TNA DVD Global iMPACT!
Wrestle Kingdom II
Global iMPACT! was a groundbreaking inter-promotional and international show for a US wrestling promotion. This dvd shows far more than was seen on TNA’s iMPACT! show on SpikeTV. It contains over 3 1/2 hours of action and footage of TNA stars touring Japan and talking about their matches.
Pre-Match interviews
Jeff Jarrett: Jeff talks about TNA’s global evolution, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Newspaper coverage in Japan, The Tokyo Dome, and Taking it to Hulk Hogan (his press conference guitar shot on Hogan). He also talks about WCW and the history of Masahiro Chono, Great Muta, Ricky Choshu, and Yuji Nagata.
Kurt Angle: Angle discusses foreign press coverage, and beating Brock Lesnar for his IWGP Title.
Christian Cage: Christian discusses The Tokyo Dome, traveling to Japan on New Years Day, passing the time on the long flight, jet lag, Japanese fans, his previous matches in Japan, and Japanese media coverage.
Petey Williams: Petey talks about Japanese fans, and how lucky he feels to have the opportunity to travel like this.
Brother Devon: Devon chats about 3D’s History in Japan, preparing for a match, and “get the tables.â€
Christopher Daniels: Daniels talks about nerves before a big match, his IWGP light heavyweight championship match, wrestling Inoue, fans in the Tokyo Dome, and TNA’s going global.
Matches
The matches are preceded by videos in Japanese
6 Man Tag Match
Christian Cage, Petey Williams, & AJ Styles vs. Prince Fergal Devitt, Minoru, & Milano Collection A.T. with his invisible dog
The Japanese fans were typically quiet for this match, except for when the Americans hit their finishing moves, and at those times they applauded and even oohed and ahhed. The TNA Team won after Petey nailed Milano Collection A.T. with the Canadian Destroyer, and AJ followed up with the Styles Clash for the pin. The widely different styles of the wrestlers meshed well and made this an entertaining and unusual match that highlighted the benefits of having these international shows.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match
Christopher Daniels vs. Wataru Inoue (C)
They began with a video, mostly in Japanese, to introduce Inoue. Even though it was not in English, wrestling fans with understand the intent of the video. Inoue retained with two brain busters after an exciting match in which both men pulled out all the stops. I enjoyed watching these two ring technicians put on a classic match.
“The American Monster†Abyss vs. “The Japanese Hercules†Manabu Nakanishi
Mike Tenay mentioned that Nakanishi wrestled as Kurosawa in WCW, and that he was trained by the legendary Karl Gotch as well as Joe Malenko. The Japanese announcer called Abyss “The American Monster.†This was a bloody hardcore match, and the crowd was more vocal for this than the earlier matches, especially when weapons were used. Although Nakanishi is a good bit smaller than Abyss, he was still able to lift the monster easily for a torture rack and other moves. Nakanishi won with Gotch’s signature German suplex into a bridging pin.
Hardcore Match – Dead or Alive
Team 3D vs. “The Unchained Gorilla†Tohgi Makabe & Toru Yano
Yano entered with a chair around his neck. It had “GBH†painted on it, which Tenay said stands for great, bash, heal. Makabe had a chain wrapped around his neck. 3D brought out TNA flags. Kendo sticks, trash cans, the time keeper’s hammer, tables, and other weapons came into play in a wild hardcore match. NJPW wrestler Honma also came out to assist Makabe and Yano. Team 3D won with the 3D on Makabe.
