411's TNA Impact Report 03.26.09

Posted by Randy Harrison on 03.26.2009

TNA Wacky Subtitle of the Week...."Captains - Cage - Chaos!!!"....




After a fairly successful fill-in stint as the live recapper on this week's edition of Monday Night Raw, I'm back to my usual timeslot to cover Impact. This week we start with a video package to hype the 20-man cage match main event to find two captains for Lethal Lockdown and that throws us to the regular video package to open the show. We.....are...LIVE-ish from the Impact Zone in Orlando and we head right into the ring with Jim Cornette, who tells us about the fifth anniversary of the all-cage match pay-per-view Lockdown. He talks about the first half of the double-main event, featuring Sting defending the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Mick Foley. He then goes over the rules for the Lethal Lockdown match, with all twenty of tonight's main event participants on the ramp listening to his address. Cornette tells them that the captains will be figured out by the 20-man Gauntlet cage match and he tells them that the last two men will earn the right to pick their teams for Lethal Lockdown on April 19th. Cornette says that he wanted everyone to hear it because he didn't want there to be any confusion and that this is a new day in TNA where everyone will be treated equally.

That leads to the Main Event Mafia's entrance music, with Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner (minus his creepy Strangers mask) make their way into the ring with Cornette. Cornette chastises them for being late and asks if Angle has a question about the match tonight. Angle asks how Cornette is going to give the jabronies on the ramp the same opportunity if he knows that the Main Event Mafia are going to be in the match. Angle assures Cornette that they'll get no opportunity because the Mafia is going to position Angle as team captain in the match and that he will win the match and gain the advantage for his team going into Lockdown. He tells Cornette that he'll pick his team consisting of Booker, Kevin and Scott. He says that the Mafia has been dominating since October and that they'll continue dominating throughout the rest of this year and into 2010 and that there's nothing that Cornette or the jabronies can do about it. Angle gets cut off by Jeff Jarrett's music and he's on his way down to the ring now with his gear on. Jarrett goes all insider saying that the only jay-brone he sees in the ring is Angle. He tells Angle that he is going to man up this week and that he's going to be one of the twenty in the Gauntlet, only to make sure that Angle isn't a team captain. Jarrett tells him to choke on it slapnuts and then POPS ANGLE A CHEAPSHOT!! Jarrett with some right hands and they end up separated by the herd of TNA talent as we head to commercial.


We come back with Mike Tenay and Don West talking about the segment that just happened, complete with replay of what we just saw five minutes ago. The gruesome twosome welcome us to the show from ringside and they run down the show including the gauntlet main event. They throw it to Kurt Angle in the Main Event Mafia's locker room. Booker T gets all wound up and sends Kevin Nash and Jenna Morasca on their way, with Steiner adding that if Nash hits it, he needs to save some for him. Angle says that Jarrett isn't even going to make it to the gauntlet match tonight and grabs the pipe from Steiner, saying that he's going to go to the office and bash Jarrett's head in before shoving the pipe up his ass.


Match One: TNA X-Division Championship
Kiyoshi w/Team No Limit vs. Suicide (C)

This one should be murder for me to try to recap, but I'll do my best that's for sure. As Suicide makes his entrance, we get to see the finish of the Ultimate X match at Destination X where Suicide won the championship. Suicide sends No Limit scrambling with a threat, but turns around into a spinning heel kick from Kiyoshi. Spinning neckbreaker drops Suicide again and Kiyoshi heads right up to the top rope, hitting a big chop right to the top of the head. There's the cover and Kiyoshi gets two. Suicide blocks an attack from Kiyoshi and hits a headbutt, but gets slammed after bouncing off the ropes. Kiyoshi follows with a low clothesline that gets another two-count. Kiyoshi throws Suicide out to No Limit and they lay the boots in before throwing him back into the ring. Kiyoshi hits a big chop to the chest for another two-count, but Suicide cuts him off with some shots to the gut. Kiyoshi tries a charge into the corner but ends up eating an elbow. Suicide backdrops him onto the apron and misses an elbow, taking a shoulder to the gut before Kiyoshi flips over him. Kiyoshi follows that up with a big belly-to-belly suplex into a cover that gets two. Kiyoshi goes back up to the top and tries for a splash, but Suicide rolls out of the way and the splash misses. Suicide turns Kiyoshi inside out with a series of kicks before dropping him with a huge dropkick. Suicide hits a nasty Implant DDT that gets a long, LONG two-count and Kiyoshi drives Suicide back into the corner with a shoulderblock. Arm-wringer into a falling kick by Kiyoshi and he picks Suicide up for his Death Valley Driver variant that gets a very long two-count. Kiyoshi tris to go back up top, but Suicide drops him off and grabs him with that odd clinch into some knees to the head. Suicide rams Kiyoshi's head into Team No Limit on the apron and sets Kiyoshi up for his big finish! There's the Suicide Solution and there's the 1-2-3!! Suicide is successful in his first title defense!

