1 -- KURT ANGLE vs. RHINO vs. CHRISTIAN CAGE -- TNA Heavyweight Title match -- No DQ
Angle and Christian ganged up on Rhino, the default babyface, in the opening few minutes. After clearing Christian from the ring, Angle worked on Rhino on the mat, but Rhino powered out into an electric chair slam. Tenay told us to send a text vote for either LAX, Daniels & Styles, or the Naturals for who should face Team 3D for the tag titles on next week's show. Christian then returned to the ring and took out Angle from behind. He executed a suplex and scored a nearfall. Christian dumped Angle to the outside, then he stomped on Rhino in the corner. Christian whipped Rhino to the opposite corner, and Rhino's body collapsed. Christian smirked, then he picked him up and landed a dropkick for a nearfall. At 8:00, they set up a three-man Tower of Doom spot, then Angle fell to the mat. Christian slammed Rhino off the top onto Angle, then Christian hit a frogsplash onto both men and he covered Angle for a nearfall. Cut to break after eight good minutes of wrestling.
[Commercial Break]
We re-join the action with Angle going for successive German suplexes on Christian. The referee was checking on Rhino as Angle hit suplex after suplex. Boy, Angle really showed a nice sense of struggle going for the fifth suplex. Angle then slapped on a double anklelock, but Rhino and Christian broke free and landed double clotheslines on Angle. Suddenly, Christian and Rhino turned on each other, and everyone recovered on the mat. Christian hit the Unprettier on Angle for a nearfall at 17:00. Angle then accepted a few taunting slaps from Christian before throwing him to the floor. Rhino then came off the top rope with a diving clothesline on Angle out of nowhere for a close nearfall. He then slapped on a Boston Crab in center ring on Angle, but Rhino was distracted by Christian on the apron and he speared him to the floor. Angle took advantage of Rhino being distracted and gave him the Olympic Slam for another nearfall.
At 18:00, Christian pulled out a table from under the ring and slid it into the ring. Rhino cut off Christian once he slid the table into the ring, then he leaned the table against the corner. Christian recovered and choked out Rhino and Angle. Suddenly, Abyss walked to the ring at 20:00 for no apparent reason. He chased Christian around the ringside area, then to the backstage area.
[Commercial Break]
They returned to the Impact zone with Abyss nearly pantsing Christian backstage near the TV truck. Abyss pushed as an Igloo cooler and threw Christian head-first into the cooler. Back in the arena, Angle took Rhino down with a suplex for a close nearfall. Cut backstage where Abyss threw Christian into the side of a dumpster. Back in the ring, Angle slapped on a chokehold. Back to backstage, Abyss tried to roll a dumpster into Christian, but Christian moved. Suddenly, A.J. Styles and Tomko jumped Abyss to save Christian. Abyss tried to fight them off, but the heels continued to assault Abyss. Back in the ring, Rhino landed a forearm blow on Angle before missing with an elbow smash. Angle took control with a back suplex for a nearfall. Back to backstage, the heels ganged up on Abyss. More stomping and pounding. And now a break at 26:00.
[Commercial Break]
We re-join the match at 30:00 with Christian nowhere to be found as Angle and Rhino continued to battle in the ring. Angle worked on Rhino with the table looming large in the corner. Rhino came back with a belly-to-belly suplex, then he measured Angle for the Gore. Amazingly, Angle didn't move out of the way like you would see 99 out of 100 times, giving Rhino the Gore through the table. Christian re-emerged and covered Angle in the ring, but Chris Harris came to ringside and pulled Christian out of the ring. Yeah, another run-in! Harris then whipped Christian into the ring steps and landed left hand blows ringside. Suddenly, Tomko and Styles came to ringside and jumped Harris. They beat him ringside, then Rhino made a cover back in the ring on Angle for a nearfall. And, hey, Abyss is back to get in on the fun. Abyss threw Styles into the guardrail, then ripped into Tomko with right hands. Tenay told us that Young's match has been cancelled due to the length of the match. Oh, and here comes Sting! He choked out random men with a baseball bat before throwing Tomko in to the ring. He spanked Christian with his bat, then we saw Tomko busted wide open form the forehead. Men spilled into the ring as chaos ensued. And to a break we go at 35:00.
[Commercial Break]
We're back at 37:00 with tons of chaos in the ring and ringside. Abyss opened up Tomko even more ringside, then Abyss slammed Tomko into the timekeeper's table. Meanwhile, Sting used a baseball bat to take out the back of the legs on Styles. Tomko then came back on Abyss with a steel chair shot to the head. They fought through the stands and Tomko choked Abyss with an electrical chord. Now, I know this was a taped show taped well before anything Benoit-related occurred, but there let's show some editing discretion. Back in the ring, Angle slapped on a chokehold on Rhino. Christian was nowhere to be found. Rhino did not let his arm drop a third time on the hold, then he rallied for another comeback. At 40:00, Rhino put Angle on his shoulders before hitting the TKO. Both men were out cold in the ring, then Rhino slowly draped an arm over Angle's body for a close, dramatic nearfall. Angle and Rhino came to, and Angle took Rhino up top for an overhead release suplex that only generated a nearfall. We're four minutes away from the top of the hour, and Angle ran into a spinebuster from Rhino for another close nearfall. Angle slowly walked into an Anklelock attempt on Rhino, but Rhino used his leg strength to power out. Angle suddenly ran into another belly-to-belly suplex from Rhino. He then set up for the Gore, but James Storm ran to ringside and poured the beer on Rhino before spitting it in his face. Angle then followed with the Olympic Slam from behind for the win. West expressed outrage with Storm ruining a title match, as if the other fifteen instances of outside interference didn't matter.
WINNER: Kurt Angle in 44:00 to retain the TNA World Hvt. Title. Just way, way, way too much outside interference for a title match of this caliber and magnitude. Unfortunately, that's the first thing that comes to mind after TNA attempted to replicate John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels's amazing 56-minute TV match. Here's the difference: not a single moment of outside interference with Cena-HBK. All that said, the chaotic scene did add to the match, giving it a must-see TV feel. It was also a very unique match since the typical TNA TV match lasts two-eight-minutes. So, that allowed the match to stand out as a special title match to make up for the constant outside interference. I could think of several FSN-era X Division TV matches that were of higher wrestling quality than this match, but it was probably one of most exciting and eventful TV match in Impact history. (***1/2)
