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TNA Impact! - April 24, 2008
by Sassy TNA - CROSS THE LINE

Matt Morgan is backstage with Lauren. Matt attacks Kip James who is coming down the hallway, delivering a kick to the side of Kip’s head. Undoubtedly Morgan is looking to make many enemies in TNA.

The audience sees “Previously on iMPACT”…which is pretty much what has already been rehashed above.

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE?

iMPACT is broadcast from Universal Studios, Orlando, FL on the Spike TV Network

Ringside announcers: Mike Tenay and Don West

Ring announcer: David Penzer

Ringside valet: SoCal Val

Backstage interviews: Jeremy Borash and Lauren

Six Man Tag Team Grudge Match

Mike Tenay informs the audience that tonight Samoa Joe will defend his TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time as he faces former champion, Kurt Angle.

Booker T enters the arena with mic in hand. Booker issued a challenged Sting last week in the last match on iMPACT. Booker tells the audience that he wants to address Sting. Booker calls Sting out so that Booker can get a few things off his chest. Sting enters the ring in response to Booker’s call out. Booker tells Sting that Booker and Sting go a long way back and they have been in a lot of wars together. Booker says that Sting was always there for Booker and Booker was always there for Sting. Booker says that he lost it last week and disrespected Sting and Booker didn’t want to do that. Booker apologizes to Sting for the way he treated him last week. Cowboy James Storm, Jacqueline and Robert Roode interrupt them. Storm says that what they were talking about is very touching. Storm says that the two of them should just get married on national television. Roode says that his drunk cowboy friend is trying to tell them that last week Booker and Sting promised them a fight and that everyone wants to see Booker and Sting fight. Roode tells them that whether they like it or not, the two of them are going to fight. Jim Cornette who is now at ringside interrupts Roode. Cornette says that he is the only one that can book matches and then he tells Roode that he looks very nice, like the director of a massage parlor. Cornette gets in the ring and says that he is sick and tired of everyone thinking about themselves and they aren’t thinking about the TNA team. Cornette says that because the TNA Tag Team is vacant and nobody holds it, at Sacrifice it will be The Deuce is Wild Tag Team Tournament. There will be 8 tag teams and each team will be in four matches and the winners of those matches are going to go to Sacrifice. The night of Sacrifice, there will be 8 singles wrestlers put together in four more tag teams and it will be a surprise and the partners will be picked at random and anyone can be partners or they can be opponents. Even if partners don’t like each other, it won’t matter. The team that wins at Sacrifice will be the new TNA tag team champions. Cornette says that tonight it will be Robert Roode & Cowboy James Storm taking on Booker T & Sting.

Jeremy Borash is backstage with AJ Styles. He asks Styles about the tag team championship situation and Styles says he doesn’t like it but it isn’t his call. Styles says that he and Tomko are going to win the tag team titles back. Styles brings out Karen Angle. Just when you thought the junk storylines were over…

Deuces Wild Tag Team Tournament Qualifying Match:
Rellik & Black Reign accompanied by Misty the Rat – AGAIN!
RUBY-EYED RATS DON’T LIKE BRIGHT LIGHTS AND ALL RATS HAVE SENSITIVE HEARING! WHAT IS WRONG WITH TNA?
Vs.
Brother Ray & Brother Devon, Team 3D from New York City