Winner: Suicide (pinfall, Suicide Solution) **

(Not a bad way to open up the show at all. Both guys had some pep in their step and they put on a nice little X-Division showcase. It wasn't fantastic or anything, but it was halfway decent and a fun, high-flying way to start things out. It kind of kills some of Suicide's gimmick that he is selling all over the place like a normal wrestler after weeks of laying everyone to waste, but I guess it had to happen eventually. I just want Daniels back, to be quite honest.)

After the match, we get the Lockdown video package from last week and then head to the backstage area to see Kurt Angle on the prowl with the pipe. He lays waste to a picture of Jeff Jarrett hanging on the wall before it's commercial time again.


We come back to Impact and during the break, we see that Angle has made his way to Jeff Jarrett's office with the Frontline defending him from the attack. Chaos and threats follow with nothing much happening from anyone. Lauren is in the back with The Beautiful People and Madison Rayne and apparently Love and Sky are going to be in the ring with Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed tonight. Love sends Lauren scurrying with a bitch fit and Love says that she's glad that someone heard her smartass comment about Kong last week. She says that the Beautiful People don't sweat Kong because they don't sweat period. They get what they want, when they want it and they've decided that they want the TNA Knockouts Championship. Sky tells Madison that the hazing continues this week, despite her passing her first test last week when she sheared the Governor. They tell Rayne that tonight she has to hold down the "bison" and rip the braids out of her skull if she has to and then tells Kong that she'll be their next victim.

Random Impact Observation #1: TNA really needs to get rid of these filler segments that do nothing to add to the show. I have complained a lot about how there are promos and then reaction interviews to the promos right afterwards and they're doing it again this week. It's just annoying because there's a way to do it without having to run the segments back to back the way that they do. Even putting one other segment in between the interview and the reaction would go a long way to making this show less annoying.


Back from the break, we get to the TNA Rough Cut with Brother Ray. He talks about how hard it was for him to get into the business and that it took him a long time to find a trainer. He almost trained with Johnny Rodz, but ended up training under a WWF enhancement talent and says that he wasn't trained well at all. He runs down the whole story of the Dudleys in ECW and relates that they are brothers and that their bond has been good from the beginning. He says that they've been all over the world together and that Team 3D is successful because he and Devon know what makes them successful. He bends the truth a little by saying that people pay to see Team 3D ( I doubt that that has happened since they were causing riots in ECW) and that they've checked their egos and they're happy sharing the spotlight. He brings up Steve Austin's quote about how if you're not in this business to be a champion, you shouldn't be in this business. He amends it, saying that if you're not in it to be one-half of the best tag team in wrestling history, you shouldn't be in it. That leads us into a video package featuring the feud between Team 3D and Beer Money Inc., including their match at Destination X and the interview segment from last week that made the Titles vs. Titles match at Lockdown.

