The following article was originally published at 1Wrestling.com, you can view the original piece here.
Ray Mullan reporting for 1Wrestling.com. This week on TNA Xplosion, the Xplosion Championship Challenge heats up as we reach the halfway point of the Quarter Finals. One half of the British Invasion, Magnus, goes face to face with Ink Inc's "Prince of Punk" Shannon Moore for a place in the Semi final, find out what went down and much more...
Photo Courtesy IMPACTWrestling.com
THIS WEEK ON IMPACT Wrestling:
- Opening promo saw Sting gave his first address following his World Title win, joined by Kurt Angle who promised to win at Hardcore Justice and Bully Ray and Mr. Anderson set-up a tag match between the four for tonight's main event.
- Rob Van Dam d. Scott Steiner via Schoolboy Roll-up, to gain 7 points in the Bound For Glory Series
- Mickie James called out Velvet Sky and offered her a Knockouts Title match on the show. However she reminded Velvet she intends to win it. Winter interrupted to inform that it matters not which one of them wins, they'll be losing to her at Hardcore Justice.
- Tara & Ms. Tessmacher d. Rosita & Sarita to win the Knockouts Tag-Team Titles
- Matt Morgan d. AJ Stlyes, Gunner & Samoa Joe in a Four Way Ladder Match to gain 10 points in the Bound For Glory Series.
- Brian Kendrick d. Alex Shelley via unseen interference from Austin Aries to retain the X-Division Championship.
- Beer Money confronted Mexican America ahead of their Tag-Title bout at Hardcore Justice
- Mickie James vs. Velvet Sky ended in a no contest following an attack by ODB and Jackie who were subsequently arrested and removed from the IMPACT Zone.
- Sting & Kurt Angle d. Mr. Anderson & Bully Ray
- Sting and Kurt shared a tense handshake before Kurt pulled Sting face to face. Sting asked "Did i go too far? Or not far enough?" as the show came to a close.
Kudos to IMPACT Wrestling's Simon Edwards, who put together a stunning opening video to this weeks show, great stuff. We opened this week, predictably with a promo. But it happened to be the Stinger, so I was particularly happy with that. I personally love Sting's new persona. I know there's many out there that can do nothing but cringe at Sting's Heath Ledger-esque Joker impersonation, but I guess it's a result of seeing a guy who's established himself and his character in a particular way, suddenly act very differently than were all used to. But I'm assuming that that's exactly what the creative team at IMPACT Wrestling want! Besides, the commentators and Sting's actions have dropped occasional hints that his "insanity" is nothing more than a scare tactic he's deploying to get to Hulk Hogan.
Photo Courtesy The Bleacher Report
THIS WEEK ON WWE RAW:
- Rey Mysterio d. The Miz in the title tournament final to become WWE Champion
- Alberto Del Rio tried to attack Mysterio post match and cash in his MITB briefcase. Mysterio fought of Del Rio who then decided against cashing in his shot.
- Dolph Ziggler d. Evan Bourne via submission
- Eve Torres & Kelly Kelly d. Melina & Maryse
- Triple H made his first address as COO. Announced the return of Jim Ross and booked Mysterio vs. Cena for the title in the Main Event.
- Triple H was interrupted by R-Truth, who was subsequently taken out by a returning John Morrison.
- Zach Ryder d. Michael Cole via Rough Ryder
- Alberto Del Rio d. Kofi Kingston via Cross Arm Breaker
- John Cena d. Rey Mysterio via Attitude Adjustment to win the WWE Title
- CM Punk made his return as he and Cena held their titles aloft as the show closed.
July 9th 2000, the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. Jeff Jarrett, WCW World Champion at the time, marched to the ring before promptly laying down allowing his opponent, Hulk Hogan to score the pinfall victory by placing his foot upon the chest of Double J. Hogan promptly left the arena, and WCW, with the title. Of course we all know what followed in what became known as the "Bash at the Beach" incident. However there's a reason I bring this situation up.
The following article was originally published at 1Wrestling.com, you can view the original piece here.
Ray Mullan reporting for 1Wrestling.com. IMPACT Wrestling’s internationally syndicated program – “TNA Xplosion” goes prime time on Challenge TV in the United Kingdom following strong ratings. Find out what happened as “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero and Alex Shelley faced off for a place in the next round of the Xplosion Championship Challenge…
Photo: ImpactWrestling.com
IMPACT Wrestling – “Back from the Dead”
Tuesday 24th May 2011 – 10pm on Challenge
THIS WEEK ON IMPACT WRESTLING:
Mr. Anderson continues the mindgames with his “surprise” for Sting
Ric Flair calls out Robert Roode
Gunner let’s Eric Young know he’s not in the mood for fun and games
Velvet Sky d. Winter & Angelina Love
Matt Hardy & Eric Bischoff d. Generation Me
Kurt Angle & Jeff Jarrett agree to bout at Slammiversary with #1 Contendership & Olympic Gold medal on the line.