Referee: Rudy Charles
Rellik and Ray start off in the ring. Rellik has Ray up against the ring post and the referee throws in a warning about the fists being used by Rellik. Rellik comes off the ropes and is caught is a sidewalk slam. Ray goes for the cover and gets a two count then tags in Devon and they team up to take Rellik down to the canvas. Devon goes for the cover and gets a one count. Rellik tags in Black Reign and a few criss crosses in the ropes result in a take down of Black Reign. Devon enters the ring and Rellik comes in but Ray sends Rellik through the ropes to the floor. Devon and Ray nearly collide and as they are arguing about it, Black Reign nails Devon in the back, Devon bumps into Ray and Ray goes through the ropes and out to the floor and we go Commercial break in the middle of the match! Back to the action, Black Reign and Rellik have Devon in the ring and Rellik tries for the pin again and gets another two count. Devon is back to his feet, but Rellik takes Devon down to his knees. Devon gets back to his feet and Rellik hits him with a high kick. Rellik goes for a pin again and gets a two count. Rellik goes up to the top turnbuckle, Ray grabs his foot, Devon climbs up and brings down Rellik with a superplex. Devon goes for the cover and gets a two count before Black Reign comes in to break it up. Devon manages to tag in Ray and Ray takes Rellik down with clotheslines and a back body drop. Black Reign enters the ring and a clothesline drops him. Ray nails both of them with another clothesline. Ray delivers a choke slam to Rellik, goes for the pin and gets the three count, but the ref is saying that it was only a two count. Ray goes up to the top turnbuckle but is knocked off by Rellik. All four men are now in the ring, Rellik gets caught in the 3D, Ray goes for the cover and gets the three count. Time: 6 minutes.

Winners: Brother Ray & Brother Devon, Team 3D with a 3D to Rellik

This obviously was not a wrestling match but fans would have been disappointed if it had been. It was an okay match but not one of the best I have seen for any of the wrestlers involved.

Lauren is backstage with the TNA Women’s division. As we leave the area, the women are arguing – didn’t we just see this last week? JB is in the back with Kurt Angle. Angle says he knows the question that JB is going to ask – is he ready for Joe? JB says that isn’t it but Angle tells JB that he is going to win tonight and then face Rick Steiner at Sacrifice. JB reminds Angle that he will be facing Scott Steiner, not Rick. Angle throws him out of the locker room. JB then tells Angle that Styles and Angle’s wife are together at iMPACT tonight. Angle wants to know where they are and JB decides to lead Angle to them. Don West & Tenay introduce a video of the history between Angle and Samoa Joe. Samoa Joe, from earlier today – Tenay asks Joe, who is with Kevin Nash, about the continued training Joe has been doing. Nash tells Tenay that the training for Joe never stops. Joe tells Angle that he will beat him tonight and he tells Steiner that he will see him at Sacrifice. Tenay recaps the situation between Super Eric and Kaz and the TNA tag team title mess they are in. Lauren is backstage with Showtime Eric Young and Kaz and she asks why Eric wouldn’t admit that he was Super Eric. Kaz tells Young that he found it really hard to forgive him but Kaz says he can’t stay mad at Young. Kaz tells Young that next week they have another shot at the tag team titles and to please not do what he did last week again. Kaz tells Young to tell Super Eric to stay away from the iMPACT Zone next week. WHO WRITES THIS STUFF???

Deuces Wild Tournament Qualifying Match:
Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley, Motor City Machineguns from Detroit, MI
Vs.
War Machine Rhino from Detroit, MI & The Instant Classic Christian Cage