That leads further into a sit-down interview with Mike Tenay talking to Beer Money and Team 3D. Tenay asks about the match taking place in Philadelphia and Storm says that it means nothing because they're going into the match to become the greatest tag team in the world and that it's just another town to them. Brother Ray disagrees, telling them that they're going to be locked in a cage in front of the most violent fans in the world. Devon says that it's where they captured their first titles and that the city is what made Team 3D. When the smoke clears, according to Devon, they'll be New Japan Tag champs and TNA World Tag champs. Storm brings up a good point that he and Roode have been around from the beginning and that TNA is their backyard. He says that after they beat Team 3D, they'll be bigger than the Road Warriors, bigger than The Steiners and bigger than even Team 3D. Ray says that he respects that answer because they have been in TNA since day one. He says that he and Devon understand that and then tells a story about a friend of theirs that used to say "Beat me if you can, survive if I let you". Ray steals it and says that they'll survive if the fans in Philadelphia let them. Roode says that it's just them, no Jackie, no beer bottle, no anything and that this match means more to them than anything. He says that their question to Team 3D is if they know what they've gotten themselves into at Lockdown. Tenay and West run down what we just saw in the interview and pimp the 20-man gauntlet main event again before throwing it to a video package to hype Sting/Foley at Lockdown. That leads to Lauren catching up with Sting backstage. She says that last week's turn of events was shocking and that it forced Sting to put up his title against Foley at Lockdown. She says that this week Sting will be face to face with Foley and Sting says that he has no idea what he's going to say to him. Sting says that there's no logical reason for Foley to have done what he did and then says that there's not a lot that Foley's done that was logical in his career. Sting says just like with AJ, just like with Joe, there's no excuses and that he'll see him in the ring. He warns Foley that if he snaps and comes to the ring with a weapon, he'll come to the ring armed as well.


After a short commercial interlude, we head to the back for a response to Sting's promo. Lauren has Mick Foley (who has apparently stolen a vest from Steven Segal) and Foley says that they're going to talk about what everyone is talking about...the controversial finish to The Bachelor. He says that he's seen the footage from last week and that he realizes he was wrong. He says he's going to apologize, they'll shake hands and that they're going to put the whole thing behind them because TNA fans like to watch two men hug. Lauren warns him about the baseball bat and Foley says that there will be no need for violence.


Match Two:
Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed vs. The Beautiful People w/Madison Rayne

Velvet Sky and Saeed start things out with Saeed getting a quick go-behind. Sky reverses and drops Saeed with a snap mare into a kick to the back, getting a near-fall before Saeed hits a punch and catches a kick from Sky. Saeed drops her to the mat and tries for a leglock, but Sky kicks her off and hits a clothesline before making the tag to Love. Love tells Saeed that she wants Kong and Saeed obliges, making the tag and fulfilling Love's death wish. Kong lookx at Love like she's crazy and they hit a lock-up with Kong ragdolling Love into the corner before clubbering her down. Sky tries to come in for the save but eats a HUGE chokeslam. Kong sends Love flying by the hair into the corner and follows that up with an avalanche in the corner. Tag to Saeed and she whips Love into the ropes but gets reversed. Saeed drops Love with a buttdrop and gets a two-count before picking her up and trying a side slam. Love flips out of it and hits a neckbreaker, dragging Saeed over to her corner to make the tag. Love and Sky lay into her with double kicks and Sky snap mares Saeed over again into a reverse chinlock. Saeed with a reverse elbow into a jawbreaker to break the hold and Sky makes the tag to Love. Love misses a clothesline and gets taken down with some chops and a massive bodyslam. Saeed with big right hands into a faceplant and Saeed goes for a cover that only gets two before Velvet Sky breaks it up. Kong goes after Sky and throws her out to the floor, following her out as Love hits the Lights Out on Saeed in the ring. 1-2-3, it's all over!! Big upset win for the Beautiful People!

Winners: The Beautiful People (pinfall, Love's Light's Out on Saeed) *

(Meh. Nothing major and some of TBP's offense and selling is almost laughable. I can't wait for the day that they finally split up Saeed and Kong so that maybe Saeed can get out from under the hood. TNA has been looking for a while for their number one babyface in the Knockouts division. I wonder if they know that they could already have her working in a silly Arabian gimmick.)

The Beautiful People and Rayne attack Kong from behind after the match and Love and Sky hold Kong for Rayne to bring in the scissors. Kong fights off all three of them, dropping Sky with a clothesline and sending them all scurrying. Kong eyeballs the slores as they stand on the ramp and mock her. Foley and Sting are shown backstage, making their way into the Impact Zone and their showdown is next!


