July 4th edition of TNA Xplosion! [76%]
Announcers: Mike Tenay & Jerry Lawler
- Before the in-ring action gets underway; a short video promo is shown, hyping the upcoming debut of recent FCW graduate,
Nightmare Manson. The video puts Manson as a hard hitting, sinister man, looking to inflict pain and punishment onto the entire TNA roster. The video concludes with Manson saying that he is a “walking, talking example of just how ugly humanity can be.”
[59%]1. In a decent, somewhat clunky match,
Jimmy Jacobs picked up the biggest win of his career so far by defeating
Andy Douglas in the opening match. Douglas tried to use his experience edge to control the much faster Jacobs but was eventually put away by a running Berserker Boot from Jacobs. After the match, the two men showed respect to each other by shaking hands. The respectful display was ruined, however, thanks to a sneaky attack from
Shane Madison, who ran and began attacking both men! The crowd booed heavily as Madison laid out both men with the ‘Aftermath’ (Kneeling Back to Belly Piledriver) and screamed out that the crowd should be paying attention to him, not these two!
[**1/4]- Backstage,
America’s Most Wanted cut a short promo talking about how they are going win the Tag Titles at ‘Summer Heat’. Chris Harris says that the recent contract that the Backseat Boys created, stating that AMW can’t attack the champs outside of a match or they (AMW) will lose their title shot, is just a desperate attempt by the Boys to keep the titles around their waist. Harris brings up the fact that they are 6 time TNA Tag champs for a reason, and on July 23rd, they’re gonna get reign #7. Harris then says that the champs can come up with as many stipulations as they want for their match at Summer Heat because there is nothing that is going to stop AMW from showing everyone why they are, always have been, and always be the premier tag team in TNA. James Storm concludes the promo by saying “If you two got a problem with that…SORRY ABOUT YOUR DAMN LUCK!”
[74%]
- After a quick commercial break, the show segues into a video that was recorded earlier in the week that the announcers call “disturbing”. In the video,
Jerry Lynn is in his hospital bed with his wife sitting next to him in a chair. Lynn’s eyes are covered in bandages due his temporary blindness that was caused by Kid Kash spraying hairspray into his eyes at Slammiversary. In the video, Lynn’s wife exits the room to get him something to drink after Lynn requests it. Shortly after she leaves, he hears a very familiar voice.
?: “So, you think that you can get one over me again when your eyesight comes back, huh?”
Lynn’s body quickly tenses up as he recognizes that the voice belongs to
Kid Kash! Slowly, Kash advances on Lynn, insulting the former ECW World Champ as he walks. Lynn, in an act of self-defense, throws punches where he thinks Kash’s voice is coming from but he hits nothing but air. After stalking his prey for several moments, Kash strikes, hitting the blind man multiple times! After nailing the defenseless man with several right hands, Kash peels Lynn off the hospital bed and throws him into the wall! Before more damage can be done, Lynn’s wife reappears, probably wanting to see what was causing such a big ruckus. Upon seeing her husband laid out with Kash standing over him, she drops the glass of water in her hand and lets out a screech, crying out for someone to help her loved one! The damage having been done, The Notorious K.I.D. backs off and lets the hospital staff rush in and attend to Lynn. Before leaving, however, Kash gives one last message to Lynn’s horrified wife.
“When he wakes up, tell your husband that this is what happens when you mess with Kid Kash!” After the video ends, the show cuts to Jerry Lawler and Mike Tenay sitting at the commentary booth, both of whom look disgusted at what they just witnessed. Tenay says that the video was “one of the most sickening things I’ve ever seen” while Lawler simply calls the former Kid Rock look-a-like’s actions “heinous”. Kash is doing his damndest to make an example out of Jerry Lynn and teach the entire locker room a lesson. That lesson? Don’t mess with Kid Kash.
[74%]- Video Hype for Summer Heat, the big TV special on July 23rd. You know the drill by now.
[81%]2. In what was truly a sight to behold, former WCW World Heavyweight Champion,
Big Van Vader, went toe to toe with the 6’ 6’’ British Beast,
Brandon Robinson. While this match certainly wasn’t pretty, it was incredibly physical. From the second the bell rung, the big men hammered away at one another, trying to see which one of them was more powerful. Despite getting up the fact that is starting to get on in age, Vader showed that he still has something in the tank as he rocked the younger man with his trademark stiff shots for a good portion of the match. With youth on his side, however, Robinson was able to weather the storm and eventually put the exhausted legend away with a HUGE lariat! After the match, the man they call Vader slowly got back up to his feet and went nose to nose with Robinson. After a few tense moments, Vader nods his head towards the Beast in a sign of respect before making his way to the back. Robinson continues to impress and show that he is a rising star in TNA.
[**]- The cameras go TO THE BACK where
Don West is standing by with
Adam Pearce and his bodyguard,
Claudio Castagnoli. Pearce brought Claudio in as his bodyguard last month after Chad Coyller refused his offer. Since then, Pearce and Coyller have been at odds with one another, with Coyller badly wanting to get his hands on Pearce after he was screwed in his match against “The Scrap Daddy” by Claudio.
With Claudio looking intimidating in the background, Pearce cuts a short promo talking about good he is and how he is the future of TNA. After hyping himself up, he turns his attention towards Chad Coyller. Pearce claims that, with Claudio by his side, he is ready to break out a true star but he can’t with the “monkey” on his back known as Chad Coyller. “Chad, you’re trying really hard to be the Sting to my Ric Flair. Boy, you aren’t even Rocky King to me!” Despite this, Pearce says that he is being forced into the ring with Coyller due to orders from Commissioner Foley. “Next week, right here on Xplosion, me and my Swiss Adonis will face you and whatever chump you convince to team up with you. After that match, you will know for a fact that you can’t hang with me. But hey. Don’t beat yourself up too much over it. It’s not that you’re on a lower level than me. …It’s just that I’m on a higher level than everyone else!”
[83%]3. Both
Kip James and
Petey Williams had something to prove going into the third match of the night as both men were on a major losing streak going into the match. Williams, in particular, came into the match focused as he was trying to show Alicia Webb that she made a huge mistake when she dismissed him as a client. It looked as if Williams was going to get the dominant victory that he lusted after as he worked over James’ back with various holds in preparation for the Sharpshooter. James tried to use his experience to rally back into the match but any of his comeback attempts were stifled by the superior speed of the “Canadian Destroyer”.
The finish of the match was not determined by Williams’ ability, however, but instead by his arrogance. Having TAFKA Billy Gunn in perfect position for the Sharpshooter, Williams takes a moment out to look directly into the camera and tell Alicia Webb to “see what you’re missing out on!” If Alicia Webb was watching the match, she saw James reach up and place Williams in a small package! Williams struggled to get out of the move but was unable to before the ref’s count reached three and he had awarded the victory to Kip James! Once James let go of the move, he immediately rolled and began celebrating as if he had won the World Series, the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals at the same time. His Canadian opponent wasn’t so happy as he just sat in the ring with a look of pure disbelief etched out on his face! While “The One” went to the back, Williams remained in the ring with same look of disbelief on his face. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity and with the ref pestering him to leave, Williams crawled out of the ring and slowly sulked his way behind the curtain, acting as if he was weighed down by lead on each step.
After Williams had walked through the curtain, Don West was waiting hoping to get a post-match interview with the “Canadian Destroyer”. West simply asked Williams that, since he has piled up several losses in recent months, “Where do you go from here?” Williams stared off into the distance for several moments before simply stating that he was “going away”. With that, Williams walked past West and went right out of the exit door, leaving the building and possibly TNA. How much of a mental toll did Williams’ numerous losses take on him?
[*1/4] - After a quick commercial break, a video is played hyping up the next edition of Impact. Scheduled for the show is an announcement by Commissioner Foley,
America’s Most Wanted taking on the
Wizards of Odd, and two qualifying matches for the 4-Way match at “Summer Heat” to decide the #30 entrant in the “Rise Above” battle royal! The first one will see “The Alpha Male”
Monty Brown take on a rising star in
Ruckus while the second qualifier has former NWA World Heavyweight Champion
Raven taking on “The Monster”
Abyss! It looks to be a blockbuster show so don’t miss it! [95%]
- Before the main event of the evening, the crowd is treated to a special surprise appearance by
Edge! Lately, Edge has embroiled in an extremely heated feud with Samoa Joe that has led to several physical encounters between the two. On the last edition of Impact, Edge was brutally assaulted after his match with Jeff Jarrett by Joe and was forced to taste his own blood once again. The fan favorite seems to be incredibly focused as he speed walks his way down to the ring and immediately grabs a mic upon his entrance into it. Not surprisingly, the subject of Edge’s promo is Samoa Joe. Edge talks about how a few weeks ago; Joe released a video in which he said that he was going to show Edge his killer side. Edge states that he thought that Joe was just bluffing at first.
“After going to war with you at Slammiversary, I can say that you really weren’t kidding Joe. You really are a cold blooded killer at heart.” Edge openly admits that he received one of the worst beatings of his life at Slammiversary and that he simply was unable to defeat Joe. He realized that while he was able to go toe-to-toe with the Samoan, he hadn’t been able to do what was necessary to really beat Joe.
“You know Joe, a few weeks ago, when I tried to cut you with that glass, I was disgusted with myself. I was disgusted that I was stooping to your level. Now, I realize that ‘stooping to your level’ is what I have to do to end this little war between you and me. I have to fight fire with fire. In order to beat a killer, I have to BECOME a killer!” Edge goes onto to say that he is dropping the “Edge” name.
“That name is a manufactured creation used to sell merchandise. That name represents a character that thousands of fans look up to. For now, I’m gonna stop trying to be that ‘cool and funny’ guy that everyone looks up to. I have a feeling that when my final battle with Joe comes, nobody is gonna want to look up to me. From now on, I’ll shall only be known as Adam Copeland.” Copeland concludes his passionate promo by stating that the battle lines are being drawn for one final confrontation between him and Joe.
“When that battle finally happens Joe, I’m gonna take you out…or die trying.” The newly christened Adam Copeland then threw the mic down and exited the ring. Mike Tenay and Jerry Lawler speculate over what Copeland’s final words and wonder just how the saga between him and Joe will end right before they cut away to the final commercial break.
[88%]4. The main event of the evening was a doozy as
Sonny Siaki and
Rocky Romero faced off in a heated encounter. Over the past few weeks, Cideaclypse (Homicide & Sonny Siaki) and The Havana Pitbulls (Rocky Romero and Ricky Reyes, backed up by their manager Konnan) have been at odds with one another. Minutes into the match, senior official
Mark Johnson ejected
Konnan, Romero, and Homicide from the ringside area when a big brawl almost ensued between the three as they attempted to cheer on their respective partner/client. This left the match as a strictly one-on-one contest and a damn good one at that.
Doing his best to neutralize the size advantage possessed by Siaki, Reyes targeted the bigger man’s legs with various submissions and wore him down with several stiff kicks. Siaki, on the other hand, used his size and power to fight his way back up to a standing position and prevent himself from being locked in one of Reyes’ deadly submissions for too long. On this night, it was Siaki’s power that won out as he was able to muscle Reyes up for the ‘Siakiaclypse Now’ (Pumphandle Reverse Piledriver) and drill him into the mat! Three seconds later, Siaki had officially avenged his partner’s loss from last week!
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I'm back, daddy! Trying out some new things with this format so tell me if you like it or not.