My World with Jeff Jarrett - TNA Sacrifice 2007 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Jeff - we are slowly coming to the 20 year anniversary of the beginning of TNA. Last week we talked about Fox Sports Network and we’re going to be discussing some big stuff in regards to TNA in the next couple of weeks but today we’re looking back at 15 years ago for Sacrifice 2007.

We talked at length about some issues from a production standpoint at Lockdown…and it’s written in the Observer that internally some of that blame is placed at the feet of Don Harris no longer being with the company. How important was Don to TNA?

Also going on with some independent news taking place in Memphis, Tennessee - your old stomping grounds. It’s reported that Hulk Hogan vs. Jerry Lawler is scheduled to take place on April 27th in Memphis. The plan is to film footage of Hogan wrestling for VH1…but since Hogan and Vince McMahon aren’t on the greatest of terms - Vince refuses to let Lawler wrestle because of his WWE contract. Supposedly Hogan rents the FedEx Arena with the help of Corey Maclin and then attempts to bring in the Big Show. Do you know - remember - whatever - if your father was ever a part of this? Does this come across your desk and you think maybe there’s a way to get TNA involved or were you just not interested?

The Basham brothers - Doug & Danny - debut with TNA on a house show in Louisville after their non-compete clause expires. Jim Cornette has long talked about how the WWE royally fucked up the Bashams - did you see something in them to bring them in here?

It’s also reported in the Torch that Hot Topic will now be carrying TNA merchandise. This was a big deal for the Bullet Club later on but how big a deal was this for TNA at the time?

It’s reported in the Observer that Spike wasn’t a fan of TNA promoting this originally but came around on it even though Hot Topic wasn’t paying for any advertising on the station. Do you remember that being the case?

Jeff you come out and address the Impact Zone for the first time in a long time and how it was time for you to give back. Don West does mention Jill’s cancer on commentary. Were you comfortable with him doing that?

The story from Kurt’s side was that you should’ve helped him instead of Sting gain the title shot. It ends with Kurt and Sting making a match for the #1 contendership. Jeff - this is a match that was once talked about for WrestleMania X8…and here it is going to be given away on free TV with a one week build. You took a lot of criticism in the Torch & Observer for that. What say you?

You’re going to eventually build to a 3-way title shot between Kurt, Sting and Christian…was the plan at this point to put the title on Kurt?

Christian & Abyss get the first shot at Team 3D’s newly won tag team titles but Team 3D get the win. Afterwards Abyss gives Mitchell the Black Hole Slam and the heels attack him. It’s reported in the Torch that Abyss is going to be turning babyface and taken off TV for a few weeks. Is this something that you think Abyss needed at this time?

Abyss makes sure to blade his arms from the barbed wire bat shots he takes. This is…just part of the business right Jeff?

“Alex Shelley said he can’t believe how the Black Machismo thing is taking off. He told Kevin Nash backstage that he wants to know why he’s not teaming with “the black kid next week.” Nash said, “Easy, Imus.” Shelley complained he’s teaming with Kaz Hayashi according to the board. Nash said he worked it out so it’s Shelley vs. Machismo vs. Sonjay Dutt. Machismo stepped up and mumbled like Randy Savage. Nash called Sonjay in. He was dressed as “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel. Machismo said, “You can step over the top rope now!” Dutt threw his outfit at Nash and said he’s sick of him. “Admit it, you ain’t got nothing for me. All these months, all this nonsense, Kevin, stick it!”

I mean Jeff - this is good shit but does this get anyone over in your mind?

Hogan vs. Paul Wight takes place in Memphis and it draws 4,000 with Hogan winning. Are you surprised at the time it only drew 4,000 fans?