IWGP Tag Team Championship
The Steiners vs. Travis Tomko & Giant Bernard (aka Albert, real name Matt Bloom) (C)
The video before this match included great old WCW-era footage of the Steiner Brothers. Jeff Jarrett made a brief speech before this match and established himself as a heel with the Japanese fans by saying that TNA is the best. Tenay mentioned that the Steiners have held the IWGP Tag Team Championship twice in the past. Yano and Makabe took seats at ringside to watch the match. The finish came after Rick Steiner accidentally bumped referee Tiger Hatori. Giant Bernard, meanwhile, shoved Jeff Jarrett at ringside. Jarrett bought his guitar up to the ring apron to hit Bernard with it, but Yano came up to stop him, so Jarrett smashed the guitar over Yano’s head. Meanwhile, Makabe pushed Rick Steiner off the top turnbuckle, and referee Hatori woke up just in time to count to three when Bernard pinned Rick after they nailed him with the Magic Killer. This was an entertaining match that could serve to set up a New Japan visit to TNA.
Kurt Angle vs. Yuji Nagata
For the IWGP Title
In the videos before the match, Nagata said that he respects Kurt Angle, but he does not feel that Angle is the true champion, because Angle won the title from Brock Lesnar. Lesnar wouldn’t defend the title against Nagata, and Angle did not with the title by “beating one of Japan’s best.â€
The match started off quickly, with a great deal of intensity. Their styles are similar in many ways, as both have amateur wrestling backgrounds, according to Mike Tenay. There was a strong MMA flavor to this excellent match as well, with both men trying for submissions throughout the match. Angle worked Nagata’s legs, preparing for his ankle lock. Nagata worked Angle’s shoulders and neck. Nagata’s facial expressions, especially when he was battling to get out of the figure four leglock Angle had him in, were so good I could almost feel his pain. Angle retained the title when Nagata tapped out to the ankle lock.
After the match, they showed a clip from Angle’s press conference.
Post Match Interviews
Williams, Cage and Styles
Fergal Devitt, Milano Collection AT, and Minoru come in and argue with the TNA wrestlers before the interview can start. Christian leads the team for the interview. They say that TNA is number one, and it was a pleasure wrestling for the Japanese fans. There is also some talk of a rematch.
Abyss
Abyss answers all his own questions. He says that he would welcome a rematch any time, and next time he will be victorious.
Team 3D
3D say that they have proved again that they are the best hardcore team anywhere. They say Yano and Makabe are good, the best in Japan, but not as good as Team 3D. They say they would grant a rematch, but the result would be the same, because they have never been beaten in Japan. They issued a warning to Bernard and Tomko, to guard their IWGP tag team belts.
Tomko and Bernard
Tomko and Bernard bring in several bottles of Japanese beer and start drinking. Yano and Makabe come in before the interview can start and challenge Tomko and Bernard for the titles. They say they are the “baddest tag team in wrestling history today!†The press keeps asking questions about Yano and Makabe, until Bernard threatens to leave if they keep it up, because he is here to discuss tonight’s match. It was their “dream come true†to face the legendary Steiners and beat the “the best tag team in wrestling history.â€
The Steiners
They say they are disappointed that other wrestlers came down and messed up their match, but they are happy to have come back to Japan and see the fans again. They also enjoyed seeing old friends in the locker room. They always welcome the chance to come back to New Japan.
Kurt Angle
Angle says he would like to take on Nakamura and win the other IWGP belt too, because he likes to collect belts and medals. If TNA allows him to, he will face Nakamura in an IWGP unification match right away. There was discussion of the controversy over the IWGP belts. Jeff Jarrett joined Angle at the table for further discussion. Jarrett said that they will negotiate for the match between Angle and Nakamura. Angle said Nagata worked hard on his neck, but he prevailed with the ankle lock. Jarrett said that TNA is in negotiations to bring several New Japan talents to TNA.
Culture
Tomko and Bernard take Christian and Brother Ray to a Korean barbecue place to eat treats like raw eggs and raw liver before they settle down to eating the main meal. Tomko says the first thing they learn is how to order food in foreign languages.
The Steiners go out for sushi.
Tomko and AJ Styles go to Sensoji Temple, but they have to walk a long way through streets lined with stores and open air markets to get there, and they banter about what they see along the way.
The dvd was great fun and great wrestling. I recommend adding this one to your dvd library.
— Karen Belcher
Courtesy of ProWrestlingDigest.com