The Kurt Angle Show - TNA Victory Road 2009: Angle vs. Foley [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Kurt today we’re going to be looking back at one of your major matches in your TNA run and as part of the Main Event Mafia…when you took on Mick Foley at the Impact Zone!

Coming out of Slammiversary, where you won the TNA Title in the King of the Mountain Match from Mick Foley himself, but also involved was AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett & Sting. Samoa Joe turned heel to join the Main Event Mafia and help you get the victory. Was there ever a right time to put Joe with you after you history in TNA?

On the next Impact you regain the leadership of the group from Sting…we touched on it last week about the Mafia…but was Sting ever a real leader of the group backstage?

The story is that you & Joe put the deal together behind Sting’s back…was the build to put you and Sting against each other in the future when the Mafia was broken up?

Do you think it was a mistake you two never got to that program?

The other end of this story is that Jenna Morsaca…the Survivor winner…had joined the company and had invested the money - her “millions” into bringing Joe into the company. What did you think of having Jenna become a major storyline component with the Main Event Mafia?

Foley comes out and says even though he pinned you during the course of the King of the Mountain match, he should still be champion by his logic…what was Mick’s body like at the time? Did he tell you to take it easy or anything like that?

You tell Mick you have the power as champion and you’re not interested in giving him a rematch…did TNA need an authority figure during this time to make all this make sense?

Borash’s asks you directly if you told Sting about the plan and you said you did but it’s none of his concern. We don’t talk about Jeremy Borash much on the show - what did you think of him in Impact and his abilities?

There’s also a background story of Taz about to debut for the company…what did you think of Taz coming in?

AJ calls out Joe and there’s a brawl and the Mafia comes out for the beat down … except for Sting. When Sting finally makes his appearance, all of the Mafia powders out for Sting to cut a promo. Sting talks about how pathetic you are and the rest of the Mafia and Nash stands up and says it wasn’t working with Sting as the leader…and says “You can make friends or you can make money, but you can’t make both in this business.” Kurt - that’s pretty close to being a shoot isn’t it?

Sting hands a bat to Nash and dares him to prove that they’re together and they’re friends, Nash goes to swing but Sting had a hidden bat to defend himself but Joe gets the bat and it’s a Main Event Mafia beatdown and Sting is out of the group. Do you think it was time for Sting to get out?

You’re working programs with Sting & Foley…was it just too much? Do you think you & the Mafia were being over exposed?

Foley finally wants his match and of course it leads to another Main Event Mafia beatdown but Jeff Jarrett comes out for the save but he ends up hitting Foley with his guitar. In the back you talk with him about putting your two collective forces together but Jarrett said he’s back in charge of the company now…would Jeff in the Mafia had made sense at this point?

The match is made between you & Joe teaming up to take on Jarrett & Styles. You have to get the pin in the match though to retain your title…did you think it was silly to have the World Title defended in a tag match?

You bring Matt Morgan backstage and discuss with him how he’s done so much but he’s got one more job to do before he could be in the Mafia. What did you think of Morgan at this point in his career?

In the main event…Jarrett passes out from the ankle lock after being in it forever and you retain your title. This leads to Matt Morgan keeping Christopher Daniels from going to the ring and the Mafia is out for another beat down. The lights go out and Sting comes out with a baseball bat and clears the ring.

Kurt - there’s just so much stuff going on…was it hard for you to follow sometimes?

Foley goes out on MySpace and writes how he needs to be in better shape to keep up with you…do you think that was his real feelings?

On Impact…for some reason…you take on Jarrett & Foley in a 3-way and you walk out to the ring without the title or Mafia members. Eric Young is also the referee and at the end you put the ankle lock on Foley and Young rings the bell claiming Mick gave up even though Foley was yelling, “No, no, no.” I mean…not exactly what you’re looking at to sell the upcoming pay-per-view was it?

