and cracked it over Christian's back for a DQ.

Post-match: Ray waived his crew over to the ring. Devon, Tomko, and Devine set up a glass table in the ring. Where's Abyss when you need him to take this bump? With Christian pretty much out cold, the heels picked up Christian and put him on Ray's shoulders to take a top rope powerbomb through the "glass" table. Looked and sounded like very cheap movie glass. Trainers spilled into the ring to check on Christian while Team 3D and Tomko stood tall. They stayed with this for a while to actually sell an angle for once, as the camera focused on Christian's blood-stained back. Kaz and Eric Young eventually made it to the ring to check on Christian. A little late, fellas. Tenay told the guys in the truck to take it to a break. They did a slow fade-out to commercial.

WINNER: Christian Cage via DQ in 2:00. They really over-played the "never before seen in a wrestling ring" card for a glass table spot that was right in line with all of the stunts Abyss has done on Impact the last few years. They did a nice job of selling the injury, though. Follow-up, as usual, will be key. (n/a)

[Commercial Break]

Announcers: Tenay and West narrated clips of the damage to Christian, then they talked seriously ringside about what happened. Tenay said Ray delivered on his promise.

Backstage: Borash was sitting in Nash's locker room to talk about Nash studying tapes of Booker in preparation of facing him tonight. Nash mumbled through something about giving Samoa Joe 20 years of knowledge in such a little amount of time. Borash said he's known Nash for 10 years and he knows him not to help anyone out, so why Joe? Before Nash could speak, Samoa Joe stormed in and cut a joke about Nash's training for Booker. After some not-so-subtle references about Warrior, Nash said the key for him is conserving energy at his age. Nash said his job is to pick apart Booker's game with mental strategy over physical strategy. Joe said he might be ringside for this to hopefully learn something from Nash in action. Oh, Joe. It's just not working with this scripting of the champion.

Impact Zone: Awesome Kong came to the ring with Raisha Saeed for another edition of the fan challenge. Borash dutifully followed out to announce the deal again. Him saying "studio audience" just makes TNA sound bush league. Borash said they'll pick someone out after the break.

[Commercial Break]

3 -- Knockouts Champion AWESOME KONG (w/Raisha Saeed) vs. DANIELLE from Buffalo N.Y.

Danielle signed the contract during the commercial break, then Kong started beating on her repeatedly. Taylor, the girl from last week, tried to interfere from ringside, but Kong shoved her aside and sent Danielle into the guardrail. They returned to the ring and Kong finished her off with an Awesomebomb for the win.

Post-match: Taylor hopped the guardrail and tried to get some of Kong, which led to a standing brawl in the ring. Security eventually stormed the ring to separate the divas from each other. Jim Cornette randomly showed up to get this under control before Taylor was dragged to the floor. He screamed at her that she can't just jump into the ring like that. Taylor pleaded with Cornette for a chance to get her hands on Raisha. He said they would talk it out.

WINNER: Kong in 2:00. Post-match was well-paced to allow the angle to sink in. They made Taylor seem like a legit contender, which could play well on TV over a series of weeks. (n/a)

Video package: Part 2 of the Gail vs. Angelina "shoot series" focused on Angelina Love starting out in Toronto. Angelina said Gail was very rude to her back in the day in typical Gail fashion. Scott D'Amore said he feels Angelina made a bad decision to leave Canada and try wrestling at the Assylum in TNA where she got smeared. D'Amore said she didn't quit, though, which showed she wanted to succeed. Angelina said seeing Gail succeed in wrestling lit a fire under her. Very nice, well-paced, focused video package adding depth to the feud.

[Commercial Break]

Impact Zone: As they were about to have a World X Cup match, Frank Trigg interrupted and came to the ring. He addressed A.J. Styles about meeting a man face-to-face before knocking him out. Trigg told Styles to show up or just send Karen Angle out to the ring to fight his battles for him. Backstage, they showed Styles and Karen watching the monitor with Borash. Styles flipped out while Karen tried to calm him down. Styles had enough and left the locker room to confront Trigg.

It was a trap! They cut backstage to show Kurt confronting Karen. Angelina and Velvet Sky then walked in to stare down Karen. With Styles in the ring, they showed the backstage confrontation brewing with Karen and the divas. Velvet shoved Borash down, then Angelina put the bag over Karen's head. Oh, the drama continues.

[Commercial Break]

Impact Zone: Team International came out on stage to show off their flags. Daivari, Koslov, Tyson Dux, and Doug "Trevor Murdoch" Williams represented their team. Team TNA then came out in the form of Kaz, Curry Man, Sabin, and Shelley. Kaz sporting a silly bandana to look more patriotic. ... Doi and Yoshino then came out representing Team Japan. Representing Team Mexico, Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Bucanero came out.

4 -- TEAM MEXICO (ULTIMO GUERRERO & REY BUCANERO) vs. TEAM JAPAN (NARUKI DOI & MASATO YOSHINO) -- World X Cup first round match

The other teams stuck around to survey the match in the ring. Yoshino quickly went into super-speed bouncing the ropes to avoid Bucanero. Very fast-paced tag work from the Dragon Gate team to start things off. They completed a double suicide dive on the floor three minutes into the match, then back in the ring, Team Mexico took control. Guerrero landed a nice reverse DDT from the top rope on Doi, then Bucanero and Guerrero completed a double-team corkscrew splash on Doi for the win.

