All the results and action from The Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas.
TNA has announced that BG James will be making his debut as a broadcaster tonight, Joining Lauren for backstage interviews.
The show opens with a video montage of clips from the action leading up to the PPV cut in with shots from the 1960’s US Space program and JFK delivering a speech about it.
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Announcers Mike Tenay and Don West are at ringside to welcome fans amid a display of pyro. Jeremy Borash is outside with cheering fans as he announces the polls are open for fans to vote on the stipulation in the 6-man tag team War match.
They cut to Lauren Brook and BG James on the floor of the arena, where they run down the card for the event.
World X Cup Elimination Match – 12 Man Tag Team Match
Team TNA – Curry Man & the Motor City Machine Guns
vs.
Team Japan – Masata Yoshino, Milano Collection AT, & Puma
vs.
Team Mexico – Rey Bucanero, Ultimo Guerrero, & Averno
vs.
Team International – Tyson Dux, Doug Williams, & Alex Koslov
As this match opens, the World X Cup score is:
Team TNA – 3 points
Team Mexico – 3 points
Team Japan – 2 points
Team International – 2 points
The Motor City Machine Guns have new ring gear with masks, but they remove them for the match. Curry Man and Masato Yoshino start off. This wild and wooly spot fest is a great opener for the show, and the enthusiastic fans respond with chants of “This is awesome!” and “Holy shit!” frequently. There’s way too much action to try to call it.
Tyson Dux is eliminated first by Rey Bucanero.
Puma eliminated second by Averno.
Milano Collection AT eliminated by Chris Sabin.
Masata Yoshino eliminated Averno.
Ultimo Guerrero eliminated Curry Man.
Rey Bucanero eliminated Doug Williams.
Ultimo Guerrero eliminated by Kozlov.
Chris Sabin eliminated Rey Bucanero – Team Mexico gets no points for this match
Kozlov eliminated Sabin by putting his feet on the ropes for leverage.
Only Alex Shelley, Alex Kozlov, & Masata Yoshino are left now.
Yoshino eliminated Kozlov by submission, so Team International gets one point.
Yoshino and Shelley battle on, both men weary and pulling out all the stops, both men refusing to quit. Shelley calls on the crowd for encouragement. Shelley finally pins Yoshino to get the win for Team TNA. Japan gets two points, and TNA gets three.
The point totals after this match are:
Team TNA – 6
Team Japan – 4
Team Mexico – 3
Team International – 3
They play a video of Booker T showing off his regal lifestyle.
Knockouts Match
Gail Kim
vs.
Angelina Love with Velvet Sky
Angelina attacks Gail from behind before the bell rings, and bashes Gail’s head into a series of turnbuckles. Gail Kim makes a comeback and they exchange forearms in the center of the ring. Velvet Sky pulls Gail’s foot out from under her, and the advantage goes back to Angelina again. Gail wraps Angelina’s leg around a turnbuckle in a figure four, ala Bret Hart (apparently he’s been teaching Kim some new wrestling moves), but Velvet Sky interferes again, as she does throughout the match. The women fight viciously, with numerous near falls. At about the midpoint of the match, the straps on Angelina’s top broke, and she had to keep fussing with it and holding it up through the rest of the match. Gail got the win with a handcuff neck breaker.
After the match, the Beautiful People double team Gail and try to put the brown paper bag on her, but Kim fights back and escapes.
Lauren and BG James are with the fans who will be in the Fans Revenge Match tonight They are practicing on crash dummies, and BG shows them the best ways to use the belts they will have at ringside.
Grudge Match
“Black Machismo” Jay Lethal with SoCal Val
vs.
“The Guru” Sonjay Dutt
Val comes out with Lethal, but Dutt hands her a plastic flower and a card, which Lethal grabs away and tears up. They start off with lots of quick exchanges and mat work. When Dutt gains the advantage, partly by cheating, Val stands on the outside and encourages fans to cheer for Lethal.
When Lethal eventually gets the advantage, Dutt starts pleading with Val to help him. She is very distressed, so he starts telling her how much she loves him. Val keeps getting up on the ring apron and stopping Jay every time he is about to win the match. Lethal keeps going over and telling her to go back to the floor. The last time he does this, Val stays and pleads with him, allowing Dutt to come up from behind Lethal and pin him with leverage from propping his feet on the ropes. Dutt thanks Val and kisses her hand.
Borash interviews Beer Money, who say they don’t care about the marks around ringside, and they won’t be responsible what happens to them. Jacqueline doesn’t want to go out there though, because the fans have belts, so she stays behind.
Fan’s Revenge Match for the TNA Tag Team Championship
LAX, Homicide & Hernandez with Hector Guerrero & Salinas
vs.
