TNA IMPACT! Slamback: The Mafia Walks A Deadly Line

TNA needed something to smile about after falling short of its goal to rid the company of Kurt Angle. But after tonight, I am thinking about starting a petition to get Angle's worthless old ass out of TNA...along with at least three of his buddies as well.

But I still got a job to do, so here's your recap of tonight's TNA IMPACT!

X Division Is Introduced to Suicidal Anarchy

Thanks to TNA Management's Jim Cornette, the X Division Championship was held up for grabs after his assault on referee Shane Sewell, who was suspended for two weeks for his actions this past Sunday at Final Resolution. But before I go into the tournament, I have to say that after viewing the footage from the pay per view, Sewell did the right thing by breaking Bashir's grip on the ropes. But as I said in an earlier column, Cornette is trying to save his job right now.

But tonight, we had the start of the X-Division Championship Tournament. The first match of the night saw Eric Young and Sheik Abdul Bashir involved in a rematch from Final Resolution. Following his encounter with senior ref Earl Hebner, Bashir gets caught in a suplex pin and loses the match and his chance to retain the X Division Title.

The second match saw Alex Shelley facing Jay Lethal. Still sore from Sunday's Feast or Fired Match, Chris Sabin became the equalizer and allowed Shelley to hit the Rock City to pick up the win and advance to the next round. Following the match, Sabin grabs the mic and tells Foley that they will give one more chance to fix the mistake that happened at Final Resolution. But before Foley could arrive, TNA IMPACT! saw the arrival of Suicide. Suicide came out and took down the Motor City Machine Guns once again.

The Knockouts Feel The Pinch of Defeat

Tonight, we didn't see Knockouts Champion Awesome Kong, but we did manage to see "Governor Sarah Palin" and The Beautiful People. As Love and Sky enjoyed their visit from Governor Palin, the "Gov" told them that they needed to change their image in order to go to the White House. Apparently these two blondes didn't get the memo about who the President is going to be in a few months.

But after their makeover, the "Gov" wasn't done as she had more plans for the two ladies. We should find out more next week on IMPACT.

In other Knockout action, Christy Hemme, fresh off her match with Kong, faced TNA newcomer Sojourner Bolt. After a back and forth battle, Hemme counters a powerbomb into a roll up to get the win. But after the bell, the friendships were gone as Bolt decided to slap the taste out of Hemme's mouth. Hemme snapped and went ballistic on Bolt. Expect a nice rivalry to begin between these two.

Three Feast...One Goes Up In Higher Flames

Per the conditions of the Feast or Fired Match, the four briefcases were to be revealed tonight on IMPACT! Luckily for Jay Lethal, he managed to get the briefcase that contained a shot at the TNA Tag Team Championships. Tonight, both members of LAX and Curry Man would find out who would get the title shots...and who would get the boot from TNA tonight.

Hernandez was chosen first, and his case was open to reveal...a TNA World Heavyweight Championship Shot! Following a commercial break, Curry Man's case was chosen second to reveal...The Pink Slip of Death! Which meant that Homicide got the TNA X Division Championship Shot! Though he didn't quite understand what was going on, Curry Man got help in understanding by TNA Security as they carried him out of the IMPACT Zone.

So just to recap, Hernandez (TNA World Title Shot), Homicide (X-Division Title Shot) & Jay Lethal (TNA World Tag Title Shot) get off with shots at gold while Curry Man's fire was put out via his efforts in the Feast or Fired Match.

The Mafia is on borrowed time...Deal With It!

The Mafia was on high after having an almost flawless night at Final Resolution. But before they could enjoy the night completely, AJ Styles came out to question Sting's own motives in regards to respect. But after the confrontation got physical, the Mafia stormed into the ring and assaulted Styles. But it didn't take long to scare the Mafia off from a fight. Kurt Angle then guaranteed that one of them would be eliminated...permanently.

But Brother Ray had an idea to fix this war as soon as possible. So he went out and called out Angle. After Angle finally came out (insert funny pun here), Ray challenged him to a battle to settle the war between the Mafia and the Frontline once and for all. Angle accepted with one condition: One on one, and both the Mafia and Frontline has to leave the building. Despite debate from both parties, they obliged the request and left the IMPACT Zone.

The battle between the two men didn't last long in the ring as Angle ambushed him from behind to get an early advantage. The fight spilled out to the outside and got bloody in a hurry as Brother Ray flew into an entrance wall and busted himself open. The fight went from the outside of the ring to the backstage area. As the fight spilled to the parking lot, security tried to break the two up, but Ray punched them out.

Unfortunately, Ray became a victim of a premeditated ambush as the Mafia showed that not only did they not leave the arena, but they were waiting for the fight to get to them. As Booker T, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner and Angle beat Ray senseless as Sting chose to walk away from the mugging. Despite trying to retaliate countless times, Ray is tossed into a dumpster outside the IMPACT Zone. Before the show ends, Angle makes it clear that, "No one messes with the Mafia!"

Hopefully next week, someone starts messing with the Mafia...and gives them a taste of their own medicine.