1/5 Impact Wrestling Recap

Impact Wrestling opens with a video package of how Bobby Roode is the leader of the selfish generation. Sting confronting Roode and telling him about the consequences of his actions is also touched upon as we head to the Impact Zone where Sting is making his way to the ring.

Sting grabs a microphone and calls Jeff Hardy down to the ring. Hardy comes out and Sting tells him that he has been impressed with Hardy’s actions as of late. Sting says they are a lot alike as he was once given a second chance and he has been running with it ever since. Sting says there are wrestlers and fans that adore him and Sting gives Hardy a full 100% endorsement as they are interrupted by Bobby Roode’s music.

Roode makes his way down to the ring with Kurt Angle and Bully Ray and grabs a microphone. Roode says he about threw up in the back over what is taking place in the ring. Roode says Sting just endorsed an embarrassment and says that he is the face of TNA. If not him, Sting could endorse Kurt Angle or Bully Ray, but he instead picks his favorites. Roode then gets in Hardy’s face for a moment before they are interrupted by James Storm’s music.

Storm comes down to the ring with Abyss walking right behind him. Storm grabs a microphone and tells Roode to shut up before getting in Angle’s face. Storm says he can tell Angle is a little scared of him since he knows it just takes on Last Call superkick to take him out. Also, since Angle likes to beat up on his friends, he brought Abyss with him, as Storm hands Abyss a beer.

Abyss then grabs the microphone to address Bully Ray and says he and Immortal took advantage of him for months and now they need him to come back. Abyss says he doesn’t need Immortal anymore and says he will make Ray suffer for all of the sins of Immortal at Genesis. Sting then steps in says it feels like they have a main event for tonight with all of them going at it in a six man tag match as he leaves the ring.

The announce team hypes tonight’s main event that was just announced, plus RVD will take on Gunner and the finals of the Wildcard Tournament takes place with AJ Styles & Kazarian taking on Magnus & Samoa Joe. Up next, though, are the Knockouts as Gail Kim & Madison Rayne defend the Knockouts Tag Team Championships against Mickie James & Traci Brooks.

A video of Madison Rayne posing in a bikini is aired as she notices Traci Brooks in a hot tub. Madison goes in the hot tub and talks trash until Traci goes after her. Gail Kim comes in and joins in on the attack until Mickie James dives in and chases them away. These four are going to meet in a match, which is coming up next.

Match 1: Mickie James & Traci Brooks vs. Gail Kim & Madison Rayne (TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship)
Mickie and Traci go after the tag team champions as they make their way into the ring. Traci and Gail fight around the ringside area as Mickie goes after Madison in the ring. Traci sends Gail into the steel steps as Mickie takes Madison out with a neckbreaker. Gail is rolled into the ring where both Mickie and Traci double team her until they toss them both out to the floor as we head into a commercial break.

We return to the match to see Mickie is putting the boots to Madison in the corner before sending her flying across the ring with a monkey flip. Gail finally kicks Mickie through the ropes to stall her momentum as Madison puts Mickie in a headlock. Mickie fights her way out of it and picks up a near fall after connecting with a dropkick. Madison is able to comeback with a clothesline and picks up a near fall before going back to a headlock. Madison begins to wear Mickie down and Gail makes a tag and goes after Mickie, but Mickie is able to counter and make a tag to Traci.

Traci comes in and takes Gail down with a flurry of offense and picks up a near fall after hitting Gail with a clothesline. The match breaks down for a moment and Gail hits Traci with her Eat Defeat to pick up the pin fall to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Gail and Madison leave the ring with their titles held high as Traci and Mickie, who seems to be favoring her ankle, are left in the ring.

Ric Flair is backstage with Gunner and tells him that he is an impact player. Flair says nobody will want to wrestle Gunner a month from now as he keeps putting people in the hospital. Sting walks up and says he knows RVD will be going to the ring by himself and tells Flair not to be with Gunner for this match. Flair tells Sting that he is pushing his buttons and Sting says that what he likes and tells Flair that they will watch the match together in the back. Flair then tells Gunner to put RVD in the hospital before walking away.

Eric Young is walking around the parking lot and is looking for ODB. EY says they have a big match tonight and that they are in love. The cameraman says they lost their match last week and are out of the tournament but EY says it is a double elimination tournament before running off.

We are then treated to a video package of how the Wildcard Tag Team Tournament played out. Tonight, the finals will take place with the winner going on to face Matt Morgan & Crimson for the TNA Tag Team Championship at Genesis. Magnus and Samoa Joe are backstage and Magnus is giving Joe a pep talk about their upcoming match tonight. Joe then stops him and shakes his hand before walking away. AJ Styles & Kazarian are also backstage and say that they have chemistry with each other and talk about using that and their quickness to their advantage.