Sting makes his way down to the ring in his pimp tracksuit, with a microphone and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and a baseball bat in hand. He asks for Foley to come on out and explain himself if he can. Foley hobo's his way down the ramp to the ring and says that he doesn't blame Sting for being mad at him. He says that he's going to give Sting his explanation and that they'll probably be laughing about it soon enough. He says it was a big miscommunication and that they've put together a video package of what had happened last week. He says that he may have been in a slightly altered state after the Angle Slam on the concrete when he saw what he saw last week. He says that he saw Sting grab the guitar from Jeff Jarrett and that it looked as if he was threatening Jarrett with it. He says that in an act of desperation, he saved the founder of TNA. It's all a big joke and the crowd actually boos Foley. Sting says he's not laughing now and he wasn't laughing last week. He says that he was trying to protect Foley last week. He can understand the pain in Foley's eyes as he's seen it in Mick just trying to get up out of a chair. He says that Foley's left a piece of himself in every ring in the world and that he's done it for the wrestling fans. Sting adds that he also did it for all the boys in the back, even for Sting. Sting says he tried to save him last week because he respected him, but he's starting to lose that respect right now because he's a little bit pissed off. That gets Sting some boos. Foley calls Sting a humanitarian and then talks about the economic crisis, saying that there's a lot of people who could use Sting's help, but he's not one of them. He asks who the hell Sting is to pity him and says that maybe he could have used that pity during his lame Hardcore History segments. Since last week's Impact, things have changed for Foley because since the chair made an impact with Sting's skull, the tables of time have turned according to Mick. He says that you can feel it in the air and that no one is talking about that "other wrestling show in April" and that they're only talking about Lockdown, Icon vs. Legend. Foley says that when the cage door slams shut and they're locked inside Six Sides of Steel, it won't be some pathetic loser bragging about the old days in the cage. It won't be him and Sting reliving history, it'll be him and Sting MAKING history. Foley says that as far as the big dives of the cage go, he's still got a couple left in him. Foley's music hits and Sting just kind of nods at him as Foley continues to talk after the promo's done.

Random Impact Observation #2: You've got to love TNA's booking as even the fans are confused as to who they're supposed to cheer in this one. Both Foley and Sting got boos during the segment and it's likely only going to get worse when the match actually comes on April 19th. I get that they enjoy having the fans split 50/50 with "Let's Go Foley" and "Let's Go Sting" chants, but that also means that for the half of the fans that will cheer whoever wins the main event, the other half will be booing, which isn't good for anyone.

Random Commercial Observation #1: That new Quizno's deal might be the gayest commercial I have ever seen for a sandwich or any product. From the way that that oven is talking, apparently that Quizno's employee enjoys fucking the thing after the store is closed. If there's one way to guarantee that I won't eat somewhere, that'd be it. Brilliant ad campaign Quizno's.



Match Three: 20-Man Gauntlet Inside Six Sides of Steel

The first two men in will be AJ Styles and Abyss. I haven't seen a full list of the twenty participants and I doubt I'd be able to come up with them all off the top of my head, so I'll just introduce them as they make their entrances. Styles tries to chop Abyss down with leg kicks and bounces off the ropes for a shoulderblock, but ends up going down. Styles runs the ropes and hits his beautiful dropkick before mounting Abyss in the corner for some punches. Abyss shoves him off and hammers AJ with a HUGE kick as he charges back into the corner. Abyss continues to work over Styles and Styles fires back with some rights to the gut. Abyss drops him with a big right hand then chokes him across the middle rope. Abyss picks him up and tries for a press slam, but Styles breaks free and lands some big chops. Irish whip from Abyss into the corner and he charges in but takes a reverse elbow. Abyss hits Shock Treatment on Styles and it's time for a new man. Alex Shelley is down as #3 and he spits water in Abyss' face before hitting a combo DDT/capoeira kick on Styles and Abyss. Running reverse elbow by Shelley on Abyss into an enziguri and Shelley follows it up with a running dropkick. Shelley tries for a charge off the ropes, but Abyss just sends him up into the lights before he crashes down to the mat. Styles hits his fantastic springboard flying forearm on Abyss and then stomps away in the corner before turning his attention to Shelley. Elbow to the back of Shelley's head lands and he grabs a front facelock, but Shelley shoves him into the corner. Elbows to the gut by Shelley and he just stands on Abyss' head before he heads over to trade right hands with Styles. Jay Lethal comes in as #4 and he heads right for Styles, hitting a boot to the face as Styles charges him before going up to the second rope to hit a leg lariat. Lethal and Shelley pair off and Lethal hits his handspring reverse elbow before scoring with shoulderblocks in the corner. Lethal does a backflip and charges for the big one, but Shelley catches him. Lethal reverses and hits the Macho jabs before whipping Shelley into the corner for an elbow. Shelley follows up and hits a clothesline on Lethal as Abyss steps on Styles' head and we're off to a commercial break!


