Source: Slam! Sports
Sacrifice is in the books and TNA is without a champion, what else is new? When Slammiversary is right around the corner, all sorts of title mishaps occur as the King of the Mountain match looms in the shadows. Regardless, announcements are to be made and qualifying is set to begin as TNA builds towards Slammiversary and the crowning of a new champion.
The show began with a new intro and a recap of Sacrifice with Kurt Angle’s exclusive post-match interview scattered throughout. Mike Tenay and Don West hyped the show as the TNA Champion, Kurt Angle, made his way to the ring. Angle talked about finally winning the gold. As he said in the opening montage, the win meant a lot to him. Sting came down and said that Angle didn’t win the belt cleanly as he had Christian Cage pinned. Christian and Tomko came out with Christian saying that in the event of a split decision, the champion keeps the title. Jim Cornette came out and said that none of them were champion and announced that five spots were open for the King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary and that in order to get there, they had to qualify. Cornette basically said that he wanted new blood in the title scene and that’s why his decision was made. Cool deal. From there we are sent into the crowd where Stomper, the TNA mascot, is running around like a lunatic. Oh why? Mike Tenay and Don West bantered about what happened with Cornette. In the back, Jeremy Borash spoke with Christopher Daniels who said that Sting understands him and that he is issuing an open challenge for a First Blood match. Back in the Impact Zone, Eric Young joined Stomper as they paraded all around. Again, why?
Match One – Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin vs. Jerry Lynn and Tiger Mask
This was a pretty solid opener with Alex Shelley getting a lot of push here. In the end, Shelley landed several kicks and an STO on Mask for the big win. After the match, Sabin and Shelley beat down Jerry Lynn. Sabin accidentally hit Shelley and Lynn fought back until the numbers game beat him. Mr. Backlund went to make the save and retrieve the book that was stolen from him, but wound up getting knocked down as well. “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal finally ran out and made the big save as Sabin and Shelley ran off.
Winners Via Pinfall – Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin
Next up was a package from James Mitchell who again put over that he was done with Abyss and was moving on. In the back, Jeremy Borash caught up with Kevin Nash. Sonjay Dutt ran in and apologized to Nash and said that he didn’t mean to do what he did. Nash said that the next time it happened, he wasn’t going to be so forgiving.
Match Two – First Blood Match – Christopher Daniels vs. Raven w/ Serotonin
Daniels avoided a screwdriver and took a couple chair shots. Raven broke a kendo stick and went to stick it to Daniels to try and bust him open. Daniels hit a low blow and used the jagged edge to tear open Raven. Afterwards, Daniels took off his bandage and headbutted Raven several times to bust himself open. After that, Serotonin came in, Kaz wanted to cane Raven, who went down, but Martyr and Havok protected him. Kaz stormed off doing the Raven pose. Okay, whatever.
Winner Via Drawing First Blood – Christopher Daniels
In the back, Sting told Jeremy Borash that he was going to stay in the title picture and advance to the King of the Mountain. Christopher Daniels walked in and said that he was doing exactly what Sting told him to do. Sting told Daniels that he was misunderstanding him, Daniels said that Sting was the one that was lost. Eric Young lead his friends to the ring, Stomper in tow. Young talked about how great it was to be free. Robert Roode came out and served Young his papers because he was suing him. Young wiped his ass with the papers and gave them back. Roode attacked him, Young fought back. Ms. Brooks got involved to get Roode back on the offensive. Stomper got up on the apron and distracted Roode as one of Young’s fans passed him a steel chair that he used to chase off Roode and Brooks. Kurt Angle was shown on his way to the ring for the first King of the Mountain Qualifier. Back from commercial break and his opponent is Rhino.
Match Three – King of the Mountain Qualifier # 1 – Kurt Angle vs. Rhino
Good back and forth match here. Angle and Rhino know each other well and that really translated here. The end came when Rhino went for the Gore! Gore! Gore! which was countered by a boot to the face and the Olympic Slam for the win.
Winner Via Pinfall – Kurt Angle
In the back, Leticia caught up with Jim Cornette who said that on the next edition of Impact, it would Sting vs. Samoa Joe in a King of the Mountain Qualifier. The Steiners bursted into Jim Cornette’s office, Rick Steiner actually had the door with him as he broke it down, they demanded to meet with Team 3D on the next edition of Impact. The Impact Recap played as Impact came to an end.
