The TNA Tribune 7/22/10

It’s July 22, 2010…..Thursday Night……and it’s time for The TNA Tribune.  This newest recap show has been lighting up FTWnews.com and TNA!  It seems that many people are reading the Tribune and following what I am saying.  Well I, Alex Barie, would like to say thank you, and enjoy another edition!

Unlike recent weeks in TNA, this edition of iMPACT started off with a match.  Not only that, it was a title match.  And beyond that, the  PWI’s 500 winner for 2010 was part of it.  Let’s give you a rundown of the night’s match card:

Global Title Match: Rob Terry vs. AJ Styles

Winner and NEW Global Champion: AJ Styles

TNA Knockouts Champion Angelina Love & Taylor Wilde vs. Madison Rayne & Sarita

Winners: Angelina Love & Taylor Wilde

Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez

Winner: Kurt Angle

Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy

Time Limit Draw

Matt Morgan vs. Ken Anderson

Winner: Ken Anderson

Best Of 5 Series Match Two – Anything Goes Street Fight: TNA World Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money

Winners: Beer Money

To recap and give my thoughts on each match, I am going to go in order.  Now as I stated above, the first match was for the Global Title as Rob Terry faced AJ Styles.  Now I missed a couple minutes of the opening of iMPACT, which means I missed most of the match.  Now I have to say I missed it because I was working, but I did rush home as I couldn’t miss anything.  Besides, I taped the opening so I will go back and watch it tomorrow.  Now I saw the last 5 minutes of the match, around that time frame.  I am only going to mention the ending though.  It looks like AJ and Kaz are becoming more of a team.  It seems like they have more chemistry.  Hey, wouldn’t we all if we were members of a Ric Flair faction?  Now as Terry was going for a suplex, Kaz, who was at ringside, reached in and tripped Terry.  He falls back and AJ landed right on top of him.  Rob’s shoulders were down while Kaz still held his leg.  It was a three count, and believe it or not, AJ stole the title.  Now I am not those kind of people who encourage people to steal or cheat or lie or anything like that, but if the referee didn’t see what happened, then it’s the referee’s fault.  What happened, happened and usually it comes out to favor the person who did some sneaky act.  Don’t blame AJ or Kaz, but blame the referee…..then again, it’s not like he knew what was going on.

I told everyone when I first started this recap show that I wanted to see more of Sarita.  It seems like more people than I thought are reading this.  Ever since then, Sarita has been on television and she actually had a match this week.  Now did I say I like the direction she is going with her character?  I am not too sure yet, but I do like the heel Sarita.  All I am saying is keep her on television, give her some great feuds and watch her magic in the ring.  I will never forget her debut match on iMPACT!  Now it was Taylor Wilde and Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne & Sarita.  It wasn’t too long of a match, but I really don’t think it needed to be.  I see this match as a way to improve the already fueling rivalry.  Sadly, Sarita lost, but Love and Wilde picked up the win.  At the end of the match, the mysterious girl of mystery comes zooming in the iMPACT Zone on a motorcycle.  Still having her identity sealed with her helmet, she pops her way in the ring and attacks Love and Wilde.  After the beat down is finished, she gets back on her bike.  Madison and Sarita follow her.  As Madison walks with her, she calls for Lacey, but Velvet tells Lacey not to go.  It’s a “tug of war” battle as Lacey is the middle part of the rope.  She goes back and forth, but Madison wins as she pulls her to her side and they walk off together.

