[Official] TNA TV Shows Aftermath, Review & Ratings Thread

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Impact Hits and Misses: 2/3/10

[Impact Hits:​

AJ Styles: Styles was easily the best thing on this edition of Impact. When Styles becomes emotional as a promo picks up many times, he becomes unhinged and loses focus. Not here. This was either tightly scripted or AJ was just brilliant here. Styles was significantly intense and in control at the same time. He also was great in the backstage segments with Bischoff as his verbiage of how "They" had everything under control was great foreshadowing of what was going to happen later.

"They" revealed: A minor hint. Look, TNA was really put at a disadvantage when Kevin Nash opted out of his contract and Booker T chose not to re-sign at the last minute. Obviously, they planned to turn Fourtune at some time, but this seemed rushed. Having said that, it was well done for what it was. I'm not sure how I feel about a faction war, but this was a decent fallback plan. It was also a good job by TNA in putting said backup plan together at the last minute. The way it was done was well executed as well, and the crowd responded positively to it.

Impact Misses: ​

Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy: The match was nothing special(it was bad for the most part), yet Mike Tenay makes sure to tell viewers that it was pay-per-view quality. It makes me wonder how many viewers who don't order pay-per-views suddenly felt justified in their decision to only watch the free product. I also despised the way they hyped that this would be a no-nonsense match without interference, only to have a referee bump followed by run-ins. TNA needs to do a better job of not hyping things they have no intention to deliver on.

Jay Lethal vs Doug Williams vs Jeremy Buck: Wasn't Lethal just X Division champion, and Williams the TV champion? You wouldn't know it given the way the two were already in the ring when they came back from commercial. It was obvious Jeremy was going over as his brother was on commentary, and the match wasn't what you would expect from three good workers. The match was just there and at five minutes it hardly made the X Division title feel special whatsoever.


The Jarrett's at "Home":I don't understand TNA's obsession with weaving personal storylines into angles, but this was Exhibit A of what not to do. Look, Jarrett is better as a heel(and he's a darn good one), but the nonsense with Kurt Angle's kids is low-brow, classless, and stupid. The idea of the Jarrett's reknewing their vows next month is nauseating, and nothing good can come from this. Kurt and Jeff work well together, but the constant involvement of their personal lives is sickening. I couldn't stand it when Tommy Dreamer and Raven did it with Dreamer's kids, and I can't stand it now. On top of that, it was three segments, each equally tasteless.

Mickie James vs Sarita: This match was terrible on top of terrible. Sarita looked like an idiot in dominating the match but electing NOT to hit Mickie, only to be decked on the first shot by Mickie. They botched more moves than I could keep track of on top of that. TNA has yet to give fans a single reason to care about Sarita. an they've done nothing to make Mickie James feel special either. She came in with a lot of hype based on her WWE career, but she's quickly become just another Knockout. Yes, they're pushing her as the top babyface of the division, but it just hasn't been effective. She needs to drop the "Hardcore Country" bit and go back to the basics of what got her so over in her time with WWE.

Overall show: There wasn't a single good match on the show. The stuff at the Jarrett home with Angle's kids was tasteless and nauseating. And while I get the circumstances TNA creative was stuck in and I applaud the fallback plan they went with for the "They" reveal, that doesn't mean this was a quality show. I just wonder what casual fans were thinking about the disjointed "They" saga, especially given that Crimson was shown choking out AJ 3 weeks ago. I realize that creative was put in a tough spot, but that doesn;t mean TNA gets a free pass for how disjointed the story played out. While thw reveal itself was well done, the backstory was not executed well, no matter the circumstances. D.
 
I'm curious to see where TNA is going with the X division thing. both Max and Jeremy Buck are into the next match? I don't remember which one won last night(doesn't matter), but he beat Doug Williams and Jay Lethal. that was just ridiculous. Lethal is the former X division champion and Williams is the former TV champion. one of them should have won.
what is TNA doing with Max and Jeremy Buck? and how does this effect Generation Me? are they still going to tag? if you want to push them, IMO singles is not where they should get the push.

I know Madison has been using the loaded glove, but why does that mean Sarita and Mickie were to wrestle in a taped fist match? that was dumb, even if it's going to lead to a taped fist/glove match with Madison.

I imagine the "THEY" reveal was the reason people tuned in. according to Dixie on twitter, it was the 2nd highest rated Thursday night Impact ever! not sure on exact numbers though.
 
Impact pretty much kept its same audience from last week by doing a 1.31 rating on Thursday night.

Hopefully the new "THEY" can help TNA keep a similiar figure going into Against All Odds PPV in 9 days and after.
 
My thoughts / review of Impact 02-10-11

Immortal comes out and without Fortune they just don't come off as threat at all anymore IMO. Eric Bischoff then cuts a "shoot" promo on Fortune saying they really need them and they were only in Immortal as a favor to Ric Flair.

Fortune then comes and Robert Roode cuts a very good promo. That man is a future main eventer. Immortal then attacks Fortune and Kurt Angle, Crimson and Scott Steiner make the save.

Then they go to Velvet Sky and Winter bickering backstage until Angelina Love tells them to stop it. Though you would think Angelina would side with Velvet since they are suppose to be BFF's.

After the commercial break in Eric Bischoff's office and we see that Hernandez is back and is will now be part of Immortal.

After that we finally have a match.

Rob Van Dam, Samoa Joe & Brother Devon vs The Pope, Matt Hardy & Bully Ray - 6 Man Tables Match
1st why did it have to be a tables match? Why not a normal tag match? Anyway the match if you can call it that is pretty short since the Pope runs away and Joe chases him, RVD and Hardy fight away from the ring leaving Ray and Devon. Ray "bullys" Devon's sons which causes them to distract him long enough for Devon to put him through a table winning the match.

Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, Mickie James & Winter vs Madison Rayne, Tara, Sarita & Rosita - 8 Knockout Tag Match
Sarita's cousin Rosita debuts in this match, I still don't like Madison's entrance theme, and Winter messes up the BP's entrance. As for the match itself what was the point of having all of these women in one match?! Sarita and Rosita did most of the work for their team and Angelina for hers. She finally tags in Velvet who gets distracted by Winter gets pinned by Rosita after getting hit a moonsault. Velvet doesn't even put up a fight here and Angelina and Mickie didn't even try to break up the pin. They could have easily pushed Winter out of the way. I still believe as easily as Velvet was beaten here that she is being buried for some reason.

After the match Madison gets on the mic and tells Mickie that she has her number. This promo didn't really make sense because Mickie has beaten Madison twice and the only reason Madison retained the KO title at Genesis was because of the loaded glove. But I guess it was done to give Madison more heel heat going into Against All Odds.

Another thing why does Taz and Mike Tenay act like they never seen a woman before? It's really getting annoying especially Taz's "Let the piegons lose!" line.

Then we have a segment with Kurt Angle and Jeff & Karen Jarrett in the ring. Double J says if Kurt wins the PPV he gets custody of the kids if he wins Kurt has to give Karen away at the March 3rd Impact. Didn't really like this. Also I don't like how TNA is hyping another Impact. Don't get me wrong they should be hyping it but I hope it isn't a letdown like the February 3rd Impact.

Mr. Anderson vs Matt Morgan -World Title Match
Jeff Hardy comes out and sets up a ladder. Another short match with Hernandez coming out beating up Morgan giving Andeson the win. Afterwards Hardy and Hernandez beat down Anderson. Since this was for the world title you think it would have been the main event.

Kurt Angle talks to AJ Styles and Robert Roode backstage. Roode gives up his spot in the match to Angle. That was actually good and made sense.

Brian Kendrick vs Robbie E with Cookie vs Suicide
This was the last qualifying match for the #1 contenders X division title match at Against All Odds. Suicide hits his finisher on Kendrick but Robbie E pushes him out and steals the pin. Nothing much to say.

AJ Styles & Kurt Angle vs Jeff Hardy & Jeff JarrettThis is the main event match for this Impact. Decent match and AJ pins Jarrett for the win. Which was shocking because Jarrett has took the pin a long time.

But of course after the match Jarrett is allowed to own both Styles and Angle even though he lost. It's basically the same thing every week the faces win but they get beat downed by the heels killing their momentum. Mr. Anderson makes the save hitting on Jeff Hardy.

Also the card for Against All Odds doesn't look that good at all and it seems like it's going to be a throw away PPV. I just can't see myself paying to see it.

As for Impact I didn't really the show at all this week. Let's hope that next week's Impact is better.
 
