83 Weeks - TNA Sacrifice 2010 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Sacrifice 2010

Sacrifice 2010 took place on May 16th, from the Impact Zone, in Orlando, Florida. It drew 1,100

What did you think of the Impact Zone? How would you compare/contrast it to Disney MGM, when you ran WCW Worldwide from there for a few years

With such low attendance at the Impact Zone because of it's size, did you think it was better to take PPVs on the road instead?

At the beginning of May, TNA decided to end the Monday Night Wars 2, and put Impact back on Thursday nights. The first show back on Thursday did a 0.93

Talk about that decision and how did you personally feel about it? TNA on Monday Night last barely 2 months

The final Monday Impact did an 0.8 rating with an 0.7 in males 18-to-49, an 0.5 in persons 18-to-49, an 0.7 in males 18-to-34, and 1.1 million viewers.

Dixie Carter said in a press release that their “fans made it clear that they preferred the Thursday night time period.” Carter added another positive spin on the Thursday return: “This is a win/win opportunity for both TNA and the fans. We are looking forward to delivering what the fans are asking for.” 

Brian Diamond, Spike TV’s senior V.P., said in the press release Spike is looking to maximize potential male viewers on Thursday nights rather than losing male viewers on Monday nights. “The fans have spoken and with their input we have determined the best timeslot to maximize the TNA audience is on Thursday nights where we are confident it will be among the most–watched shows with young men,” said Diamond 

Keller reported - Impact will no longer be live every–other week. Going live cost more money, and while live shows did better than taped shows in the ratings, that could be due to the live shows coming right after PPV when interest is logically higher and scheduling flukes such as going up against WWE’s post–PPV editions of Raw with pretaped editions. Also, the three–hour draft edition of Raw went up against a taped Impact. So there were so many variables that would lead one to predict a lower rating for shows on those Mondays whether they were taped out, no certain conclusion can be drawn that being live made any difference in and of itself. 

Meltzer wrote - From a morale standpoint, it was said there was a general feeling of being deflated with the announcement that TNA was moving back to Thursday. Many who closely follow the business accepted that it was the only logical thing to do, but a lot of the current talent doesn’t do that, and were told just two months earlier how the move to Monday was going to turn the company around. 

There was fear that the ratings going back to Thursday will not be back to what they were in February, and that the move to Monday had eroded the fan base. I don’t think it’s as much that as it showed TNA really doesn’t have as loyal a fan base as expected. There is just a certain number of people who will watch wrestling if it’s on TV in prime time on a week night on a decent station. 

They’ll even watch when a big football or basketball game is on, but those people are not emotionally invested in TNA storylines. The recent poll, which was dominated by people who wanted to screw with the system by voting for Desmond Wolfe or Matt Morgan as the next contender as opposed to the people TNA itself pushes as its top stars. 

Keller reported - Ultimately, though, it was atrocious use of expensive additions to the roster that killed TNA’s hopes of competing with Raw on Mondays. After a newsworthy show on January 4 spiked interest in TNA, the poor booking decisions for the next two months eroded TNA’s audience leading into the ill–timed move to Monday nights. The acquisitions of Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, Mr. Anderson, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Hulk Hogan, and Eric Bischoff didn’t help ratings. It took some astronomically lousy booking to negate their star power, but week after week TNA managed to drive away more and more fans, even in the last month up against admittedly below–average editions of WWE Raw. 

Do you agree with his comments on that?

You were on Monday Night Mayhem radio show during this time. Here's some things that you said -

You said TNA’s market research indicated fans of both WWE and TNA were having a problem with being forced to watch either Impact or Raw on Monday nights. You said you were personally disappointed they left Monday nights, prompting some second-guessing on his part, but he supports the decision for business. “One of the things that happened is after the move to Monday nights, we were part of some research, along with Spike TV, and in that research, it was determined that there were fans who enjoyed the competition on Monday nights, there were also a lot of fans who felt like, ’Man, I can’t check out both.’

