TNA iMPACT!
August 5, 2005
Orlando, FL
Universal Studios
(Taped on 7/19/05)

The current NWA & TNA Champs were as follows:
NWA World Champion: Raven (6/19/2005)
NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Naturals (4/29/2005)
TNA X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels (3/13/2005)

Your hosts are Mike Tenay and Don West.

• Samoa Joe vs. Alex Shelley – Super X Cup Semifinals
  

Christopher Daniels joins us for commentary. Nice hold and counter hold to start before we go into commercial. When we return, semifinalist Petey Williams watches on from the tunnel. Looks like Shelley is putting Joe’s arms in a figure-four, which doesn’t make sense. Anyways, Joe escapes and slaps Shelley across the chest. They show the other Super X cup semifinalist AJ Styles watching this one on a monitor in the back. This is like UWF Japan, son! Nah, not really. They are all over the mat showing off what Shelley can do. Joe stops a series of forearm smashes with a palm strike. He unloads with stiff kicks in the corner. Shelley fights back with a wheelbarrow bulldog for two. Joe rolling legsweeps Shelley to cut off the comeback. Running senton splash gets two. Joe delivers the running knee in the corner and follows up with the Ole Kick. More corner violence ensues as Joe hits the MUSCLE BUSTER and the COQUINA CLUTCH finishes off Shelley to advance Joe to the finals. (9:03 shown) Interesting contest as Joe proved Shelley’s mat based offense futile against his monster offense once he got it going. **½

They show a video packing recapping not just the Waltman-Lynn confrontation from last week, but also showing some footage from the early 1990s when they worked in Japan together. No GWF footage though.

After the break, Shane Douglas meets with Cassidy Riley backstage. He’s all excited that his hero Raven came to save him last week when he was being attacked by Jeff Jarrett and Rhino. Not just that, but he can’t wait to see Raven and Sabu teaming together. OMG LOL PLS FOLLOW ME!

• NWA World Tag Team Champions The Naturals (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Team Canada (w/A-1)
  

It’s about time we saw the tag champs on iMPACT. Team Canada is Bobby Roode and Eric Young this week. Coach D’Amore is still out of action selling the Lance Hoyt flying elbow. The Naturals clean house to start, but then Andy Douglas quickly becomes *your* face in peril. Douglas fights off a bearhug and gets a couple nearfalls on Roode. DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER on Team Canada! Now Douglas goes to make a tag, but Roode clips him just before that can happen. Tag to Young, he’s on top of Douglas with an armbar. Douglas comes back again and catches Young with a High Knee. Can he make the tag? NO WAY! Roode cuts off the tag to draw Stevens in so Team Canada can put the boots to Douglas some more. Douglas finally slips away from what looked like a press slam and falls back into a HOT TAG TO STEVENS! A-1 tries something, but he’s pitched back out to the floor. Flair Flip by Young and he takes a clothesline on the apron. Spinebuster on Roode gets 1-2-NO! Petey Williams comes down and distracts Stevens, who turns back around into a full nelson slam from Roode! Flying elbow by Young gets 1-2-NO! While Jimmy Hart turns to pump up the crowd, Roode reaches down and steals his megaphone. Way to go, Jimmy. As Roode reaches back to nail Stevens, Douglas comes up behind him and takes the megaphone away. Roode ducks the megaphone, but Young does not. Meanwhile, Petey is talking to the ref about what a CRAZY hurricane season it had been. Whoops. Now Douglas plays Eddie Guerrero by tossing the megaphone to Roode and playing dead – just like Roode did to the Naturals at No Surrender that got Jimmy Hart sent to the back. That’ll be a DQ, Team Canada. (8:29) Drats! Curses! Our evil plan has been foiled! Team Canada do a number on the Naturals until America’s Most Wanted – the very team who lost the tag belts to the Naturals – run out and make the save. Team Canada have the classic ’80s tag formula down to a perfected routine. This sets up a big eight man tag for the PPV. ***

• Abyss (w/James Mitchell) vs. Apolo (w/Sonny Siaki)
  

Check out this lazy graphic. I didn’t know this was a tag match.

Apolo shows Abyss that he is NOT intimidated by him. He takes Abyss to the floor with a clothesline and they take a ride around ringside. Abyss whips Apolo into the guardrail and grabs a chair, but Sonny Siaki says no sir. Commercials! AND WE’RE BACK! Abyss is in control now as he sends Apolo into the ringpost. Apolo fights off a Chokeslam with elbows and connects with a swinging neckbreaker for two. James Mitchell hooks the leg to distract Apolo into a clothesline. Apolo fights off a neck wrench and tries a Jack Brisco rollup, but he’s TOO BIG. Full nelson slam will work though. Did Don West just say Apolo has some mad skills? Superkick from Apolo gets grabbed, but he still manages a clothesline. Uranage by Apolo, but the ref is trying to keep Siaki and Mitchell apart. Meanwhile, Abyss grabs the chair again and Apolo eventually superkicks the chair into his face. Not really though. The ref finally counts 1-2-NO! Pfft, you’re not going over Abyss. BLACK HOLE SLAM! That’s what I thought. (6:06 shown) Lance Hoyt attacks Abyss afterwards and sends him to the floor. Hoyt tells Abyss that if they thought he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, then Abyss made the wrong choice at the wrong time. He reminds Abyss what his name is by asking the crowd what his name is. No, you read that right. Looks like Abyss v. Hoyt is coming *next* Sunday! ¾*

In the back, Monty Brown is totally against the TNA DOA Larry Zbyszko’s decision to make BG James the special referee in his tag team rematch at Sacrifice since Monty and Kip are beating up all the refs. Monty says if the referees think it’s violent now, Larry Z just better not keep BG James as the ref in his match at Sacrifice. Larry Z looks way too chill to be the boss wearing his cabana wear.

• Raven & Sabu vs. The Diamonds in the Rough
  

This should be short. David Young is the only man in the ring to NOT work for Paul Heyman. Raven can’t get the RAVEN EFFECT on anyone just yet. Springboard leg lariat by Sabu gets two on Young. Slingshot somersault legdrop gets two. He grabs the CAMEL CLUTCH, but Diamond breaks it up. Tag to Diamond, he goes all Kevin Sullivan on Sabu by sticking him in the tree of woe and charging at Sabu with a knee. Diamond now goes Eddie Guerrero on Sabu with the Three Amigos and ends by hanging him out to dry. Young tags in and delivers the AA Spinebuster on Sabu for 1-2-NO! Sabu fights back with a cannonball splash from the top. HOT TAG TO RAVEN! He pulls out a rag and blows his nose before putting the rag in Young’s face. WHAT. Raven takes a double-clothesline, but then Sabu flies in and delivers a double clothesline of his own to the DITR. RAVEN EFFECT on Young sets up the ARABIAN FACEBUSTER by Sabu for the 1-2-3. (4:11) Just a glorified squash to put over Raven and Sabu as a team. Jeff Jarrett and Rhino storm the ring, but Raven and Sabu clean house. Sabu takes flight and planchas out on top of them both – including a couple random security guards. *½

TNA presents Sacrifice LIVE on PPV on August 14!
Here is the card as it currently looks:

Main Event: Raven & Sabu vs. Jeff Jarrett & Rhino
The Super X Cup Finals
The Naturals & America’s Most Wanted vs. Team Canada
Jerry Lynn vs. Sean Waltman
Ron Killings & Konnan vs. Kip James & Monty Brown – BG James as special referee
Abyss vs. Lance Hoyt