TNA iMPACT! - February 10, 2011

Opening Segment - The first half of this thing was basically the typical promo segment with Immortal putting themselves over, saying how Fortune was nothing, how Fortune is nothing, yadda yadda. Pretty typical and boring stuff until Robert Roode got on the mic. Roode saved this segment and he delivered probably the best mic work of his career, or at least that I've seen. As with Styles last week, it sounded like Roode has been reading the WZ Forums and wove his promo to reflect some of the biggest complaints about TNA, especially with the bringing in of overly priced veterans and has beens at the expense of the homegrown talent. The fight that followed was typical but, as I said, Roode was able to save this segment overall and make it passable. He was strong on the stick and more than held his own against Jeff Jarrett. I'm still not at all excited about this faction war because having all of them there in the ring just really showed how one sided this thing is. Immortal is made up primarily of scrubs and no talent hacks whereas Fortune & their allies are made up of some of the best talent in TNA history. It looks like Fortune vs. EV2.0 all over again. Thumbs Up

Bischoff & Hernandez - After coming back from commercial, Bischoff is shown back in his office talking with Hernandez. It's not exactly a grand return or anything but, then again, I can't say it wasn't what I expected. Bischoff puts Hernandez over, calling him a bad ass and all this. Basically, he hires Hernandez as sort of thug but I don't think he's in Immortal just yet. However, it certainly couldn't hurt to put Hernandez in Immortal because the group needs as many people worth a shit as it can get. Thumbs Up

Rob Van Dam, Samoa Joe & DeVon vs. Bully Ray, Matt Hardy & The Pope - TNA once again holds up its tradition of taking gimmick match favorites and transforming them into 3 minutes of mediocrity. Typical TNA clusterfuck here with people running around all over the place attempting to cram the hype for what I'm assuming are 3 individual singles matches at Against All Odds into a 3 minute gimmick match. The match ends with Ray trash taking DeVon's kids at ringside, they jump the barrier and grab hold of his ankles while DeVon pushes him off of the apron and through a table. Nothing here to speak of really. Thumbs Down

Angle & Jarrett Contract Signing - This is an angle that had tons of promise before they decided to ruin it by bringing in the Angle & Jarrett children into the picture. Jarrett adds a stipulation here saying that if Angle wins, he gets custody of his kids but if he wins, Angle has to give Karen away on the March 3rd episode of iMPACT! when he & Karen renew their vows. To begin with, I've seen complaints sometimes saying that the WWE insults its viewers with some of its storylines. FUCK YOU!!!!!!! Fuck your mama, fuck your sister and fuck your grandma. There's no fucking way that anybody can legitimately make that criticism against WWE after watching this shit. Deciding child custody issues based upon the outcome of a wrestling match is beyond stupid. As for the wedding, like almost all other wrestling wedding segments, will be a long and boring segment in which some sort of big fight will break out, which also all but guarantees that Jeff Jarrett will win his match against Angle this Sunday. Uuuuuggggghhhhh..... Thumbs Down

The Beautiful People, Mickie James & Winter vs. Madison Rayne, Tara, Sarita & Rosita - Have no clue who Rosita is, but she's hot. This is basically a segment in which TNA basically crams every Knockout on the roster together for one match. In some ways, this was pretty ridiculous when you take into account that only 4 of the 8 women involved in this match were actually involved in the match. Why not just have a tag team match between Sarita & Rosita vs. TBP? Rosita did alright, though most of her offense consisted of working tag team moves with Sarita. The end comes in about 3 minutes with Rosita hitting a moonsault on Velvet Sky for the clean win. The aftermath with Madison Rayne challenging Mickie James at Against All Odds just didn't do anything for me. Mickie James is the biggest female wrestling star in America since Trish Stratus but she's just another name on the TNA roster. I have little doubt that she'll win the Knockout title from Madison at the ppv, but it's too late. Mickie should've won that title months ago while there was still some bloom on the rose because, as I said, she's just another name. Thumbs Down

AJ Styles, Robert Roode & Kurt Angle - Good little backstage segment featuring these 3. Angle basically comes to wish them luck in their tag match, saying how much he'd love a shot at Jarrett. Roode gives up his spot to Kurt Angle in the match, which gives the main event some pretty good star power. I like that TNA seems to be singling Roode out as more of an individual. I love Beer Monday but the truth is that they've gone as far as they can as a tag team and Roode has gone as far as he can as a tag team wrestler. He's got all the tools to be a singles star in TNA and I'm hoping that tonight are the first small steps in taking him in that direction. Thumbs Up

Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan - Before yesterday, I had no idea that they were having a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. There was virtually zero hype for this match and that's just a cryin' shame. This is the TNA World Heavyweight Championship after all. If they can't be bothered to hype a free World Championship match on television, then what hope does any other title on the roster have? It doesn't have to be much, just something. Before the match stards, Club Kid Smurf, AKA Jeff Hardy, comes down to ringside and sets up a ladder, climbs it and sits to watch the match. I literally groaned here because I knew, I just knew, that this match wouldn't go past 5 minutes. The match was decent while it lasted but, sure enough, about 3.5 minutes into the match, Earl Hebner goes down. Hernandez runs out and beats on Morgan on the outside. Morgan is rolled into the ring and Anderson gets the win maybe a little past the 5 minute mark. Hernandez then beats up on Anderson for a bit, allowing Hardy to hit the Swanton Bomb. This was just incredibly lame all around from beginning to end. As I said, there was virtually no hype at all and the match lasts about 5 minutes, a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match goes for only 5 minutes. Weak, just plain weak. Thumbs Down

Bully Ray - They show a little backstage segment with Ray sitting in the locker room with a towel on his head. He rants and raves about DeVon and his kids, calling them weak and all this before challenging all three of them to a street fight at Against All Odds. Ray can cut a promo and cuts a pretty good one here, it's just too bad I have zero desire to see him wrestle or see him wrestle another match against DeVon. Against DeVon and his brats, it's almost certain that Ray is going to lose. However, this was passable due to Ray's promo ability. Thumbs Up

Robbie E. vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Suicide - Not really much to say here, just another dud of a 3 minute match. Suicide's, AKA Christopher Daniels, "big return" fell flat on its face. Brian Kendrick is an absolute joke with his zen master yoda bullshit and Robbie E. is as terrible as ever. Robbie E. winds up picking up the victory and moves onto AAO to face Kazarian & Generation Me in 4-way X-Division Championship match. Thumbs Down

Kurt Angle & AJ Styles vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jeff Hardy - Pretty good tag team main event for iMPACT! and a nice return for Styles, who has been out with an injury for the past 6 weeks. There were some good teases between Angle & Jarrett here with Jarrett avoiding Angle most of the time and really only trying to get in there with him when things were firmly in his team's control. Styles ultimately gets the win on Jarrett about the 14 minute mark after hitting a springboard punch. After the match, everyone pretty much came down for another standard formula TNA brawl with Immortal against Fortune & their allies. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Up until a little ways into the show, I completely forgot that this was the go home show for Against All Odds. Last night's show was extremely weak in my view though there were a few little rays of sunshine here and there. Robert Roode saved the opener and it's good to see him standing up the way he did. Hernandez is back in TNA and managed to make something of a statement for himself. Most of the wrestling content on the show was horrible. The tables match followed TNA's formula of rendering gimmic matches useless and attempted to cluster the hype for 3 individual singles matches into a 3 minute match. The 3 minute 8 Knockout tag team match only featured 4 women actually compete in the match, though I won't be surprised if it's the highest rated segment on the show. The final X-Division triple threat match was also a forgettable 3 minute affair in which Suicide already means nothing and Robbie E. goes up against Kazarian & GenMe at the ppv. It's hard to legitimately say that TNA has any interest in renewing the X-Division when you consider all three of these X-Division triple threat qualifying matches lasted a combined total of about 13 minutes. The biggest disappointment, wrestling wise, was the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match. It got pretty much no hype and lasted all of 5 minutes. The Angle & Jarrett debacle continues to be eye rollingly idiotic with the stipulation of child custody to this. It was interesting when you had the adults deciding to air some of their dirty laundry for a nationally televised audience, but dragging the Angle & Jarrett children into this just doesn't work for me. The main event was a good tag match with a good deal of star power, but the show overall was weak that did nothing to entice me to order Against All Odds.

Grade: D
 
AJ Styles & Kurt Angle vs Jeff Hardy & Jeff Jarrett
This is the main event match for this Impact. Decent match and AJ pins Jarrett for the win. Which was shocking to me because Jarrett hasn't taken a pin in a long time. But of course after the match Jarrett is allowed to own both Styles and Angle even though he lost. It's basically the same thing every week the faces win but they get beat down by the heels killing their momentum immediately. Mr. Anderson runs out and makes the save hitting the Mic Check on Jeff Hardy.

Note: I reposted this part because I wanted to make it more readable.

Jack-Hammer I agree with you about Mickie James. I didin't see the point of her being the match if she wasn't going to do anything or even cut a promo at the end of the match.

I guess TNA wants to push The Shore again. Since the let Robbie E get the win. I just find their gimmick annoying which assume is the point.

As for TBP / Winter angle with the way things have been going for Velvet I wouldn't be surprised if they do have Angelina ultimately side with Winter over her. Plus I still don't get what her so called feud with Sarita was suppose to accomplish. Because Velvet has lost 5 times to her now and has pretty been made to look like a joke so far.

With Hernandez back it looks his feud with Matt Morgan will pick up where it left off.

I just wanted to add those things since I forgot to do so in my previous post.
 
Some thoughts on Impact while I watch:

- And here comes Immortal. Man, Eric Bischoff is slumming it today in the flannel shirt and jeans.

- Jeff Hardy just doesn't fit in with this group still.

- I guess Gunner and Murphy got promoted from TNA Security goons to Immortal goons, as apparent by their "new shirts."

- And here's Fourtune. Even though he stil stands out, Styles so needs a title. Why can't he win back the TV Title since Abyss is "hurt?"

- I never thought much of Robert Roode since I never saw before Beer Money. I've heard he'll be the next HHH. I hope he is. I like the guy. He plays both heel and face well.

- I guess the Fourtune + Angle, Crimson and Steiner is more an alliance than a new stable. It gives the Immortals a slight advantage.

- One good thing they should play up is which side Ric Flair ends up. It'd be a good storyline rather than drawing a foregone conclusion.

- The Knockouts (in this case Angelina Love, Winter and Velvet Sky) yelling at each other is REALLY annoying. Every single Knockout promo over the past few months has been Knockouts yelling over each other and being out of control. It achieves nothing other than making them look caddy, petty and immature. Give them real promos or at least tone them down.

- Hernandez is back!

- How did Bischoff and Hogan give Hernandez a chance? Wasn't he gone for 2010?

- And why didn't Bischoff play up that Matt Morgan put him out? Wouldn't that have been an easier sales pitch?

- Bischoff's costume designer sucks tonight. Black blazer and flannel shirt?

- The Pope has fallen. HARD. It still shocks me that he has NEVER won a title in any major company. And now, he probably never will.

- Was that Okada helping to chase down The Pope? The Green Samoan and KatOkada strike again!

- Does The Pope have any chance of beating Samoa Joe?

- A 6-man tag team tables match that turns into a tag team match will lots of overbooking? Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011 Russo-booked match!

- I don't like family-involved storylines. The closest thing I liked was Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk with the "Happy Birthday" song, which was a one-time thing.

- Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett and Karen = Matt Hardy, Edge and Lita circa 2010-2011.

- Didn't Kurt beat down all of Immortal last week? Would a pack of nameless security guards really be able to stop him?

- WHAT?! Custody of children vs. a walking your ex-wife to renew her vows with her new husband?! What the f#$%?!

- I'm sorry, WHAT?!

- Kurt Angle has NO CHANCE OF WINNING! None! Of course TNA is going to play up the vows ceremony!

- And only Jarrett is dumb enough to actually want Kurt Angle to be there. Would you a guy that big pissed off at you and watching you marrying his ex-wife?

- Ugh. The match had promise until those God-awful stipulations.

- Rosita is HOT. Sweet deal!

- Rosita and Sarita is a good thing. A feud for the Knockout Tag Team Title is brewing. And that's a good thing to make them relevant again.

- Winter doing the crawl and tripping Angelina actually made me laugh.

- I have to say: the Beautiful People storyline could be fun if done correctly. I'm probably one of the few fans of it.

- Is Taz channeling his inner Jerry Lawler?

- Well, that was short. Why was this an 8-man tag? Couldn't Mickie have just come out and had a promo?

- Overall, Rosita looked OK. Blew some spots but she was trying. They were really playing up the tag team offense. I can see the storyline now: Rosita and Sarita win the Knockout Tag Team Titles, setting a rift between Angelina, Velvet and Winter, which will result in another Beautiful People split.

- Madison Rayne talking down to Mickie James is just comical. The worst female wrestling champion in history acting like she's the best to one of the tougher women in the whole business.

- Can somebody put a rush job on Mr. Anderson's new World Title belt? I'll chip in if needed.

- It's been praised but I like it: Robert Roode volunteering his spot to Angle. Nice rub. Also, it puts Styles and Angle on the same team for the first time in a LONG time.

- Problem with taping in advance: Mr. Anderson not being able to announce his Packers actually won the Super Bowl. He'd definitely play that up more!

- Matt Morgan obviously has no chance. Not much you can do about it, though.

- If I were Morgan or Anderson, I'd just push Hardy off the ladder.

- Is this match in slow-motion?

- Doesn't it hurt to sit on the top on a ladder for that long?

- Storyline continuity! Hernandez attacks Matt Morgan first, the guy that put him out.

- That's all it took to take out Morgan? After being a literal monster a few weeks ago?

- Hernandez makes sense for the Immortals. Dislike of Matt Morgan, no real allegiance to anyone, likes money, big guy. In fact, it'd benefit TNA if Homicide came back and LAX faced Beer Money. Tag team ranks stay fresh!

- Doesn't Bully Ray have kids too? Don't they want to help?

- And why is TNA going kid-crazy? Do we need to see everyone's kids involved?

- Robbie E. getting serious? Well, I can't knock it, but he needs to lose the hair.

- Suicide! Welcome back!

- Last week I wondered who would get buried this week: Jay Lethal or Douglas Williams. I made a mistake...why did I say "or"?

- Brian Kendrick and Eric Young should form a tag team: the Nutty Buddies.

- Of course, they'd never win a match since Kendrick meditates and Young joins the other team.

- I guess in that case they'd never lose either.

- Suicide is pretty awesome. I'venever seen him wrestle (at least as Suicide anyway...)

- Cookie does have a kickin' body. She's so much hotter when she's not speaking.

- So wait? Is it a fatal 4-way for the X-division title, or is it a three-way to become the #1 contender for the X-division title, or does the guy that wins face Kaz later in the night, or what?

- Ink, Inc. beat Gunner and Murphy, so therefore they should be beaming with pride and get their own interview spot about how weird they are.

- Devon's kids are pretty big. Does anyone know if they wrestle in minor leagues?

- How did TNA manage to leave Styles, Lethal AND Williams off the card?!

- No Motor City Machine Guns either?!

- Come to think about it: TNA has seven total titles, and only two are being defended at the PPV.

- You can tell A.J. Styles LOVES to be a face. He looks so much happier and much more comfortable.

- Jarrett playing the cowardly heel is getting a little old. Shouldn't be more comfortable since he hasn't lost in forever?

- Match itself was OK, but the initial beatdown afterwards seemed very slow. Is TNA trying to slow things down or something?

- Last thing: did Mike Tenay and Taz really hype March 3rd more than Against All Odds or did I miss something?

It was a good show, and definitely having a face group like Fourtune is showing signs of improvement. I do find it very odd that Bully Ray, D-Von, Generation Me, Scott Steiner and Robbie E. found their way onto PPV while Jay Lethal, Douglas Wlliams, the Motor City Machine Guns, Kaz and A.J. Styles did not. I also find it odd that the matches seem very lackluster so far. I hope the PPV is a strong one, because I don't see buy rates going very high.
 
- Jeff Hardy just doesn't fit in with this group still.
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most of Immortal doesn't fit well together. they don;t seem like a good unit. over the last few months since they have been together, how many times have they really been on air doing something together? not much.
Jeff and Matt Hardy are good together. brothers obviously. but they don't really fit with Abyss/Jarrett/Terry.
Abyss doesn't fit with anyone in the group.
Jarrett doesn't really fit with anyone in the group.
Gunner and Murphy are a joke. they started as security, and now they wrestle?!
I hope Immortal comes to an end soon, real soon. then TNA will be better.

- A 6-man tag team tables match that turns into a tag team match will lots of overbooking? Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011 Russo-booked match!
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when I read the spoilers for this match it made me think WTF! I thought it was bad enough last week when the Bully/Devon were joined with Pope/Joe, but now they also team with RVD/MHardy?! there is no connection to any of them at all. just easy to put all 3 in one match since all 3 have a match this Sunday. stupid IMO.

- WHAT?! Custody of children vs. a walking your ex-wife to renew her vows with her new husband?! What the f#$%?!
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you know what this is going to lead to. Jarrett is going to win, and then Kurt is going to have to walk Karen down the isle for a wedding on the March 3 Impact. then the wedding is going to get destroyed when Kurt and Jeff fight. too predictable.

I'm also a fan of the Beautiful People story line. it gives the Knockouts more time with Madison having the title and battling with Mickie, yet still able to give time to the BP with Winter because Angelina/Winter are the "tag team" champions.
anything to do with Velvet Sky I'm happy, she is hot!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not a fan of Brian Kendrick. sorry, but I think he is completely useless. at least Eric Young is funny.

Doug Williams sure has fallen HARD. he was the TV champion, lost to Abyss, then lost an X division tournament match to one of the Bucks brothers(doesn't even matter which one). now the X division 3 way is the 2 Buck brothers and Robbie E? if TNA is trying to bring back the X division, this is not how you do it. both members of Generation Me should have been replaced by 2 of Lethal/Williams/Suicide/Red.
 
- The Pope has fallen. HARD. It still shocks me that he has NEVER won a title in any major company. And now, he probably never will.
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I agree with you on that. The Pope did not look like a star at all that night. Which is just sad I think TNA has really dropped the ball with him.

Also looking back I think AJ should have given up his spot to Kurt Angle instead and Robert Roode should have been in the match and pinned Jeff Jarrett. What I didn't like about the ending was when Fortune came out to make the save Jarrett knocked Roode out like he was a nobody. Especially after that great promo he delievered earlier that night I thought that hurt him a little but that's TNA for you.
 
TNA iMPACT! 2/17/11
February 17th, 2011
Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: ???


"The Boy is Back in Town"​


We're four days removed from the Against All Odds PPV and the big story is that we've got a new TNA World champion in Jeff Hardy, who defeated Mr. Anderson in a ladder match. Tonight Hardy has to defend that title against Rob Van Dam however, so he has no time to rest. lso at Against All Odds Jeff Jarrett defeated Kurt Angle, forcing him to have to walk his ex-wife Karen down the aisle in a few weeks.