WINNERS: Team Mexico in 6:00 to earn one point. Very much a lucha-style match with fast-paced action and plenty of tag team double-teaming. Good X Cup showcase match for TV. (*1/2)

Backstage: Lauren was with Jay Lethal and So Cal Val to talk about the difficulties recently. Lethal said he's very pissed. He's freaking out, man! Lethal said they spent hours on the road together, then Dutt threw it all away. He asked why Dutt couldn't just do it like a man. Val said they need to post-pone the wedding for later to let things settle down. Lethal took off his Savage sunglasses and said he doesn't understand why they need to post-pone. Val said she needs more time. Lethal said he's ready tomorrow, then Val stormed off the set very flustered. Sigh.

[Commercial Break]

Video package: They focused on the LAX vs. Roode & Storm fan challenge for the Victory Road PPV. 12 fans will surround the ring to strap folks. They showed a few clips of random people explaining why they want to strap Roode and Storm. My goodness, some of those home video clips were disturbing.

Impact Zone: Dutt's music hit and mini-gurus led Dutt to the ring. The little folks took money in their mini-tambourines before Dutt went to his prayer rug in the ring and respectfully took the offering from the tambourine. Dutt then took the mic and said this offering is for the Save Val cause. He said Val needs to be break free of the shackles placed on her by Lethal. Dutt claimed Val is in love with him, then he continued his preacher promo by asking for prayer. He chanted "Set Val Free" over and over while doing a dance.

Val then emerged on stage and pleaded with Dutt to stop. Lethal then flew into the ring and tackled Dutt. He pounded on Dutt with repeated right hand blows while Val screamed ringside. Dutt landed a low blow to cut off Lethal, but Lethal shoved Dutt into a giant urn ringside. Weird placement. Dutt then rolled out of the ring and stood next to his mini-gurus. They proceeded to dance with the tambourines. Rough segment.

Backstage: Borash walked into Booker's super-fine locker room. Nice interior decorating job here. Booker showed off the paintings, art work, and photo with Muhammad Ali. Booker, in a fine robe, sat down on the plush couch to ask Borash why it wasn't like this in the beginning. Booker put over the imaginary ratings and buyrate increase, then he got serious about busting up Kevin Nash tonight. He excused Borash so he could prepare. Nice finish to the promo.

[Commercial Break]

Rough Cut: They focused on Matt Morgan's story part 2. Morgan focused on his college basketball career, then Morgan said he was watching Tough Enough one night on MTV and decided he would become a wrestler. Morgan's wife, Larissa Morgan, talked about Morgan starting his wrestling career on Tough Enough.

Backstage: Random segment with Tomko approaching Kurt Angle about needing to end the problems with Karen. Borash said he's all about putting a woman in her place, but enough is enough. Angle said he knows Styles and Karen have slept together, but Borash said no one has actually seen them together. Angle said he sees them together in his nightmares. Team 3D interrupted and really waxed Karen. Ray said he can't believe Kurt has to wake up every morning and stare at Karen's face. He suggested Kurt go out and meet someone new. Ray said he has a little black book of hot models that he can use to set up Kurt on a blind date. Angle said he's good, just so long as there are no fat chicks like Devon. Ray said it's all good. Angle asked what's in it for Ray, and he said Angle's happiness is all they're concerned about.

Impact Zone: Moose came to the ring wielding a trash can full of weapons and a ghetto "I hate Bimbos" sign on the front of the trashcan. This just screams indy bush league, including her entrance music. Moose rubbed her dirty hair and face as if she were in an Herbal Essences commercial where the shampoo consisted of dirt, lice, and fingernail clippings. ODB then came out to face Moose in this here Bimbo Match.

5 -- ODB vs. MOOSE -- Bimbo weapons match

ODB pulled out a thick steel chain and smashed Moose with it. Tenay said he received word that Christian has been taken to the hospital for "many, many stitches" and x-rays. Back in the ring for this match, ODB knocked the belly fat off Moose with a splash in the corner before Moose came back with a hockey stick across the back for a nearfall. ODB came back with a shovel shot to the gut before waffling her across the back and head for a nearfall. Moose then came back with a single arm DDT into a chair for the win.

WINNER: Moose in 7:00. Just an OK brawl. ODB has significantly dropped down the ladder in the knockouts division, while it's not clear why Moose was randomly on TV tonight. (3/4*)

Video package: They focused on the tension between Nash and Joe leading to Nash vs. Booker in a No DQ match for the TV main event.

[Commercial Break]

6 -- KEVIN NASH vs. BOOKER T -- No DQ match

1998 called. It wants its WCW Thunder main event back. Samoa Joe came ringside a minute into the match and pulled up a chair ringside. After some back and forth action that included brawling on the floor, they cut to a break.

[Commercial Break]

Nash worked over Booker on the floor while the announcers talked about Nash providing some notes for Joe if he's paying attention. Booker took control on the floor and asked Joe to provide his chair, but Joe respectfully declined. Booker and Joe seemed to be OK with each other, but Booker shoved Joe out of nowhere, then stole the chair and creamed Joe in the face with a chair shot. Back in the ring, Booker worked over Nash while Joe tried to collect himself. Another chair shot to the head led to Joe storming the ring. He landed right hand blows and a running knee strike in the corner before accidentally smashing Nash with a thrust kick. Booker dumped Joe to the floor, then he covered Nash for the win. Afterward, Joe tried to chase Booker out of the ring with a chair to close the show.

WINNER: Booker in 10:00. Well, Booker certainly seems positioned for a title victory at the PPV. Joe lacks any and all credibility, while Booker as a more serious heel in the ring has made him seem more championship-worthy than Joe right now. Match was set up well throughout the show, the match followed a typical TNA formula, and it concluded with a miscommunication to follow through on next week. Perfectly fine despite its inherent repetitiveness. (*1/2)

We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for an "Impact Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on Impact, click here.

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