The TNA Tribune 7/1/10

Get ready for the all new TNA recap show.  This is Action, this is wrestling….this is TNA!  This is…..The TNA Tribune.  I’m Alex Barie and I will be sending you on a journey that, hopefully, you will like every single week.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy The TNA Tribune!

July 1^st, 2010’s TNA Impact started off with insanity.  The show started out with Abyss in the arena destroying everything that was in his path and throwing chairs all around the area.  He was going insane.  A man by the name of Hulk Hogan came out and tried to stop Abyss once again.  They went face to face for a showdown, but Eric Bischoff ran out with security to try to stop Abyss.  As you would expect with the recent change in Abyss’ character, he wouldn’t take this easily.  He beat up the guards and then tried to go after Eric, but Hogan hit Abyss in the back with a rock hard steel chair.  It was like a fly hitting a wall.  Abyss turned around and went after Hulk.  He was just about to chokeslam him to hell, but Jeff Hardy runs out and adds to the mayhem.  He attacks and beats Abyss until he is lying flat on the mat.  As all three leave, Abyss gets back up and, believe it or not, wants more!

Abyss is not done though.  He is truly a mad man.  He goes on to destroy the backstage area until it looks like a tornado ripped through the place.  As he settles down, Eric comes on stage and announces that it’s Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss for the main event.

Speaking about matches, the whole line-up is as followed:

Ink Inc vs. Motor City Machine Guns

Winners: Motor City Machine Guns

AJ Styles (Rank: 4) vs. Samoa Joe (Rank: 6)

Winner: Samoa Joe

Submission match: Desmond Wolfe vs. Brian Kendrick

Winner: Brian Kendrick

Jay Lethal vs. Matt Morgan

Winner: Jay Lethal

Madison Rayne vs. Taylor Wilde

Winner: Madison Rayne

Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy (w/ RVD as Special Referee)

Winner: Jeff Hardy

The first match of the night, the tag team match, was one of my personal favorites on the show.  Anytime there is a tag team match on TNA, it always thrills me.  TNA has the best tag teams around.  The tag teams are always doing things that need for perfect timing, and they succeed.  It’s very hard to find chemistry in the wrestling business, but when there is some, you want to ride it out as long as you can.  We saw a fast pace tag team match that can’t be slowed down with anything.  I can’t wait for the tag team match at Victory Road!

Whenever you see AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, you know it’s a can’t miss situation.  You may have expected more in this match, but after considering it’s on television and you need as much time as possible for other feuds to grow, the match wasn’t bad at all.  We saw some great spots in this match, but at the end, it had Samoa Joe walk out as the winner after having AJ submit.  I can’t get enough when these two battle.  We know it won’t be the last time either.  After the match though, AJ Styles confronted Kaz.  A match is set up for next week as its AJ Styles vs. Kaz.  This is a match that I can’t wait to tell you my thoughts on.  Stay tuned for next week for that one.

I am starting to love the way TNA is using Brian Kendrick.  Not only that, the feud he is having with Douglas Williams is shaping up to be one classic act.  You have Williams who is trying to get rid of the high flying X Division, but does a move that is certainly something that high flying people do.  You then have Brian Kendrick who is a ground for pound, action packed guy who can fly all around, but does the exact opposite as he dances with his opponent on the floor to choke them out.  I hope you can see the irony in this situation.  Their Ultimate X plus submission match at Victory Road should be very interesting.  Anyway, the match with Kendrick and Desmond Wolfe was a short good match.  I am very high on Desmond Wolfe.  I really think he should be having some feud with some top guy to get his career moving, but I liked seeing him go against Kendrick.  Kendrick picked up the win in this match as he gains momentum for his Pay-Per-View Match.  Douglas Williams is competing in a Ladder Match, so let’s see how that plays out with his high flying resume.

The Jay Lethal vs. Matt Morgan match was particular short for me.  Matt Morgan is another person who I think should be challenging for the TNA World Title.  After seeing him face Kurt Angle last year, I saw how talented he was.  Should he have won against Lethal?  That is debatable for me as I am also getting high up on Lethal.  The reason I am getting high up is from his great mic skills.  His impersonations of Ric Flair as so precise, it’s negligible.  So this match could have gone either way for me.  We seen Supermex give Matt an old fashioned low blow just like Morgan did to him before.  It’s all about getting even here.  Those two will compete at Victory Road in a Steel Cage.  As you know, Lethal capitalized and got the pin.  We also see Lethal face Ric Flair at Victory Road.