Your hosts are Mike Tenay and Taz


We open up the show with Eric Bischoff and the rest of the members of Immortal (minus Jeff Jarrett and Jeff Hardy) coming to the ring. Bischoff does a big introduction for Jeff Hardy and he comes out to join them, rainbow-colored title-belt in tow. Jeff looks like he just came out of a weeklong meth binge, but that's nothing new. Bischoff says that despite Fortune turning on them, Immortal is still in power and back in control. Bischoff lets us know Jarrett is off working on his wedding vows while Hulk Hogan won't be back until March 3rd. Bischoff calls out Ric Flair, demanding to know what he was thinking when Fortune turned on Immortal. Bischoff gives Flair a week to explain himself, but Flair's music hits and he comes down to the ring to join us. He tells Immortal that they all grew up on Ric Flair and that no one tells him what to do. Flair reminds us he's a wrestling god, and that wraps up our opening segment.


Via satellite we see Jeff Jarrett and Karen Angle recieving massages, talking about their plans for the big renewal of their wedding vows and how they're going to humiliate Kurt Angle further.


When we return from the commercial break AJ Styles and Matt Hardy are brawling in the backstage area, and members of both Fortune and Immortal join in. It's not an episode of iMPACT! without some tedious backstage brawling after all, now is it?


We cut to Hernandez, who made his big return to TNA last week, where he shares a few words in Spanish with both Sarita and her "cousin" Rosita.


Doug Williams vs. Hernandez

Hernandez attacks Williams from behind before he can even make it to the ring. Inside the ring now the bell rings and Hernandez starts choking Williams with his T-shirt. Suddenly Velvet Sky appears from the back and starts brawling with Sarita and Rosita at ringside. Angelina Love comes down to help out, meanwhile Hernandez just continues to choke Williams with his shirt. Hernandez gives Williams the Border Toss and wins it at 1:59. Just your basic squash match to get the newly returned Hernandez over, but why did Williams have to do the job? ½*


Backstage Bischoff is on the phone with some of the Spike TV network executives, who he complains to about the big Jeff Hardy-RVD title match tonight to no avail.


When we return from the commercial break the Pope D'Angelo Dinero is in the ring surrounded by a whole luau setup, with tiki torches, a cooked pig on a table and other various island-themed decorations. He calls the pig on the table a "Sloppy Joe", obviously referring to Samoa Joe, whom he lost to last Sunday. Pope starts recounting the tale of Jesus Christ feeding thousands with a single loaf of bread, and then he says he's going to feed everyone in attendance. Did he just compare himself to Jesus Christ of Nazareth? Apparently Jesus texted Pope, so it's all cool. Joe's music hits but Okato (formerly Okada) comes up from behind while the Pope is distracted, and Joe hits the ring and gives Pope the Muscle Buster right through the buffet table in the ring! Nice little spot there.


Back from the commercial break Robbie E is in the ring with Cookie, where he complains about how he wasn't prepared to face Kaz last Sunday, but tonight he is ready for the rematch. Backstage we see Kazarian making out with Traci Brooks, his real life wife. Well that's odd, we haven't seen Traci in well over a year and neither Tenay or Taz seem particularly surprised that she's here tonight.


TNA X-Division Title Match
Kazarian (C) vs. Robbie E

These two had an incredibly mediocre match last Sunday at the PPV, so hopefully this will be better. Before the match Kaz gets on the mic and says he's going to bring the X-Diision back to the forefront of TNA. Cookie gets sent to the back and we're off. Robbie starts laying in shots on Kaz in the corner, then hits a modified Russian leg sweep for only a one count. Big boot and Robbie tries to get a dirty pin with his foot on the ropes, but the ref sees it and refuses the count. Springboard back elbow gets Kaz a quick two. Kaz counters a suplex attempt and gives Robbie a spinning heel kick. Kaz sets up for the Omori Driver, but Cookie runs back down to the ring and attacks Kaz with her purse, which is the size of a trash can, to get Robbie DQed at 1:58. After the match Traci Brooks hits the ring and makes the save for her husband. I guess this means the Kaz-Robbie E feud isn't over, the prospects of which aren't exactly thrilling news. ½*


Backstage Ric Flair catches up with the members of Fortune. He says he's got "presents" for all of them, which turns out to be a gym-bag full of Smirnoff Ice. All of Fortune has been iced! The horror! They all chug some Smirnoff Ices like a bunch of fourteen year old girls and then we cut to commercial. Is Smirnoff Ice paying them for this constant product placement or what?


Matt Hardy vs. AJ Styles

This was set up earlier tonight and while it sounds good on paper, knowing TNA this will get about 2 minutes before an Immortal run-in. AJ hits the ring fast and the crowd is chanting for him already. He tosses Matt to the outside and then follows him out with a beautiful somersault senton! Back inside Matt hits the Side Effect for a two count. Suddenly Ric Flair comes down to ringside while Matt applies a weak chinlock. Styles Clash attempt by AJ gets blocked, and Matt nearly trips over himself bouncing off the ropes. AJ goes to springboard but Flair suddenly knocks him off the top rope. SWERVE! Twist of Hate wins it for Matt Hardy at 3:25. After the match Flair and Hardy beat down on AJ until Fortune makes the save. AJ hit a few of his usual fun spots, but Matt looked lost out there and the idea of yet ANOTHER swerve involving Ric Flair is just foolish. *


Back from the commercial break we cut to Jarrett and Karen again via satellite, where they're eating strawberries in a hot tub. Atleast Karen looks great in a bikini.


Mr. Anderson's music hits and comes down to the ring with an angry look on his face, grabbing a mic and skipping his usual entrance antics. He calls out Bischoff and Eric obliges. Anderson complains to Bischoff about RVD getting the first shot at Jeff Hardy's title (which prompts the crowd to chant "Triple Threat!", but when has TNA ever cared about what their fans want?). Bischoff explains to Anderson that this is the television business, and that if the network wants to see an RVD-Jeff Hardy match, they have to do it. Bischoff tells Anderson that maybe he wasn't picked for the match tonight because of his coarse language and constant use of the word "asshole". Anderson just starts screaming the word asshole into Bischoff's face like a madman on amphetamines, which I guess is TNA's idea of edgy television in opposition to the WWE's PG rules. Bischoff says the best he can do is make Anderson the special guest referee for the title match, which Anderson accepts. He shakes Bischoff's hand then gives him a Mic Check.


Backstage Velvet Sky tells Winter (Katie Lea Burchill) that she better stay away from ringside tonight during her match. Winter grabs a pair of scissors while Velvet looks at herself in the mirror, possibly contemplating murdering Velvet right then and there. Angelina Love walks in and we get more lesbian innuendo between the two before cutting to commercial.


When we return from commercial AJ Styles is pissed off backstage, trying to understand why Flair would betray him. He challenges Flair to a match next week on iMPACT!


Angelina Love/Velvet Sky vs. Sarita/Rosita

Rosita is Thea Trinidad, a recently signed Knockout who was introduced last week as Sarita's kayfabe cousin. The Beautiful People attack them before the bell even rings and we're off. Velvet tries choking Sarita in the corner with her boot for a bit, then follows it with a bulldog. Back elbow from Sarita and Rosita tags in now. Angelina tags in as well and she delivers an astoundingly bad-looking dropkick for a two count. Flying forearm and a body slam from Angelina, which brings Sarita in with the tag. Reverse DDT/backbreaker combo gets Angelina a two count. Velvet tags back in and Taz nearly loses control as Sarita shakes her hips. Sloppy headscissors from Velvet sends Sarita out, and Rosita hits a jawbreaker on her. Sarita gets the reluctant tag back in and now all four women are fighting both in and out of the ring. Another sloppy headscissors from Velvet on Sarita, but Rosita trips her up and holds her legs down from the outside and Sarita gets the cheating win at 3:49. After the match Velvet challenges Sarita to a match and Sarita accepts on the condition that Velvet puts her career on the line. It boggles my mind that these Knockouts matches routinely get more time than the males do on TV. Very sloppy stuff. ¼*


We cut to Jeff Jarrett and Karen Angle (or I guess it would be Karen Jarrett now) in a limosuine, kissing eachother on their way to a fancy dinner Jarrett has arranged for them. Suddenly we cut to the middle of nowhere, where a random cameraman catches up with Kurt Angle who says he's on his way to crash Karen and Jeff's dinner party. Who are these random camera-men TNA apparently hire to roam the country at all times in case they see a TNA wrestler? Even by kayfabe standards it's silly.


When we return from the commercial break we see Madison Rayne and Tara talking backstage. Rayne says she went to TNA management and got them to get her a new challenger for her Knockouts title.


Cut to Scott Steiner somewhere, responding to a challenge for a posedown from Rob Terry, which he accepts. Glad we brought Scott back for such an Earth-shattering angle guys.


We get a quick video package highlighting the issues between Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam in 2010. Backstage Jeff tells us that tonight the RVD legend ends.


Jeff and Karen Jarrett are at a restaurant now, apparently having already eaten. They toast to Kurt Angle and their big renewal of their vows. Karen bitches at Jeff about how the wine isn't up to par so Jeff brngs the chef out and starts screaming at him, demanding to see the boss. Kurt Angle comes out from the kitchen now with a waiter's coat on and Jeff and Karen bail.


Backstage RVD promises to tear Jeff Hardy apart tonight.