It was a problem for them having to switch back and forth and they didn’t enjoy making the choice,”  You said that TNA doesn’t have other programming like WWE, so TNA fans only have one choice during the week to watch TNA programming. “There is only one TNA vehicle out there and that made it difficult for some TNA fans,” 

“After going through the research, and that was only one of the factors, there were other factors as well. You were asked if going up against WWE during WrestleMania season was a bad decision in hindsight. “I’d be lying to you guys if I suggested to you that I wasn’t very disappointed (leaving Monday nights) and haven’t spent time going, 

’Okay, if I could do it all over again, what would I do differently?’ I do think that was part of it. It was a risk. We knew that WrestleMania and the hype going into it was going to make it more difficult. The flip-side of that argument is wrestling in general has a heightened audience during that period as well,”

On whether there is a “best time” to try to compete with WWE not during WrestleMania season, you said there is no true “best time” due to the built-in TV seasons where the audience is typically fragmented throughout the year. “There is no ’best time.’ There is no time of year when TV competition is not incredibly aggressive. Whether it’s the NBA Playoffs we’re in right now post-WrestleMania, the NFL season starting up in August, whether it’s summer time when no one’s watching TV. 

In terms of when is the best time, there’s never a best time without there being a fair amount of risk associated with it,”  “It didn’t turn out the way we all hoped it would turn out, but at the end of the day, we learned, we created some noise, hopefully we created some awareness, and maybe in the longrun, maybe it was a good choice.” 

On the possibility of Jim Ross joining TNA: “I don’t know what Jim’s thinking or what’s in his personal interest right now. We have a pretty good personal relationship, but I haven’t talked to him in a few months.” On Paul Heyman: “No idea. I don’t know what he thinks is good for him or not. Never say never, right?”

You said one of the main reasons they brought in Rob Van Dam was to create more awareness for TNA and try to draw in more fans to the product. “RVD, in my opinion, is one of the better things that’s happened to us in a while. We’re hoping that change (putting the TNA World Title on RVD) will resonate with people who might not otherwise tune into TNA previously. 

One of the reasons Rob Van Dam is here is to help TNA expand its audience. He clearly is a guy who is worthy of being the TNA World Hvt. champion.” 

Speaking of RVD, he did an interview during this time with Alex Marvez

one of the key reasons that brought him to TNA was a bond with Jeff Hardy, who he says called him regularly to talk about joining TNA. Before RVD officially debuted on March 8, RVD says they figured they could take over TNA together and wouldn’t have to deal with the “stuff they hated” in WWE. “He (Hardy) started to call me regularly before I even knew I was going to sign with TNA,” 

“That was different. I don’t know that Jeff had ever even called my cell phone before. He told me how much he thought we could take over TNA and how much better it was than WWE because we both hated the same stuff about that job. While I didn’t sign just because he told me to, I do feel an extra-deep connection with him.” RVD also talked about the move back to Thursday nights. 

He said “WWE is king” on Monday nights, they were tired of getting beat up on Mondays, and he’s buying the idea they can build their audience alone on Thursday nights. “WWE is king. I didn’t expect going in to throw them out of their position, but I thought maybe we could make a little run at them,” RVD said. “It sounds like this was probably a good move. We already were airing a Thursday replay anyway and getting our (butts) kicked on Monday. 

Keller wrote - TNA has discussed internally whether the monthly PPV format is right for them. The level of buys has been lousy. They’re not a public company and they’re not released with any precision, but estimates have put the PPV numbers each month in the 20,000-45,000 range before this year. TNA still hasn’t found a way to translate their viewers into a higher percentage of PPV buys, and I doubt the 2010 influx of big names has helped much. If their ratings are flat and our website numbers for them are flat, they’re probably not doing any better despite the expensive additions of talent. (Our web traffic numbers tend to parallel ups and downs in TV ratings and PPV buys, so it’s a semireliable indicator.) 

There is a way for TNA to possibly double or event triple the buys; simply run fewer events. PPV distributors won’t necessarily vote for that. They are the delivery vehicle and they keep about a half million dollars for each 25,000-buy TNA PPV event. They’re not going to boot TNA anytime soon. TNA has expenses for each PPV that offset pretty much all of their revenue, especially when they take the show on the road. 

What's your memories of those internal discussions that Wade talked about?