We come back from the break and see that Chris Sabin came in during the commercial break as #5. Matt Morgan comes in as #6 and heads straight for Abyss as we get a replay of the Motor City Machine Guns working together earlier. Morgan hits a huge press on Shelley, throwing him into the cage before Lethal tries a hurrancanrana. Morgan catches him and powerbombs him against the cage before stopping to celebrate. He grabs Styles and sets up for a chokeslam, but Styles flips out of it, hitting the Pele out of nowhere. Morgan gets pushed right into a BLACK HOLE SLAM!! 1....2....3!! Morgan's out!! Abyss chokes away at Sabin in the corner, but Sabin fights out with some elbow shots. Homicide comes in as #7 and heads straight for Sabin with a big belly-to-belly. He follows that up with one on Shelley and fires off right hands on Sabin. He rams Shelley into the cage and then rams Sabin face-first into the cage. Belly-to-back suplex by Homicide on Shelley and follows that up with some grinding forearms on Sabin. Styles chokes Abyss with his boot in one corner as Shelley rakes at Lethal's face in another. Shelley locks in a Liontamer-style Boston crab on Lethal as Homicide has gone all the way up to the top to choke Sabin against the cage with his boot. Shelley drags him down and pokes him in the eye before the Guns head over and choke Lethal. Scott Steiner enters as #8 and takes down everybody with a flurry of Steinerlines. After that offensive outburst and some pushups from Steiner, it's time for another break!


Random Commercial Observation #2: And I thought I had gotten away from those superfluous 12 Rounds commercials after I was done with the Raw recap. Damnhellass.


During the break, Homicide was eliminated after a Cradle Shock from Chris Sabin and Consequences Creed entered at #9. Lethal is up on the top rope somehow, kicking both Machine Guns in the face before he takes both of them down with a moonsault. Double-pin on both Gungs only gets two. Abyss takes down Steiner and then chokes him with his boot against the ropes. Lethal and Creed hit a double-pancake on Sabin and that gets a two-count. Rhino enters the match at #10 and he heads straight for Steiner, dropping him with right hands before putting the boots to him. He chokes Steiner against the cage as the Guns double-team Creed with kicks. Shelley gets a roll-up for a two-count on Creed and Sabin just starts raking away at Creed's face. Abyss and Styles have paired off, as have Rhino and Steiner and the Guns and Lethal Consequences. Creed hits his splitting right hand on Sabin and gets a two-count before Shelley breaks up the count. Creed with a middle-rope bulldog on Shelley, but that also only gets a two-count as Sabin makes the save. Jumping jawbreaker from Shelley on Lethal and here comes Jeff Jarrett as #11!! Kurt Angle attacks Jarrett before he can even make it into the cage and rams Jarrett into the railing headfirst. TNA security comes in to try to save Jarrett and Angle takes some pot-shots at them too. Angle lays Jarrett's arm across the top of the railing and WAFFLES IT WITH A STEEL CHAIR!! TNA security tries to break the railing open to get to Jarrett as the action continues in the ring! Sabin hits an amazing tornado DDT off the top rope on Lethal and tries for a pin, but can only get two. Naito from Team No Limit is #12 and he takes Creed out with a HUGE missile dropkick. Forearm on Creed and Lethal tries an Irish whip, but Naito runs the ropes and hits a flying bodypress. Powerslam by Naito on Lethal gets a two-count as we see TNA officials still trying to help Jarrett in the crowd. Naito and the Guns hit a triple-baseball slide dropkick on Creed as Creed is tied in the Tree of Woe in a really cool spot. Sabin, Shelley and Naito continue to work together hitting big moves on Jay Lethal in the corner. Naito slams Lethal and heads up to the top rope for a twisting moonsault, but Lethal moves out of the way. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination on Alex Shelley and gets the three-count to elminate him! Kurt Angle is in now at #13 and he stops in the aisle to lay another couple of cheapshots on Jarrett before he gets into the ring. I had to laugh as Don West says that he thought he saw Jarrett lunge at Angle. Tremendous. Angle heads right into the ring and right into an anklelock on Creed and Creed taps out!! Sabin with a spinning back kick to the gut on Angle and he heads off the ropes, but Angle turns him inside out with a clothesline. Angle Slam follows and there's the three-count to eliminate Sabin!! Angle Slam on Lethal!! 1....2...3!!! Angle is on a roll and we're off to another commercial break!!