When we return from the commercial break Taz and Mike Tenay run down what happened during the Bully Ray-Brother Devon street fight at Against All Odds this past Sunday. Apparently the footage is SO SHOCKING that Spike TV executives won't let them air it. Are you shitting me? How many times have we seen people put through tables on iMPACT? Nine, ten thousand times? Bully Ray comes out to the commentator's table now and starts yelling at them. Taz gets up and tells Ray to go away, and Ray threatens to smack Tenay. Things get heated but eventually Ray leaves to a loud chorus of boos. Atleast this Bully Ray character gets decent heat, even if the whole program he's working with Devon sucks and has given us utter crap like their Street Fight last Sunday.


TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
Jeff Hardy (C) vs. Rob Van Dam

We've got a little less than 20 minutes to go before the show is over, so hopefully this will get some decent time. Mr. Anderson is your special guest referee here. Jeff takes his sweet time getting to the ring, entering through what appears to be a giant egg shrouded in mist on the entrance ramp, apparently in homage to Lady Gaga's entrance at the Grammys last week. Was Hector Guerrero having a yard sale or something? Jeff evades the lockup to start and tries hiding in the corner. Van Dam grabs him and sets him up on the top rope crotch-first and then drills him with a big kick off the top rope. Jeff bails to the outside and Van Dam meets him with a baseball slide. He suplexes Jeff onto the steel guardrail and then jumps off the apron with his signature kick and we cut to a commercial break. When we return RVD drops a leg on Jeff Hardy, draped over the apron. Slingshot legdrop from RVD gets a quick two count. Jeff begs for mercy in the corner but Van Dam will have none of it and he slams him down and then tries for the split-legged moonsault, but Jeff gets his knees up just in time to block it. Front suplex by Jeff gets a two count. Hardy slaps on a chinlock and the crowd starts to rally behind RVD, chanting his name. Whisper in the Wind from Jeff misses, and RVD hits a standing moonsault. Rolling Thunder from Van Dam. 1-2--NOO! Jeff kicks out. Big roundhouse kicks puts Hardy out and Rob goes for the Five Star Frog splash, but Jeff tosses him off the top all the way to the steel guardrail on the floor! Nasty fall there for Rob. Back inside Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb. 1-2--NOO! RVD kicks out, further diminishing the status of finishers in this company. Jawbreaker and a spin kick from RVD and then he hits the Five Star Frog Splash! 1-2--NOO! Jeff gets his foot on the ropes. Why do people even have finishers in this company? Seriously. Twist of Hate from Jeff finishes it at 8:08 (shown). Pretty good TV match between these two, but there was no real point for Anderson to be involved and you know both Jeff and Rob are capable of much more than this. **½


After the match Anderson lays out both Jeff and Van Dam with Mic Checks, just to remind us that he's an edgy tweener that doesn't play by anyone's rules (yawn). And that'll do it for iMPACT! this week.


Bottom Line:​
​
Just your average episode of iMPACT! here, which means we got tons and tons of promos and backstage segments along with a few 2 minute matches and an underwhelming main event. Just another week in TNA. There's nothing here worth seeking out and we didn't even get very much angle progression for the next PPV, so I have to go with the Thumbs Down.


Score: 4/10






REMEMBER! You can find ALL of my reviews and match ratings at my blog, which is updated daily:
X's Wrestling Review​
 
TNA iMPACT! - February 17, 2011

Opening Segment - The opening segment was pretty basic and, in my view, dull. I feel like I've seen this exact same opener about half a dozen times already. Bischoff & Immortal come out, introduce Jeff Hardy, does the whole Immortal dominates the world stuff and all this and that. Bischoff begins talking about Ric Flair for a few minutes before Flair comes out and does his wrestling god schtick for about the hundredth time since he's come to TNA. What it all boils down to is that Bischoff wants to know if Flair stands with Fortune or Immortal. This just didn't click at all for me because it felt so extremely repetetive and tired. Thumbs Down

Jeff & Karen Jarrett - They showed several of these videos of the two lovebirds spending some quality time out together so I'll just lump them all in. Nothing overly incredible happened but I thought that these were pretty solid. It did a good job of building heat on the couple and rubbing Kurt Angle's face in the whole thing. What I'm really glad about is that the kids were altogether left out of it this week. Jeff & Karen are shown getting a massage, in the hot tub, at dinner, etc. with Kurt Angle eventually showing up. I thought he "retired" again at Against All Odds? Nothing spectacular, but it was passable overall. Thumbs Up

Hernandez vs. Douglas Williams - Basically this match brought together two pet peeves of mine: a clusterfuck and a squash match. The Beautiful People and Sarita & Rosita were going at it at ringside while the match was going on inside the ring. Williams gets squashed in 2 minutes in what I find to be an abysmal waste of talent. I know that the idea is to get Hernandez over as a tough badass and all that but why not use someone like Eric Young or Orlando Jordan rather than one of the best overall talents on the roster? The Border Toss Hernandez hit on Williams looked fucking scary. The way Williams landed, there's no way he didn't sustain some sort of injury. 1/4*

Pope & Samoa Joe - What I found shittiest about this promo segment was as to just how stupid Pope made himself sound. Parts of his promo, like with the whole bit about Reagan & Michael Jackson, put me in mind of a homeless person suffering from schizophrenia and spouting gibberish. Joe eventually comes down and puts a beatdown on Pope, even allowing the cheesy Kato rip off to land a kick on Pope. Joe puts Pope through the luau table with the muscle buster. Maybe some people are getting a kick out of this but this feud is just not clicking for me in the least and I hope it ends soon. Thumbs Down

Kazarian vs. Robbie E. - Before the match, Robbie & Kazarian both cut promos. Robbie continues to be as boring as ever and Kazarian I thought did a pretty solid job despite a few corny jokes. The match in and of itself was really nothing to speak of. Kazarian wins in about 2 minutes after dominating much of the match via DQ when Cookie interferes. They start to beat on Kazarian when out runs Traci Brooks, AKA Tits McGee, and she beats on Cookie for a bit. Nothing here to speak of and it kinda renders the part in Kazarian's promo about bringing the X Division back to the forefront moot. 1/4*

AJ Styles vs. Matt Hardy - This match was decent while it lasted and it's good to see that Styles really seems to have a lot of the old fire back since his turn. I'm not a fan of Matt Hardy at all but I will say that he's at least in much better shape than when he first showed up. When Ric Flair came out, I knew that he was going to cost Styles the match and that's pretty much what happened. He pushes Styles off the top rope, Hardy hits the Twist of Hate and wins around the 3.5 minute mark. *

Mr. Anderson & Eric Bischoff - Pretty good promo segment from Anderson & Bischoff here. Anderson showed some good intensity with Bischoff playing his usual slimeball heel role well. There were a few times in which Anderson was definitely overacting and this segment felt very much like an imitation of an Austin & McMahon promo circa 1998. If that's the direction that they're going to head in, it's suck because Anderson is NOT Stone Cold Steve Austin. Not by a long shot, not even close so it's just best for all concerned not to try and go there. At any rate, however, it was a solid promo segment that keeps Anderson at least within the title picture to some degree. Thumbs Up

The Beautiful People & Winter - Velvet & Winter continue to be at each other's throat. Winter picks up a pair of scissors and threatens Velvet, Angelina steps in and keeps her bitch in place. Meh. Also, I really don't understand all this praise that people sometimes heap onto Winter. There's nothing even remotely intriguing about this obssessed stalker thing that she's doing. Thumbs Down

The Beautiful People vs. Sarita & Rosita - Damn this thing was sloppy. Rosita had a few clunky moments here and there but not nearly as bad as Velvet. Velvet's attempt to pull Sarita over the top rope in a slingshot looked lke shit with Sarita landing on her face instead of flipping over. Angelina was pretty solid while she was in it but the match was just really bad. The ending looked just downright weak as hell with Rosita pulling Velvet's leg out from under here, Sarita covering her and putting her feet on the ropes and getting the win despite Velvet's left arm being completely free.1/4*

Bully Ray - Before the main event, Taz & Tenay are talking about the street fight between Ray & DeVon at AAO and about how DeVon's kids got involved and how Spike wasn't going to allow footage to be shown of Ray roughing up DeVon's boys. So it's ok to involve little kids in the Angle/Jarrett feud and use them as foils but they won't show footage of a grown man beating up on two others? Uggghhh.... Bully Ray comes out, however, and does a good job of getting in Mike Tenay's face. Tenay played it straight, didn't try to oversell anything with Taz standing up and talking back to Ray. Ray can cut a promo well, it's just too bad he's so lame inside the ring. The extreme logic gap on how TNA views it's use of wrestlers' kids in angles aside, this was pretty solid. Thumbs Up

Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam - Pretty good match to close the show out with, though that's not exactly saying much. Still, there was some good storytelling going on here and I'm sensing that the inclusion of Anderson here is going to lead to a three way feud over the title. It's the only thing I can think of for why they'd have him out there as special referee. Hardy eventually lands a low blow on RVD that Anderson doesn't see and he gets the three count about the 12 minute mark. As Anderson raises Hardy's hand, he hits him with the Mic Check and then hits one on RVD when he gets up in his face. Decent match and way to close the show.**1/4

Overall Show - It looks very much as if iMPACT! has moved full blown back into mediocrity. Aside from a few solid promo segments and a decent main event, the entire show was just plain dull. The opening promo was extremely repetitive for everyone concerned. The video segments with the Jarretts were pretty decent, nothing great, but far classier than they have been. Wrestling content on the show tonight was pretty damn awful overall. The first four matches of the night lasted a combined total of about 11 minutes, the main event lasted longer than the other 4 matches combined. They fed Douglas Williams to Hernandez in an awful misuse of talent, The X Division is NOT going to be back at the forefront despite Kazarian's boast, Ric Flair turns on AJ Styles and the Knockouts delivered a pretty sloppy tag match. Anderson & Bischoff had a good solid promo segment even if half of it felt like a blatant rip off of Austin & McMahon, Bully Ray had a good showing for himself tonight and the main event was pretty decent and managed to tell a good story. With this being the first show off of a ppv, you'd expect it to be at least a little hot I suppose but it wasn't even lukewarm.