Meltzer reported - Dixie Carter announced this week that the company was severing ties with Bubba the Love Sponge after Bubba, real name Todd Clem, 44, ambushed Awesome Kong on the radio and repeatedly called her a "black bitch.” Basically, what happened was that Bubba and this other radio host named Cowhead are friends and do a show on the same station in Tampa. They devised a diabolical plan. First, they worked a feud for three days on the air. Then Cowhead invited Kong to come to the studio and bury Bubba on the air. 

Unbeknownst to her, it was all a plan, and the idea was that she'd come to the studio and then Bubba would leap out and bury her face-to-face. A SURPRISE face-to-face confrontation, not cowardly at all. Kong ended up moving, though, and couldn't make it to the studio. So she called in, and in the middle of the interview Bubba show up and ambushed her. He went off on her, asking her about the lawsuit she filed. She said she never filed a lawsuit as he well knew.

He said her lawyer had said some horrible things about him and called her a "fake bitch." She told him to come meet her face to face and actually gave her address on the air. They then proceeded to start screaming over each other and since they were in studio all you could hear was Bubba ranting and Kong saying something incomprehensible in the background. He called her a little pussy bitch, and the "big fake black bitch that you are." "How color-blind are you, bitch?" Bubba told her to come to his studio tomorrow.

“Why don't we sanction something and we can give proceeds to HAITI!" he screamed, then sarcastically started shouting, "HAAAAAAAAAAITI!" He said, "You stupid bitch, I'll kick your ass right now!" at which point she hung up on him. Cowhead actually said they should take a camera and go to her apartment and kick her ass. Seriously, two grown men. 

Bubba said he wanted a sanctioned live event and he'd send every frikkin dollar to "HAIIIIIIIIIITTIIIIIIIIIIII!" He came off like the world's biggest asshole.  

Talk about what the reaction was when all of this happened

What was Hulk's feelings about it?

Speaking of Hulk, TMZ stopped Hogan and Jimmy Hart in an airport to talk about Hogan’s “energy drinks.” After initially promoting Five-Hour Energy, Hogan said, “I’d drink my own sweat to survive. Once you drink the energy, energy can only be borrowed, so you don’t want to give it away. If you’re going to piss it out, you need to re-drink it. “You can actually put it back in the bottle and resell it. It tastes about the same. Oh! Did I just say that? You’re getting me at the wrong time, I just drank a bottle of sake”. 

TMZ reported Hulk Hogan is scheduled for another procedure on his back soon. One of TNA’s top names was forced to delay surgery, though, after there were questions on the condition of his heart. Hogan was reportedly undergoing tests prior to back surgery last week when doctors discovered a “problem” with his heart. According to TMZ, Hogan visited a cardiovascular medical center in Florida for follow-up. Doctors conducted more extensive tests and determined Hogan’s heart was “working just fine” and he could proceed with back surgery 

Meltzer reported - Bischoff has been talking about doing some sort of Tough Enough-style show on Spike this summer. There's a revolutionary idea. 

Also, around this time, you made an interesting Tweet – Dave wrote - Bischoff on his Twitter wrote: "Before the internet gets ahold of it: Its true. I am getting married to a woman I have been having an affair with for some time. While everyone will be quick to judge, at some point one just does what one needs to do. Hope everyone understands. EB.” Everyone figures he's renewing his vows. 

During this time, Jeff Hardy was awaiting a court date. 

Hardy was faced with seven separate drug–related charges. The following is a list of the charges Hardy is faced with. Case 1—Felony drug trafficking, Two felony charges of possession of a Schedule III controlled substance or drug. 

Case 2—Felony possession of cocaine, Felony maintaining a dwelling for redistribution of controlled substances. 

Case 3—Misdemeanor Possession of drug paraphernalia. Case 4 (newly added January 2010)— Conspiracy to traffic opium. 

Meltzer wrote about him 

WWE’s last unofficial offer to Jeff Hardy before he signed here was a $750,000 downside where he’s only have to work 65 dates a year, giving him the biggest break on the schedule of anyone, even more then Michaels had. Hardy turned it down. He was really upset about, in his mind, nobody talking to him and backing him after his arrest, and then having Punk do the promos regarding the arrest which, since he wasn’t with the company, wasn’t business because it wasn’t there to build up a match. 