Random Impact Observation #3: Heel Don West is really starting to remind me of how Bobby "The Brain" Heenan used to be when he was working with Gorilla Monsoon. That line about Jarrett lunging at Angle totally reminded me of how Heenan used to be on color. I miss having a straight-up heel color guy and West is actually fitting the bill better than I ever thought he would.


Back from the commercial, we find out that Naito was eliminated by Scott Steiner and Shane Sewell entered the cage as #14. Sewell hammers away on Angle, but Angle goes to the eyes to break it up. Angle hits an Angle Slam out of nowhere and Sewell is eliminated. I guess no one told him that he was going to be the Bushwhacker of this whole deal. Sheik Abdul Bashir is #15 and he takes out Rhino right out of the gate, running him into the cage before stomping him down. Choking from Bashir on Rhino and he praises Allah as Abyss drops Angle with a right hand. Bashir chokes Rhino across the top rope and Steiner chokes away on Abyss against the cage. Styles hits a quick roll-up on Angle that only gets two and Angle fires away with right hands on Styles. Angle with a snap suplex on Styles, floating over into the pin, but he can only get two. Steiner knees Abyss in the corner and Angle pounds away with right hands on Styles. Styles with another Pele that drops Angle!! Booker T is in at #16, without Sharmell and he takes his sweet time getting down to the ring. Steiner holds Styles as Booker gets into the ring and Booker goes straight into the clinched knees followed by a Book End that gets the pin to eliminate AJ. Booker lays the shit talk on Styles as he gets rolled out of the cage and turns around right into a MASSIVE GOARRRRRR FROM RHINO!! There's the cover and there's the three-count!! Booker's gone!! Bashir chokes Rhino in the corner and on the outside Booker and AJ start brawling their way backstage. Abyss lays out Steiner and Angle, grabbing Steiner with the goozle before Steiner hits him with a big kick into little Abyss. Yujiro from Team No Limit is #17 and he drops Steiner with a kick and a running lariatooooo that gets a two-count before Kurt Angle breaks up the pin. Steiner kicks Yujiro in the balls and catches a breather as Angle stomps away at Rhino against the cage. Angle, Steiner and Bashir triple-team Abyss before Steiner goes over to choke Rhino as Bashir and Angle beat up Abyss. Bashir gets high-fives from Angle and Steiner and as he turns to shake hands with Angle, he gets pulled into an ANGLE SLAM!! Bashir is eliminated!!

Eric Young is out as #17, but just as he makes his way into the ring, Angle and Steiner hit a double-Book End on Abyss, followed by a double pin to eliminate the monster. Young drops Angle and Steiner with right hands and dropkicks before hitting a big bodyslam on Yujiro. Young gets Angle up for the Death Valley Driver, but Steiner saves him. Young off the ropes after a pair of right hands, but Angle boots him in the gut into another HUGE Angle Slam!! There's the pin and there goes Eric Young!! Yujiro and Rhino team up on Steiner before turning on each other and that leads to a WICKED HUGE GOAAAHHHHH on Yujiro that eliminates him. Angle sneaks up and hits an Angle Slam on Rhino....1....2....3!! Rhino's GONE!! Steiner and Angle are standing tall alone in the middle of the ring. Angle drops down and Steiner covers him, but Angle rolls the shoulder before the three. Steiner fakes a heart attack and drops to the mat, allowing Angle to cover for his own two-count. Hernandez is out as #19 now and Steiner and Angle seem like they're ready to take him out. Hernandez drops them both with a double-clothesline and he follows with a huge avalanche on Steiner. There's another for Angle!! Shirt-assisted hip toss on Angle and he's got Steiner up for the drop-down backbreaker. Angle grabs Hernandez from behind and tries an Irish whip, but Hernandez reverses. Angle kicks him in the chest, but eats a HUGE shoulderblock from SuperMex! Hernandez grabs Steiner and tries for a Border Toss, but Angle sneaks in for the save!! Angle Slam!! Hernandez is eliminated!! It's down to a bloody Scott Steiner and Kurt Angle as they wait for the final participant!! Angle dusts the shoulder off as the countdown begins and here comes Jeff Jarrett with some tape on his shoulder!! Jarrett drops Angle and Steiner with rights and mounts Steiner for punches before Angle attacks from behind. Double-vertical suplex on Jarrett and Steiner tries for the cover, but can only get two. Steiner and Angle work the double-team, but Jarrett ducks an Angle clothesline, which ends up taking out Steiner. Jarrett with a roll-up....1.......2......ANGLE BARELY KICKS OUT!! STROKE ON STEINER!! 1....2...3!!! It's down to Angle and Jarrett!!