Grade: D
 
The RKTC

(The Random Thoughts of the Kitten Cutter)

Hello all. Here are some random thoughts and musings on our most recent TNA Impact. In case you don’t know, I watch the show on DVR since I work nights, so I’m writing these as I watch.

- The intro was a weird mix of sympathy for Jeff Hardy and the pain he goes through, and the fact that he’s a dirty, evil heel with no remorse. This is what happens when your lead heel is your top draw.

- And Immortal is here to open Impact! That’s a new concept. *note sarcasm*

- Then again, it makes sense for them to rub it in.

- Will Eric Bischoff’s costume designer pick a style? From a blazer and a flannel shirt to a leather jacket and polyester shirt?

- Immortal looks really sad. Two security guards, a roid freak and the Hardys.

- Shouldn’t Bischoff be angry that ALL of Immortal lost except for Jeff and Jeff? In the past he’s freaked out over losses.

- Is Matt mad that Bischoff said that Jeff is ratings? I thought Matt was ratings. He said he was ratings. Why would Matt lie about being ratings?

- Aw, come on, TNA. You could have milked Ric Flair coming back ‘til next week.

- God bless the costume designer of So Cal Val.

- Flair is classic. He’s so smooth I’m actually wondering if those girls did go to his room!

- Oh God. The Jarretts bug me. Maybe that’s a good thing because I want to see Angle snap both of their ankles.

- So Kurt Angle approved this storyline?! He’s OK with this?! He’s a better man than me!

- The old backstage brawl. A TNA classic.

- Nice tie, Mike Tenay. Finally spent some money I see.

- This is awesome! Hernandez tied with Sarita and Rosita! I like it. If the Immortals actually bring in two females, they can finally try to control ALL of the belts.

- Speaking of which, why wasn’t he with Immortal in the beginning?

- And the burial of Douglas Williams continues. I guess Amazing Red was busy.

- Not smart to have a lot of hot chicks fighting outside during a match. It’s disrespectful to the poor guys in the ring.

- OH MY GOD! Poor Douglas Williams! Does the Border Toss always do that to people?! I really hope he’s OK.

- On the good side, Hernandez, Rosita and Sarita is what Immortal needs. Some dominant members.

- Bischoff hates the The Powers That Be…oops, I mean “The Network.”

- Speaking of burials, hey, here’s The Pope!

- The Pope is going to feed the Impact Zone with roasted pig? What about the vegetarians in the Impact Zone?

- $10?! Oh, Samoa Joe can’t have that! A piece of pig named after him should be at least $25!

- KatOkada strikes again! As if Samoa Joe needs help!

- Wouldn’t Robert Roode fit a Green Hornet storyline better? Isn’t the Green Hornet a rich white man?

- As if The Pope couldn’t sink any lower, he’s laying face up with an apple in his mouth after being put through a table. Next week he’ll be in a grass skirt commando-style.

- Is Robbie E. really complaining about winning a match by default and getting a free championship match?!

- I forgot…too much hairspray kills brain cells.

- It’s great to see Fourtune waving the flag for TNA.

- And great job on the mic. All of Fourtune has come light years on the mic. Ric Flair has done wonders for them!

- I want to see Robbie E. as a serious wrestler. I think he has potential.

- Was Traci Brooks good? I never saw her wrestle. And will this bring Cookie into the ring finally?

- Hmmm…I smell a classic Ric Flair heel turn here. He did it to Sting. He did it to Shawn Michaels. A.J. Styles, you’re next, pal.

- And the return of “icing.” Who thought of this?!

- Isn’t drinking Smirnoff Ice against James Storm’s religion?

- And tonight, Matt Hardy is channeling his inner-Undertaker.

- Welcome back, A.J. Styles!!! He’s a natural face and it shows.

- And Matt Hardy, oddly enough, is a natural heel. More than his brother for sure.

- Yep, here comes the heel turn.

- Only Ric Flair would choke someone with a sport jacket.

- Wow, Bischoff is tall!

- Or is Mr. Anderson just short…

- So who’s in charge of TNA? Bischoff? Hogan? Dixie? The Network? The fans? God? Other?

- Ooooo….nice subtle knock at the WWE.

- Problem is, the word “asshole” is not a mainstream marketing tool. You can’t let your franchise cornerstone call himself and his fans assholes.

- I smell a Mic Check.

- And there it is. Anderson 3:16 says I just Checked your Mic.

- I also smell something up with RVD. They did the same thing with Morgan.

- How is Velvet Sky intimidating? Since she loses every match and gets beat up by everyone, how can she scare anyone by getting in their faces?

- Here we go again. Talking over each other. Can we take our turns, ladies?!

- A.J. Styles vs. Ric Flair next week? Now THAT’s how you generate interest.

- And as I say that, here are the Beautiful People.

- I hope someday Taz and Mike Tenay go through puberty. It’s time to grow some pubes, boys. I know they’re hot, but really?

- Rosita is NICE.

- I’m sorry but Velvet Sky’s arsenal doesn’t look very tough. Her moves don’t seem to have any strength behind them.

- Angelina Love, on the other hand, is as skinny as a rail but she has pop with her moves.

- Too bad she looks like the bad parts of Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler.

- Bad match. A lot of moves were very off, and the ref could easily see the feet on the ropes.

- Velvet Sky, you suck. I know it, Chris Sabin knows it, and everyone knows it. If it wasn’t for Chris Sabin and that perfect body, you’d either be on Cinemax in Intimate Passion 6 or at Hooters with Miss Tessmacher right now.

- Her career? This could be interesting. Once upon a time, Tara put her career on the line and now she's carrying Madison Rayne's bags. This opens the door for Angelina Love and Winter to get closer, while Velvet gets re-packaged and serves Sarita and Rosita tacos.

- I’m sorry, but is this Jarrett and Karen shit supposed to be funny?

- Is it EVER a good idea to issue an open challenge?

- A posedown next week between Steiner and Rob Terry? And as I type this, Gold’s Gym is missing a lot of “cream.”

- That is the fakest restaurant I’ve ever seen. Whose living room is that?

- Oh my God. This angle has gone absurd now. This is beneath Kurt Angle. You lost custody of your children, have to walk your wife down the aisle to renew her vows with the ******** who beat you, and contemplating retirement by leaving your boots in the middle of the ring because you lost to said ********, and your response is a calm, "What, no tip?!"

- Where are the Motor City Machineguns? It’s been awhile…

- And did Generation Me ever find their way back? I hope the birds didn’t eat the bread crumbs…

- If Devon was serious about keeping his kids backstage, he wouldn’t have let them help him in the match. He would have got them out of there right away, or better yet, left them at home.

- I love how Devon is a has-been to Bully Ray even though their careers are practically even.

- I like Bully Ray doing stuff to Tenay and walking away from Taz. That’s what bullies do.

- Mr. Anderson as the ref means two things: Jeff Hardy will retain the title and tension will arise between RVD and Anderson. These kinds of matches always seem to go that way.

- Anyone notice RVD starts fights with both faces and heels?

- I’m going to send $5.00 to TNA for a new title. It’s for a good cause – the get-that-goddamn-Transformer-Butterfly-Joker-clown-title-out-of-TNA fund.

- Or better yet, any old-school fans have the plastic WCW titles to ship to them? Maybe one with the spray paint?

- Match is OK, but it seems a bit subdued for Rob Van Dan and Jeff Hardy. Then again, Jeff is wrestling one day after a ladder match.

- Mr. Anderson is a really good ref. He has a future after his in-ring career ends.

- Hmmm…interesting end to the match. It’s original and I like it.

- Don’t make a big deal out of the low blow. Either Jeff wins and retains or Anderson sees it and DQs him.

- Jeff retains the title: check. Tension arises between RVD and Anderson: check. Someone read the basics of booking 101.

- Last thing: The top heel has two different guys chasing him for the belt, who have issues with each other. What is this, November 2010?

Overall: A very basic Impact in the long run. Nothing of real note happened that’s groundbreaking (William’s landing was just scary and not on purpose), which may not seem like much except that most things start on the show after a PPV. Some things were more status quo than anything new. Angle was only one who got a measure of revenge by…well…switching the wine on his wife. I’m looking forward to Styles vs. Flair next week, and maybe the end of Velvet Sky’s career in TNA soon. Can you say “third member of Laycool by June?”
 
My thoughts of review of Impact 2-17-11

The show opens with Immortal (it always does). Eric Bischoff, Matt Hardy, Rob Terry, Gunner & Murphy that is not a group to be feared.

Eric Bischoff talks for a while and then brings out the world champion Jeff Hardy. I still can't believe they gave him the title back. Then Ric Flair comes a promo and looks like he may be sticking with Fortune. Are is he?

