TNA iMPACT!
August 26, 2005
Orlando, FL
Universal Studios
(Taped on 8/16/05)

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.

• Sean Waltman & Alex Shelley vs. Shark Boy & Abyss (w/James Mitchell) – Chris Candido Memorial Tag Team Tournament (First Round)
  

Hey look, Waltman showed up! Shark Boy and Abyss together should be hilarious. This is what I wanted to see = those odd face/heel pairings. Shark Boy and Shelley start the contest. Hammerlocks and headscissors from these two. Shark Boy lands the facebuster and bites Shelley on the behind. VINTAGE SHARK BOY! He then runs over and tags Waltman, who slam dunks Shark Boy. Waltman doesn’t seem very motivated here. He tags Shelley, whips him knees first into Shark Boy in the corner, and follows up with the Bronco Buster. In comes Abyss who clotheslines both Waltman and Shelley. Waltman gets sent to the floor and Shelley takes the SHOCK TREATMENT. Shark Boy thinks he and Abyss are cool, which is untrue because he’s a crazy monster. Abyss levels Shark Boy with the BLACK HOLE SLAM and leaves him for dead as Shelley gives Shark Boy the Golden Gate Swing for the three count. (4:10) That’s how you book a monster. While Joe Parks the man I’m sure cares about Chris Candido, Abyss the wrestler would not. Exciting little match there. *½

• The Diamonds in the Rough vs. Mikey Batts & Jerrelle Clark
  

Wasn’t Mikey Batts trying to join up with the Diamonds in the Rough? Who cares. David Young and Jerrelle Clark start us off. When Clark lands a springboard headscissors, Simon Diamond slaps Young to get him fired up. Clark tags in Batts and gets destroyed while the crowd chants that he sucks. LAWL. Eventually, Clark gets the hot tag. Out of nowhere, Young cuts him off with a clothesline that flips him inside out. From there, Young delivers the Double-A Spinebuster and ends Clark for the win. (2:45) One of the few times I’ve ever seen these guys win a match. Another quick, decent outing here. *½

Backstage with Shane Douglas, TNA DOA Larry Zbyszko announces that the Naturals will face America’s Most Wanted, Team Canada, and the winners of the CCMTT in a four-way elimination match at Unbreakable to find out who the top team in TNA really is. The X-Division champ Christopher Daniels interrupts Larry Z and demands that something be done about AJ Styles because he can’t be at the top of his game with AJ always sticking his nose in his business. Since apparently Daniels can’t handle this on his own, Larry Z changes the match at Unbreakable to a three-way dance adding AJ Styles to his X-Division title defense. Then Shane Douglas states the obvious.

• Elix Skipper (w/Simon Diamond) vs. Apolo (w/Sonny Siaki)
  

Somebody needs to do a “Where is he now?” segment on Elix Skipper. That guy has seemingly fallen off the planet. Apolo plays defense against Skipper around and throws him around until we go to commercial. When we come back, the same things are happening. Finally, Skipper listens to this karate master and sweeps the leg. Skipper makes the mistake of allowing Apolo to get up to his feet, but winds up giving him a snapmare and a stiff kick to the shoulder blades. Apolo fights back with a Running Demon Bomb! It has little effect apparently as Skipper dropkicks him in the knee. Moonsault press by Skipper gets two. Flying legdrop misses however and Apolo mounts a comeback using a SAMOAN CUTTER. Even though he’s not Samoan, he picks up the victory. (6:38 shown) Apolo looking good here although VERY selling, which is another reason why he reminds me of Batista besides just his look. *½

We go to Shane Douglas who is standing by with Kip James and Petey Williams who are teaming together in the final first round CCMTT match. After Kip sounds all confident about the match, Monty Brown confronts Kip and tells him he’s got big plans for their future together once he’s done with the CCMTT and that they will be on the hunt. Jeff Jarrett interrupts and tells them that Planet Jarrett has become the hunted by TNA management. Once they get on Spike TV, they could all be cut from TNA. Petey Williams speaks for Coach D’Amore and tells Jarrett that Team Canada is behind Planet Jarrett all the way. Monty tells Jarrett that their relationship is over and that he will get what he feels is rightfully his: the NWA world title.