From the Torch: “Talks continue with TNA and Spike TV about expanding to two hours. Odds are well above 50 percent that Spike will give TNA a second hour in the fall (but almost no chance of it happening sooner). Although the current contract expires this September, Spike has the right to match any offers from another cable station (they have the same deal with UFC), and they don’t plan to let TNA get away. They’re happy with the ratings and believe it can Grow”

You’ve stressed how important it was to get to 2 hours…why did it take so long to get the deal done do you think?

From the Torch: “Alex Shelley was actually scolded by Dutch Mantel a while back for doing “European chain wrestling crap” in one of his matches; he was instructed to stick to the highspots that the X Division is known for... Austin Aries was suspended by TNA for putting up a fuss about taking part in the filming of a vignette (the Bob Backlund skit that aired on Impact last week with Shelley) on what was scheduled to be an off–day (between the PPV and TV taping). He probably wouldn’t have been suspended if he hadn’t earned a rep for having an increasingly bad attitude in general in recent months.”

There’s a lot to unpack here Jeff. Between Shelley getting yelled at by Dutch to Aries being suspended…what is the locker room like at this time? Did you see issues building?

Did you make the decision to suspend Aries? It’s a 90 day suspension and Wade even makes note to talk about past issues - but what he doesn’t say is that it was because he decided to work a ROH show instead of flying out early for a pay-per-view in threat of a storm. Did you feel that there was a double standard for the lower card talent?

The next week on Impact there’s a lot going on. The opening match is Sting taking on Kurt Angle for the #1 contendership. And 3 minutes later…the heels run out and beat up both including bloodying Kurt up with a chair shot. Do you think things like this would entice fans to want to see a rematch between Sting & Kurt?

This will lead to the main event of Christian and Sting for the NWA Title later on tonight. You’re really loading up this Impact. Do you know why that is?

Eric Young comes out - is scared by his pyro in one of those little things that really is entertaining - and it’s to reveal who his special friend is. Eventually Roode bloodies HIM up now with a chair and when he goes to really finish him - well your music plays and you come out for the babyface save. Let’s take a look.

Was the goal for you to come back and make Roode? Was the plan always for you to be Eric Young’s special friend?

Did you really have to hit Traci Brooks with a guitar?

The main event between Sting and Christian has Sting ready to win the NWA Title before Angle comes out and attacks him and Christian escapes again. Are you trying to use Sting and Angle to pull Christian up a level as champion?

The WWE puts out a Four Horsemen DVD regarding the history of the group. Did you ever get a chance to watch it?

From the Observer: “Members like Paul Roma, Sid Vicious and Jeff Jarrett were lambasted. Believe it or not, Steve McMichael, the least talented wrestler in the history of the group, came out unscathed.”

Moving on…on the May 3rd Impact we finally get the main event settled. Kurt & Sting are in a tag team match against AJ Styles & Christian. It’s no DQ and if someone from Kurt & Sting’s team gets the win they’ll get the shot against Christian. If Christian & AJ win neither Kurt or Sting get the title shot…and of course Kurt and Sting get a double submission victory and Jim Cornette determines it’ll be a 3-way for the title at Sacrifice. Are you happy with the path here to get to this title match and the creative?

It was time to put the title on Kurt was it not?

What did you think of Christian during his title reign? Do you think he did anything to help raise awareness of the brand or elevate others?

From the Torch: “Roode demanded that Young come to the ring. Cornette stepped out and demanded Roode listen to him. He said he told Jeff Jarrett to stay home because of what happened between him and Ms. Brooks last week. He said he won’t tolerate men beating up women, “even if it was deserved.” He said he signed Young to a personal services contract, but Young was already under a TNA contract. He said that makes him guilty of tampering with TNA contracted talent. That means that he could take him to court or fire him if he wanted to. Roode dared him to do it. Cornette said he should drop the whole deal with Young and then nobody goes to court and nobody gets fired. Roode suggested Cornette get out of his face and whether he likes it or not, Roode is getting fired. Roode poked Cornette’s chest. Cornette told him he is his boss. Roode shoved Cornette to the mat. Young charged to the ring for the save. He battered Roode to the mat, then grabbed a guitar out from under the ring. Roode stopped him with a DDT in the ring. Brooks pulled out handcuffs and Roode cuffed Young to the corner turnbuckle. Roode then said, “It pays to be Roode,” then bashed him over the head with the flimsy guitar. Cornette returned to the ring and said he’s not going to fire him, but he’s going to make it worse because at Sacrifice he’ll have to face Jarrett.”