Beer Money, Robert Roode & “Cowboy” James Storm with Jacquelyn
Beer Money jaw with the fans as they enter the ring. Hernandez is sporting a new tattoo of his name across his back at shoulder level. This is a fun but violent match, with Roode and Storm getting whipped with belts by the fans every time they go outside the ring. At one point, Homicide goes out to join the fans, and grabs Storm’s beer. Homicide drinks some of the beer and shares some with fans, prompting Storm to run the fan gauntlet to rescue his beer.
Beer Money manage to trap Homicide on their side of the ring and work him over, tagging in and out and double teaming him. They incite Hernandez to come in, and while the ref is occupied with him, they double team Homicide even more. Finally Hernandez gets the hot tag to Hernandez, who cleans house. In the end, Hernandez holds up Roode so Homicide can hit him with a bulldog off the top. Hernandez pins Roode, and LAX retain their title.
They show a video of Booker T at his PWA Wrestling school with some of the students working out, including Neico and Gustavo Mendoza.
Knockouts Women’s Championship Match
Taylor Wilde (C)
vs.
Awesome Kong with Raisha Saeed
Kong attacks Taylor from behind before the bell rings, knocking the belt from her hands. Kong bashes Taylor around, and then grabs her by the hair and biels her across the ring. Kong continues her merciless beatdown of the much smaller Taylor, choking her in the ropes and stomping her at will. Kong locks Wilde in the camel clutch, but Wilde won’t submit. Kong continues the beat down. Wilde’s offense consists of a couple of drop kicks, some forearms, elbows and an arm drag, while Kong continues to beat her down in between these moves. To finish the match, Taylor again gets a rollup pin on Kong out of nowhere.
Saeed and Kong beat down Taylor after the match until Abyss comes out. Kong stares down Abyss, unimpressed, until Saeed sends her out of the ring. Raisha gives Abyss a lecture and a slap across the face, and he gives her the Black Hole Slam in return.
The show a video of Booker at Sharmell’s Place, a bar and restaurant they own. He tells the manager to make the portions smaller and water down all the alcohol so they can make more money.
Ultimate X Match for the Finals of the World X Cup Tournament
Team TNA – Kaz
vs.
Team Japan – Naruki Doi
vs.
Team Mexico – Volador, Jr.
vs.
Team International – Daivari
Daivari and the others work over Kaz’s injured left arm to try to keep him from being able to get across the wires to the X. One of the high spots is Daivari knocking Doi off the top of a tower to the floor. Another is when Kaz launches Doi into the crotch of Volador to knock him off the cables. Later, Volador power bombs Daivari off the cables. Volador also moonsaults backwards off the top turnbuckle onto Doi on the floor.
Kaz and Daivari slug it out at the top of a tower, and Daivari gets the advantage, shinning quickly across the cable. Kaz launches himself across the ring and leg drops Daivari off the cable. As they are out on the canvas, and Doi is out in the floor, Voldaor, Jr. runs in and scales the tower. Team Mexico wins the X Cup when Volador, Jr. takes down the X.
They show another video, this time with Booker T on the golf course. Someone claims that Booker is as good as Tiger Woods.
Fans Pick the Stip Match – Six Man Tag Team War
AJ Styles, Christian Cage, & Rhino
vs.
Kurt Angle & Team 3D, Brother Ray & Devon
Frank Trigg joins Tenay and West at the announce table. Jeremy Borash announces that tables, ladders, chairs and chains will all be legal, as the fans have chosen Full Metal Mayhem.
Angle tries to ambush AJ before he gets to the ring, but AJ is watching for him, and they start brawling on the floor. AJ enters the ring and sails over the top rope onto Devon and Angle on the floor. Frank Trigg keeps complaining about the lack of rules, even though Tenay and West keep telling him there are no rules.
With six men brawling in the ring and on the floor, it’s hard to follow all the action in this wild and brutal match. Rhino nails Kurt with a spine buster and gets two. Christian Cage levels Ray with a trash can and gets a two count. Rhino and Cage level 3D with a ladder. Angle takes out Christian with some chair shots, then gives Cage a belly to belly suplex onto a ladder. 3D smash Rhino in between two ladders. AJ comes off the top of a ladder onto Ray and pins him, but Angle pulls the ref out before he can count three.
Angle, Ray and Devon triple team AJ until Christian sails off the top of one of the Ultimate X towers to land a gorgeous cross body on Angle, Ray and Devon. Angle kicks out at two. Rhino gores all the heels out of their boots. Devon appears to injure his ankle doing a Doomsday Device to put Rhino through a table, but he stays in the match. They replay his bad landing, but there is no report on the injury during the show.
Angle gets the Ankle lock on Christian, who reverses it into a pin and gets a two count. Christian goes up top, but Devon low blows him, and then he and Ray put Cage through a table on the floor. It’s three on one against AJ until Angle accidentally clotheslines Devon. Ray delivers a surprising martial arts kick to Styles.
