Credit: John Benoit and Pwinsider.com
TNA Impact for 7/22
*We open with the standard pyro as Taz and Mike Tenay welcome us.
*TNA Global champion Rob Terry vs. AJ Styles. Pretty decent with Kaz trying help Styles every chance he gets. At one point, Terry does push ups with Styles. In the end, Styles uses the ropes to get the pin and become the new Global champion. Fortune gets their first title.
*Sarita and Madison Rayne are speaking backstage about their issues with Velvet Sky and Taylor Wilde, respectively. Sky shows up. Sky accuses Sarita of being the motorcycle woman. They mention the Knockouts Tag Team titles will be defended tonight.
*Angelina Love and Taylor Wilde vs. Sarita and Madision Rayne. Before the match, Earl Hebner announces that since the TNA Board of Directors has no proof it was actually a member of the Beautiful People who interfered at Victory Road, the Knockouts championship must go back to Rayne. Love hands the belt over to Hebner and Rayne is champion again. The match goes back and forth. Love and Taylor win. The Motorocycle woman arrives and helps beat down Love and Wilde. Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich come out on the stage as the heels are leaving and Rayne convinces Lacey to leave with her, leaving Sky alone on the ramp.
*Mick Foley, Rhino, Raven, Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer are seen arriving at the Impact Zone.
*Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez. Pretty good match. Lots of near falls but in the end, Angle locks in the anklelock and Hernandez taps. I’d assume this was a ranking match and Angle is after #6 next.
*After the match, Kevin Nash comes out and calls out Jeff Jarrett. After a minute or so, Jarrett comes out. Nash says that he thought about what Jarrett said last week, but that it wasn’t Sting who is the log in the TNA punchbowl, but Jarrett. Jarrett says he doesn’t know what Nash is talking about. Nash blames Jarrett for the entire Scott Hall and Sean Waltman contract issues. He tells Jarrett he is a selfish son of a b***h and walks off. Jarrett is left speechless.
*Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy for the first time ever, so they are giving away a PPV bout for free. The match starts off with Joe chants then Hardy chants start, building to dueling chants as the two battle around ringside. Pretty back forth between the two with lots of near falls. Joe takes advantage by keeping it mat based wrestling so Hardy cannot get his high flying stuff going. Lots of powerful chops by Joe. More near falls. Joe has the crossface locked in but hardy gets his foot to the ropes. Fans chanting for Hardy. They keep going and the bell rings for a time limit draw. They keep going at it as the referees try to keep them apart.
*Mr. Anderson pinned Matt Morgan with the Mic Check. Morgan attacks Anderson after the match when he calls for the mic and bloodies him. Anderson is helped out by the trainers.
*TNA Tag Team champions The Motor City Machineguns vs. Beer Money in a No Rules Street Fight. Match #2 of 5 match series. Beer Money out first in t-shirt and jeans with kneepads on out, Next are the Guns dressed in shirts and their wrestling outfits. The fight goes straight up the ramp immediately. One of the Guns hold Storm so the other can sprint up the ramp with a kick. Beer Money uses a chair to take back over. Beer Money clothesline referee Brian Hebner. The Guns use a trash can on Storm. Earl Hebner runs in but is bumped and there’s no referee. Storm cracks a beer bottle over one of the Gun’s heads. They drag a ref over to count and get the pinfall. Beer Money are up 2-0.
*Christy Hemme interviewed TNA champion Rob Van Dam. Both mentioned the ECW letters as Van Dam said ECW was where he first became a star and it was great to be back with the boys again last week.
*TNA President Dixie Carter came out to address what happened last week with Tommy Dreamer. She notes that she had invited the former ECW stars to TNA. Dreamer said that several years ago, they were promised things that didn’t come true and it wasn’t fair to the wrestlers or the fans. He asked Carter to give everyone “one last night.” Carter agreed, but only if the former ECW crew have “full control” of the PPV. Dreamer promised they were going to take the Impact Zone “to the Extreme.”