It’s virtually a lock that Hardy would have been chosen over RVD to be champion if he didn’t have his court case on drug trafficking charges coming up on 5/10. It would have been a foolish risk to give him the title unless or until he’s clear of the case. 

Kurt Angle said he was watching the shows while he was out and came to the conclusions that TNA needs to do more wrestling on the show to differentiate itself from WWE. He said he thinks TNA needs to slow down when it comes to so many talking segments and have more wrestling, saying they need to compete by being different from WWE. He said he believes the company has more wrestling talent. 

He noted the moonsault off the cage spot wasn’t planned last month. What happened during the match is Angle called the spot and told Anderson not to move. A couple of wrestlers noted if they were in the ring with Angle when he called that, they’d be very tempted to move, noting Bob Holly suffering a broken arm by an Angle moonsault off the top and this was from a much higher cage, and gave Anderson all the credit in the world for his performance in the match. Angle also admitted that he was knocked out in the ladder match when he took that sick bump. 

He said he would never put himself in the position to have to take a bump like that again. He said he’s planning on shifting to a part-time role by the end of the year, looking at acting as his full-time gig, claiming he’s got five movies scheduled this year but he said he doesn’t want to leave wrestling. 

In hindsight, is Kurt right about what he said here and what do you think about him getting released from WWE? It wasn't furloughed, it was a release.

Meltzer reported - The house shows have become the company’s most successful division. Even though the attendance numbers aren’t anything special, they are doing sometimes as much as $20 per head in merchandise, up from $6 per head last year. The difference is Don West being on the road and making merchandise deals a big part of the live presentation. Jeff Jarrett is running the house shows with Jeremy Borash and Don West putting together the non-wrestling aspects of the show. 

It’s funny watching the TV commercials for the house shows because the only thing they promote is that Don West will be there for the insane deals. The funny thing is, people who go say West is always one of the highlights of the shows because of how hard he works at the merchandise booth. They even have Earl Hebner pushing his “Damn right I did” T-shirt. Jarrett does the creative on the house shows, and since he’s not even involved in the television creative, that’s why what happens on TV sometimes doesn’t make sense when it comes to the house shows. 

Vince Russo asked to book the house shows so they would follow television storylines like WWE house shows. It’s said that a lot of people now want to get work on the house show end of things and everyone is running from the TV creative side figuring the ax is going to fall on that side due to the ratings. It was noted that Bischoff has been to two house shows since he started with the company and Hogan hasn’t been to any, nor has Russo, and Russo has been with the company for years. It was noted that last year TNA did a tour of Colorado, where Russo was living, and one of the shows was only five minutes from his house, and he didn’t go to any of the shows. 

That takes us to Sacrifice

The Sacrifice PPV was overall lackluster, and for the first time since he arrived, you could really see Taz almost treating things like a joke in commentary. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in particular on the Internet blogs make fun of the company. The crowd was deader than it has been for any PPV show in recent memory. The show opened good, and the RVD vs. A.J. Styles main event was good, there was some atrocious stuff in the middle. 

Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley won a three-way to become top contenders for the tag titles over Robert Roode & James Storm and Team 3-D in 13:13. Good opener, although not as good as you’d probably expect with the Guns and Beer Money involved. Sabin missed a plancha early and hit the floor. He sold, but then tagged out. Later Sabin did a tope through Shelley’s legs onto Storm. Beer Money worked over Shelley, but like much of the show, the crowd wasn’t into it. Sabin ran wild when he tagged back in, with a huracanrana on Roode and a plancha on Storm, then a swinging DDT on Roode for a near fall. 

Bubba threw Sabin over the top rope and they did the Doomsday Device on Roode, but save was made. A few near falls and a 3-D was set up on Roode, but Storm spit beer in Bubba’s eyes, Roode hit Bubba with a spinebuster and then Bubba was pinned after Shelley came off the top rope with a crossbody while at the same time Sabin was giving Bubba a hangman style neckbreaker for the pin. ***1/4

They showed Tenay and Taz at ringside. We saw Tenay’s yellow notepad covered in hand-written notes regarding the show. He looked at it for talking points as they did that segment. Tenay talked about local authorities looking into the false accusations Desmond Wolfe and Chelsea concocted against Abyss leading to Abyss’s arrest. Taz said that wasn’t cool of Wolfe to do what he did. 