Also when Bischoff talked about the Network I hope that doesn't mean TNA is going to rehash the old Network angle from ECW.

After the commercial there is a big brawl between Fortune and Immortal.

Hernandez vs Doug Williams
Hernandez comes out with Sarita and Rosita just because I guess. Short match and really made Doug Williams look like a jobber. That was a sick Border Toss as well which I believe legit hurt Williams. Sarita at ringside called Velvet a loser causing her to come out and attack her. Then Angelina came out to back her up. Which sets up a match between the 4 KOs for later. Still shocked that Williams was OK after the way he landed.

The Pope / Samoa Joe / Okato segment
We see a luau setup complete with a pig with an apple in its mouth. I'm really amazed by how far the Pope has fallen. He does some Joe is fat jokes by calling him sloppy. Causing Joe to come out but as the Pope tries to escape Okato (I get it's not funny TNA) kicks him and then Joe gives Pope a musle buster through the table. I think it's safe to say that the Pope has fallen from grace. Which is sad being a fan of his.

Kazarian vs Robbie E with Cookie - X division title match
Before the match we see Kazarian making out with his wife Traci. Cool to see her back but think they ruined the surprise of her return if she is back fulltime.

How does Robbie E even get a rematch? Anyway Kazarian and has Cookie sent to the back which makes her mad. They wrestle for a bit before Cookie comes back out and causes the DQ. They attack Kazarian which leads to Traci coming out and getting into a catfight with Cookie. So I guess this will be the main X division feud.

Backstage Ric Flair goes to Fortune's locker room and "ices" them. I think he may end up turning on them.

AJ Styles vs Matt Hardy
I'm not digging Matt Hardy at all in TNA. Decent match and Ric Flair comes out and of course he turns on AJ allowing Hardy to get the win. I guess that makes sense because unlike Fortune, Flair doesn't care about TNA he just wants money and power and with Immortal he can have that.

Mr. Anderson / Eric Bischoff ring segment
Decent segment and Mr. Anderson will be the referee for the RVD / Hardy world title match. He also lays out Bischoff with a Mic Check why because he's an asshole.

The Beautiful People vs Sarita & Rosita
Before the match Velvet lays the law down to Winter. While Velvet has her back turned Winters gets a pair of scissors oh boy. Angelina comes in and tells Velvet to leave and asks Winter why is she obsessed with her. I would like to know why as well. Winter says all will be revealed soon. I really don't get the big deal about Winter.

TBP come out to their usual entrance and of course Taz ruins it with that stupid line. I really miss Don West on commentary. Can Taz not take anything seriously? The match starts I can't get over how short Rosita is.

I thought it was a decent KO match. Sarita once again pins Velvet with her feet on the ropes how the ref didn't see this I have no idea. Velvet then gets the mic and claims that everytime Sarita beat her she cheated. Well to be fair the last few times there were some interference but they mostly have been clean wins on Sarita's part. Sarita says that she will give Velvet another match if she puts her career on the line. Which Velvet agrees to. I don't like the sound of that. I have a feeling Winter will get involved and cause Velvet's in ring career to end.

Seriously this has got to be the most one sided feud I've ever seen. I'm a big fan of Velvet and probably one of the few supporters she has and even I don't think she's going to win. I would like to see her win but I don't trust TNA creative they will have her career end for the shock value. But we will see.

If it wasn’t for Chris Sabin and that perfect body, you’d either be on Cinemax in Intimate Passion 6 or at Hooters with Miss Tessmacher right now.
Click to expand...

Hey now that's not fair. Velvet was working for TNA long before she started dated Sabin. So I doubt he is the reason she still has a job with them. I just had to address that. Moving on.

I hated the Jeff & Karen Jarrett segments but I guess that was the point.

Madison Rayne / Tara segment
Madison claims she has beaten every KO in the company and will be having an open challenge to anyone who thinks they can beat her. She even made fun of Tara which seemed to upset her. I wonder if this is the start of a Madison / Tara feud. It's funny Sarita has beat her, Winter has beat her and Mickie did beat her twice. I just don't buy Madison as the top KO and champion.

I wonder where Mickie James goes from here since she wasn't even on the show.

Rob Van Dam vs Jeff Hardy - World Title Match
If this match was 6 months in the making why give it away for free? This could have been the main event for Victory Road or if they had to give it away for free why not wait until the Match 3rd show. I really don't get TNA's logic here.

Decent main event. Jeff Hardy retains after he hit RVD with a low blow behind Mr. Anderson's back followed by a Twist of Hate. Mr. Anderson then lays Hardy out with Mic Check and does the same to RVD. I guess Anderson thinks he's Stone Cold now. Show ends.

OK Impact. Once again they spend more time hyping up an upcoming episode of Impact instead of their PPV. Plus I'm getting tired of the heels winning all the time. It's getting old even when a face wins their match it's doesn't mean anything because they get attacked as soon as they win or made to look stupid by the heels.
 
I'm not going to really review the interview segments. Most were good, not the greatest but good. I apologize in advanced if this post doesn't sound as good as my others. It's 4:18 AM and I haven't slept in 40+ hours.

Hernandez vs Williams

Solid match, and shows how strong Hernandez is. You can tell he got better in Mexico. Though why was Sarita his "manager". Would of like an explanation on this though.

The Border Toss he did was insane. I thought he broke William's collarbone. That was a hell of a bad bump.

Score: 2/5

The Beautiful People vs The Mexican Cousins

Terrible, and I mean terrible match. Velvet isn't that good at performing, she can at least sell. Rosita though wow she can't perform or sell. She needs to be fired.

Score: 1/5

AJ Styles vs Matt Hardy

Kind of a good match, I'm glad AJ is back to his true form. Though I noticed Matt Hardy missed some sell spots, and generally lacked throughout the match. He is getting better, but this guy isn't a rookie, he's been wrestling for 15+ years. He just looks like he's fresh out of wrestling school.

Score: 3/5

Jeff Hardy vs Rob Van Dam

Again another mediocre match. RVD is in control of the match, yet Jeff pulls out the win with push to the ref in the corner, a low blow, and a finisher. Snore fest. RVD while he's great he's starting to show that he is getting slower. His Five Star tonight was insane. Look at it in slow motion he's twisting his body 180 deg to land the way he did.

Score: 3/5

Overall the show was eh. Not the greatest. I like what they did with Flair, and I like how AJ is getting some what of a push. I don't like that they are setting up a RVD vs Jeff Hardy vs Anderson at the next PPV. I think AJ should be a part of that discussion.
 
So, not only is TNA DIRECTLY ripping off ECW with this whole Network idea, but at least when Heyman did it it made sense in context. It makes absolutely NO sense the way TNA is doing it. Why would Spike TV care at all about Mr. Anderson's adult language, etc? The entire network is geared towards that sort of demographic. Not only that, but now TNA's rehashing the McMahon-Austin storyline on top of that. Anderson even wears an Austin hat! Man, TNA just gets worse and worse and worse...

You know what else doesn't make any sense? Ric Flair returning and choosing Immortal over the stable he created and the wrestlers hand picked by himself. He turns on Fourtune, who basically stand for everything Ric Flair's about, and chooses the side of Bischoff and Hogan. Bischoff who history says he DESPISES, and Hogan who has been his bitter rival for decades. Or is this just leading upto another POINTLESS swerve? Either way, it's terrible.

How did the referee not see Sarita and her latina cousin cheating when he was staring RIGHT at them doing it? That was one of the worst female wrestling matches I've seen in a while. Anyone who says the Knockouts division is going in the right direction should watch lastnight's Impact show.

The whole Jarrett stuff should be enough for anyone to turn the channel.

This had to of been one of THE worst Impact's in a very, very long time. The direction TNA is going in almost every single layer of the product is terrible. F minus!
 
TNA iMPACT! 2/24/11
February 24th, 2011
iMPACT Zone!, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: ???​


Last week on iMPACT! we saw Jeff Hardy retain the TNA World title against Rob Van Dam in a match that Mr. Anderson refereed while earlier in the show Ric Flair betrayed his own protege in AJ Styles to turn his back on Fortune. Where will this lead us tonight? Will Flair and Styles really wrestle? Let's tune in and see!


Your hosts are Mike Tenay and Taz


We open the show with Mr. Anderson coming out to the ring with a steel chair, which he unfolds and sits down in with a microphone. He says that he doesn't care who's calling the shots backstage, he's going to sit there in the middle of the ring until he gets his rematch for the TNA World title. Before he can go any further though, RVD's music hits and Rob comes to the ring to confront Anderson about how he screwed Rob in the title match last week. Before you know it both men are trading shots, having to be pulled apart by TNA security. Eric Bischoff comes out and says that tonight instead of having Anderson get his title rematch, they're going to have a triple threat match with both RVD and Anderson facing off against Kurt Angle in our main event.


Backstage Scott Steiner is chugging a beer while Eric Young poses behind him, acting like the general waste of space goofball he is. This was an incredibly awkward segment.


When we return from the commercial break we get some video footage of Jeff and Karen Jarrett picking out her dress for the big vow renewal ceremony next week. We cut to Kurt Angle backstage telling both Anderson and RVD that his mind is elsewhere tonight.


