TNA iMPACT!
October 15th 2005

-This is week three of TNA on Spike TV! We kick this week off with footage of Jeff Jarrett, AMW, and Gail Kim beating down Team 3-D.

-Our hosts for the evening are Mike Tenay and Don West.

Monty Brown vs Jerrelle Clark and Mikey Batts

To start things off, Mikey Batts leaps over the top rope onto Brown. Brown catches him and fights him off. Clark goes for the offense, but gets shot down as well. The action spills into the ring, and Brown is dominant. Brown whips Clark off the ropes and hits the pounce! Batts leaps at him again and gets caught in the Alpha Bomb! Brown sets them up side by side and pins both men at 0:48! Brown continues to look impressive in these squash matches and he makes Bobby Lashley look second rate. ¼*

Winner: Monty Brown

-After the match, Brown gets on the microphone and informs the crowd that no one will be able to stop him on his quest to the NWA title. This brings out Lance Hoyt, and apparently he is facing Brown at Bound for Glory. It is high time that Spike TV fans were introduced to Hoyt. This should actually be a good big man match.

-Backstage, Shane Douglas is with Larry Zbyszko, and there will be a big announcement. Zbyszko announces that next week the Naturals will defend the NWA Tag Team titles against America’s Most Wanted. Suddenly, Raven charges in and tries to get his hands on Zbyszko. Zbyszko has Raven thrown out of the building yet again.

-We are treated to a video package hyping up Samoa Joe vs Jushin Liger at Bound for Glory and what a match that is going to be!

David Young (with Simon Diamond) vs Matt Bentley (with Traci)

Hey, didn’t we just get Bentley last week? I like Bentley and all, but he isn’t exactly the guy I would be using to get fans hooked to TNA. A bunch of fans are doing the stupid Bentley bounce and I hope they are all proud of themselves. At least Bentley has some fans. This match is actually a good idea, since we will likely see Bentley pick up a win over a bigger man in David Young. Young starts off on the offensive, hitting some punches on Bentley. This doesn’t last long, as Bentley takes control with some punches of his own. Diamond trips Bentley, allowing Young to take the advantage. Bentley hits a nice suplex on Young and follows up with some kicks. Bentley comes back with some chops, but gets whipped into a turnbuckle. Young goes for a cover, but Bentley gets a shoulder up. Bentley hits a swinging neckbreaker on Young, soon followed by a brainbuster. Bentley hits the flying elbow, but is distracted by Simon Diamond on the ring apron. Bentley whips Young in Diamond and takes him down again. Bentley hits a super kick and gets the win at 2:25. This was pretty good while it lasted *.

Winner: Matt Bentley

After the match, Petey Williams hits the ring and gets the Canadian Destroyer on Bentley. Traci comes to the ring to check on her man, and Williams attempts to use the Canadian Destroyer on her! Chris Sabin rushes the ring to make the save! Williams flees the ring and our build to the Ultimate X match at Bound for Glory continues to build nicely.

-The Naturals get a nice video package. Too bad they will probably drop the Tag titles next week.

-Coming up next is the special video that Jeff Jarrett sent. It is a “funeral” for Team 3-D and I must say, this is one of the funniest things I have seen on any wrestling show in a long time. It was fun watching Jim Mitchell play the minister role. Jarrett, Gail Kim, AMW, Abyss, and Team Canada are all in the audience, pretending to cry. James Storm appears to be drinking out of sorrow. Team Canada all have hockey sticks. Scott D’Amore has his arms filled with concession snacks.

Jarrett: C’mon guys, show some respect! This is a funeral!

AMW take the floor and explain why they have aligned with Jarrett.

Harris: "For money" (Team Canada: "MONEY!")

Harris: "For power" (Team Canada: "POWER!")

Now, I really hope TNA doesn’t become skit-happy the way WWE has, but if they could maintain this quality, I welcome more. All the heels shined in this segment, developed their characters, and were damn entertaining in the process. THIS is sports entertainment!

Sabu vs Rhino

For someone who needed a bunch of benefit shows last year to raise money for back surgery, it’s amazing that Sabu is in the ring at all right now. Too bad it looks like father time has caught up with him. Rhino charges at Sabu, and misses. Sabu hits some punches and whips Rhino, but gets caught in a side tackle. Sabu recovers and leaps off the ropes into Rhino. Sabu misses a split legged moonsault, and Rhino takes control. Rhino puts Sabu in a sleeper for a few seconds, but breaks the move quickly. Sabu sends Rhino flying over the top rope. Sabu flies over the rope and lands on Rhino. Rhino did a good job of protecting Sabu’s back on that one. Both men grab chairs and go to the ring. They hit the chairs into each other as if they were sword fighting. I missed the part where this was announced as no disqualifications. Rhino goes to put Sabu through a Rhino Driver onto the chairs, but it backfires and Sabu drops him on the chairs. Sabu goes to the top, but is distracted by Abyss who has made his way to ringside. Sabu is shortly caught with the Gore and Rhino gets the win. I forgot to time it, but it was about 3 minutes. *1/4

Winner: Rhino

-After the match, Rhino catches Abyss in a belly to belly suplex. Abyss puts Rhino down and catches a bag of thumb tacks from James Mitchell. Jeff Hardy runs in and unloads Abyss from the ring. Rhino attacks Hardy, and Sabu catches Rhino with a chair. This was an ECW-style run in fest and I enjoyed the hell out of it!

-We get a video package hyping up Jeff Jarrett vs Kevin Nash for the NWA Championship at Bound for Glory, with Tito Ortiz as the special guest referee.

