We look back at last week when Sting and the Clowns Of Doom took out all the members of Immortal and Kurt Angle attacked Ken Anderson and helped Sting regain the World Title. We go to the Impact Zone where the new champion kicks off the show with an in-ring promo. He’s still crazy even though he’s got the title now, and he’s going to get Hogan and Bischoff because they still have something he wants. Sting says it feels good to be crazy, and he wants to start us off by talking to Hogan and Bischoff. Instead, Kurt Angle comes out with the clown mask on, takes the mask off, and tells Sting not to act like he won the title on his own because Angle neutralized Bully Ray. Sting may be trying to save the company for Dixie Carter, but he ran into a major speed bump in Kurt Angle, and their paths are going to cross again at Hardcore Justice. Angle says they’re both legends, but only one of them can walk out of Hardcore Justice with the title. Immortal’s music hits, and Ken Anderson and Bully Ray come out to confront Angle and Sting. Ray says they’ve got a bigger problem tonight because it’s the two of them against Ray and Anderson. Angle hit him with the bat last week, and this week Ray’s going to hit Angle with the kitchen sink. He’s not giving up the title so easily after everything he’d been through over the last year, and Sting’s going to have to deal with him tonight.
Time to continue the Bound For Glory Series, and just to quickly bring you up to date on what’s happening, Crimson is currently in the lead with 31 points, and Crimson and Devon are tied for second with 21 points each.
Bound For Glory Series Match: Scott Steiner vs Rob Van Dam
Steiner jumps RVD before the bell and whips him to the ropes for a hard back elbow, then gets an overhead release suplex for 2. Steiner chokes RVD on the ropes and hangs him upside down in the Tree of WHOA and chokes him with his boot. Steiner with hard chops and right hands in the corner, then snapmares RVD and just kicks him in the face before tying him up in a standing surfboard. Steiner slumps RVD in the corner and lays in more chops and right hands, but RVD gets a leapfrog and a superkick to the jaw that sends Steiner crashing flat on his back. High kick to the face and a top rope thrust kick sends Steiner rolling out to the floor, and RVD follows him out with a baseball slide that sends Steiner crashing into the guardrail. RVD hangs Steiner over the guardrail and hits the spinning leg lariat off the apron. Steiner tries to bail back into the ring and asks for a time out, but RVD goes after him anyway. Steiner sneaks deep inside and gets a belly to belly suplex for 2, but RVD comes back with another leg lariat and Rolling Thunder for 2. Steiner stops RVD with a straight right hand to the gut and puts him on the top rope, then hits an awesome top rope Flatliner, but only gets 2 when RVD gets his foot on the rope. Steiner runs RVD over with a Steinerline and the elbowdrop followed by the pushups. Steiner gets up to yell at the referee for some reason, and RVD slips in behind him and gets a schoolboy rollup for 3.
Winner: Rob Van Dam
Now Rob Van Dam is tied with Gunner and Devon for second.
Mickie James is backstage, and she’s…WALKING!
Time for some HARDCORE COUNTRY! Mickie James comes out to the ring and asks Velvet Sky, her challenger for the evening, to join her in the ring. She’s seen everyone mess with Velvet for months now, blame her for their problems, and try to break her down mentally and physically. She knows what that’s like, so she’s proud to give Velvet her first shot at the Knockouts Title tonight, not because she kissed anyone’s ass, but because she earned it and deserves it. She knows they are going to tear the roof off the Impact Zone, and show everyone why they’re the best women’s division out there today. Oh, and one other thing: she’s walking in the Knockouts Champion and she plans to walk out the champion, so Velvet better bring her A-game. Winter and Angelina Love come out and Angelina reminds them that they all came to TNA to be competitors, and Velvet and Mickie ought to skip the match and go right to the hotel room. It took her a while to understand what Winter has been trying to show her, but now she gets it, and as a five time Knockoots Champion, the one thing all the Knockoots have is total disrespect for her. She’s proven herself over and over, but has never been given her dues, and Winter made her see it was all due to jealousy, and none of the Knockoots want to compete against her because she’s on a level all her own, and it doesn’t matter who wins tonight because the Knockoots Title is coming right back to Angelina. Winter says she’s going to take the Knockouts Title and nobody will ever get their hands on THEIR belt ever again because night is about to fall.
Tara and Miss Tessmacher are backstage, and they’re…whoa, getting their asses kicked by Sarita and Rosita! Guess they’ll be facing each other when we come back from commercial…
Okay, we’re back and Tessmacher and Tara are still getting their asses kicked backstage. Tara and Tessmacher start to fight back, and Madison Rayne suddenly comes diving out of nowhere, Mark Henry style, and attacks Tara.
We’ve got a four way ladder match in the Bound For Glory Series later tonight, and we have comments and it’s all standard stuff until AJ Styles says “I’m going to win the points” type stuff until Christopher Daniels comes in. He wants a private word with AJ, so AJ kicks the cameraman out of the room, and the cameraman tries to hide just outside the doorway, but AJ sees him and comes over and slams the door shut.