TNA can’t end until we have a knockout match.  I’m so used to saying divas match, but I would be wrong if I said that for a TNA show.  This is certainly not a divas match by any means as these ladies can actually get in the ring and wrestle.  Honestly, I only saw this match to give Madison Rayne some exposure for the Victory Road PPV.  She got the win, but before the match was over, we seen some great faces enter the audience seating.  It’s non-other than Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, Stevie Richards, and Raven.  Each week there are more and more ECW Originals.  I am not going to say anything now about the future, but is anyone else getting excited?

To end the match discussion, it is time for the main event.  Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy as RVD is the special guest referee.  This match would surely sell if it was in a Hardcore match, but I’m happy with the normal match type.  This match went back and forth as the two #1 Contender’s for the TNA Title fought it out.  With the TNA World Champion being the referee, it made things even more interesting.  RVD called it down the middle (A true loyal face).  Abyss wanted to grant my wish as he was trying to make this a hardcore match as he went to get his “toy”, a 2 X 4 with nails sticking out.  He wanted to use it, but RVD simply said no and took it away.  Abyss wanted to use a chair then, but again, RVD said no.  Jeff Hardy grabbed the chair, and RVD didn’t take it away.  Do you sense favoritism?  Well Jeff never used it as a weapon, so you can clearly see why RVD had no problem with it.  The match ended after Jeff Hardy hit Abyss with a thunderous Swanton Bomb.  After the match, Jeff had to use the ropes to get to his feet, but he didn’t even get to his feet as Abyss got right back up and attacked Hardy from behind.  Rob Van Dam had enough and went after The Monster, but he should have known, there is no stopping him.  Abyss destroyed RVD.  Then he destroyed Jeff Hardy, and lastly, destroyed Mr. Anderson as he tried to come out to get some revenge himself.  Abyss was standing.  The thoughts are still raging on who is telling Abyss to be this dangerous and can Abyss be the only man standing at Victory Road just like this episode, but with the TNA Title in his hand?

We seen some good matches on this TNA show, but we just didn’t see matches.

We saw the on camera return of Dixie Carter.  She made her way into the building with some papers in her hand.  She was on a mission, but what was the mission?  We later found out that she was meeting with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff to talk about, The Icon, Sting.  Eric admitted that Sting is cancer in TNA.  It reminds me of this epic moment on WWE years ago when Ric Flair was the cancer in WWE.

Cancer in WWE

Dixie later confronted Sting.  She went right up to his face and told him he was suspended for 30 days.  It certainly surprised me, but who knows if he is really going to stay away that long.  He says that Dixie knows why he is doing what he is doing, but she honestly doesn’t know, and either do I!

I was glad to see another knockout segment on TNA.  We saw Sarita and Taylor Wilde just beat each other to a pulp backstage.  The question is……WHY?  I am personally glad to see Sarita having television time as I personally love her in-ring ability.  She is one of the best knockouts in TNA.  Now we only need to see Hamana!

Now I can’t forget about this man.  We saw a huge return on this week’s Impact.  It was the former challenger of the TNA World Title.  It was The Pope!  I’m so happy that he is back and ready to go.  He is already booked for a match at Victory Road.  He is going against the Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle.  The Pope is already in a feud on his first day back.  Kurt Angle is barreling through the Top 10 Contenders and The Pope is in his way.  This will be another must be match for the Pay-Per-View.  The Pope returns to TNA and returns to PPV on July 11^th.  Make sure you know, The Pope is Pimpin.

To wrap up my thoughts on this week’s TNA, I have to say that my favorite match of the night was Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy with Special Guest Referee RVD.  AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe comes in second, but it was close.

To end this and every week’s recap, I will be ranking the top people in TNA this week.  We will see where they go next week ,but here is the debut ranking.

1. Abyss- Even though he lost his match this week, he gets the most television time and he ends the TNA show standing strong as his storyline is the top one in company right now.
2. Jeff Hardy- He picks up a huge win after beating The Monster Abyss in the main event match.
3. Samoa Joe- He may get closer to the #1 spot in the Top 10 Contenders Ranking, he may not, but he proved himself tonight after beating the former TNA World Champion, AJ Styles.
4. Dixie Carter- She had a huge week in TNA this week.  She returns on air for Impact and shows some impressive mic and acting skills.  Not only that, TNA’s video game for Nintendo DS and PSP came out this week.  Beyond that, the TNA Action Figure line should be hitting shelves nationwide this week also.
5. The Pope- He makes his return to TNA in a great and big way as he is already set up for a match for Victory Road.  He has his work cut out for him.

I came to the end of this week’s recap edition.  Hopefully I didn’t excite you too much for next week’s edition of Impact.  I know I am waiting for next Thursday already.  If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or questions, feel free to comment!  For now, wait until next week for another edition of The TNA Tribune!

Filed Under: Columns

Tags: Abyss, Dixie Carter, Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, tna