Rob Terry pinned Orlando Jordan in 7:45 to retain the Global title. This was mind-boggling they would book this match to go that long. There was some question whether Jordan was getting good or bad heat on television. Whatever it was, he had no heat here. Terry used his running powerslam but Jordan kicked out. They completely lost the crowd because Terry doesn’t know how to get the crowd going because he’s so green at selling, and Jordan isn’t anywhere close to the level of worker needed to carry him. Jordan worked over the knee to little reaction for several minutes. He went off the top rope with a kneedrop to the knee, but Terry moved. Terry used his freakbuster, which is like a choke slam, for the pin. Jordan worked over Terry’s knee after the match. DUD

Backstage, Bubba was mad about Storm spitting beer in his eyes. Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal were in the dressing room with them and Bubba was giving them advice to watch out for The Band. Neal said he’d take care of The Band for them. Bubba then went on a tirade after they left about how some punk kid who they brought into wrestling was saying he was going to take care of things for them. Devon tried to calm Bubba down.

Douglas Williams pinned Kazarian in 13:50 to regain the X title. The match started with Tenay and Taz disagreeing whether TNA should have stripped Williams of the title because the volcano wouldn’t allow him to get to the U.S. for last month’s PPV. Taz was against it. Tenay said that he agreed with the ruling because TNA had advertised a title match on PPV and wanted to deliver to the fans what was promised. Taz then did a complete 180, saying he agreed with everything Tenay said. 

He was clearly just joking around at this point. They talked about Kazarian taking more than a year off. I guess that’s the story. First few minutes was very good mat wrestling. But they lost the crowd as the match went long. Kazarian was on top and Williams shoved him off, and Kazarian took a bump on the ramp. Kazarian came back with a plancha and a springboard dropkick. Kazarian got near fall after near fall. This probably would have been a very good match with a different crowd. 

The crowd didn’t help, but there was something missing in the match. Williams went for a power bomb into the corner, but it appeared Kazarian missed the corner. Williams got the clean pin and title with his Chaos Theory suplex, which is a rolling reverse cradle turned into a German suplex. *3/4

Chelsea was mad at Desmond Wolfe because they said Orlando police were investigating both for filing a false police report. She was also mad she might wind up with Abyss. She said she didn’t even want the ring anymore and wants the match called off. Wolfe said this week the rankings are released so he need a win over Abyss to get a title shot. Chelsea made him promise Abyss wouldn’t win.

A vignette aired on Tara saying she’s out to prove she’s the best and the backstory of her feud with The Beautiful People. 

Madison Rayne pinned Tara in 6:28 to retain the Knockouts title in a match where it was billed Tara would have to retire if she lost. Her contract just expired so this was her last match. Velvet Sky came out in a short party dress while Lacey Von Erich came out in a long evening gown which looked totally out of place on a wrestling show. Earl Hebner booted Sky and Von Erich out. Crowd chanted for both. Taz was clowning around some more. Sloppy match. Rayne tried a leg rolling cradle move which didn’t work. 

After the dueling chants ended, the crowd was dead. Tara used the widow’s peak, but Rayne rolled to the floor. Tara put her back in, hit a moonsault but Rayne kicked out. Tara went to the top and missed the second moonsault buy a mile. Rayne did Gail Kim’s “Eat Da-feet” finisher for the pin. Tara was in the ring crying and pulled out the Tarantula. She got a nice ovation. As she cried in the ring, there was a “Tara” chant. DUD

Christy Hemme interviewed Hall, Nash, and Young backstage. Young said he was picked by Hall and Nash because nobody else was cool enough to join them. He said there’s more fame and money with them standing shoulder to shoulder than face to face. Hall said Syxx Pac is like a brother to him, but it’s not show friends, it’s about show business. Nash handed Young his tag title belt. Hall did the same. Nash said The Band are tag champions, not just he and Hall, just like the Freebirds. He said any two of them could wrestle at any given time. Nash said Ink Inc. have charisma, sweet hair, some ink, and youth. He said he has some ink on his body older than them combined. He said tonight won’t be their night, though 

Kevin Nash & Scott Hall beat Jesse Neal & Shannon Moore to keep the tag titles in 7:59. Hall BADLY needs different ring gear. He looked like his belly alone gained 15 pounds since the last time he suited up and he can’t work. Moore vs. Hall was a total mess. Another bad match. Neal went for the spear on Nash, who moved and ref Slick Johnson got nailed. Eric Young came out with a kendo stick and threw it to Nash. Neal then knocked Young down and speared Nash. Young got the kendo stick. 