Garret Bischoff is backstage putting on a referee shirt as Sting walks up. Garret says he has been cleared by the doctor and he is ready to return to work. Garret says he isn’t going to let his father and Gunner keep him away from what he wants to do as Sting tells Garret to take his shirt off. Sting then hands him a pair of wrestling boots and says he isn’t a referee, but a wrestler, as he welcomes him to the roster.

Eric Young walks into the women’s locker room as Gail Kim and Madison Rayne tell him to get out. EY then tries to lock up with Gail as Madison jumps on his back. Young then puts Madison in a locker before being chased out.

Match 2: Gunner vs. Rob Van Dam
The match starts and Gunner takes RVD down with a shoulder block but RVD is able to come back with a series of kicks. The two trade blows in the ring before RVD heads out to the floor and taunts Gunner as we head into a commercial break.

We return to the match and see Gunner has taken control and picks up a near fall after hitting a back elbow. Gunner continues on the attack until RVD catches him with a kick. Gunner comes back and hits RVD with a clothesline before choking him on the ropes and picking up another near fall in the process. RVD again regains control with a series of kicks and strikes before picking up a near fall after hitting a standing moonsault.

RVD then hits Rolling Thunder but Gunner rolls out to the floor. RVD heads out to the apron but Gunner takes him down as RVD gets caught up in the ring apron. Gunner begins to move the padding as the referee calls for the bell. Gunner then tries to takes RVD out with a piledriver but RVD counters and sends Gunner crashing onto the exposed floor with a back drop. RVD then sets up Gunner on the guard railing and RVD goes for a leg drop off the apron but Gunner moves out of the way and RVD connects with the railing. Gunner then goes for another piledriver but TNA agents run out and prevent Gunner from driving RVD into the floor.

Jeff Hardy, James Storm and Abyss are backstage and Storm says they are not afraid of their opponents tonight. Hardy says he appreciates what Sting said earlier and calls tonight a warm up for his match at Genesis. Abyss says he doesn’t need Immortal and all he needs is Bully Ray in the ring.

Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle and Bully Ray are in the parking lot and Roode tells Jeff Hardy that there is nobody that can take his title away from him. Angle says he won’t step into another one of Storm’s kicks and promises to break his ankle tonight. Ray finishes it off by saying screw Abyss and his Monster’s Ball match. On a side note, Ray also says he will smoke RVD’s ass tomorrow night at Westbury, Long Island.

Match 3: Kid Kash & Austin Aries vs. Jesse Sorensen & Zema Ion
As Sorensen and Ion argue about who will start the match, Kash comes over and nails Sorensen with a double axe handle to get things going. Sorensen quickly comes back with a high knee and a dropkick as Ion tags himself into the match. Kash takes Ion out with a few hip tosses before tagging Aries into the match. Kash and Aries take Ion down with a few double teams move before Aries goes for a pin fall but Ion kicks out.

Aries then tosses Ion out to the floor and dives through the ropes causing Ion to crash into the railing. Kash then dives over the ropes and crashes down on Ion before rolling him back into the ring. Aries then slams Ion down to the canvas and hits his spinning elbow for a near fall. Ion is able to make it to his corner and tags Sorensen into the match who takes Aries down with a high knee and a dropkick. Kash then comes in and helps his partner out before being tagged into the match.

Kash and Aries take turns working over Sorensen until he is able to shove Aries into Kash and takes them both out. Ion tags himself back into the match and takes Aries down with a DDT before hitting a corkscrew from the middle rope. Kash again helps his partner as they try for a double suplex, but Ion is able to counter as Sorensen tags himself in and takes out both Kash and Aries. Sorensen sends Kash out to the floor and jumps over the ropes to take him out.

Sorensen then slams Aries down to the mat and heads to the middle rope as Ion tags himself in. Ion heads to the top rope but misses with a 450 splash. Sorensen tags himself back in as Aries goes after Ion, unaware that Sorensen has been tagged back into the match. Sorensen then hits Aries with spinning neckbreaker to pick up the pin fall for his team. Ion, though, isn’t happy that Sorensen stole the spotlight and yells at Sorensen.

AJ Styles walks into the locker room and tells Kazarian that it is game time. Kazarian walks out of a closet area and leaves the room as Christopher Daniels is also seen walking out of the closet area with a smile on his face. The finals of the Wildcard Tournament is up next.

Eric Young finds ODB by the photo area and ODB tells him that they have been knocked out of the tournament. EY then locks up with ODB as the two roll around a bit before ODB kisses him on the lips and walks away.

