The show surprisingly began with TNA World Champion Samoa Joe’s title defense against Kaz (One would think that a Heavyweight Title Match would warrant main event status). This was a great bout featuring a lot of back and forth action between the two. Joe eventually retained his title using a Muscle Buster. Booker T appeared on the entrance ramp following Joe’s victory and claimed the TNA kingpin did not defeat him man-to-man during King of the Mountain. Booker stated that the only reason Joe kept his belt at Slammiversary was because of Kevin Nash’s interference and challenged The Samoan Submission Machine to fight him in the locker room. Joe would later offer Booker a title match at Victory Road following an in-ring confrontation with Nash.

LAX defended the Tag Team Championships against Robert Roode and James Storm. It appeared Storm and Roode had won the titles, but the referee restarted the match after being notified by Hector Guerrero that Storm had wrapped a leather belt around his boot to deliver a superkick on Hernandez (Hardly a sensible explanation - by that logic, any manager or valet could make the same claim for their wrestlers following a loss). LAX went on to defeat the challengers following a Hernandez powerbomb on Storm.

Kurt Angle announced that he was placing a “hit” on his wife Karen, who had recently signed an official TNA contract. Angle’s offer was open to any woman on the company roster, as Kurt could not strike Karen due to TNA’s violence against women rule. Kurt and AJ Styles later main evented the broadcast with a Lumberjack Match. As expected, this bout was not at the level of their Slammiversary showdown, but the two still worked a very enjoyable match. Angle emerged victorious following interference from Brother Ray, which allowed Kurt to execute his Olympic Slam and get the pin. After the bell, Abyss rescued the babyface lumberjacks from a beating by Tomko, Team 3D, and Angle. When left alone with Kurt inside the ring, Styles attempted to splash the gold medalist through a table. However, Angle dodged his foe and AJ went crashing through the wood. Angle applied the anklelock on Styles until Karen arrived and dared Kurt to hit her. The Olympian instead chose Awesome Kong to do the deed for him, as the Knockout Champion made her way to the ring and knocked out Karen with one punch.

In other news, Jay Lethal attacked Sonjay Dutt and challenged him to a match next week and two World X Cup Tournament preview bouts were presented.

I personally felt that this was one of the best Impacts in a very long time. Although the backstage interviews and skits were still present, the focus here was most definitely placed on wrestling, with seven matches featured - all of which delivered. If TNA could produce television like this more often, the company would certainly be in much better shape.

Match Results: TNA World Champion Samoa Joe over Kaz via pinfall … The Motor City Machineguns over Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino via pinfall in a World X Cup Tournament Preview Match … TNA Tag Team Champions LAX over James Storm and Robert Roode via Hernandez’ pinfall on Roode … Gail Kim over Velvet Sky via pinfall … Alex Kozlov over Curry Man via pinfall in a World X Cup Tournament Preview Match … Sonjay Dutt over Consequences Creed via pinfall … Kurt Angle over AJ Styles via pinfall following interference from Brother Ray.
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