Before he could use it, Bubba Dudley ran in and attacked Young and hit Young with the kendo stick. Bubba then teased hitting Nash with the stick, instead hit Neal and left. People have seen this stuff so many times that Bubba hitting Neal got no reaction. They’ve made it so the crowd has no emotional investment in anything. Young pulled Nash on top and Johnson counted the fall. 1/4*

Abyss pinned Desmond Wolfe in 9:00 in a ring vs. Chelsea match. Chelsea came out in her prom dress and Taz said he almost wanted to wrestle Wolfe himself if he could have the same stips. Abyss no sold early until Chelsea distracted him, allowing Wolfe to nail him from behind. Crowd was mostly cheering Wolfe with a “Let’s go Desmond” chant. Mostly Wolfe worked over the left shoulder of Abyss. It ended with a dueling chant although the reaction to Wolfe was a lot bigger. 

They traded near falls. Abyss blocked the jawbreaker lariat, and hit a choke slam. Chelsea jumped on the apron to distract Abyss. She threw a box into the ring to Wolfe. Wolfe opened and it was Brass Knucks. Wolfe hit Abyss with the Knux, but Abyss kicked out. There were as many boos as cheers for Abyss kicking out. Abyss then Hulk’d up, doing all the spots, almost like a cartoon, and got the pin afer a black hole slam. Abyss now gets Chelsea for 30 days. *3/4

Mr. Anderson did an interview turning babyface with the Anderson’s Assholes remarks. He called Christy “Kristen.”

Jeff Hardy pinned Mr. Anderson in 13:57. Anderson came out with his ribs taped up from the swanton through the table on the most recent Impact. The fans were chanting, “I’m an asshole,” and “We’re assholes.” Anderson worked over Hardy while the crowd chanted, “Let’s go asshole,” while the kids chanted “Let’s go Hardy.” In this case, the chants took away from the match because they were so into the chants they weren’t reacting to the match. Taz sensed this and called the crowd parakeets. 

There was a scary spot where Hardy back dropped Anderson over the top rope, and he only tucked at the last second or he’d have landed head first on the ramp. Hardy ran down the ramp and springboarded off a chair over the top rope into the ring with a leg lariat on Anderson. Anderson used the Lambeau plunge for a near fall. Hardy blocked the mic check, but Anderson dropped Hardy throat first on the top rope, and used the mic check, but Hardy kicked out. The kick out of Anderson’s finish elicited total silence from the audience. 

They were only into the chant and didn’t care about the match. Hardy used a face first suplex and climbed to the top rope. Then he climbed back down. That was weird. Hardy used a twist of fate but Anderson kicked out. Anderson set up a Lambeau plunge off the middle rope, but Hardy started hitting him and Anderson collapsed with Hardy on top. Hardy went to the top, hit the swanton, and got the pin. Anderson went to shake Hardy’s hand after the match, but Hardy refused to shake and left the ring. **3/4

Hemme interviewed Ric Flair backstage, who said he is the picture of confidence. Styes asked if these are dark times for TNA. He said a man holding the TNA Title has no business representing the company. He asked how they can respect a man who has no business respecting himself. He said he’s going to win the match and regain his title because Flair is a man who deserves to be surrounded by greatness. He said he’s going to make his last record-setting run as TNA Champion seem like a blip on the map. He closed with the trite catchphrase, “There two things you can do about it—nothing and like it. 

