The “Captain” made it happen once again. Despite not having lost the title in the first place, Christian Cage was able to overcome the monstrous obstacle of Abyss and regain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, wrapping up what was a relatively decent PPV for TNA.
The cameras followed both men as they prepared to make their way to the ring. Both men ready for a war, both men ready for Full Metal Mayhem. The match wasted no time in taking off, with both men going full steam ahead. Back and forth action between the two remained fast and furious throughout.
At one point, both men attempted to climb the ladder and retrieve the belt, however their weight shift sent the ladder tumbling over, catching Cage’s leg on the top rope, while the rest of his body crashed on the ring apron with a sickening thud. Cage was somehow able to get up and mount an offensive comeback, forcing Abyss to resort to old tricks.
Later, James Mitchell whipped out a bag of thumbtacks, but took a bit to long to utilize them. Cage dropped Abyss face first onto a ladder in the ring, and proceeded to chokeslam Mitchell onto the tacks, as Mitchell flopped around the ring and fell to the floor.
With Mitchell out of the equation, Cage focused on Abyss. His attack landed Abyss on top of a table, as Cage climbed the ladder and went for his championship. However, the desire to finish off Abyss once and for all proved to be too much for Cage to resist, as he came crashing down on him with a frog splash. Hurt ribs and all, Cage got back to a vertical base, climbed the ladder to success and regained what was his all along, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
TNA Sacrifice PPV Report
The opening video played, leading us into our opening contest…
Match One – World X Cup Round 2 Match – Jushin “Thunder” Liger w/ Team Japan vs. “The Canadian Destroyer” Petey Williams
Back and forth technical wrestling got this one jump started. Williams got the better of Liger, but after a dive to the floor, that all changed. While on the outside, Williams was jumped by the other members of Team Japan. The match made it’s way back into the ring, Williams attempted to land a Canadian Destroyer, but Liger countered and was able to eventually get Team Japan their first win in the World X Cup.
Winner Via Pinfall – Jushin “Thunder” Liger
Match Rating – 6/10
World X Cup Standings
Team USA – 5 Points
Team Mexico – 3 Points
Team Japan – 2 Points
Team Canada – 0 Points
Unfortunately, the broadcast froze for a bit after the match. We resumed with the tail end of Samoa Joe getting ready in the back, before heading over to Jeremy Borash who was standing by with America’s Most Wanted, Gail Kim and Jackie Gayda. AMW and Gail ripped on Jackie who was crying, only to find out she was pregnant. They then fired Gayda before heading to the ring for a Tag Title defense. It should be interesting to see if Gayda leaves or is used further in a pregnancy storyline.
Match Two – NWA World Tag Team Championship Match – America’s Most Wanted (“Wildcat” Chris Harris and “The Tennessee Cowboy” James Storm) (C) vs. “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles and “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
Daniels and Styles attacked AMW before the bell, getting the match underway. Daniels and Styles kept the offensive momentum going in their favor, until Daniels got isolated from their side of the ring. AMW took over for a bit before the match completely broke down. The referee was even taken out of the game as finishers were exchanged back and forth. Styles did a springboard elbow from the top rope into the third row on Harris. Styles and Daniels executed a nice Pele/Death Valley Driver combo, but it wasn’t enough to score them the victory. All of the sudden, Kim dropped a club into the ring from the catwalk, giving AMW the opportunity to use it on Styles after he hit the Styles Clash, knocking him out cold and stealing the victory. Excellent match as usual.
Winners Via Pinfall and still NWA World Tag Team Champions – America’s Most Wanted (“Wildcat” Chris Harris and “The Tennessee Cowboy” James Storm)
Match Rating – 8/10
In the back, Jeremy Borash caught up with Larry Zybysko and A-1. Zybysko put over A-1 as the man who was going to destroy Raven. As A-1 left, Mark “Slick” Johnson walked in and told Zybysko that the new face of TNA was going to debut at Slammiversary. As a joke, Johnson dropped names such as “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Vince Russo and The Ultimate Warrior, but in the end assured Zybysko it was none of them. Zybysko left in utter confusion as Johnson reminded him the new face would be at Slammiversary. The big question is, will he bring his tennis racket?
Match Three – Raven vs. A-1 w/ Larry Zybysko
A-1 really stepped up his game in this one and got the majority of the offense at the same time. Raven came back with the Lungblower. Larry Zybysko tried to get involved, but only cost A-1 as he was on the receiving end of a low blow. Zybysko got a hold of Raven and as A-1 charged at him, Raven move out of the way, sending Zybysko to the floor. A-1 turned around, only to be met with an insane Evenflow DDT, giving Raven the win in his return.
Winner Via Pinfall – Raven
Match Rating – 6/10
Post Match – Zybysko challenged Raven and they got into a brawl that was broken up by security. Will they wind up wrestling at Slammiversary?