What did you think of this segment Jeff? Do you think Roode was going to be a future top guy and that’s why you wanted to work with him?

“Christy Hemme told B.G. James and Kip James that they both stink, then said she’s going to bring something that stinks more at Sacrifice, or something like that. Kip shoved his armpit into her face. She ran away.”

What is this Jeff?

It’s reported in the Observer that Rob Van Dam turned down the final WWE offer and will end up being a free agent. Is he someone that immediately is on your radar?

It’s reported in the Observer that BODOG is looking heavily at Kurt Angle to do MMA with them. Is that something you would’ve been happy with Kurt doing?

Sean Waltman is at the TV tapings with Wrestle Society X closing up shop. Did you ever get a chance to watch any WSX? What did you think of it?

It’s hard not to have a spot for Sean as he’s so good but did you really have any room on the roster for him at this point?

It’s reported in the Observer that Raven, Serotonin, Senshi & Petey Williams were pissed off due to the fact they were told not to come to the tapings because they wouldn’t be used. It makes sense to not bring in people who you weren’t going to use…but is this the case of trying to get some people to quit?

From the Torch: “The Naturals (Andy Douglas & Chase Stevens) were released from TNA earlier this week. Andy posted on his Myspace: “Free at last… Free at last!” He said the split was amicable, as TNA didn’t have anything for them on TV. The Naturals were at the Lockdown PPV in St. Louis and signed autographs during the Fan Fest. They weren’t on the

PPV, though”

When you see someone like Andy Douglas post that on MySpace…what’s your feeling on that?

Was there just no room for the Naturals at this point?

It’s also reported in the Torch that TNA sent a message to TNA Mobile subscribers that Randy Savage reached out to Jay Lethal to compliment him on the Black Machismo character. Do you remember this actually happening? Did you ever talk with Randy about coming back and teaming with or going against Jay Lethal?

Ring of Honor announces it’s entering the pay-per-view world with taped shows to air 6-8 weeks after taping. What did you think of this and do you think this was going to directly affect TNA pay-per-view purchases?

It’s reported in the Observer that TNA was unaware of this deal and it would cause the end of the relationship between the two companies including canceling off Samoa Joe from shows. It’s also reported in the Observer that letting your talent work with PWG and the UWA in Canada was going to change when, and quote, “In recent weeks, TNA had sent contracts lo all independent promotions that they book their talent to. The contracts allowed the promotions to produce DVDs with TNA talent and sell them at their shows or on their web sites, or in other ways marketed by the promotion. However, the wrestlers would not be allowed to air on television, nor appear on DVDs sold through any third party, most notably H ighspots.com, which is the PWG distributor. PWG would have been allowed to continue to book TNA talent, but couldn't put them on DVDs sold by Highspots. TNA made the decision when it came to Highspots.com, that since they also sell DVDs through Highspots.com, they no longer wanted competition that was using TNA contracted talent. When PWG decided to end relations with TNA on 513, TNA took it as a decision that they needed Highspots more than they needed TNA talent, and canceled the appearances of Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley at the DDT4 tag team tournament on 5119 and 5/20.”

Protecting your investment in the talent and making sure you’re the holder of these guys biggest platforms make sense…but did you get any push back from talent?

It’s reported in the Observer that in the run up to Sacrifice that Spike expressed concern about men on women violence coming off you hitting Traci Brooks with a guitar. Does Spike reach out to you regarding this?

The go-home Impact features the Basham Brothers debuting and attacking VKM with Christy Hemme leading them into the company. Did you see big things with these 4?