• Kip James & Petey Williams vs. Konnan & Lance Hoyt – Chris Candido Memorial Tag Team Tournament (First Round)
  

Konnan and Petey start the match. After some wristlock stuff, Konnan backs Petey in the corner and brings in Hoyt for a running clothesline. While Kip comes inside, Konnan throws the shoe at Petey, which is just plain silly. As Konnan goes after Kip, he gets baited into a knee clipping from Petey. They cut the ring in half with chokes before Hoyt gets the HOT TAG. He gives Kip a Side Slam and backdrops the Canadian Destroyer away. He lifts Petey up into a choke and powerbombs him down. Kip calls for the FAMOUSER, but Konnan trips him up and he turns back around into a Big Boot for the win. (4:50) Lance Hoyt continues to be that really over guy with the TNA audience, but management isn’t quite sure if they can push him real far just yet. *½

Backstage, Shane Douglas interviews America’s Most Wanted. Harris says they don’t care that their NWA world tag team championship match comes in the form of a four-way elimination match because they are the most DOMINATING team in TNA history. Storm says they are good wrestlers, but better fighters and we’ll find out what that means at Unbreakable.

Elsewhere, Jeff Hardy is hanging from the ceiling like a bat. Larry Z finds this behavior unprofessional that won’t be tolerated once they go to Spike TV. Apparently, Jeff considers that a challenge.

• NWA World Heavyweight Champion Raven vs. Bobby Roode (w/Petey Williams)
  

This is non-title, folks. Raven draws a line in the sand with the NWA world title. Roode shoves him back and stomps him in the corner. He tries a corner charge, but misses Raven and runs shoulder-first into the post. Raven makes him pay this time by simply throwing into the ringpost as we go to commercial. When we return, Roode’s low blows Raven and gets aggressive all over his face. You can interject interference from Petey Williams wherever you wish. After a chinlock, they go to the floor where Roode whips Raven into the guardrail. That just serves to fire up Raven as he gives Roode a Russian legsweep onto the floor. Back inside, Raven mounts his comeback including the running corner clothesline and bulldog for two. TO slow him down, Roode dumps out Raven so Petey can run him face-first into the post. Back inside, Roode jumps on the cover for two. NORTHERN LARIAT misses and ref Andrew Thomas gets wiped out. Raven applies the Anklelock on Roode, but Petey breaks it up with the hockey stick. He wants a Canadian Destroyer, but Cassidy Riley runs down to save his idol. Meanwhile, Raven stumbles into the Canadian Maple Leaf, but Raven escapes and kicks Roode off into Petey so he can hit the RAVEN EFFECT for the win. (10:58 shown) Raven needed the win and Bobby Roode needed the strong match considering who they have in store for him at Unbreakable. Above average main event match even with all the typical TNA run-ins. After the bell, Rhino comes out and Raven takes care of him that is until Abyss enters the ring and boots Raven down for a 2-on-1 beatdown. Eventually the lights go out and Sabu appears once they come back on loaded with a steel chair. He clears the ring of Abyss and Rhino. Mitchell keeps Abyss at bay while elsewhere, Rhino points looking super pissed at Raven and Sabu. **¼

NEXT WEEK: The second round of the CCMTT. Plus, Chase Stevens battles James Storm!

TNA presents Unbreakable
LIVE on PPV
September 11, 2005
Orlando, FL

MAIN EVENT: NWA World Heavyweight Champion Raven vs. Rhino
NWA World Tag Team Champions The Naturals vs. AMW vs. Team Canada vs. Winners of the CCMTT
TNA X-Division Champion Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles