by Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor

July 9, 2009
Orlando, Fla.
Aired on SpikeTV


-TNA Open.

-A video aired on the struggle for power within TNA between Kurt Angle, Mick Foley and Jeff Jarrett. “Foley’s Last Stand?”

-Impact Open.

-Mike Tenay opened the show by wondering what the fate of Angle’s title is, now in the hands of Sting, and he also touched on the power struggle amongst the three main-eventers.

-Mick Foley came out. He had a large bandage covering his nose, presumably as a result of the beat-down he took last week. He started off by saying some injuries just plain look better than others. He said in life, you have to make difficult decisions. Foley said TNA isn’t designed to have two separate deciders in the front office. What about Jim Cornette? Foley wanted to propose to Jeff Jarrett that one of them step down from their position. Double J then came out.

Jarrett came down with a bandage on his forehead. Foley admitted to Jarrett that he doesn’t think about what he says before he says them very often. Double J said he and Foley are cut from the same mold. Jarrett said that while Foley has proved that he still has it (he does?), he also won the TNA Title. Jarrett suggested it should’ve stopped there, and in his quest for a re-match, Foley has put TNA in serious danger. Jarrett said Foley doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone and regardless of what happens at Victory Road, Foley will always be a legend in pro wrestling. But, he said, he wanted Foley to start thinking about the good of TNA. Jarrett said they can still fix what’s wrong, as long as they do it together. I thought Jarrett was about ready to jump down Foley’s throat the past couple weeks. Foley said that his request to defend the title only once a year was a bit stupid. He then said they’re even as far as who as gotten even on whom. He said Jeff was wrong about Foley not having anything to prove, because he needs to prove something to himself, that being that he’s not a fluke champion, and he needs to prove it against the greatest pro wrestler alive, Kurt Angle. He wanted to make a main event for tonight, giving Angle a tune-up match, and thought Jarrett could face him himself. Non-title, of course. Jarrett wanted to tweak the match, stealing a page from Foley’s playbook. Jarrett wanted to make it a three-way dance and involve Foley. Foley wanted to let Angle in on the fun and have him name a special guest referee. Jarrett said it couldn’t be any member of the Mafia, or Matt Morgan. They shook on it and Foley even called for Jarrett’s music. Good enough opening segment, with West wisely thinking Jarrett had something up his sleeve.

-Lauren was backstage with the British Invasion. A Ladder Match will decide who gets Homicide’s X-Division Title Match and it’s an open challenge, apparently because that’s how Brits do things. Doug Williams said all you have to do is beat him fair and square. I feel like they did this already, wasn’t it against Deaner? Brutus Magnus talked up the Invasion’s prowess. He also put down American wrestling fans. It looked like Magnus was reading off a teleprompter.

[Commercial Break]

-The Invasion came to the ring and Williams offered his challenge again. Homicide accepted, making his first appearance in months, and Mike Tenay acted like it was just another wrestler coming down.

1- DOUG WILLIAMS vs. HOMICIDE- X-DIVISION BRIEFCASE OPEN CHALLENGE- LADDER MATCH

It’s funny that in the first segment, Foley and Jarrett talk about how there are too many people in charge, but apparently not enough as someone overlooked Williams defending a stolen briefcase. Homicide went up the ladder after giving Williams a shot to the gut, but he didn’t get far. Homicide was thrown into the ladder, which then landed on him. Williams got his hand on the briefcase, but Homicide pushed Williams off and onto Magnus and Rob Terry on the outside. While Williams tried to get back inside, Team 3D came out and held Williams up, allowing Homicide to get the briefcase back in possibly the shortest ladder match ever.

WINNER: Homicide, at 2:03.

Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi came out to help the British Invasion dismantled Team 3D.

-A Foley hype video aired.

[Commercial Break]

-Tenay and Done West were shown on camera, as they plugged tonight’s lineup, including Velvet Sky vs. Tara, the Motor City Machine Guns against Beer Money Inc, Daniels & Styles vs. Nash & Morgan, and the triple-threat main event. West segued into plugging TNA’s live events dates.

-Tenay did a sit-down interview earlier in the day with Suicide. Apparently, Suicide wrote the lyrics to his theme song, and Tenay read them back to him, asking him what they meant. Sounds like they’d fit for Abyss too. Suicide talked in a gravelly voice, presumably to conceal his identity. He said his torment led him to choosing life or death. Tenay asked him “how does Suicide come alive?” Probably not a question Tenay ever thought he’d ask in a wrestling interview. Suicide proclaimed himself the Dark Savior and said Suicide doesn’t represent the end, but the beginning. That’s probably not the message this company wants to send to its fans, that last line especially.

[Commercial Break]

-A video package recapped Sting’s history with the Main Event Mafia.