Bob Backlund’s story was transferred from working with Austin Aries - who’s on suspension - to Chris Sabin. Did you have to keep that story going?

There’s a weird 3-way promo with Jeremy Borash interviewing Christian and then Sting and Kurt Angle in all different locations and Christopher Daniels is there with Sting. Do you remember where this was going to end up at?

Backstage at Sacrifice it’s reported in the Observer: “... There was a ton of complaining from the undercard wrestlers regarding the ban on them going to ROH, PWG and UWA. The morale really took a major tum for the worst months back when they stopped paying for hotel rooms and ground transportation, and the guys on the bottom are the ones hit the hardest, and then they get regular dates taken away with no way to make up the money. There is also the frustration of no matter how good you perform, there is very limited upward mobility and the guys losing the indie dates are the ones who are stuck in the same position no matter how hard they work or how much the crowd reacts to them. Another complaint is that

nobody understands the Bob Backlund deal and why they have to have him as the focal point of matches and angles and they have to put him over and run from him even though he's 58 years old and is probably only good for one or two matches.”

Is this a fair question from the talent when it comes to pay and indie bookings regarding Backlund?

Well we’re at the show now Jeff but there’s so much going on with regards to outside the company…

From the Torch:
“TNA did not acknowledge the removal of NWA titles at the Sacrifice PPV this Sunday, but waited until Monday at the Impact tapings to introduce new Heavyweight, Tag, and X Division title belts. The NWA then posted a “Breaking News” alert on their website and on youtube formally announcing the split from TNA. Trobich announced that Christian Cage (as NWA Heavyweight champion) and Team 3D (as NWA Tag champions) were stripped of their respective title belts. The split between the NWA and TNA was two years in the making, with NWA members becoming concerned that it turned into a one–sided deal in TNA’s favor. TNA was concerned the NWA was utilizing their brand and trademarks without any compensation to TNA as they growing a national TV presence on Spike TV.”

Was this a loss in your mind? Did the NWA mean anything at this point?

How advance notice did you get that you needed new title belts? Who did you go to for them? Why did you want to establish them on TV and not pay-per-view?

From the Observer: “There isn't a lot to say about TNA's Sacrifice PPV show on 5/ 13 other than preliminary indications are very few people ordered the show, and it was a hell of a show to miss.”

The show does get a 79% thumbs up from the readers of the Wrestling Observer and you can watch this show on Impact’s YouTube. We’ll make sure to have the social media team post the link!

From the Observer: “1. Chris Sabin retained the X Division title in a three-way over Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal in 13 :00. The Black Machismo deal already seemed past its peak. Funny story. Lethal talked with someone who supposedly knows Randy Savage and thinks he spoke with Savage, who gave him his blessings to do the gimmick. However,

because so many people can imitate Savage, he's actually not sure if he was pranked. The evidence that he wasn't is that Savage went out of his way to give him advice of saving his money, which is the Poffo family trademark.  Lethal did the Savage jump off the top turnbuckle to the floor with a double sledge on Sabin. Dutt did an Asai moonsault on both. They did one fast paced spot after another with pretty close to perfect execution and the crowd going wild the entire match. By the end, the crowd was chanting "This is awesome." The finish saw Dutt and Lethal arguing which allowed Sabin to pin Dutt after a schoolboy. Post-match saw Dutt and Lethal going at it until Kevin Nash slowly made his way into the ring and broke it up. Unfortunately, Nash being there once again exposed the lack of size, because when they were in with each other, that wasn't an issue. Now it looked like the old teacher breaking up a first grader playground fight. And like that, the nasty kid (Dutt) kicked the teacher in the hamstring and left. Anyway, given what they were supposed to be doing and how the crowd reacted, I don't know that they could do a much better match. ****”

Big rating from Dave. Just a tremendous match you should go out of your way to watch. The Savage story though is hilarious Jeff.