Referee: Slick Johnson
Christian Cage gets one heck of a pop from the live audience. The match begins with Christian facing Shelley in the center of the ring. Actual wrestling moves as the two lock up with Shelley going to work on Cage’s left arm. Cage off the ropes, drops Shelley with a shoulder block and then tosses Shelley over his head, Shelley lands on his feet. Cage tries for the unprettier but Shelley counters and delivers a cross body block. Cage rolls through and gets a two count. Mutual hand slap of respect from the two men in the ring before they lock up again. Cage tags in Rhino. Shelley goes after Rhino’s knee and tags in Sabin. Sabin leaps over Shelley and nails Rhino in the back. Rhino takes down Sabin but Sabin is back to his feet. Rhino takes Sabin down with a clothesline, Sabin off the ropes and Rhino delivers a belly-to-belly suplex but misses the gore, then rolls out of the ring. Sabin goes up to the top turnbuckle but Cage sends him off to the floor. Shelley sends Cage out to the floor then delivers a suicide dive taking down Cage and Rhino, Shelley is on his feet and we go to COMMERCIAL BREAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH – THAT’S TWO! Back to the action, Sabin tags in Shelley and Shelley goes for the cover. He gets a two count. Rhino delivers a spine buster and goes for the cover. Rhino gets a two count. Rhino tags in Cage and Cage takes Shelley down to the mat. Shelley back to his feet and off the ropes, Cage delivers a elbow and goes for the pin, getting a to count. Cage tags in Rhino. Rhino delivers a shoulder block that sends Shelley face first to the mat. Rhino sends Shelley face first into the corner turnbuckle and tags in Cage. Cage bodyslams Shelley to the mat and goes for the cover. Cage gets a two count. Shelley back to his feet, delivers the sliced bread, both men are down on the mat. Shelley tags in Sabin who comes off the top with a dropkick. Rhino enters the ring, Sabin sends him over the top rope and to the floor then delivers a squash to Cage. Sabin off the top with a clothesline to Cage, goes for the pin and gets the two count. Rhino takes out Shelley and Cage delivers a DDT to Sabin. Cage goes for the cover and gets a two count. Sabin delivers double DDT to Rhino and Cage, covers Cage and gets a two count. Sabin has Cage up on the top turnbuckle. Cage shoves Sabin off the ropes and then goes for a frog splash. Sabin rolls out of the way and Cage meets the canvas. Shelley is back in the ring but Rhino nails him with a gore. Cage hits Sabin with the unprettier, goes for the cover and gets the win. Time: 9 minutes.

Winners: Instant Classic Christian Cage with the unprettier to Chris Sabin & War Machine Rhino

You can’t deny that Sabin and Shelly still have it and the fans love it. I can’t take away anything from Cage or Rhino in this match because they did work quite well together. I don’t mind seeing Cage and Rhino win but TNA is making a mistake by not giving Sabin and Shelley a steady push.

Jim Cornette is in the ring. He informs the audience that he is going to announce a special match for Sacrifice but first he has to bring the entire women’s locker room to the ring. Gail Kim, O.D.B., Roxxi Laveaux, Traci Brooks, Jacqueline, Salinas, Christy Hemme, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky and Rhaka Khan enter. Cornette tells the women that they will have a TNA Knockout Makeover Battle Royal. Raisha Saeed and Awesome Kong are now standing at the top of the entrance ramp. The winner of the Battle Royal gets a TNA Championship Match with Awesome Kong. The loser of the match will get a makeover and will get a Brittany Spears makeover – she will get her head shaved in the middle of the ring. Lauren is backstage with Sting and Booker T. Booker says that it’s all about winning.

Tag Team Grudge Match:
Robert Roode & Cowboy James Storm Accompanied by Jacqueline
Vs.
Booker T & Sting

