TNA Impact – “The Whole F’N Show”

On this special edition of TNA Impact, dubbed The Whole F’N Show, Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff promised PPV quality matches, and that promise was kept as this was possibly the best episode of Impact this year with one match possibly being a match of the year candidate.  Find out what went down right here:

Non-Title Match
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
WINNER: Angle via submission after hooking up the Ankle Lock off a counter to a low blow kick

Knockout Title Match
Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne (Champion)
WINNER: Love via pin fall after hitting a jumping facebuster (Paydirt) – NEW CHAMPION!

• Mid match, Love hits the Botox Injection and is distracted when the motorcycle chick comes out.  The ref is trying to get her to leave when she gets cracked in the back by a chair at the hand of Velvet Sky.  She tries to rip the helmet off the woman, but it only reveals a hood.  Velvet get kicked in the head and woman runs.
• Meanwhile in the ring, Rayne hits Love with the KO Title, but can’t score the victory.

Triple Threat Match
Matt Morgan vs. “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero vs. Mr. Anderson
WINNER: Morgan via pin fall after stealing the win from Anderson who hit Mic Check on Pope

Open Challenge Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Shannon Moore
WINNER: Hardy via pin fall after hitting a Swanton

• Before match, Hardy was shocked when Moore came out.  Shannon cuts promo saying he wants to prove that he’s on the same pedestal as Jeff.

Best of Five Series – Tag Team Title Match – 2 of 3 Falls
Motor City Machine Guns (Champions) vs. Beer Money Inc. [Tied 2-2]
FALL 1: Beer Money via pin fall after hitting DWI
FALL 2: MMG via pin fall after hitting Neck Breaker/Big Splash combo
FALL 3: MMG via pin fall after hitting 2 Neck Breaker/Big Splash combos
WINNERS: MMG retain the Tag Titles

TNA World Title Match – Stairway to Janice Match (weapon hung from ceiling)
Rob Van Dam (Champion) vs. Abyss – Special Referee, Eric Bischoff
WINNER: RVD via pin fall after hitting the Five Star Frog Splash to retain the World Title

Hulk Hogan to the ring while RVD is still celebrating.  Hogan sings the praises of RVD and how Hardcore Justice went saying they have raised the bar for TNA.  Hulk tells us that Dixie Carter has invited EV2.0 to the Impact Zone, and he invites them to the ring.  (They’ve now grown: Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, Mick Foley, Rhino, Team 3D, Little Guido, Tony Mamaluke, Sabu & Bill Alfonso).  Hogan gives them his stamp of approval.

• Tommy Dreamer takes the mic and states that the Motor City Machine Guns, Beer Money, Abyss, and RVD have now set the bar even higher!  He thanks Dixie Carter, his brothers in the ring, and the fans.
• LIGHTS OUT/ON… Mick Foley is down, and Fortune (with additional members Doug Williams & Matt Morgan) in the ring with weapons and they beat the crap out of EV2.0.
• Raven runs out only to get cracked by James Storm‘s beer bottle.
• The Sandman comes through the crowd only to get jumped by Doug Williams.
• Abyss comes back down to the ring and grabs RVD.  He drags him to the back through the crowd.
• Ric Flair comes out to view the destruction in the ring with a big smile.  He turns towards Dixie Carter who’s sitting in the crowd ringside and tells her that this is all her fault.
• Meanwhile backstage, Abyss looks like he’s euphoric as we see his girl/weapon Janice covered in blood and RVD looking like he was possibly murdered in the back.  (Broadcast carried over into the Reaction program shows RVD being loaded into an ambulance.

QUICK THOUGHTS:

This has to be up there for one of the best Impacts that I can remember!!!

If Pro Wrestling Illustrated doesn’t give some sort of year end award to the series between Beer Money and the Guns, something is wrong.  The match tonight was simply amazing, and this entire series has been nothing short of phenomenal.  THIS IS THE REASON WHY I LOVE PRO WRESTLING!

Another match that got me going was Hardy/Moore.  Shockingly that was a really good little match!  Most of the time, just because I’ve been conditioned to think this from WWE, I never really think of Shannon Moore as anything other than a jobber/midcard cruiserweight.  He can really work, and I actually thought that he might pull out the victory of Hardy.

The main event was great too.  RVD and Abyss in their hardcore, stairway to Janice match was just nuts.  RVD taking his bumps on ladders.  Abyss breaking out the thumbtacks, glass, and barb wire board.  RVD going coast to coast with the Van Terminator!  Just great!

And to cap off the night, THEY Abyss has been talking about has been Fortune the whole time!!!  We’ve got another faction war coming our way!

MMG via pin fall after hitting Neck Breaker/Big Splash comb