Source: Elijah Nadir of PWInsider.com
Last night’s iMPACT Wrestling tapings were the scene of two major events in iMPACT Wrestling history. Before we spoil the fun, though, feel free to read our spoiler-free preview below.
This week’s show will feature the fallout from this past Sunday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view. During this week’s show we’ll see Tara and Miss Tessmacher defend the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship against the lovely duo of Winter and Angelina Love, Gunner take on “The Monster” Abyss, and Kurt Angle defend the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Fortune’s James Storm. Also, there is a big return to the Knockouts division during this week’s show.
Feel free to scroll down and read the entire set of spoilers for this show. Enjoy!
Elijah Nadir was at the Impact Wrestling Zone at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida for the tapings for the episode of Impact that will air on Thursday, October 20, 2011.
Impact started off with Sting coming to the ring. He talked about how he vowed to do two things when Hogan and Bischoff came into power in TNA 18 months ago. One was to put the company back in Dixie Carter’s hands. The second was to bring back the ‘real Hulk Hogan’. Sting talked about one defining moment at Bound for Glory on Sunday night. There was someone who decided to do the right thing and he wants that person to come to the ring.
Hulk Hogan comes to the ring and he gets a ‘Welcome Back’ chant. Hogan says that he has been in a bad place for the last year and Bischoff helped him through many things and Hogan followed what Bischoff did. Hogan says that Bischoff made some bad decisions and Hogan was a follower when he should have been a leader. Hogan says that he has one person to thank and that is Sting.
Hogan asks ‘What ya gonna do when Hulk Hogan and Sting come running after you?’
Dixie Carter comes out to the ring and Hogan leaves. Sting tells Dixie that this doesn’t erase what happened 18 months ago but Sting mentioned that Dixie gave him a home to come to and he loves TNA. He tells Dixie that now that she is back in charge, there is no room for error.
Dixie tells Sting that he was right all along and she apologizes to him and mentions that this will not happen again. Dixie tells Sting that she wants him to be responsible for all of the day to day decisions when it comes to Impact.
Kurt Angle interrupts things and he says that not only is there one superhero in the ring, there are two. He wonders if this was for him or Robert Roode. Angle says that he realizes that Dixie is in charge and Sting is running things from the Impact Zone, but Angle will be running things since he is the champion. Angle says that he made Roode look like a loser during their match on Sunday and he is the better man.
Bobby Roode comes to the ring. He calls Angle pathetic and mentions that Angle screwed him on Sunday night by holding the ropes to get the victory. Roode says that what happened at Bound for Glory was bulls***.
Sting says that he has an idea for tonight’s episode of Impact. Why not have a rematch with Bobby Roode facing Kurt Angle for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship?
Angle tells Sting that match cannot happen because the contract that him and Roode signed for Bound for Glory had a few provisions that Hogan and Bischoff suggested. Bobby Roode can only wrestle Kurt Angle once. Angle says that Roode is the real deal, but he has screwed Roode. He starts to mention Roode’s tag team partner’s catchphrase and we hear ‘Sorry ‘bout your damn luck.’
James Storm comes to the ring and he introduces himself to Kurt Angle. He says that the contract does not say that James Storm cannot wrestle Kurt Angle. Storm says that at Bound for Glory Kurt Angle screwed the fans, Impact Wrestling, and Bobby Roode. He says that the fans still want to see a title match even if they cannot see Roode versus Angle.
Sting makes an executive decision that Kurt Angle will face James Storm tonight for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
[This segment went for at least a half hour at the tapings].
Match Number One: TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions Brooke Tessmacher and Tara defeated Winter and Angelina Love to retain the TNA Knockout Tag Team Titles after Tessmacher hit a cross body off the top turnbuckles and pinned Winter.
Jeff and Karen Jarrett comes out to the ring and Jeff calls out Jeff Hardy to finish what was started on Sunday night at Bound for Glory. Hardy comes to the ring and Jarrett mentions that Victory Road was not the first time that Hardy screwed over the company and he reminds Jeff about the time that Jeff no showed a pay per view.
Jarrett gives Hardy two options. He can either drop the mic and walk away, never to be heard from again; or Hardy can face the founder.
Hardy says that the people want him and that Jarrett is the only one who is bitching. Hardy says that Jarrett cannot stand the way that the fans react to him.
Hardy and Jarrett brawl in the ring and security and officials come to the ring to try to separate them. They break free of security a few times and some of the agents come into the ring. While they try to get Jarrett out of the ring, Al Snow and D’Lo Brown argue and while this happens, Hardy sneaks over and attacks Jarrett. While the mayhem ensues, Jarrett kicks Hardy in the groin before leaving the ring.
After Jarrett leaves the ring, Hardy has enough strength to throw his shirt into the crowd, but the fan who caught it must not have been a Hardy fan and he threw the shirt back to Hardy in the ring.
Gunner came to the ring and he talked about what happened last week when Immortal took care of Abyss. Gunner calls out Abyss for their match.
Match Number Two: Abyss defeats Gunner by count out. Gunner spent most of the match trying to avoid Abyss and he eventually ran out of the building to get counted out.
The new TNA Knockouts Champion Velvet Sky came to the ring and she talked about what it meant for her to become the Knockouts Champion. She talked about being bullied as a kid. The crowd chants ‘You Deserve It’ during the segment.
Karen Jarrett comes to the ring with Traci Brooks and Karen berates Traci and then tells Velvet that she wanted to strip Velvet of the title last night but she decided to do something else. Karen continues to bully Velvet and then she brings out Madison Rayne. While Madison stands at ringside and Velvet focuses on Madison, someone comes through the crowd and it is the return of Gail Kim.
Gail attacks Velvet and Madison joins in. Karen, Madison, and Gail stand over Velvet.
They show footage from the end of the Hulk Hogan/Sting match from Bound for Glory and what happened with Eric Bischoff and Jackson James.
Eric Bischoff comes to the ring with Bully Ray, Gunner, and Scott Steiner. Bischoff talks about his ingrate of a son and that he will settle his issues with his son in private. Eric says that he is not done dealing with Garrett (Since the ‘illusion’ has been removed, he can go with the Bischoff name) Eric says that he expected that Hulk Hogan would come to the ring and explain what he did to his face. Hulk Hogan comes to the ring and he talks about how Garrett Bischoff did a brave thing on Sunday night.
The members of Immortal come into the ring and they surround Hogan. Before they can do anything to Hogan, Sting comes through the crowd with a few baseball bats. Sting gives Hogan a bat and Immortal leaves the ring.
As Immortal goes up the ramp, they do not realize that Garrett Bischoff has come out and he attacks his father.
They show a segment in the back with James Storm doubting whether he deserves the title shot. Roode gives Storm a pep talk and tells James that he has been working his whole career for this moment and to take advantage of what has been given him.
Match Number Three: James Storm defeats Kurt Angle to become the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion after a super kick. This was a very short match with Angle punching Storm for about forty-five seconds to a minute. The referee stopped Angle and then Angle and the referee had a brief argument. Angle went back to the corner but Storm hit Angle with the super kick and got the pinfall.
After the match, Bobby Roode came to the ring to celebrate with his tag team partner. Fellow Fortune members A.J. Styles and Frankie Kazarian came to the ring with beer to join in the celebration.
Storm got on the mic and he talked about how honored he was to win the title and he hands the belt to Bobby Roode. Roode tells Storm that he appreciates the gesture, but the fans are right that Storm deserves this title. The celebration continues with Storm going into the crowd to celebrate with the fans.