Referee: Rudy Charles
TNA needs to do something about the sound quality of the weekly iMPACT. The entrance music is too loud and no one can hear the ring announcer. The bell rings and Booker and Storm face each other, Roode charges through the ropes and nails Booker in the back. Booker comes off the ropes and takes down Storm then delivers chops to the chest and a boot to the abdomen before tagging in Sting. Sting slaps Storm but Storm rakes Sting’s eyes and then tags in Roode. Roode delivers punches and chops then goes over to mouth off to Booker before going back at Sting. Sting comes out swinging and has Roode up against a ring post delivering fists to the forehead before sending Roode across then ring and taking him down with a dropkick. Sting goes for the cover and gets a two count, then tags in Booker. Sting and Booker drop Roode with double elbows. Roode rakes Booker’s eyes but Booker catches him with an elbow. Out on the ring apron, Storm catches Booker with a kick to the head, Roode goes for the pin and gets a two count. Roode tags in Storm and we go to COMMERCIAL BREAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH – THAT’S THREE! Back in the ring, Storm and Booker are battling in the ring. The ref backs Storm up, but Storm shoves the ref out of the way and then tags in Roode. Storm and Roode double team Booker until the ref makes Storm get out of the ring. Roode goes for a cover and gets a two count before tagging in Storm. Storm delivers punches to Booker’s head before putting on his cowboy hat and biting Booker’s forehead. Storm tags in Roode. Roode has Booker down on the canvas. Booker is back to his feet but Roode nails Booker again, sending him back down. Roode off the ropes and Booker delivers a spine buster. Both men are down on the mat but Booker manages to tag in Sting as Roode tags in Storm. Roode doesn’t exit the ring and Sting goes after them both. Sting goes pins Storm but Roode breaks it up. Booker is in the ring and he goes after Roode and Storm but Jacqueline grabs Booker’s leg and trips him. Roode goes up to the top rope and Sting has Roode but Storm pulls them off the top turnbuckle. Roode and Sting both hit the mat hard. Storm and Booker catch each other with a clothesline and all four men are now down on the mat. Sting is back to his feet, but Roode sends Sting out to the floor. Roode has a beer bottle and nearly hits Storm. Sting has on Storm’s cowboy hat as he delivers a DDT to Roode and Booker sends Storm out to the floor. Sting goes for the cover and gets the three count. Time: 7 minutes.

Winners: Sting with a DDT to Robert Roode & Booker T

I was a little surprised that Booker and Sting did a decent job of being a tag team and enjoyed the constant dissension between Roode and Storm. Again I have to hand it to Jacqueline – and I wish TNA would make up its mind about which name she will be using on a regular basis – when she cheats from outside the ring, she is slick and smooth.

After the match, Roode and Storm get into a battle and Jacqueline gets in the middle trying to break them up. JB is backstage with Angle as Angle finds Styles and Angle’s Mrs. Angle throws the table out of the way and Angle tells her that as long as there is an Angle and Joe there can’t be an Angle and her. Styles and Angle shove each other before Angle tells Styles to get out and take her with him. Lauren is in Cornette’s office and he says that there are two many spoiled prima donnas in TNA both women and men. Cornette says he knows everyone hates him and he’s going to get them. Next week on iMPACT he will reveal a new match that will happen at Sacrifice and he will get even with the way everyone has been treating him. Lockdown Rematch:
TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
Kurt Angle
Challenger
Vs.
Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe
Champion
Referee: Earl Hebner
The men lock up and Joe backs Angle into a ring post but breaks clean. Joe has Angle around the waist and Angle heads to the ropes to get the ref to break it up. Joe sends Angle to the mat with a shoulder block and Angle goes out on the floor. The ref is counting and Angle climbs up the steps and back into the ring. Joe has Angle in a side headlock. Angle sends Joe off the ropes and again Joe drops Angle with a shoulder block. Angle again rolls out on the floor. Angle climbs back in the ring, Joe goes for the side headlock. Angle sends Joe off the ropes and this time Joe drops Angle with a clothesline. Joe has Angle down on the mat but Angle is back to his feet and backs Joe into a corner. Angle delivers fist instead of breaking clean, Joe sidesteps Angle’s charge into the ring post and Angle meets the corner post face first. Again Angle backs Joe into a ring post, then Angle rakes Joe’s eyes and delivers European uppercuts. Angle charges and Joe steps out of the way again. Angle nails the ring post with his shoulder before going out to the floor. Joe comes through the ropes with a suicide dive that takes Angle out again. Joe is back to his feet and we go to COMMERCIAL BREAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH – THAT’S FOUR – AND THIS IS THE MAIN EVENT! Back to the match, Angle is delivering European uppercuts in the ring, but Joe takes Angle down with an inverted atomic drop. Joe goes for the cover and gets a two count. Joe is back to his feet and he delivers a knee drop to the skull before again going for a cover. He gets another two count. Joe uses his boot to work on Angle’s skull before delivering a running kick to the Angle’s head. Joe delivers a suplex and goes for the pin. He gets a two count. Joe has Angle in a cross arm breaker and tries to get Angle to tap, but Angle works to get back to his feet. Angle gets a foot on the bottom rope and the ref makes Joe break the hold. Joe goes back to work with right fists, but Angle delivers a boot and then drops Joe with a release suplex. Angle is back to his feet but he’s holding his wrist. Angle applies a reverse chin lock on Joe. Joe gets back to his feet and nails Angle in the midsection with elbows. Joe comes off the ropes and Angle catches him with a belly-to-belly suplex and goes for a cover. Angle gets a two count. Angle applies a side headlock and keeps Joe down on the canvas. Joe gets back to his feet and again uses elbows to make Angle release but Angle rakes the eyes. Angle backs up and charges at Joe. Joe picks Angle up with one arm and slams him to the mat. Both men are down but Joe is back to his feet first. He goes after Angle with rights before the ref gets in the middle. Joe shoves the ref and charges at Angle, Angle pulls down the top rope and Joe goes out to the floor. Joe grabs his left knee and the ref goes out to the floor but so does Angle. Angle delivers a few kicks to Joe’s knee before the ref makes Angle get back in the ring. Joe is still down on the floor outside the ring and we go to YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! COMMERCIAL BREAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH! THAT’S FIVE AND TWO OF THEM HAVE BEEN DURING THE MAIN EVENT!

