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Angle arrived an hour ago, and he's hurt. That's a bummer.

Steiner arrived with Petey Williams, Rick Steiner, Rhaka Khan, and Kevin Nash. JB is baffled regarding Nash's presence.

Joe arrived a few minutes ago, and he's none to happy to hear about Nash palling around with Steiner.

(1) TEAM 3D defeat STING & "COWBOY" JAMES STORM

Mini-Recap:
Sting and Storm make some showing of working together early on, but when Sting becomes isolated Storm decides his time would be better spent drinking. Team 3D get Sting set up by a table, at which point an amused Storm goes up to the top rope to encourage them to 3D his partner. After looking back and forth between Sting and Storm, Ray and Devon step aside and let the Stinger toss his partner through a table. They make the cover as Sting walks away.

Analysis:
For a show 70% of which will be occupied by the quest to determine new tag team champions, I would not have thought starting with one person deciding the belts weren't worth anything was a good play. Storm was fun, but in the big-picture this probably wasn't helpful.

Star of the match: James Storm

Entrance-Tracker: 3

Not-Crystal is in the back with Frank Trigg, who is worried about Kurt Angle.

(2) CRISTIAN CAGE & RHINO defeat BOOKER T & ROBERT ROODE

Mini-Recap:
Roode & Booker seem to at least want to try to work together. They have some blind tags, but don't get in each other's way too much. Christian hits a bit of neat offense, e.g. a Tornado DDT, and Rhino wins it with a Gore on Roode. After the match, Booker comes back into the ring. Christian extends his hand, and Booker takes it. He raises Rhino and Christian's arms. As they continue to celebrate, he slowly gets a chair and whacks them both in the back of the head.

Analysis:
The match was short and painless. The post-match was interesting—I guess Kurt's absence is sufficiently worrisome for them to push ahead with Booker's heel turn on what I can only assume was an accelerated schedule. I also really liked that they didn't try any trick camera work—we saw Booker go out, get a chair, and do some clubbing with it. For a second it was so obvious that I almost wondered if it was a fake. Booker also sold the shots with less of the hate we're used to seeing in heel turns then disinterested contempt.

Star of the match: Booker T, for his deadpan heel turn.

Entrance-Tracker: 7

Steiner is in the locker room with Nash, and lets him know that if he switches sides Steiner will give him the first title shot.

(3) LAX defeat KIP JAMES & MATT MORGAN

Mini-Recap:
This match is another short nothing. Highlights include a Somersault Suicide Dive by Homicide and Matt Morgan walking the ropes (a la Old School). The finish comes when Kip goes for a Fame-Asser just as Morgan goes for his leaping kick, and Hernandez is able to sidestep and force a collision. He tosses Morgan and gets the win.

Analysis:
Morgan continues to show some potential. Kip continues not to. Homicde & Hernandez continue to rock.

Star of the match: Matt Morgan, by virtue of almost keeping up with Hernandez.

Entrance-Tracker: 10

JB is talking to AJ Styles in the back, when Kurt Angle bursts out of nowhere and asks if AJ is seeing his wife. AJ refuses to answer.

(4) AJ STYLES & SUPER ERIC defeat BG JAMES & AWESOME KONG (w/RAISHA SAEED)

Mini-Recap:
AJ is hesitant at first to strike Kong, and goes for quick covers instead. After taking a Spinning Back Fist and a hand-to-the-crotch he seems to think better of his reticence. Super Eric, oddly enough, has no compunctions about taking it right to her from the start. He Body Slams her onto BG James, tags in AJ and then dives after Kong out of the ring. AJ is supposed to hit a Springboard Splash for the win, but he trips on the rope and lands brutally on his face. They quickly improvise a Small Package for the three count.

Analysis:
This was easily the best of the quarterfinal match-ups. Kong proved she could look good against the boys, and Super Eric continued to shine. The Body Slam of Kong on BG was just brutal looking.

Star of the Match: Awesome Kong

Entrance-Tracker: 14

Not-Crystal expresses shock that Rick Steiner is here at Sacrifice, despite the fact that they announced on Impact that he would be here.

Before the TerrorDome match can start, Jim Cornette announces that as an added bonus the winner will get Kurt Angle's spot in the main event. That does not speak well to my Curry Man pick.

(5) KAZ defeats CURRY MAN, JOHNNY DEVINE, JIMMY RAVE, "BLACK MACHISMO" JAY LETHAL, SONJAY DUTT, SHARK BOY, ALEX SHELLEY, CHRIS SABIN, and CONSEQUENCES CREED

Mini-Recap:
Spots abound in this cage-match-type thing. The top ones are a Leg Drop from Kaz onto Lethal where he swung on Consequences Creed hanging from the ceiling, a Tower of Doom capped off by a Hurricanrana by Johnny Devine from the ceiling, and a Super Power Bomb and a Super Spice Rack by Curry Man. When Devine tries to escape Kaz yanks him down onto everyone else and then crawls out for the win.

Analysis:
The good thing about this match was that it embodied all the X Division wackiness that put TNA on the map in the first place. It could probably have done with a few more near escapes, though as soon as the added prize was announced it was fairly clear that only Kaz or Jay Lethal (or maybe one of the Guns) could win the thing. Still, this was a solid first outing for the new concept match.

Star of the Match: As shocked as I am to say this, the nod goes to Johnny Devine. He hit the move of the night with his Hurricanrana off the ceiling, and took the biggest bump of the night for the match's conclusion.

Entrance-Tracker: 23

JB is in the back with Joe, who is still not particularly pleased with Kevin Nash. He is, however, happy to see Kaz in the main event.