The Torch would give this *** ½.

“Before the show started, Damaja & Basham attacked Kip & B.G. James.

Basham threw Kip into a bathroom while Damaja gave B.G. the brain damage (tree slam) on B.G. through a table. Don West explained that B.G. had been diagnosed with a "super severe" concussion.”

What’s a super severe concussion Jeff?

“2. Robert Roode pinned Jeff Jarrett in 11 :21. Really good match, but this was kind Of 80s Southern style brawling with a little bit of modern flair thrown in. They put this match on early so Jarrett could get back home to Nashville because of his wife's health. Roode attacked Jarrett during his pyro intro. Jarrett got the figure four but Traci Brooks distracted ref

Andrew Thomas. Jarrett let go of the hold since Roode tapped and there was no ref. The one thing that differed from 80s style is that they did a fast-paced match with no long-term selling. Roode undid the padding on a top turnbuckle. Jarrett used the stroke but Brooks then pulled Thomas out of the ring before he could count three. All l could think of at this point was how can they ever have a title match main event when these guys were stealing all the high spots. Thomas threw Brooks out of there and while he was out of the ring, Roode hit Jarrett with handcuffs. When Thomas got back in the ring, Jarrett kicked out. Roode pulled out the guitar, but no way he's using that. Jarrett ducked the shot and put him in the figure four. Roode kicked Jarrett off and into the exposed metal, and pinned him after a fisherman suplex. l sure hope this doesn't mean Jarrett is winning the title. Post-match saw Roode again go for a guitar shot, but Jarrett legdrived him and got the figure four. Brooks came back and grabbed the guitar. She waited forever teasing hitting Jarrett, which clearly meant somebody was late on his cue. Young (who before the match it was said he wasn't there) came in and got the guitar and put Brooks in the figure four. This was entertaining from start-to-finish even with the overdone ref spots. *** 1 /4”

Was it too much Jeff? What did you think of the match? How late was Eric Young or was Traci Brooks too early?

The Torch would give this match **½ so Meltzer likes you more this month than Keller.

“3. Christopher Daniels pinned Rhino in 9:56. Daniels came out with a Sting mask and a Sting bat. The fans were doing dueling chants from the start. The one thing negative I have to say about Daniels is that when you compare him and A .J. Styles, who are both natural babyfaces that the crowd likes, Styles is working so much better as a heel. The one reaction l had was this was a nicely done match, but that Daniels wasn't doing much to be a heel. Rhino used a gore but Daniels got his foot on the ropes to break up the pin. Ending saw Daniels on the floor, the ref distracted and clocked Rhino as he stuck his head through the ropes with a baseball bat shot right to the head. Baseball bats in wrestling are stupid enough because one shot and that should be it. Well, it was here, but you can't take a bat to the head and have no blood or no selling of a concussion. Then Rhino got right up after losing and challenged Daniels, and went to the back to get him. They came back out and Daniels was all bloody and Rhino had a chair. Rhino used another chair to the head, and they wound up in the ring. Rhino set up two chairs and got Daniels in the position where he was going to piledrive him off the middle ropes onto the

chairs in the ring. Security broke it up and Daniels escaped. The wrestling was good but that getting up after the bat shot made me hate the match. **”

Torch gave it ** as well.

Suspending belief is one thing Jeff but man that bat shot isn’t really a focus here and it should be considering the story is going to be transitioning Daniels to a program with Sting. Is this just too much booking?

“4. Damaja & Basham beat Kip James in a handicap match in 4:26. B .G. was hurt and Kip said that Lance Hoyt's flight was late and he couldn't be a substitute partner. Short and sweet. Damaja used the brain damage on James, and then Basham pinned him after a diving head-butt. And we can't have a match without a post-match. They continued to beat on him after, James started a comeback, got beaten down again, and finally Hoyt, who six minutes earlier wasn't there, suddenly was. Between that and Eric Young you'd think they wouldn't do the same gimmick twice in three matches. *”

Torch gave it ¾*. I mean more post match stuff here Jeff. Why all the booking like this?