Back to the ring, Angle is in the ring going for the figure four-leg lock on Joe. Replay of what happened during the commercial break, Kevin Nash has appeared at ringside and is telling Joe to get back in the ring. In real time, Joe is trying to reverse the pressure that Angle has on Joe’s knee. Joe tries to roll and reach the ropes but he can’t get there. He keeps working and makes it to the ropes. The ref pries the two wrestlers apart but Joe is still on the mat and Angle goes back after Joe’s knee. Joe delivers chops to Angle’s chest getting him to release the leg. Joe back to his feet and they exchange punches in the center of the ring. Joe has Angle backed up, Angle charges and Joe delivers a spine buster but only gets a two count when he goes for the cover. Joe delivers a body slam and again goes for the pint. He gets a two count. Angle has Joe in the ankle lock but Joe sends him into the ropes. Angle delivers the Olympic slam and goes for the cover but Joe gets a shoulder up at the count of two. Angle is back to his feet and he goes up to the top turnbuckle, goes for the moonsault but Joe rolls out of the way and Angle meets the mat. Joe rolls across and has Angle in the rear naked choke, Angle counters and again has Joe in the ankle lock. Joe tries to kick out but Angle doesn’t release the hold. Joe rolls over, trips angle and has Angle in the rear naked choke but Angle reaches the bottom rope and the ref makes Joe break the hold. Joe sets Angle up on the top turnbuckle, Joe goes for a high kick but he catches the ref in the head and the ref goes down. Angle delivers a low blow and then an Olympic slam then tries to wake the ref up. Joe manages to send Angle across the ring. Scott Steiner who has been hiding at the side of the ring nails Angle with a lead pipe, Joe drops Angle to the mat and goes for the cover. The ref wakes up enough to count to three and Joe wins the match. Time: 17 minutes.

Winner, Retains TNA World Heavyweight Champion: Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe

I’m having a terrible time lately watching Kurt Angle in the ring but I do enjoy a good Samoa Joe bout. While the ending was a little of a surprise, Steiner pulled it off quite well and the real surprise was the three way for the title at Sacrifice.

After the match, Steiner enters the ring with pipe in hand. He stands over Angle as Joe gets to his feet. Steiner tells Angle about respect and then Steiner faces Joe to tell Joe that Steiner is going to have the belt. Three refs hit the ring as Joe smacks Steiner and Steiner starts taking off his shirt. Cornette is yelling for Steiner to stop and tells Steiner that if he touches anyone in the ring, he will lose six months worth of pay. At Sacrifice the match will be Samoa Joe versus Kurt Angle versus Scott Steiner for the TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

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