Iron Man Challenge: Christopher Daniels vs Shark Boy

Are we seriously supposed to believe that AJ Styles picked Shark Boy of all people to challenge Daniels? Oh well, I enjoy Shark Boy, even if he is a glorified jobber. Shark Boy forces Daniels to chase after him. They run around the ring a few times before they finally tie up. Shark Boy starts off strong, hitting a missile dropkick from the top rope. Shark Boy goes for a cover but Daniels kicks out. Shark Boy knocks Daniels into a turnbuckle but Daniels comes back. Daniels goes for the Angels Wings, but Shark Boy reverses. Daniels goes for another Angels Wings and Shark Boy is eliminated at 1:30. ½*

Iron Man Challenge: Christopher Daniels vs Sonjay Dutt

Now I can understand picking Dutt. I still want to hire him for a show in my front yard. Anyways, Daniels is more prepared this time and fires away with some punches on Dutt. Dutt hits an over the rope elbow drop and poses for the crowd. Tenay and West discuss how famous Dutt is in his home land of India. Meanwhile, Daniels gets caught in a hurancanrana, and falls to the outside. Sonjay Dutt hits a missile dropkick on Daniels as he tries to reenter the ring. Dutt hits an Asai moonsault and we go to a commercial break. I am digging this part thus far.

After the break, Dutt is still in control of Daniels. There are about seven minutes left in the Iron Man Challenge. Daniels comes back with a high knee to the face of Sonjay Dutt. Daniels corners his opponent and stomps away at the Playa from the Himalaya. Daniels is in charge now and gets a scoop slam on Dutt. Daniels whips Dutt into a turnbuckle, and rams Dutt into another one. Daniels puts Dutt in a rest hold, with about 5:36 left to go. Dutt fights out of the rest hold, and fights off Daniels. Dutt hits a beautiful hurancanrana and a back body drop. Dutt wrings the arm of Daniels and walks on the top rope. Take that, Undertaker. Dutt has Daniels on the mat and hits an elbow drop. Cover only gets 2. Dutt lifts Daniels to his feet and catches Daniels in a great DDT off the corner. Another cover only gets a 2. Dutt heads to the top rope and recovers from Daniels moving out of the way from a 450. Unfortunately, Daniels catches Dutt in the Angels Wings and gets the win with only 2:55 left. **3/4 for a good round with some slow parts.

Iron Man Challenge: Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles

So Styles picked himself as the third man? Not a bad idea. There are less than three minutes left in the Iron Man Challenge. Styles chases Daniels around the ring as I think to myself “This is the best feud of 2005.” Daniels lets Styles catch up to him and whips him into the guard rail. They return to the ring and the Fallen Angel is in charge. Daniels whips Styles into the turnbuckles a few times and connects with a high knee. Daniels goes for a cover, unsuccessfully. Daniels hits a scoop slam on Styles, and goes for another unsuccessful cover. Daniels goes for the Angels Wings, but Styles counters out of it. Styles and Daniels punch each other and Styles hits a series of clotheslines. Styles ends the match botching an off the top move, as the Iron Man challenge ends at 15:00. That botched spot was ugly. ½*

Winner: Christopher Daniels (for beating 2 out of 3 challengers).

-Styles gets on the microphone and reminds Daniels that they will battle for thirty minutes at Bound for Glory.

Final thoughts: Week three was another entertaining show from TNA. The funeral for Team 3-D was a brilliant segment, Monty Brown had another effective squash match, Bentley looked good in his match, and the Monster’s Ball build was fun as hell. My only complaints would be we have yet to see the Naturals and Samoa Joe (though they are both advertised for next week). I would say that things are heading in the right direction, and TNA’s consistent ratings are backing that statement up.

Thumbs up.

Good review. Any chance I could copy n' paste this and add it to my crappy website? You'll get full credit of course. Plus a PLUG if you have anything (i.e: your own website) to plug.

I'm just curious to see what kind of popularity and trafffic a regular TNA column would receive. Besides...I'm sure the random readers out there are sick of 60-70 reviews from me n' Scrooge.

Sure, go for it :) I'll be happy as being credited as "Ernie Rowe" and DWB can be my homepage, I guess B)

[QUPTE]just curious to see what kind of popularity and trafffic a regular TNA column would receive. Besides...I'm sure the random readers out there are sick of 60-70 reviews from me n' Scrooge. [/QUOTE]

Don't forget the 3-4 reviews sent in from the other scuzbag.

Thanks for the approval. I'd really like to do weekly recaps, but unless I take notes I tend to forget moves. Anyways, it's been published at:
http://www.estragand.com/sports/rassle_impact101505.asp

I'm using a general email address for that page. If I get any feedback, I'll send it your way .Fortune and glory shall be yours.

Haha, that's great. Thanks, I really appreciate it. :)

(patiently waits for mine)

C'mon now..think of all the Hot Chics and Interesting People that have showered you with accolades since you've started submitting columns! I can't tell you how many times I've gone out in public and someone says "hey, there's that guy who wrote about Bad News Brown and the Brooklyn Brawler!"

Okay...so I CAN'T tell you that, because there's that little problem of it never happening. Although, when I met Jim Lee, he apparently knew who I was because of my love for Ace the Bathound.

But hey...so you've met The Vessel! And I had that ultra-right wing rifle loving low crawling christian dork.....

Pipe down or I'll make you watch Steve Lombardi vs. Barry Horowitz on a 24 hour loop.