After that match, we pick it up a notch.  The next match is a Top 10 Contender’s Match.  It’s the first one out of two of the night.  It’s the 8^th Ranked, Kurt Angle going against the 7^th Ranked, Hernandez.  I thought this was another good performance of Kurt Angle.  As this match was going on, I tweeted (Follow me on Twitter here) “Kurt Angle > Anyone else in wrestling”.  It got a lot of retweets and a lot of people commented on it.  Kurt did his classic, or as Michael Cole says, vintage moves.  He did his 3 German Suplexes, Angle Slam, Ankle Lock, and Top Rope Moonsault.  Now I usually, well barely, mention WWE stars on here.  I mentioned Cole and I am going to mention Jack Swagger for a second.  I have been watching WWE turn Swagger into a small Kurt Angle.  Of course, they are nothing alike and they will never be alike, but it seems like WWE is missing that Kurt Angle style.  They are making Swagger be like that, and he does do it good, but not as stellar as Kurt Angle.  Like I said, no one is greater than Kurt Angle.  You can imitate him, but it will only insult the person who is imitating.  Kurt won this match, as his winning streak continues.  He moves on to #6 and that is AJ Styles.  AJ vs. Kurt……I can NOT get enough of that!

Moving down the line in the match card!  We saw a Top 10 Contender Match and we are seeing another one.  It’s Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe.  Jeff ranked #2 and Joe ranked #4.  As soon as I heard this match, I got excited.  You know you are going to enjoy the show if just having someone talk about it makes you excited.  This match went everywhere.  It went outside of the ring and went all over the ring.  Both stars hitting each other against the apron, ring barricade, ring posts, and ring steps.  They got back in the ring and a war was started.  Jeff controlled most of the outside attacks, but Joe controlled most of the in ring events.  He went after Jeff like no tomorrow.  But as the match wore on, it became a back and forth match.  Both doing moves and both countering them.  It was a hard fought battle without a doubt.  We saw high risk moves, some ground and pound mat wrestling submission moves, hard grapple moves, and classic knife edge chops.  Sadly the time ran out and the match came to a draw.  Now I have to say, I don’t like and really never liked the time limit for the matches.  It’s great in all for stuff like this though.  Let me explain.  Jeff has been undefeated for 3 straight weeks on the show.  Joe has been 2-1 in the past three weeks.  He’s on quite a dominate path.  So with both of these stars really racking in the momentum, a time limit draw shows still gives them momentum and still gives them at equal spots they were at.  Now if it was a Double DQ, it wouldn’t go over as good as you would expect a heel turn or a very violent streak of a person.  A Double Countout is another good way, but the time limit draw was fine with me in this match.  Like I said, I don’t like the time limit in matches, but it’s great when it’s a draw.  Nonetheless, these two had a stellar match that I sure hope we see again.

We saw another singles match tonight and that match was right after the Jeff vs. Joe match.  It was Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan.  I am very high up on these two.  I can see Morgan is getting more and more time, but I still think TNA needs to push him to the next level.  What level is that?  Well the winning level.  He needs to win.  I mean he lost this week, he lost last week, and lost at the PPV.  He has the look, the attitude, the character……but TNA needs to get behind him.  I personally think if we see a match with him against RVD, it would be crazy.  I know we don’t see much heel vs. heel, but Morgan vs. AJ would rock the place.  As I stated, Morgan lost this week to Mr. Anderson.  It was a short quick match, but to my dismay, Morgan did get the final word in without even saying anything.  I mean he grabbed the mic and all, but didn’t talk….didn’t speak….just blasted it in the head of Anderson.  It made him fall instantly and busted him open.  He lied there as Morgan stood 7 feet in the air.