Sting pinned Jeff Jarrett in :12. They went backstage and Jarrett was bleeding badly. The idea was Sting worked him over with a baseball bat, and then used the bat to pop out Jarrett’s left shoulder. Sting brought Jarrett out in front of the fans, and to the announcers desk. Jarrett bled all over Mike Tenay’s format sheet. Sting rammed Jarrett’s head into the barricade and then used a bat shot to the back of Jarrett’s leg. Sting used the bat to work on the left shoulder, and then got the pin with the Scorpion death drop

Jarrett was screaming in pain like his shoulder joint was destroyed. Mike Tenay was playing up how Jarrett has three daughters and how horrible this is. I guess it wouldn’t be quite as bad if he had sons. The people weren’t buying the angle at all, and in fact, were cheering Sting while this was going on. Jarrett was put on a stretcher to no reaction. Sting then knocked him off the stretcher, which got some cheers and some boos. Hulk Hogan then came out for his only appearance on the show. Sting laughed at Hogan.

Hemme interviewed RVD who said he’s held many titles over the years, and some meant so little to him that he forgot to bring it to the ring with him. He said the TNA Title is entirely different because he stands for everything the belt stands for. He said he’s the best wrestler, the coolest, and the most popular. RVD said more people than ever are going to be tuning in to watch Styles wrestle now, but unfortunately for him he’s getting his ass kicked. 

The next match was for the World Title; RVD defending against AJ Styles. RVD won the title from AJ on April 19th

Rob Van Dam retained the TNA title pinning A.J. Styles in 24:47. This was a good match, but not as good as the title change on television. They stalled a lot early. The first lock-up wasn’t until 2:43 into the match. Ric Flair grabbed Van Dam’s legs. Ref Earl Hebner saw it and he shoved down Flair. Flair and Hebner did their usual routine. Hebner ordered Flair to go to the back and Flair said that Hebner was a dead man. Flair ended up commentating for most of the rest of the match.

Flair usually isn’t good as an announcer, but he was great here. He was almost too good, since he was more entertaining then the match itself, thereby distracting from the match. Styles did a running flip dive. Styles got a near fall with a high kneedrop. RVD came back with a spin kick to the face and went to the top rope. Styles shoved him off and RVD crashed into the ramp. 

Flair said that he wasn’t getting what he wanted in TNA so he was going to have to take Dixie Carter back to the hotel suite again to get power and control. Styles used a tornado DDT out of the corner, dropping RVD on his head (RVD likes taking that DDT bump on the top of his head, somehow it looks like he’s going to risk breaking his neck but he’s always fine) for a near fall. RVD did this great monkey flip where he nearly put Styles into orbit. RVD missed a frog splash. 

Styles back with a springboard clothesline for a near fall. Flair started yelling about how Hebner is giving Styles a slow count. Styles used an Oklahoma side roll for a near fall. Styles hit the Pele kick for another near fall. Styles missed a Stinger splash into the corner and RVD used a Northern lights suplex for a near fall. RVD crotched Styles on the top rope and then RVD came off the top rope with a Rider kick. Styles took the bump inside the ring. RVD went for the rolling thunder, but Styles got his knees up. 

Styles put RVD on his shoulders for a torture back, and then power bombed him for a near fall. Styles used a Stinger splash for a near fall. More trades of near falls to no reaction. The two did a double clothesline spot. Styles went for the figure four, but RVD used an inside cradle for a near fall. The crowd was dead at this point. Styles used a moonsault off the middle rope into a reverse DDT. Styles then missed a springboard 450. Flair then came to ringside. Jay Lethal then ran out and he and Flair went at it. 

Flair was throwing chops on Lethal until Lethal, who was dressed up as Flair, came back doing Flair, using a low blow and started strutting and put on the figure four. This was good stuff and people were into it, but it completely distracted from Styles and RVD. Styles went for a top rope superplex, but RVD pushed him off and Styles caught his throat on the top rope. RVD got the clean pin with a frog splash. ***½

RVD would never actually lose the TNA World title; it was stripped from him on August 10th, when Abyss beat him up badly. In storyline, RVD suffered  stitches, spinal trauma and possible acute brain damage 

• Thumbs up 23 (44.2%)
• Thumbs down 24 (46.2%)
• In the middle 5 (09.6%)

BEST MATCH POLL

Rob Van Dam vs. A.J. Styles 31

Douglas Williams vs. Kazarian 10

WORST MATCH POLL

Madison Rayne vs. Tara 33

Abyss vs. Desmond Wolfe  8