(6) TEAM 3D defeat CHRISTIAN CAGE & RHINO

Mini-Recap:
This is a fairly old-school tag match, with Team 3D working the injured heads of Cage and Rhino. The faces get various hope-spots mixed among hot tags. Christian in particular works in some big high risk moves (a Cross Body Block from the top rope to the floor and a Hurricanrana off the top rope) among an otherwise brutal working over of his cranium. Johnny Devine comes down and distracts the ref while Devon plasters Rhino with a kendo stick for the win.

Analysis:
This match told a fairly reasonable story, though it didn't help that I was 90% sure that whoever won the other semi-final would win the tournament. Rhino and Christian both sold battling underdogs very well.

Star of the Match: Christian Cage

Entrance-Tracker: 26

JB catches up with Kevin Nash, who says he's going to see Joe.

(7) LAX defeat AJ STYLES & SUPER ERIC

Mini-Recap:
This match features a lot of flying around by a lot of talented athletes, and some fun interactions between the powerhouses of Hernandez and Super Eric. The numbers game works in LAX's favor, as Salinas distracts the ref while Hector Guerrero turns around a Small Package such that Homicide picks up the win over AJ Styles.

Analysis:
With these four in the ring, there was really no way for this match to be bad, and it wasn't. It wasn't necessarily great, but it was a lot of fun to watch.

Star of the Match: Super Eric

Entrance-Tracker: 29

Not-Crystal checks in with Samoa Joe's familia.

(8) GAIL KIM defeats ROXXI LEVEAUX, ANGELINA LOVE, ODB, VELVET SKY, RHAKA KHAN, CHRISTY HEMME, TRACI BROOKS, SALINAS, and JACQUELINE.

Mini-Recap:
All the women start in the ring at once, which leads to a good deal of chaos till Angelina Love is eliminated and the ladder match starts between Roxxi Leveaux and Gail Kim. The ladder match itself is very good, with neither woman shying off from taking the sorts of bumps we've come to expect. Roxxi is pretty badly busted up, and Gail Kim might have a small cut as well. The crowd starts off loudly behind Roxxi, and shifts even further in her direction as Angleina Love gets involved on Gail Kim's behalf; Love realizes that she can't let Kim lose, as Kim's immunity would mean that the head-shaving would fall to her. Though Roxxi fights off Kim and Love, a further run-in from Velvet Sky proves too much for her, as Kim claims the contract. After the match, Kim tries to insist Angelina gets her head shaved, but it's not happening. As The Beautiful People stand there mocking and the other women stand there supportively, Roxxi gets shaved bald. The crowd goes ballistic, first demanding Vince Russo's head and then rallying behind Roxxi.

Analysis:
This was extremely well played. The ladder match itself was great, and the fan outcry at Roxxi's humiliation suddenly makes her one of the top faces in the company. I can't remember the last time an attractive face got her head shaved, and the result was a surprising show of support from the crowd. If they act quickly here with Roxxi they might be able to capture some lightning in a bottle.

Star of the Match: Roxxi Leveaux.

Entrance-Tracker: 38

Nash finds Joe in his locker room and assures him that he was just gathering intelligence on Steiner. He says he was just doing what needs to be done to defend the title, but Joe says he doesn't need anything.

(9) LAX (w/HECTOR GUERRERO and SALINAS) defeat TEAM 3D

Mini-Recap:
Homicide starts things right off with a Suicide Somersault Plancha, which sets the pace for pretty much the whole match. Hernandez dominates the match, hitting his patented No-Hands Plancha. When Johnny Devine sets up a table on the outside, Hector Guerrero lays him out on it and hits a Double Foot Stomp from the top rope. Whoa. There's a bit of awkwardness when the ref refuses to make a count on Homicide, seemingly cause he's not the legal man, but then Homicide hits a Frog Splash and gets the cover for the win. I can only assume there was some miscommunication, and maybe Homicide was supposed to have his shoulder off the mat?

Analysis:
This match did exactly what it needed to do. LAX reclaimed their spot at the top of the card in a hard-fought match against the most established tag-team in the world today.

Star of the Match: Hector Guerrero. By all rights this should really have been Hernandez, but I can't bring myself to pick against a Guerrero.

Entrance-Tracker: 40

Eric Young goes to the announce table and says that since the next PPV is in Memphis, he's going hunting for Elvis. I'll just pretend I didn't hear that.

(10) SAMOA JOE defeats SCOTT STEINER and KAZ

Mini-Recap:
Joe starts things off dominating everyone, till Steiner kills him with a Suplex on the ramp. Steiner maintains control over Kaz in the ring, and wards off Joe when he makes it back in. When Joe finally does retake control, he foolishly tries for a Suicide Dive on the outside that gets nothing but lead pipe. Eventually Kaz gets Steiner set up for the Flux Capacitor in the corner. Steiner fends it off by shoving Kaz to the outside, but it leaves him in position to eat a leaping kick and a Muscle Buster from Joe for three.

Analysis:
This was a very good match, if nothing any of us are likely to remember a few weeks from now. Kaz tried to step it up, but he was really just out of his league at this level. Steiner, by contrast, did step it up, and proved that this is the league in which he still belongs. Joe did all he could.

Star of the Match: Scott Steiner, for proving that he still belongs in the main event. He also gets Star of the Night for that same reason.

Final Entrance-Tracker: 43

Overall: I thought the show was a good one. All of the tournament matches were serviceable, and the important ones were even very good. Most importantly, Homicide and Hernandez rule. The other three matches on the card were all pretty good as well, from the solid main-event to the TerrorDome match that gave us die-hard TNA fans what we've come to know and love to the surprisingly emotional women's match. The problem was that while a lot was very good, nothing (save maybe the end of the women's match) was great, and something should have been. B

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