Eventually you would wrap up Foley in barbed wire with the other main event mafia members before security attempted to save Mick. Did you ever have any interest in doing anything with barbed wire?

For the first time publicly you would talk about how you were in the wrong for when you left the WWE…why was this a point where you had regret regarding this?

Was anyone in TNA upset with you for saying this publicly?

On the go-home Impact Foley cuts a promo about how he feels naked without the TNA title…and that no one wants to see him naked so he’s going to win the title back. He calls you out and asks you to not have any interference from anyone in the Mafia so you two can finally determine who the better man is.

“Angle said this is a man’s game, not a boy’s game, and he does what it takes to survive. He said that’s why they get so upset at the “young punks” who are spoon fed and spoiled and get paid more than they deserve. He mocked them for saying they can’t wrestle tonight because they got a blister last night. Angle told Foley he’s worked through pain before. “They’re changing our world, Mick, a world that we’re trying so hard to preserve,” he said. He said it’s not about just money, as they’re trying to help him and Jarrett as well as themselves. Sting’s music then played.”

That’s direct from the Torch - was that something that was happening at the time in TNA with younger roster members?

When Sting comes out…he said he wants one last chance at you and you tell Sting it’ll be in the six sides of steel…Kurt…THIS IS ON FREE TV! What are we doing here?

How is this not something that should be booked and promoted on a pay-per-view?

From the Torch on your match with Sting…

“(6) Kurt Angle fought Sting to a no contest in 10:00. Jarrett on guest commentary said Foley is so unpredictable, sometimes he creates situations he’s not smart enough to get out of. Angle was in control after the break. Sting made a comeback at 7:00, sending him into the cage and scoring a two count. Angle came back by driving Sting into a corner with shoulder blocks. Angle hit a back suplex. As Jarrett talked about how Victory Road means everything to him and TNA, Samoa Joe attacked him from behind. He then knocked out the ref and stole the key to the cage. He entered the cage as Sting had Angle locked in a Scorpion Death Lock. Joe locked himself in the cage. Sting got up and dropped Joe. He put him in a Scorpion Deathlock. The lights went out and then “FTW 13” appears on the screen. Tenay said he thinks he knows who that signified. Jarrett got up and tried to climb the cage. Angle bashed at his fingers with a night stick. Foley tried to climb the cage. Angle should have stood and laughed at the prospects of that, but instead he bashed his fingers, too. Nash then came out and attacked Jarrett. Joe then applied his sleeper on Sting in mid–ring as Angle stood guard.”

Taz’s entrance is a tease for Victory Road but this big time match, somehow, ends in a no contest…this would be your last singles match with Sting for another 2 years…was that a surprise to you?

We’re finally at the show now Kurt…

Here’s Meltzer’s review fo the show:

“There is no nice way to write about TNA’s Victory Road PPV on 7/19 in Orlando. The best you can say is that history has shown that even the worst PPV possible isn’t going to have major long-term negative effects.

The show was a classic example of how the mentality of the company has changed over the past few years. When TNA started doing three-hour PPV shows, they quickly garnered a reputation for doing the best PPV shows in the business. The reason is that, at the time, those in charge made that a priority. Matches were put together with the mentality of having mostly good matches on a show. If for storyline reasons there was to be a bad match, an attempt was made to balance it out in other ways on the show.

This show looked bad on paper because there wasn’t that one match you could point to and give 20 minutes to pick up the slack for the bad matches.

All of the usual standouts had problems. Kurt Angle was in with a groin pull (suffered while filming fighting scenes for the MMA role he’s playing in a movie), and Mick Foley, who is limited but is usually smart enough to camouflage those limitations, went in with the idea of providing a gimmick free match.

While it was far from the usual Angle PPV quality, it was the only above average match on the show.”

I mean…that’s a solid synopsis of TNA at this point in time is it not?

How did you get hurt while filming the movie?

How much did it effect your work with Mick?