In the back, Jeremy Borash interviewed Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett who called out Sting and Samoa Joe, telling them that they didn’t know what they got themselves into and promising them that they would be the ones walking out victorious in the end. This is a big step in the right direction for Samoa Joe.
Match Four – “The Canadian Enforcer” Bobby Roode w/ Coach Scott D’Amore vs. “The War Machine” Rhino
Roode wore down Rhino with various submission maneuvers, keeping “The Man Beast” grounded. Rhino fought back to his feet and hit Roode with a huge lariat. Rhino followed up with a superplex and his patented Belly to Belly suplex. Rhino had things going his way, but D’Amore got in the ring and hit Rhino with the flag. Rhino shrugged it off and went after D’Amore. The distraction was enough to allow Roode to hit Rhino with the Northern Lariat and pick up the win.
Winner Via Pinfall – “The Canadian Enforcer” Bobby Roode
Match Rating – 6/10
Jeremy Borash talked with then caught up with Team 3D. They said they remembered a lot of things, one of those things being the match they had with a tag team known as The New Age Outlaws, where they captured their first WWF Tag Team Championship, as The Dudley Boyz. They promised to repeat history and make sure that Team 3D beat The James Gang at Sacrifice.
BG and Kip James came out to do their normal pre-match mic work, which led us into…
Match Five – Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) vs. The James Gang (BG and Kip James)
Plenty of reversals and near falls in this one. Both teams may have changed their names, but they haven’t lost a beat in the process. Lots of double team moves back and forth before Kip got hit with a modified 3D, but it wasn’t enough to finish him off. BG came in and used a pipe, tossed to him by Kip to crack Devon in the head and pin him.
Winners Via Pinfall – The James Gang (BG and Kip James)
Match Rating – 6/10
James Mitchell and Abyss talked to Jeremy Borash, and basically put over the fact that they were going to destroy Christian Cage. Mitchell is such an excellent promo guy, he really does a great job.
They showed clips from when they lost signal during the Liger/Williams match. After the match, Liger laid the Japanese flag over Williams.
Christy Hemme came out to present the World X Cup trophy.
Match Six – World X Cup Round Three Gauntlet Match
This was battle royal style format until the last two men were left in the ring. There were some high flying moves attempted, but due to the rules, most of the men stayed grounded to avoid elimination. It came down to…
“The Canadian Destroyer” Petey Williams vs. Puma
Puma caught Williams with a Brainbuster, but missed a senton splash and found himself on top of his head after getting planted with a Canadian Destroyer.
Winner Via Pinfall – “The Canadian Destroyer” Petey Williams
Other Participants in the Match: Tyson Dux, “Hotshot” Johnny Devine, “Showtime” Eric Young, Minoru, Chris Sabin, Goto, Incognito, Sonjay Dutt, Black Tiger, Magno, Alex Shelley, Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Shocker, Jay Lethal
Match Rating – 7/10
Post Match – Kevin Nash came in and gave Puma the Jackknife Powerbomb. He grabbed the mic and asked if everyone in the match was “Incognito,” because he didn’t know who any of them were. He called out the X-Division again before leaving. We were then sent over to Mike Tenay and Don West who complained about Nash’s comments.
World X Cup Standings:
Team USA – 5 Points
Team Canada – 5 Points
Team Mexico – 3 Points
Team Japan – 2 Points
(There will be a tie breaker on Impact between Chris Sabin and Petey Williams. Let the Sabin push continue.)
Jeremy Borash spoke with Samoa Joe who guaranteed a victory for himself and Sting.
Match Seven – Jeff Jarrett and “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner w/ Gail Kim vs. Sting and “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe
Joe got in a ton of offensive, landing his trademark kicks and chops on both Steiner and Jarrett. Steiner landed a few suplexes here and there, while Sting and Jarrett traded off right hands with one another, Sting hit the Stinger Splash on Jarrett. Jarrett came back and hit the Stroke on Joe, but he was somehow able to kick out. Joe and Jarrett wound up in the ring alone once again, Jarrett attempted to ascend the turnbuckles, but was met with an inseguri from Joe, followed by a Muscle Buster for the win.
Winners Via Pinfall – Sting and “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe
Post Match – Sting shook hands with Joe. Joe left got out of the ring, as Steiner and Jarrett attacked. Sting was put in the Steiner Recliner and hit the head with a guitar shot, as Joe walked away. Some of the stars came from the back to help Sting and chase off Steiner and Jarrett. Joe vs. Sting?
Match Rating – 7/10
Christian stood with Jeremy Borash and flat out told Abyss and Mitchell that he was coming to get his championship back, because thats how he rolls.
Match Eight – NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match – “Captain Charisma” Christian Cage (C) vs. “The Monster” Abyss w/ Father James Mitchell
Winner Via grabbing the belt and still NWA World Heavyweight Champion – “Captain Charisma” Christian Cage
Match Rating – 7/10
Overall Event Rating – 7/10
Chris Sokol is from Long Island, NY and likes the fact that Samoa Joe is being pushed in the Heavyweight division.