Now comes to the main event match of the night.  Now as the night was wearing on, I thought this match wasn’t going to happen.  I was getting worried.  I mean no one talked about it the entire night.  I don’t know if they said anything at the beginning of the show because I missed it, but I was starting to panic, but the panic didn’t last long.  They announced it and I was thrilled.  I had to wait through a commercial break, but it was worth it.  Their match last week was amazing, and I could tell this week’s would be too.  It was Motor City Machine Guns against Beer Money Inc. in a Street Fight.  Beer Money is up 1-0 in the Best Of 5 Series, so Machine Guns needed a win tonight to tie things up.  We saw a great hardcore bout as they used everything they saw.  They used garbage cans, garbage can lids, kendo sticks, and so much other stuff.  They flew in the air and pounded themselves to the floor with grapples.  One spot I remember during the match is the suicide dive that Sabin did, but Roode blasted him right in the head with the chair.  He then took the knees out of Shelley as he hit him with a chair in his legs.  He spun around like a Merry-Go-Round and then fell to the floor.  Further in the match, we saw a reoccurring scene from last week.  It was where Brian Hebner, the referee of the match, got knocked out.  Now his dad, Earl Hebner, was at ringside, but that really didn’t matter as he got knocked out couple seconds after his son did.  There was no ref in the match now, but it’s not like you can cheat.  The teams still battled it out, but Machine Guns did a wicked move from the corner……a Sliced Bread #2 plus Powerbomb on Roode.  Shelley goes for a pin, but Storm comes in with his famous beer bottle and breaks it over the head of Shelley.  It looks like he is knocked out.  He falls over while Sabin enters the ring, but Storm kicks him right in the head with a Super Kick.  He gets the ref back up and the ref counts to 5!  No……he counted to 3 and Beer Money picked up the win again.  They are now 2-0 in the Series.  One more win and they win the Tag Titles.  Machine Guns are going to have to pull something out of their hats……but their more like Men Without Hats as I never seen them wear hats on the show.

That was the main event match, but I didn’t say it was the end of the show.  Before I get on with the end of the show, we saw some backstage segments and in-ring promos.  One backstage segment was with Sarita, Madison Rayne, Lacey and Velvet Sky.  It seems like the Beautiful People is breaking down and falling apart.  They have been such a great faction in TNA, I really don’t want to see them come to an end, but it’s all in rivalries.  Like I said, Sarita is having more time on television, which is the good thing out of this.

An in-ring promo later on in the night was with Kevin Nash and Jeff Jarrett.  We saw Kevin come out after Kurt Angle’s victory.  Kevin came in the ring and called out Jeff.  After the commercial break, we saw Jeff come out.  Kevin stated that he knew Sting for 20 years and he almost fell for Jeff as Jeff tried to blame Sting.  Kevin said that he sees through Jeff and it’s him who, as he stated, “left the log in the punch bowl”.  Jeff didn’t know what he was talking about, but Kevin retaliated.  He told him once his 3 girls realize the true Jeff Jarrett, he will realize that too.  Nash walks away as Jeff is left standing there.

We saw a couple short backstage segments involving Dixie Carter.  Now I never have seen Dixie on television this much.  I have to say, it was real nice.  I wrote a couple weeks ago that it was very rare to see her on screen, but she’s proving me wrong now as she is popping up more and more.  I love seeing her on as she can be a real asset to the show.  She was backstage with Kurt Angle at one point.  Dixie stated to him that she needs him to be behind her on this decision she has made.  Kurt said he was behind him when he signed 4 years ago and he is still behind her.  Dixie thanked him and Kurt left.  Later on, Dixie met with TFC Founder, Jeff Jarrett.  She also wanted him to be behind her tonight.  Even though he didn’t know what was happening last week, she tells him it’s a good thing and needs his support.  She goes on to tell him to tell the locker room that’s it’s nothing but good for TNA.  Before both of those talks with TFC stars, we saw Dixie talk to Management in an office.  She was standing up while everyone was sitting down.  That’s what you call a high authority to low authority picture.  She was yelling at them for what they did last week.  One person she was yelling at was Al Snow who attacked a referee last week.  He didn’t know what was going on, but she said he didn’t need to know.  Someone who had their back to the doorway turned around and saw the camera crew.  He sprang out from his seat and shut the door.  The camera still rolls as we hear Dixie still yelling at the people.