AJ slams Ray through a table, and then flips Devon through one. Angle tries for an Olympic Slam, but AJ reverses it and hits Angle with a Styles Clash for two. Johnny Devine runs out with a kendo stick, but AJ Pelés him and hits him with the kendo stick. AJ points the kendo stick at Trigg, and Angle comes up behind AJ & Olympic Slams him for two.
Angle shoves Referee Earl Hebner, who trips over a table in the ring and starts selling an injured ankle. Angle tries to Olympic Slam AJ through a table, but AJ comes back at him and smashes Angle’s head into the table, then lays Kurt on the table. AJ starts to climb up a ladder. Frank Trigg leaves the announce table and sneaks into the ring with a kendo stick, where he hits AJ Styles with it. Angle Olympic Slams Styles through the table and gets the pin.
Borash interviews Samoa Joe, who says he’s going to win tonight because there’s np doubt in his mind. Kevin Nash comes over and says he’s behind Joe. Joe tells him if that’s true, then he has to stay in the back and not come out to help, no matter what. Nash says if that’s what Joe wants, that’s what he’ll do.
TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Samoa Joe (C)
vs.
Booker T
Sharmell is in a front row seat with several of the young men from the video about the PWA Wrestling School, including Neico and Gustavo Mendoza. The Houston crowd is solidly behind home town favorite Booker T, greeting him with a huge pop. As Joe enters to near silence, a group of fans on the entrance ramp hold up a series of signs that say, “If Joe wins, we riot.” Tenay and West mention that Joe is not the fan favorite here tonight.
The opening stats claim that Booker is 6’3” and Joe is 6’2”, but when they stand next to each other in the ring, it’s obvious that Booker is at least 4 inches taller than Joe.
They start off dancing around each other, then lock up and go to trading vicious forearm shots and chops. They continue to fight it out with the match pretty much even, as the crowd cheers for Booker. They go to the floor, and after some more chops, kicks, and clotheslines, Booker slams Joe’s head into the metal ring stairs, and Joe’s forehead is now bleeding. They return to the ring, and Booker presses his advantage. Booker hits the axe kick for a two count. They continue to slug it out. Joe hits a drop kick off the top, but only gets two. A snap slam gets another two for Joe. Booker comes back with a series of knees to Joe’s middle. Referee Rudy Charles goes down when Joe accidentally shoves Booker into him, and Booker hits his head.
Joe clotheslines Booker and takes him outside, sits him on a chair in front of Sharmell, and hits him with the Ole kick. Joe keeps beating on an apparently unconscious Booker right in front of Sharmell. Joe refuses to return to the ring to try for a pin. Sharmell starts yelling at Joe to stop, and slaps him. When Joe goes after Sharmell, the wrestlers with her and Atlas Security tussle with Joe to make him stop. Joe takes Booker back to the ring, and Refs Slick Johnson and Andrew Thomas come out, but Joe refuses to go for a pin. Joe clotheslines Slick and kicks Thomas below the belt, then DDT’s him. Then Joe starts chewing on Booker’s head. Bill Behrens comes out with another official and they ask Joe to stop the match, but he threatens them, so they call Security. Tenay says there are no refs left, since Hebner hurt his ankle. Joe fights off Security and starts choking Booker.
Sharmell goes into the ring and begs him to stop, because now he’s trying to choke Booker to death. Finally, the lights go out and Sting comes out and tells Joe to stop, and he’s going too far. Sting walks away, and Joe starts to follow him, but then goes back. Sting follows and tells Joe again to stop, and Joe says, “F*** you!” and flips him off as the fans boo Joe. Joe goes back to choking the unconscious Booker, and Sting whacks Joe across the back with the belt. At this point, the announcers actually question why Sting would stop Joe, and how does he have the authority! As if someone needs to have “authority” to step in and stop a murder. Booker covers Joe, and Sharmell counts three as Sting looks on. Booker and Sharmell leave the ring with the belt.
Tenay and West question how Booker could be the Champion. Considering that TNA has a rule that the belt will be lost if the champion is disqualified, and that Joe not only ignored referee warnings but attacked the referees, it would seem that there is ample reason for Joe to be disqualified; however, that is not announced, since all the referees are still out at the end of the PPV. Tenay and West comment as if they are unaware of the DQ rule. The ending of the match is unclear, and will most likely be announced on Thursday’s iMPACT!
This was another very good PPV from TNA, and it ran just a few minutes short of three hours. The X Cup matches were real standouts. It’s well worth buying the replay.
TNA’s next PPV is Hard Justice on August 10 at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ — and I have a front row seat!
— Karen Belcher
Courtesy of ProWrestlingDigest.com