-Sting made his entrance into the Impact Zone. He brought Angle’s belt with him. Sting told him he had it and told him to come get it if he wants it. In the meantime though, he said he wanted a word with Samoa Joe. Joe obliged and came out. Sting told Joe that he’s every reason that TNA and wrestling is as bad as it is now. Nothing like telling your fans your company sucks. Sting said Joe wants everything but doesn’t want to work for it. Sting said he’ll fight this fight himself until things are made right. He got right in Joe’s face and told him he pissed him off bad. Sting told Joe to do something about it, then asked who’s stopping him. Joe told him that he’s been instructed to keep his temper under control, but that Sting’s time will come. Sting said Joe isn’t capable of doing this on his own and wanted to know who was pulling his strings behind the curtain. Joe said again that Sting would find out at Victory Road. Sting wouldn’t accept that and said he’s going to find him, pull him out of the darkness, tear him apart piece by piece and feed him to the fans. Good promo from Sting and it built up Joe’s mystery mentor even more.

[Commercial Break]

-Backstage, Lauren was with Jenna Morasca. She reminded Jenna that SoJo has been training Sharmell. Jenna, in turn, reminded fans that she won $1 million in Survivor and turned it into more thanks to the stock market. One of the few lately. She said she bought a trainer of her own: Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed walked in. Saeed said Kong will destroy....Lauren seemed confused and said it’s supposed to be Jenna vs. Sharmell, not Kong vs. Sharmell.

-Booker and Scott Steiner came out to do guest commentary for the next match.

2- THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS vs. BEER MONEY, INC.

This is non-title, per Dave Penzer. James Storm pulled his arm away on a Chris Sabin arm-drag attempt, which looked kinda weird. Storm then taunted him about it, I guess to show that it wasn’t a mistake. Shelley took out Storm on the outside of the ring and they double-teamed him once back in. Double clothesline, one from the front and one from behind on Storm. More double-teaming, and Slick Johnson was waving his arms, leading me to believe something illegal was going on, though he did nothing to really stop it. Roode tagged in and gave some right hands to both Guns. Spinebuster for Shelley, broken up by Sabin. All four me in there now, and the Guns got the advantage. Dropkick by Sabin into a face-buster by Shelley for two. Superkick by Storm as Booker was in full Black Snow mode. Beer Money finished the Guns off with the DWI for the win.

WINNERS: Beer Money, Inc. at 4:04. Just a clustermess, but an athletic one.

-Angelina Love was freaking out about spiders backstage with the other Beautiful People. Velvet was pissed that Love was making everything about her. Sky said she’s not Love’s puppet or guinea pig, as she wasn’t happy with Love leaving her out in the ring with a spider on her last week. Sky said if Love doesn’t have her back during her match, they’re done: For good. Love said she didn’t know the spider crawled up Sky’s butt and died there.

[Commercial Break]

-Sarita video package, hyping her debut next week.

3- VELVET SKY vs. TARA

Tara came to the ring with her tarantula. Tara went right after Sky, but Sky did some choking on the mat. She pulled her hair and again and sent her face-first to the mat for two. Love was going to hit Tara with the belt, but the ref caught her before she could. Tara came back with right hands. Bodyslam by Tara, who then stalked Sky. Widow’s Peak ended it.

WINNER: Tara, at 2:33. Decisive victory over Sky.

Tara got the spider as Love and Madison Rayne freaked out at ringside. She was about to put the spider on Sky when Love grabbed the mic. Crowd chanted “do it, do it.” Love tried to distract Tara by challenging her to a match right then. Tara said it would be no problem as long as the Knockouts Title was on the line. She said she would, preventing Tara from putting the spider on Sky. The match is next.

[Commercial Break]

4- ANGELINA LOVE vs. TARA- KNOCKOUTS TITLE MATCH

Love was rolled up right after the bell, then Tara got a backslide and small package for a triumvirate of near-falls. That caused Love to go to ringside and try and stop herself from having a panic attack. Rayne pulled Tara off the apron, right in the sight of now unemployed referee Rudy Charles, causing him to throw her out. Love was attacking Tara on the outside as he was doing so. Love threw Tara into the safety rail and West hilariously complained about the guy helping Tara free her foot from being stuck in the guardrail, saying fans shouldn’t be touching the TNA Superstars. Love made a few pins on Tara in the ring, to no avail. Boot to the face of the challenger for a two-count. Whip into the buckle by the champion, but she missed a charge. Tara came back with right hands (closed fists, according to West). Tilt-a-whirl back-breaker by Tara for two. Widow’s Peak hit and we’ve got a new Knockouts Champion.

WINNER: Tara, at 4:19. A newsworthy development, and Love losing the belt will likely continue the tension between her and Sky.

They focused on Tara celebrating with the title as the announcers discussed it. Give’em credit for staying on the scene longer than usual.

[Commercial Break]

-Lauren met Tara backstage after coming down the stairs from the entrance tunnel. She said anything can happen in TNA and said that she was once at a point in her career when she didn’t think she could have happiness, but she’s more than happy to be in TNA. She also thanked her spider, Poison.

-Tenay and West talked about the Victory Road lineup.