“5. Chris Harris beat James Storm in 17:14 of a Texas death match. These two had the pressure on them after, through no fault of their own, having a worst match of the year candidate last month due to the blindfold stipulation in their match being rejected by the fans. The result was an incredible match. They opened by brawling in the stands .. Harris did a plancha over the guard rail and pinned Storm on the floor to take the first fall in 4:07. Storm was able to answer the bell for the second fall. Storm came back with a chair shot to the head and Harris juiced. Harris catapulted Storm who was underneath and table into the table. Storm's head hit the metal structure of the table and he bled as badly as just about any bleeding in a long time. Storm was bleeding buckets, literally, and the ring was getting soaked with Storms' blood. Storm used the eye of the storm, the old whirley bird move, on Harris and put him through a table in 9:34 to take the second fall. Harris was back up. Harris, from the ring, speared Storm, on the apron and both crashed through a table on the floor. Storm head was leaving a puddle of blood on the floor. Jackie Moore attacked Harris so there was no pinfall attempt on the floor. Storm superkicked a chair into Harris' face for a near fall. They traded shots with a garbage can lid. Harris gave Storm a catatonic on a garbage can for a near fall. Moore attacked Harris and Gail Kim came out and they brawled to the back. Both Harris and Storm each grabbed a beer bottle and went for a shot to the head at the same time, but Harris was a step faster and put Storm down for the pin in I6:48. Theoretically, he should then have 10 seconds to get up, but it was actually 26 seconds and he couldn't answer the bell for the fourth fall, so Harris won. This was the kind of match so heated and bloody that I felt sorry for everyone on the rest of the show

because you couldn't follow it. **** 1 /4”

Torch gave it ***¾.

Jeff - what a fucking match this is. Completely saves over how bad last month’s was…how did Chris Harris not end up being a top guy anywhere?

“6. Jerry Lynn won a four-way over Alex Shelley, Tiger Mask and Senshi in I0:43. Somehow, by doing a completely different style, they not only followed but had a hell of a match. Lynn used an airplane spin Gori especial combination move. Tiger Mask did a double-arm superplex on Shelley while standing on the top rope. Senshi tagged in and did some great kick shots. They traded one move after another until Shelley went for a huracanrana off the top on Lynn, but Lynn rolled through into a sunset flip like pin. After the match, Chris Sabin ran in and he and Shelley were beating on Lynn. Bob Backlund ran in and did two single leg takedowns on Sabin and Sabin and Shelley ran off. ***½”

Torch gave it **½.

Bringing Tiger Mask in from Japan…how did this deal all come together?

Does Backlund coming in afterwards just negate everything these guys just did?

“Leticia interviewed Tomko backstage. She asked him why he wasn’t discussing strategy with his tag partner. “Good question, funny answer,”

said Tomko. “How am I supposed to discuss strategy with someone who thinks the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. The guy is an idiot.” He said

he’s tired of people questioning his whereabouts and said his pride and honor overrides everything, so he’ll be there.”

Tomko doesn’t get a lot of credit for much of anything in professional wrestling but I think he’s great here. Was there something missing with him?

“7. Team 3-D retained the NW A tag titles in a three-way over Homicide &

Hernandez and Tomko & Scott Steiner in 12:38. Everyone worked on Devon for a while with Hernandez doing a splash off the top. There was this awesome spot. Ray counted to three and most of the crowd chanted for Devon to "Get the table." Then there was a chant from the fans who hate 3-D (and there were Brother Ray with pig face signs in the crowd) chanting "Same old shit." At that point, as Devon went to get the table from under the ring, Hernandez nailed Devon with a tope. It came across great. Steiner & Tomko tried the Doomsday device on Homicide, but he ducked Tomko's clothesline and cradled Steiner for a near fall. The finish saw Tomko & Steiner double-teaming Ray, but Tomko kicked Steiner when Ray moved, and then Tomko was pinned after the 3-D. Post match saw Steiner and Tomko argue, then start fighting, until Rick Steiner hit

the ring. The pop for Rick Steiner had to be disappointing. ***”

Torch gave this **¼ but I thought this was really good. Was the pop for Rick Steiner disappointing? Was it tough to put together the Steiners vs. Dudleys? Do you know what was up with the Impact Zone not liking Team 3D?