Angle goes for a quick Angle Slam, but Jarrett reverses into an armdrag takedown. Clothesline from Jarrett!! There's a kick and Jarrett's going for the Tennesee Pedigree, but Angle back bodydrops him over. Jarrett rolls, but Angle rolls into the Anklelock!! Jarrett kicks him off with the free leg and follows with an enziguri!! JARRETT HITS THE STROKE ON ANGLE!! 1.......2..............STEINER BREAKS UP THE PIN!! Jarrett takes a kick from Steiner and Steiner hits an Angle Slam on Jarrett right onto the injured shoulder. Angle's up and goes for the pin!! 1....2.......3!!! Jarrett's eliminated!! The crowd chants for him and HERE COMES SAMOA JOE!! Joe charges the ring and drops Angle with a flurry of clotheslines!! Joe with jabs on Angle and there's the KOKINA CLUTCH!! Angle reverses it into the Anklelock, but Joe kicks out!! Joe charges at Angle in the corner but misses. ANGLE SLAM!! DOWN COME THE STRAPS!! JOE'S ON HIS FEET BEHIND ANGLE!! Joe charges and Angle hits a reverse elbow. Joe with a huge kick as Angle gets up onto the second rope. Joe picks Angle up and IT'S MUSCLE BUSTER TIME!!! JOE COVERS ANGLE!! 1....2...3!!! Joe and Angle are the captains for Lethal Lockdown!!

Winner: Samoa Joe (pinfall, Muscle Buster on Angle) ***1/2

(That was actually a well-paced Gauntlet match and a fun match all the way around. With TNA, most multi-man matches turn into an epic clusterfuck, but this one was set up to where there was never too many guys in the ring. The action kept going except for a short break in the middle that saw a lot of punching and choking, but for the most part this one was pedal to the metal from the opening bell. Probably one of the best gauntlet matches I've seen TNA put together, even with the cage involved.)


Back from the final commercial break, we see the replay of how the 20-Man Gauntlet inside Six Sides of Steel went down, including the crazy finish with Samoa Joe. Jim Cornette comes up to the announce table and Don West accosts him, trying to find out why Jarrett got two chances to be in the match. Cornette corrects West and says that Jarrett's first chance got cut off by Angle and that he didn't get the chance to tell anyone that Jarrett was still in the match. He gets in a zinger saying that if there had been an inter-office memo on it, West would have been last guy on the list to get one. Ouch. We head to the back and JB is with Kurt Angle. Angle says he has nothing to say and he can't believe what happened. Angle says that he eliminated Jarrett three times in the match and that he changed the rules repeatedly. He asks how many times he had to eliminate him and says that he did everything right. He turns to Samoa Joe and says that they should have ended Joe's career last time, but that was the only mistake the Mafia will make. Angle promises that they're going to make good on ending Joe's career at Lockdown and tells him to bring the Nation of Violence with him and then begs Joe to put Jeff Jarrett on his team. He says that the Mafia will end both of their careers and that the Mafia will never die. We go back to the desk and Mike Tenay asks Cornette about whether they're ready for a possible takeover from the Mafia. Cornette defends the decision as Don West cuts him down again, saying that he did what was right and if it means there's consequences from the Mafia so be it. He adds that he has faith in the Frontline to keep him safe as well. Tenay throws it back to Lauren in the back with Samoa Joe and his slingblade. Lauren asks who he'll chose as the captain of the team. Joe says he's not interested in being a captain and he's not interested in fighting the good fight. He says that his only reason for being here is to torture every member of the Main Event Mafia. Joe says he doesn't know who's going to be the captain, but he's going to be in the Lethal Lockdown and his slingblade will be coming with him. Wow, what a crappy way to end the show, I have to say. We fade to black and we're out from Orlando!!