Tommy Dreamer shows AJ Styles that his actions are of his own choice
Samoa Joe d. Amazing Red
Abyss d. Kazarian to Win the X-Division Title
Mickie James, Miss Tessmacher and Tara d. Madison Rayne, Sarita & Rosita
Eric Bischoff vows to destroy the X-Division
First off, deserved mention for TNA producers David Sahadi and Kevin Sullivan who did an amazing job with the new opening video and graphics for IMPACT Wrestling, great stuff. The new blue colour scheme is a lot easier on the eye and the re-designed set looked great.
However the more things change the more they stay the same as the IMPACT Wrestling era started exactly how the Impact era started for the past year: Immortal’s theme music and too many non-wrestlers walking to the ring and an eventual all out brawl between warring factions. Don’t get me wrong, i liked the segement and it set up the premise for the show well, it just felt repetitive.
Tuesday 17th May 2011 – 10pm on Challenge
THIS WEEK ON IMPACT!:
Mr. Anderson wins 25 Man Battle Royal for Number 1 Contendership
Crimson d. Abyss & Samoa Joe
Chyna returns to Pro Wrestling as Kurt Angle’s hired “Mistress”
Mick Foley is revealed as the Network’s Representative
Sangriento d. Suicide
”Wildcat” Chris Harris is revealed as Matt Hardy’s Mystery Tag-Partner
AJ Styles confronts Tommy Dreamer regarding his actions
Ric Flair returns…but he is NOT the Network Rep
Mickie James & Miss Tessmacher d. Madison Rayne & Tara
The IMPACT Wrestling era began with a bang and one of the best episodes in a long time. Mick Foley’s reveal as the Network Representative was well built and made a ton of sense. Mick has a rocky history (both on and off screen) with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan, is good personal friends with Sting and Kurt Angle and is a great talker. This is the perfect role for Mick.
I enjoyed the interchange between Mick and Hulk and i loved the digs at WWE with “wrestling matters”, but if i’m allowed to nitpick i thought the change to IMPACT Wrestling wasn’t very clear for the casual viewers for whom it would have come across as a random announcement that really didn’t mean anything at the end of the day. TNA will have to do a better job explaining this change to their entire audience in the weeks to come.
Photo: TNAWrestling.com
TNA iMPACT! – “THE NETWORK IS COMING”
Tuesday 10th May 2011 – 10pm on Challenge
THIS WEEK ON IMPACT!:
Kurt Angle & Velvet Sky d. Jeff Jarrett, Winter & Angelina
Hogan & Bischoff speculate on the identity of the Network Representative
The X-Division wrestlers deliver a message to Eric Bischoff
TNA Knockouts Champion Mickie James d. Miss Tessmacher
Crimson lets Samoa Joe know how he feels about his “Help” last week
Rob Terry d. Murphy in a Loser Leaves Immortal match
AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels d. Bully Ray & Gunner via DQ as Tommy Dreamer attacked AJ
Mexican America Celebrate Cinco De Mayo
Sangriento d. Suicide
Bobby Roode has a message for Hulk Hogan
For the second consecutive week TNA delivers a show that looks and feels completely different. For a start the majority of Main Event players are given the night off, No Mr. Anderson and Sting and Rob Van Dam are on screen for no more than a cup of coffee.
Instead the spotlight this week was focused on the Jarretts who focus their attention on who they believed to be Kurt Angle’s hired “Mistress” – Velvet Sky. Velvet sure held her own in the confrontation with Karen Jarrett, their exchange was fluid and realistic and the addition of Winter and Angelina into the mix, furthering that storyline was a nice touch. Of course we all knew Kurt would eventually intervene and setup a main event that seemed hotly anticipated from the crowd.
Tuesday 3rd May 2011 – 10pm on Challenge
THIS WEEK ON IMPACT!:
Three Way for the TNA World Heavyweight Title: Sting d. Mr. Anderson, Bully Ray
Television Title Match: Gunner d. Christopher Daniels
Crimson d. Samoa Joe via DQ following interference from Abyss
Scott Steiner/Matt Morgan backstage brawl
Anarquia d. Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley Returned
Angelina Love w/Winter d. Velvet Sky
Karen Angle Interrogates the Knockouts
I’ve a confession to make, sometimes i just can’t resist reading the TV tapings results/spoilers. I know it takes away from the some of the excitement of the show, but come on, sometimes you just can’t wait to see where a storyline or an angle is going.
I must admit, when i saw the tv tapings report for this episode, aside from the comedic value i anticipated from the Karen Jarrett interrogation segment, i wasn’t that excited about anything else on the show. However occasionally there are certain times when the actual show itself comes off much better than the picture presented by the spoilers, this was one of those episodes.