Some other promos backstage were from Team 2-D…..oops, 3-D and one from RVD.  Brother D-Von came in a room and talked to Brother Ray about what happened last week.  He asked him why he didn’t come out.  D-Von stated that those people have always been there for him and that they are family.  Ray disagreed as he has done more in the wrestling world than anyone of them did.  D-Von doesn’t take this lightly, but Ray walks out before anything else is said.

RVD was being interviewed by Christy.  She asked him about what happened last week.  RVD stated that it was great seeing them.  He went on to say that he loved that time period.  He said he is World Champion and with those people here, it’s the best of both worlds.  He did acknowledge his title though as he still remembers he has people who are targeting him.  He finally said he’s going to find some TV backstage to hear what Dixie had to say.

At the end of the show……which is the main event of main events of the night……had Dixie Carter in the ring with Rhyno, Stevie Richards, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and Raven.  Dixie finally explains why she invited them to the shows.  She always listens to the fans and always wanted to hear what they wanted.  Well the fans wanted extreme!  Everyone could probably agree that ECW last year was not ECW.  It was a place that was for no-names.  It wasn’t extreme, it wasn’t anything that followed the letters, ECW.  Now I am going to admit that I have wanted some extreme stuff for awhile.  Actually, it would be more than a year.  I miss the old wrestling days where we had Steel Cage Matches, Ladder Matches, Street Fights, First Blood Matches, etc on free TV.  I remember those tables splitting in half, chairs across people’s heads…..all of that!  But with a show turning their TV rating, you don’t see that anymore.  But a new and better show that airs on Thursday Nights is bringing that.  We are seeing those Ladder Matches, Street Fights and I love it.  I have to say…..it’s about time!  Anyway, Dixie listened to her fans and brought the Original ECW Stars.  They claimed that they miss the old days.  It was a place to be back then.  It was a great show, but it was ruined.  Tommy stated that he saw his friends get fired and lose their jobs because the ECW program wasn’t the real ECW all because of a vision.  After hearing from Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and Dixie Carter, it was announced that there is going to be One More Night of extreme.  Tommy is going to run the entire show.  Book the matches, book the stars, do everything as Dixie said, it will be done right.  I personally can’t wait for this as I heard it’s going to happen August 8^th.  I just may have to take off of work just to see it!

Here is this week’s TNA Tribune Ranking:

1. Jeff Hardy- Even though his match was a Draw this week, I count that as not even having match.  He didn’t win, he didn’t lose.  So really he is still undefeated on TNA.  He holds the #1 Spot from last week.
2. Samoa Joe- Joe was forth last week, but moved up to two as he had a stellar match with Jeff.  He is 2-1 in the past three weeks, but with him having a draw too, he’s still 2-1 as it didn’t help and didn’t hurt his match tally, but helped his ranking on here.
3. Dixie Carter- I have never seen more of Dixie Carter in one night.  She appeared in many segments on the show and I personally think she did a great job.  She admitted that she didn’t do a promo in the ring as it was really her.  Promos are usually written up and in some character, but not her.  That was truly Dixie.  She has been part of a huge storyline in TNA and that gives her major points on the ranking scale.  She moves up from #5 last week to #3.
4. Beer Money Inc. – I always knew they were impressive, but with them winning two straight weeks in a row, I cannot ignore it.  They won in a Ladder Match and in a Street Fight.  They are one more win away until they become Tag Champs.
5. Sarita- With her getting more and more television time, I can’t ignore that either.  She may have lost this week, but she is making her way into storylines and feuds.  Keep pushing her!

We are sad to see RVD leave the #2 Spot from last week.  Also sad to see Abyss leave the #3 spot but we haven’t seen a single sign of Abyss this week.

It looks like The TNA Tribune is wrapping up this week.  Another great TNA show and another great Tribune edition.  I thank you for reading and come back next week to see what I have in store.  The TNA Tribune!

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Filed Under: Columns • Uncategorized

Tags: AJ Styles, Dixie Carter, ecw, Kurt Angle, RVD, tna, Twitter