-They showed TNA cameras following Abyss to Dr. Stevie’s office. Abyss found him and threatened to kill him. More of that crap? As he had Stevie down on the floor yelling at him, Abyss suddenly acted like he was having a heart attack or some kind of convulsions. Stevie spiked his water with a drug apparently to stop his muscles from functioning. That gave Stevie the opportunity to slap Abyss a few times. This is just uncomfortable. Abyss slammed a glass of water over his head.

[Commercial Break]

5- MATT MORGAN & KEVIN NASH vs. DANIELS & A.J. STYLES

What’s with that dumb cape Morgan is wearing? And it makes him look a bit more foolish when he can’t even take it off. Daniels unsuccessfully chopped Morgan as Nash yelled “suck on that!” when Morgan took him down. Daniels came back with a slam and then a side head-lock. Tag in to Styles as the two tried to take Morgan down. They did with a hi-low maneuver. Styles kicked away at Morgan, trying to keep him from getting back to a vertical base. It didn’t work as Morgan threw Styles into the corner and splashed him. Nash tagged in and did the crotch chop to Daniels. Oh, Nash. Styles fought back with shots to the short rib area of Nash. Both men made tags and Daniels again was forced to try to put Morgan down. He got distracted by Nash and Morgan absolutely leveled Daniels with the Carbon Footprint. Beautiful. A kick-out by Daniels after Morgan took his time covering. We got some vintage Nash offense when he tagged in. The heels worked Daniels over, preventing him from tagging A.J. Morgan did a version of the chokeslam on Daniels, sending him into the corner face-first. Morgan accidentally punched Nash and Daniels made the tag. Springboard flying forearm for two. Styles took the legs out of Morgan and jumped off his back to dropkick Nash through the ropes. Styles flipped out of a chokeslam and Pele kicked Morgan. Daniels for a BME and Styles 2/3 across the ring with an alleged frogsplash (looked more like a regular splash) for the win.

WINNERS: Styles & Daniels, at 6:33. Entertaining encounter, as Morgan looked good, as did Styles.

Post-match, Nash attacked the faces and Morgan Pillman-ized the ankle of Daniels. Styles fought back against Nash on the outside and ran Morgan off with a chair.

-Tenay plugged the main event triple-threat, which is next.

[Commercial Break]

-Lauren was backstage with Samoa Joe. She said she couldn’t track down Sting. A car drove up and Sting fought to get in the driver-s side until Joe and his big knife came on the scene and Joe choked Sting out. That outfit was not flattering on Lauren- she looked anorexic.
-A Jeff Jarrett video aired.

-Eric Young came out as the guest referee. Wow, a logical choice. He’ll be against Jarrett (unless it’s a SWERVE~!), which will help Angle.

6- MICK FOLEY vs. JEFF JARRETT vs. KURT ANGLE

Angle went to go after Foley, but Jarrett cut him off and the two leaders of TNA double-teamed Angle. Foley did the ol’ “rub the face across the top rope” move. Eric Young pulled Jeff off Angle out of the corner, leading to him and Jeff arguing. Foley hit Jarrett when he went for Angle, but Foley came back with a Cactus clothesline on Angle over the top rope. He slammed Angle’s chest across the steel guardrail. Rake of the back by Foley. Tenay notified us that Daniels was taken to the hospital to get his ankle checked out. Foley set up Angle for more punishment on the outside, but Jarrett interfered and hit the Stroke on Foley into the steel steps.

[Commercial Break]

Angle was in control of Jarrett out of break, even getting a two on a fair count by EY. Foley has been outside apparently the entire break. There’s a shocker. Scott Steiner laid out Foley again with a lead pipe without Young seeing it. Jarrett hit a Tornado DDT out of the corner for two. Angle Slam turned into a Stroke for one......then Young stopped the count. Didn’t even fake something in his eye. Foley made it back in, apparently rejuvenated with the pipe to the leg a la Mr. Burns, and went after Jarrett. Double J hit a jaw-breaker on Foley, and Jarrett got the guitar, chasing Young out of the ring. Mandible Claw with the sock by Foley, but Angle slammed Foley for two. Jarrett pulled him off and locked in a figure-four. Young held Angle’s hand to prevent him from tapping. Angle then locked in an ankle lock on Foley, who shouted “no, no, no!” and Young called for the bell anyway.

WINNER: Angle, at 9:56.

Jarrett attacked Young after the match, sending him to the outside and slamming him into the railing. He chased him off with a chair, while Foley was beating up Angle inside the ring. Mandible claw on Angle, then Samoa Joe came in with the World Title, stolen back from Sting, and hit Foley with it. The rest of the Mafia entered the ring, carrying barbed wire and a baseball bat with them. They wrapped Foley’s body in the barbed wire, and even did so to his face and head. Foley’s security ran in, but they were easily dispatched of. Booker even used the barbed wire bat on the security. TNA security ran down to the ring as Angle held the belt high and the show ended.

Greg Parks has been covering Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. You can also read his all-new blog in the VIP forum. Check out his column each week in the PDF-exclusive version of the Torch Newsletter. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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