We see a cell phone video of a parking lot fight after Impact last week where Sarita got her jaw broken by Tara and Miss Tessmacher, which explains (in storylines) why she’s wearing a face guard in this match.
Knockouts Tag Team Title Match: Sarita & Rosita vs Tara & Miss Tessmacher
Tessmacher and Tara jump the champions on the way to the ring and Tessmacher repeatedly drills Sarita in the face and then rams her face into the ramp. The fight makes its way into the ring and Rosita gives Tara a jawbreaker as Sarita takes Tessmacher out with a clothesline. Rosita dumps Tara to the floor, but Tessmacher takes both champions out with a double clothesline. Sarita and Rosita regain control and beat Tessmacher down in the corner while Sarita yells at Tessmacher to look at what she did to her. Nice touch. Tara tries to get back into the ring, but Sarita baseball slides her back out to the floor. Tessmacher destroys Rosita with a clothesline and tries to make the tag, but Tara again gets knocked off the apron. Rosita and Sarita with a double flapjack on Tessmacher that gets 2, but Tara has had enough and comes in, lays both champions out, and then drags Tessmacher to her corner so she can make the tag. Tara comes in and cleans house on both girls and goes for the Widow’s Peak, but Madison comes in and spears Tara, and Sarita covers for 2. Rosita gets wiped out by Tessmacher and then Tara hits a sitout powerbomb on Sarita to win the title.
Winners and NEW Knockouts Tag Team Champions: Tara and Miss Tessmacher
Time to continue the Bound For Glory Series…
Bound For Glory Series Ladder Match (10 Points): AJ Styles vs Gunner vs Matt Morgan vs Samoa Joe
AJ and Gunne quickly go out to the floor while Joe and Morgan go at it in the ring. Gunner rams AJ into the barricade and grabs the ladder , but AJ nails him from behind as Morgan hits the machine gun elbows in the corner on Joe. Gunner picks AJ up and drops him face first on the ladder on the apron, but Joe baseball slides the ladder into Gunner’s grill. Morgan and Joe fight over the ladder, but decide to just whack Gunner with it again and then Morgan uses the ladder to pull Joe in for a short clothesline. AJ and Morgan go back inside and Morgan tries to chokeslam AJ, but AJ backflips and lands on his feet and wipes Morgan out with the Pelle Kick. Gunner comes in and nails AJ and hits the best slingshot suplex I’ve ever seen, then picks up the ladder and rams it into Morgan’s guts and then hits Joe in the face with it. AJ nails Gunner and tosses him out to the floor, but Morgan just floors him with a straight headbutt. The ladder is leaning on the ropes and Morgan tries to ram AJ into it, but AJ just moonsaults off the ladder, Morgan catches him and hits a fallaway slam, then Joe comes right in with a senton. Gunner whips Joe to the ropes, but Joe ducks a clothesline and dives through the ropes onto Morgan. Gunner sets up the ladder and climbs, but AJ does the Shelton Benjamin Memorial dive off the ropes and onto the ladder, AJ knocks Gunner off but Joe shoves AJ off the ladder. AJ nails Joe and starts to climb the ladder, but changes his mind and goes after Joe in the corner, and Joe hits the STJoe and then Gunner dumps both men to the floor. Gunner turns around and walks right into the Carbon Footprint, and Morgan climbs up the ladder and grabs the clipboard for the win.
Winner: Matt Morgan
Joe looks frustrated as hell out at ringside as Morgan celebrates his win, and the points he picked up here launched him into second place with 24 points. This may have been one of the best matches on Impact this year.
Eric Young is on the road defending the TV Title and walks into a gas station. He finds D-Lo Brown inside and wants to defend the title on the spot. D-Lo tries to talk him out of this because he’s an officer of the company and this isn’t a road Young wants to go down. D-Lo tries to leave, and Young rolls him up from behind and counts his own fall on the floor. D-Lo chases Young around the gas station until Young flees out the door, and D-Lo says that Young better recognize who he’s messing with.
X Division Title Match: Brian Kendrick vs Alex Shelley
Friendly handshake to start and then Kendrick throws kicks at the legs of Shelley, but Shelley gets a modified O’Connor Roll for 2. Kendrick with right hands, but Shelley gets a hammerlock small package for 2. Shelley with a duck under into a rear waistlock, then gets another hammerlock rollup for 2. Shelley motions at Kendrick that he was very close to beating him, and Kendrick tries a wild swing and gets armdragged, but Kendrick drills him in the face with a dropkick and tries Sliced Bread #2, Shelley blocks and tries his own Sliced Bread #2, Kendrick blocks, but Shelley takes Kendrick down and starts driving knees into the back of Kendrick and ties him up with a side version of the surfboard. Kendrick rolls on top of Shelley, but only gets 1 and goes out to the apron. Shelley misses a charge and goes to the floor, Kendrick pops back into the ring and tries a dive of his own, but Shelley hits a leaping enziguiri from the floor and a top rope bodypress for another 2. Shelley tries several more various pinning combinations, but can’t get more than 2. Shelley comes off the top rope, but Kendrick dropkicks him out of the air. Shelley makes it to his feet first and tries a forearm, but Kendrick boots him in the face and then dropkicks him to the floor. Kendrick wipes Shelley out with a dive through the ropes, then rolls him back inside and tries a top rope splash, and Shelley gets his knees up. They wind up going out to the apron and Shelley hits an unassisted Sliced Bread #2 on the apron, and both men tumble onto the floor. Shelley rolls Kendrick back into the ring, but Austin Aries comes out of nowhere and hits Shelley with the title belt, and Kendrick rolls on top of him and covers for the win.