“Borash interviewed Angle backstage around flashing lights where Sting supposedly hangs out. “So this is where all the hocus–pocus b.s. Comes from,” he said. He then said Sting buys facepaint at Wal–mart so he can look like Ronald McDonald. Angle said he doesn’t need mood lighting and facepaint. “And I definitely don’t need to hollar like some by–atch. The big difference between you and me and I’m a wrestler and you’re a cartoon character. This gym teacher is about to school you. It’s real, it’s damn real.” A really good version of a serious Angle promo with just enough of his wit to be entertaining above and beyond just intense.

The gym teacher reference is from an earlier promo in the build where Sting told Angle if it wasn’t for guys like him and you he’d just be an olympic gold medalist gym teacher. Harsh Jeff…but Kurt here is real strong and good. Is this Kurt just turning it up knowing he’s going to win the title?

“8. Samoa Joe pinned A.J. Styles in 12:43 Not the best match these two have had, but they didn't have the time. plus it was late in a show with a lot of good matches. Joe did an elbow suicida early. He went for the "Ole, Ole kick," and got hit with a clothesline. They did a lot of variations of usual spots, trying to tell the story that since they've wrestled each other so many times, they see the spots coming. Style did his quebrada into a reverse DDT. Joe did a death valley driver for a near fall. Joe was selling like he had a bad left knee for a minute, including stumbling as he went to run. Styles took advantage, but the gimmick was Joe was using Styles' fake knee injury gimmick and was fine. He then put Styles in the choke, and then took him over ala Minoru Suzuki with a choke suplex for the pin. ***½.”

Torch gave it **¾. Is this a disappointing match considering what these two have done in the past, etc? Or is it just a different scenario?

Now to the main event Jeff…

“9. Kurt Angle appeared to win the three-way in what was billed as the final NWA world heavyweight title match in TNA over champ Christian Cage and Sting in 10:45. Cage played the role again where he tried to be the instigator of Sting and Angle going after each other. At times, they both threw Christian out of the ring and started beating on each other. It was shorter than you'd probably want a world title match to be, but the match itself was good and could have been one of the better matches on the show if they had a better finish and more time. Angle laid out Sting with an Olympic slam on the floor, and then gave Christian eight straight German suplexes. Sting threw Angle out of the ring to try for a pin but Christian kicked out. Sting went to give Christian a superplex, but Angle came underneath Sting and gave him a German suplex with Sting on the middle rope and Christian going flying. Rudy Charles went down. Who could have ever seen that one coming? Angle then got ankle locks on both Sting and Christian at the same time but no ref. After Angle tried to check on the ref; Sting gave Christian a uranage. Christian gave Sting a low blow and an unprettier. Sting then caught Christian with a schoolboy, and while doing so, Angle put Sting in the ankle lock. Sting pinned

Christian at the same time Sting tapped to Angle. They announced and went off the air with Angle as champion, but it was held up the next day at TV. *** 1/4”

Torch gave this **½. The finish is really ingenious but to finish a pay-per-view like this with all this good to great wrestling…do you think it comes off flat?

The decision to take the title off Angle on the next TV…do you think that’s something a viewer would hate after spending the money on the show?

This show is well remembered and considered one of the best pay-per-view shows the company ever had. What say you?

The show reportedly gets 25,000 buys…down 10,000 from Lockdown. Why do you think that is?

This I think is a creative success don’t you Jeff?