TNA Impact preview (September 10, 2014): Inspirational nostalgia

Previously on Impact Wrestling

Like most week's, Montel Vontavious Porter was out with his champ and ours, Bobby Lashley, and their little buddy Kenny King.  Unlike every other week, this time, he got to talk about Lashley's upcoming mixed martial arts fight (which he won).  According to MVP, that makes the champ the toughest guy on the planet.  X Division champ Samoa Joe hit the ring and declared that Bobby was no longer even the toughest man withing those six sides.

If you think that sounds like the set-up for a champion vs. champion match...you've watched more than 30 seconds of wrestling in your life.

Taryn Terrell and Gail Kim worked hard to complete their trilogy.  It might not have reached the peak of their ladder match (pun semi-intended), but it was a legit wrestling match, won by the Knockouts champ when she turned a crossbody into a pin.  While they were showing their respect for one another after the match, HAVOK debuted and decimated them  both.  Methinks Kim has a new #1 contender...

Another Knockout, Brittany, has moved on from being obsessed with Madison Rayne and is now really into Samuel Shaw.  Shaw is really into Gunner, as proven by his trying on his clothes the week before, and his going bananas when he thought the former Marine was hurt in their loss to Bram & Magnus last week.

The Bro-Man have been using a dating app, and it somehow landed them an evening out with Velvet Sky and Angelina Love.  Sky's real life steady announced that he and Devon are using their victory in the first match of their series against The Hardys and The Wolves to chose a tables match as the stipulation for the second one.

Ever the Machiavelli, MVP tried to get into both Eric Young and Bobby Roode's head before their one-on-one match to settle the tie from the Six-Sides of Steel #1 contender match at Hardcore Justice.  It didn't work, because the two are old friends and respectful rivals.  It showed in a really good match, too, won by the It Factor with a Roode Bomb.  A frustrated EY gave the winner some props, and Bobby says he's excited to reclaim his belt.

Rhino is still pissed about the way his old boss, Ethan Carter III has been treating him, but so far, he has only been able to get his hands on his assistant, Spud.  To make matters worse for the little Brit, EC3 left him lying after his loss to the Man Beast last week.

After he lost the six-man match to determine the #1 contender to the X-Division crown, James Storm and The Great Sanada kidnapped Manik as a new recruit for their revolution.  We haven't seen the new face of TJ Perkins yet, but we did see another face that will oppose their plans.  Austin Aries isn't content to fight them alone, he's recruited Tajiri to the cause!

Homicide is the man who pinned Manik to earn the right to face Samoa Joe for his belt.  And it might be a little easier than the master of 1-8-7 thought before Impact's main event.  With the help of King, Lashley wore down and then speared through Joe to stand tall over the other singles champ on the TNA roster, and send a message to Roode that he's ready for whatever comes next.

TONIGHT

They're cutting and pasting from the early August tapings in New York.  Most of the particulars for what will end up on tonight's broadcast can be found in this spoiler post.

If Bully Ray and Devon can win their signature match type tonight, they'll not only be headed to the Hall of Fame, but they'll show up in style wearing the tag titles.  Can Matt & Jeff Hardy or Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards earn a victory to tie Team 3D and make the call for the third match in the series?

After an emotional introduction, Sergeant Chris Melendez makes his in-ring debut on Spike TV  tonight.  And following his surprise appearance last week, Tajiri will tag with A-Double as they try to put a stop to whatever James Storm and Sanada are cooking up.

That, plus Bobby Lashley has words for his new #1 contender, and more!

Expect to pop for:

Chris Melendez. I don't know what kind of future he has in the business.  I don't even know if he's any good in the ring, although I hope that with training from Team 3D and their having vouched for him, he's solid.

It'll be a challenge to write stories for him, and probably to keep him around for more than a few angles.  But you never know.

And while we wait to see what happens down the road, a ton of props to Melendez for chasing his dream and being an inspiration to others who have to overcome handicaps to achieve theirs.  And good on TNA for giving him an opportunity.  Sure, some good public relations coverage doesn't hurt their cause.  But the fact that they get some buzz doesn't negate the fact that there are more meaningful positive outcomes from booking "Sarge", too.

The heat is on:

Tajiri. Checking in with the United States television market for the first time in almost eight years, the former ECW and WWE mainstay is appearing on Impact as part of TNA's cross promotion with Wrestle-1 (also, the partnership that has brought Sanada into the fold, and the reason why Muta was on the last batch of taped episodes).

It's great to see him and, even at 43 years old, I'd bet he's got plenty left in the tank.  But do audiences here remember him?  And is whatever nostalgia we have left for him and/or whatever he has left in the tank to impress those who aren't familar with him enough to drive sales of Bound for Glory here or in Japan?

Other than another historic tag match, what else will TNA pull out as we get closer to their big, cross-national pay-per-view (PPV)?

Find out tonight at 9PM on Spike TV, and right here on cSs!