Winner: Brian Kendrick
Kendrick looks confused as Aries hides against the ring apron and looks really pleased with himself. Kendrick goes to check on Shelley and helps him up as Aries continues hiding out at ringside.
The Mystery Cameraman is backstage asking if Kendrick wanted to win that way, and Kendrick says he didn’t even know he won that way. Kendrick is really upset about what happened because he had been working toward this title for a year and a half the same way AJ and Daniels had been working for years to make it worth something and it’s supposed to be about who the best wrestler is.
Mexican America comes out and complains about what happened earlier in the Knockouts Tag Team Title match, and they start kicking ass when they get pissed. They’re not worried about the British Invasion, and there’s only two guys they want to fight right now, and they know who they are. Beer Money comes out and James Storm tells them to shut up, leave the company, and find something they’re good at like cutting his grass, and if they don’t, Storm is going to shove his boot up their asses. Storm wants to reintroduce themselves (and does so in a way I can’t do justice to), and says that they’re four time tag team champions, and the difference between the teams they’ve beaten and Mexican America is that they’re not just going to beat Mexican America, they’re going to kick their asses. They going to do it for the fans and all the other great hispanic wrestlers to come along that Mexican America disrespects with the way they keep coming out here running their mouths. They’ll defend the title against Mexican America at Hardcore Justice, and the next morning, Mexican America will wake up and find their green cards shoved up their asses. Roode says there’s one other thing: sorry about their damn luck.
Mickie James and Velvet Sky are backstage, and they’re…WALKING!
After a commercial for the Immortal DVD set that nobody’s going to buy, we go back to the Impact Zone for…
Knockouts Title Match: Mickie James vs Velvet Sky
Angelina Love and Winter come out and attack Mickie on her way to the ring, and Velvet comes out to make the save. Velvet and Mickie roll Angelina and Winter into the ring and do a double Thesz Press, then continue beating them down until ODB and Miss Jackie come out of the crowd, toss Mickie to the floor, then kick the crap out of Velvet Sky. Winter and Angelina just stand on the floor with satisfied looks on their faces until Traci Brooks comes out of the back to even the odds. She stares down Jackie and ODB, who try to escape up the ramp, but Velvet and company go after her again and we have another pull apart brawl. If anyone actually expects me to believe that Velvet Sky can hang in a fight with Miss Jackie, they reall are nuts. Finally the babyfaces get herded back into the ring, but Jackie and ODB beat up security and go after the faces again. Officials again try to separate the girls, but have no luck at all as the crowd chants “let them fight” at the whole scene. Two of the security guys stand in front of ODB and tell her she’s got to go, so ODB just kicks one in the nuts and punches the other in the face. Finally, the cops come in and cuff ODB and Jackie and haul them back out through the crowd.
Okay, guess we’ll call this…
No Match
…but that was a damned entertaining brawl.
Velvet Sky is backstage thanking Traci for helping out and saying it’s good to have her back. Traci says she knew that Jackie and ODB wouldn’t honor the contract, and she was here to watch Velvet’s back.
It’s main event time!
Ken Anderson & Bully Ray vs Sting & Kurt Angle
Funny moment during entrances when Bully Ray interrupts . Ray jumps Sting from behind to start the match and rams him into Anderson’s boot, then Anderson tags in and unloads on Sting with right hands. Anderson distracts the referee while Ray chokes Sting in the corner, then Anderson fires Sting into the ropes for a hard back elbow. Ray tags in and gets a hard bodyslam and tries several covers, but can’t get more than 2 so he goes to a neck vice instead. Ray knocks Angle off the apron and knocks Angle off the apron, and Anderson drops elbows to the knee of Sting. Anderson stomps Sting in the lower abdomen and covers for 2, then mockingly holds Sting’s hand in Angle’s direction before dragging Sting back to his corner and tagging back out to Bully Ray. Ray with a slam and then goes to the second turnbuckle for a senton, but Sting rolls out of the way and makes the tag to Angle. Angle comes in and immediately opens up with the rolling German suplexes to Anderson, then dishes one out to Ray as well. Angle goes for the Hacker Slam, but Ray clips his knee out from under him. Sting dumps Ray to the floor and hits a Stinger Splash on Anderson, and Angle finishes Anderson with the Hacker Slam.
Winners: Sting & Kurt Angle
Wow, clean finish! Sting is handed his title belt and then he shares a staredown with Angle, who extends his hand to Sting. Sting shakes it, but Angle pulls him in for an even more intense staredown. Sting asks Angle if he’s gone too far, or not far enough? Angle has no idea what Sting’s talking about and neither do I, so we’re going to call it a night right here.
Source: PWInsider.com