Match 4: Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. AJ Styles & Kazarian (Wildcard Tournament Finals)
The match starts as Joe locks up with Styles and backs Styles into the corner and beats him down a bit before tagging Magnus into the match. Magnus and Joe use quick tags to wear down Styles as Joe locks him in an abdominal stretch. Styles is able to comeback with a headscissors takedown and tags Kazarian into the match. Kazarian doesn’t get in much offense before Joe takes him down and tags Magnus into the match.

Kazarian is able to take Magnus down and makes the tag to Styles as the two double team Magnus for a moment. Styles and Kazarian begin to use quick tags in and out of the match to wear down Magnus and pick up a near fall. Magnus, though, is able to counter Kazarian and level him with a clothesline before tagging Joe into the match. Joe hits Kazarian with a back splash and a knee drop for a near fall. Magnus is tagged back in and Kazarian is able to take him down before tagging Styles into the match.

Styles comes in and takes Magnus down with a flying forearm before connecting with a Pele kick. Christopher Daniels is seen watching the match from the stage as Styles goes over to tag Kazarian, but Kazarian drops to the floor. Styles notices Daniels standing on the stage as Joe crushes Styles in the corner. Magnus then hits Styles with a flying elbow drop as Joe makes the cover to pick up the pin fall.

After the match, Kazarian slowly walks away from the ring and appears to be conflicted as Daniels has a big smile on his face. Samoa Joe and Magnus, on the other hand, will now go on to take on Matt Morgan and Crimson for the TNA Tag Team Championship at Genesis.

Matt Morgan & Crimson are backstage and Crimson says they finally get to know who they get to beat up at Genesis. Samoa Joe & Magnus walk up and Joe tells them to bring a nice case for the titles as they don’t want to scratch it on the way home. The two teams get into a shoving match until agents run in to break it up. We then head to the announce team who hypes the Genesis pay-per-view and run down the card.

Match 5: Jeff Hardy/James Storm/Abyss vs. Bobby Roode/Kurt Angle/Bully Ray
Jeremy Borash handles the formal introductions for tonight’s six man tag team main event. The bell rings as Ray squares off against Storm to get things started. Storm connects with a few rights before tagging Abyss into the match. Ray runs into his corner and tags Roode into the match instead of locking up with Abyss. Roode comes in and kicks Abyss is the midsection but Abyss takes Roode down with a boot to the face. Ray is able to kick Abyss in the back as Roode backs Abyss into their corner as they all get in some shots on the Monster as we head into a commercial break.

We return to the match to see Angle is working over Abyss’ knee and chops him down to the mat. Roode is tagged into the match but Abyss takes them down with a double clothesline. Storm is tagged in and he goes after both Roode and Angle and takes them down. Ray, though, is able to take Storm down with a clothesline from the apron. Roode then begins to wear down Storm as Ray and Angle help from the apron. Ray enters the match and rams Storm’s head into the turnbuckle a couple of times before hitting a delayed vertical suplex for a two count.

Ray continues to wear Storm down before tagging Angle into the match. Storm, though, is able to counter Angle’s offense and take him down with a Russian leg sweep. Angle then tags in Roode as Storm tags Hardy into the match. Hardy takes Roode down with an atomic drop and a leg drop before hitting a Twist of Fate. The match then breaks down with all six in the ring until the referee finally calls for the bell as he has lost control of the match. None of the wrestlers seem to care as they continue going at it in and around the ring.

Hardy is able to hit the Twist of Fate on Roode and heads to the top rope but Bully Ray pushes Hardy as he crotches himself on the top rope. Storm then comes in and takes Roode down and sets up for the Last Call superkick, but Angle sneaks in and hits him with a low blow. Angle then nails Storm with a superkick as Abyss comes in and gives out some clotheslines to Angle and Roode. Abyss then grabs Angle for the Shock Treatment but Ray comes in and nails Abyss with a chain from behind. Ray begins to choke Abyss with the chain, Angle has Storm in an ankle lock and Roode has Hardy in a crossface submission as Impact Wrestling comes to a close.

Quick Results
– Gail Kim & Madison Rayne defeated Mickie James & Traci Brooks by pin fall to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship.
– Gunner and RVD fought to a no contest.
– Jesse Sorensen & Zema Ion defeated Kid Kash & Austin Aries by pin fall.
– Samoa Joe & Magnus defeated AJ Styles & Kazarian by pin fall in the finals of the Wildcard Tournament.
– Jeff Hardy/James Storm/Abyss and Bobby Roode/Kurt Angle/Bully Ray fought to a no contest.