What would’ve been different if you hadn’t been hurt?

“The show’s storyline was that the Main Event Mafia was going to win all the major matches clean. However, the last two matches ending with Sting and Foley tapping out was shocking. That wasn’t the idea. Sting was supposed to get pinned after a muscle buster, but allegedly forgot the finish. Joe twice tried to get Sting up for the finish and Sting dead weighted him. He didn’t even try a third time, called his own audible, and put Sting in the choke and called for Sting to tap out.”

Are you backstage or in gorilla when this happens…what do you remember of this?

“The show also featured one of the worst PPV matches in history with Sharmell vs. Jenna Morasca. The match looked terrible on paper and nobody has been able to give an explanation as to why it was booked in the first place. They had been building a TV program, but it’s not like anyone was clamoring for the match, and there are ways to do it while hiding them such as a mixed tag and only have them do a few carefully planned spots. Morasca’s performance may have been the worst since Jackie Gayda’s TV debut on Raw coming off Tough Enough. Actually it was worse than that since Morasca couldn’t even run the ropes in a straight line and her slaps were among the worst in history. Sharmell has had some training, as she wrestled some gimmick matches in WCW when they were dying and went to OVW to train to be a wrestler in WWE before she was let go, and then later brought back as Booker’s manager. But why on Earth did they have her wrestle in an evening gown? It’s like they were handicapped to begin with and that only made things worse. Not only does wearing the gown limit mobility, but the material on the gown was falling off all over the ring, making things appear even more second rate.”

I mean…Kurt what’s the reaction of everyone backstage watching this? How did anyone ever think this was a good idea?

“After the first match, Kurt Angle did an interview telling people not to expect a PPV quality main event. They didn’t acknowledge his injury, just saying that he was out to beat Foley as quickly as possible. He also said that if anyone in the Mafia loses on the show, they will be fired on the spot. It was nice to tell everyone the finishes ahead of time.”

Do you think that ruined it - in terms of the finishes?

Why was the promo important - to set the stage for the match?

“9. Kurt Angle beat Mick Foley in 14:06 to retain the TNA title.

Crowd was dead here as well. They did the best they could. Angle even missed a moonsault spot. Foley used a DDT for a near fall. Foley pulled out the sock, but Angle threw Foley into ref Andrew Thomas. Angle used a low blow and Olympic slam, but Foley kicked out. Angle blamed Thomas and gave him an elbow drop. That made no sense that there wasn’t a DQ. Foley used an elbow drop off the apron onto the floor. He was probably feeling that one the next day. Foley threw him in the ring and went for the pin, but Angle kicked out. Foley put the Socko claw on again. Angle powered out, landed on top, and did ground and pound like an MMA match, and grabbed an ankle lock. Foley made the ropes the first time. Angle put the hold on again, and Foley took the sock off his hand, but still didn’t escape and Angle did the heel hook which led Foley to tap. The entire Mafia got in the ring to celebrate all their wins as the show went off the air. **½”

“Foley, who had done a promo building on the idea that he hadn’t tapped out in a match since 1991, and that he may lose but he would never tap, did that promo apparently to set up the shock of him tapping for the finish. People were unhappy with the idea that the Foley tapping out effect was diluted by the fact Sting had just done so in the prior match. It also made the babyfaces come off weak in a business where top babyfaces rarely tap, and only do so if it’s to have a huge impact or if they are somehow cheated on.”

Do you think Sting tapping out hurt the finish?

What did you think of working with Mick at this time?

This was your only one-on-one match with Mick I could find…do you think it was a disappointment?

Next week Kurt we’ll be watching back a classic Raw is War from 2005…July 4th to be exact. You’re in a major part of the show as you & Carlito team up to take on Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan. We’ll also be watching Kane & Big Show taking on Snitsky & Edge, Viscera takes on the Heartthrobs, Chavo Guerrero has a new gimmick, a Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho & John Cena and so much more!