Eric Young/Orlando Jordan vs. Gunner/Murphy

Gunner and Murphy are pretty much wastes of space, so of course they were signed to a long-term contract by TNA recently. Beer Money come out to join us on commentary, and it's absolutely pathetic that these two teams are apparently make up Beer Money's "competition" in the tag team division. Eric and Murphy start us off with a quick rollup, and then Gunner tags in and he and Young do the old convoluted criss-cross spot for what seems like an eternity. Oh god this awful. MORE criss-crossing until finally Gunner and Murphy start double-teaming Young behind the ref's back, trading quick tags. More homophobic hijinks are had between Jordan, Young and the team of Gunner and Murphy before they finish Young off with a backbreaker/legdrop combo at 2:25. This was absolute and utter crap, just as you'd expect. DUD


So that apparently somehow makes Gunner and Murphy the number one contender's to Beer Money's tag titles next week. Because, you know, Eric Young and Orlando Jordan clearly have been such an undefeatable tag team that they deserved that number one contenders match, clearly.


Backstage Angelina Love tries to convince Velvet Sky not to put her career on the line against Sarita tonight, but Velvet just wants to be alone and think by herself.


After a quick commercial break we return to see Brother Devon making his way out to the ring. Devon cries and bitches about how Bully Ray beat up his children and how they looked up to him like an uncle. Seriously, is putting his kids through a couple of tables really that big of a deal? Their entire career has revolved around putting people through tables, you'd think the kids would have taken a bump or two in their time. Before long Bully Ray comes out and does his 5th grade bully shtick for a bit. Ray has some random black guy who he calls Devon's "brother" and threatens to put him through a table as well, but Tommy Dreamer of all people comes up and makes the save. Awesome, more washed up has-beens getting TV time. I like Dreamer probably more than most do these days, but seriously, unless it's for the occasional hardcore match I don't want to see Dreamer on iMPACT! in the year 2011.


Backstage Madison Rayne vents to Tara about how she doesn't need her help tonight for her open challenge match.


When we return from the break AJ Styles is backstage telling us that he won't be standing in Ric Flair's shadow anymore, and that tonight he's going to be taking care of business.


Magnus vs. Crimson

Well here's Magnus now out of nowhere after wrestling on Xplosion for months. This has squash match written all over it as this is apparently Crimson's singles debut. Before the match starts Brutus grabs the mic and says they're both alike in alot of ways but Magnus isn't carrying Kurt Angle's bags around. This of course sets Crimson off and he starts laying in forearms on Magnus as the bell rings. He gives Magnus a big exploder suplex and then follows up with a twisting neckbreaker that sends Magnus to the ring apron. Stunner from Magnus over the ring rope and he follows it with a big boot back in the ring. Suddenly Crimson hits the "Red Alert" though (swinging side slam into a reverse STO) and pins Magnus clean at 1:12. Just a squash match to give Crimson his first singles victory, nothing to see here. ¼*


Backstage RVD talks about how he's ready for the main event tonight. Really just a dull promo here from RVD, he's not exactly getting me hyped up for the triple threat later tonight.


When we return Rob Terry comes out to the ring for his big "posedown" with Scott Steiner. Seriously, you brought Steiner back for this? This is the earth-shattering business Steiner had to come back to TNA to settle? Rob Terry says he's the REAL genetic freak of TNA. Well you're definitely a freak Rob, but something tells me genetics didn't have so much to do with your physique as anabolic steroids did. Scott Steiner hits the ring and says he was the Genetic Freak way back when Rob Terry was sucking his mother's cock. Well that's a bit rude Scotty. Before Scott can take his shirt off to take part in the posedown though Rob Terry attacks Steiner, of course. Has one of these posedowns ever actually gone through? Security comes out to break the two men up.


Backstage Velvet Sky and Winter share a few words about Velvet's match against Sarita next week. Winter says that people are doubting Velvet's abilities, but she doesn't doubt her. Velvet tells her though that when she's done with Sarita's ass, she's coming for Winter. Hmm, that could be intersting, maybe Winter could carry Velvet to a competent match.


When we return from the break we get more pre-recorded footage of Jeff and Karen Jarrett, now speaking with a minister about their upcoming ceremony. Christ we get it, they want to torture Kurt with the ceremony, do we really need all of these vignettes? The minister is surprisingly the voice of reason, saying what everyone is thinking that what they're doing is "blasphemy". Riveting stuff guys, truly.


Ric Flair comes out to the ring when we return and grabs a mic. He says it's hard to be humble when you're a wrestling God and tells AJ to come out and get on his knees (ooh kinky) and beg for forgiveness from Ric Flair. For...what? You betrayed HIM Ric, remember? AJ comes out and tells Ric that the only reason he was avoiding him was because of how badly he wanted to beat the hell out of Flair, but AJ doesn't want to play into Flair's game. Apparently Flair is angry that Fortune turned on Immortal without telling him. Flair says he's going to teach Style about respect and just slaps him right across the face! This causes AJ to attack Flair, but suddenly Hernandez comes out from the crowd and makes the save for Flair. AJ fights him off though and goes back to beating down Flair in the corner. Hernandez comes back but AJ keeps fighting him off and gives Flair the old low blow before taking Hernandez out with the pele kick. See, usually this is the point where the heels beat up the beloved babyface, to get us to want to see this match and angle concluded down the road. This is TNA though, so of course the babyface dominates here and beats the hell out of Flair and Hernandez, giving us absolutely zero reason to think AJ is in any danger and care at all about this program. Of course this wouldn't be Impact without Ric Flair bleeding like a stuck pig, so he blades of course and gets his clothes ripped off before Hernandez finally fights him off from giving Flair the Styles Clash.


After a quick commercial break we return to have the TNA Knockouts champion, Madison Rayne come out to the ring to see who will step up the plate to answer her open challenge from last week. Madison may be useless in the ring but she sure is hot and her theme music rocks. Who comes to answer her open challenge? Why, none other than former Knockouts champ ODB of course! She has dyed black hair now and according to Taz, an even bigger chest than before, leading us right into our next match...


Madison Rayne vs. ODB

ODB dominates to start with a Lou Thesz press and lots of forearms. She scoop slams Rayne and then starts laying stiff chops into Madison in the corner. Madison evades a clothesline though and starts pulling at ODB's hair. Big backstabber from Madison Rayne and she goes back to the hair-pulling, trying to wrap her legs around ODB's head in some bizarre headscissors submission attempt. ODB makes the comeback though, laying big forearms and shoulderblocks into Madison. Fallaway lam and ODB is getting pumped up as Taz rips off a Michael Cole line and calls this "vintage ODB". Bronco-buster from ODB and then she tries for a fireman's carry but Madison counters out and hits her weird Rayne Drop finisher (inverted overdrive neckbreaker) for the win at 3:41. Well ODB looked good, until she lost out of nowhere to Rayne's weak finisher. Not sure what the point of bringing ODB back just to job to Rayne in a few minutes was. They just keep building Rayne up and we still don't care I'm afraid. Just have her drop the title to Mickie already and end this. ½*


Backstage Velvet Sky confronts Sarita and accepts her challenge for a match next week with Velvet's career on the line.


After a quick commercial break we return to Matt Morgan sharing a few words backstage about Hernandez and the heat they have with eachother dating back to their tag team from last year. Which, if you remember correctly, was all about Morgan being the cowardly heel who broke Hernandez's neck and acted like an asshole for weeks. But somehow Hernandez is now the bad guy here. Right.


We get yet another Karen and Jeff Jarrett vignette, this time with Jeff being measured up for a tuxedo. Afterwards we get a recap of JWowww from the Jersey Shore reality show feuding with Cookie and Robbie E weeks back. What a colossal waste of time and money that was as people tuned out in massive numbers the minute JWowww came on screen. So, of course, TNA has Robbie E and Cookie bringing in another Jersey Shore character named Angelina to confront JWowww. I'm told by Jersey Shore fans that Angelina is actually the worst person on the entire show, so of course TNA got her. Ugh.


Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle

Hopefully this main event can save what has been an otherwise dreadful show to this point. All three men are cautious to start off, laying in careful shots to each other. Van Dam and Angle team up on Anderson to start, giving him a big back-drop slam. They give him a quick double suplex and then Van Dam starts driving big shoulder-blocks into Anderson in the corner. Angle tries for one but Anderson moves and Angle's shoulder slams into the steel post, sending him flying out to the floor. Van Dam rolls into Anderson in the corner and gives him the monkey flip out of the corner. Angle comes back into the ring but now RVD gives him a clothesline and the Rolling Thunder, ending their short-lived alliance. Anderson comes back inside and hits an awkward spinning neck breaker on RVD for a quick two count that Angle breaks up. Snap suplex from Angle to Anderson. Big lariat from Angle sends Anderson to the outside again and RVD and Angle square off. Anderson pulls the top rope down though and sends Angle flying to the floor. Back inside RVD hits a roundhouse kick for a quick two on Anderson. Angle drags him out to the floor again and they start brawling and then RVD takes both of them out with a somersault plancha over the top rope! After a quick commercial break we return to see Angle counter a monkey flip attempt from RVD only for Rob to avoid a near-botch and come off the top with a springboard thrust kick for a two count on Angle. Angle get's backdropped out the floor and Anderson slides right in to deliver a back suplex to RVD before he can take advantage. Springboard thrust kick from RVD takes Anderson down again. Angle hits the ring now and cleans house with a few lariats. Overhead release belly-to-belly suplex to RVD and then a big trio of German suplexes to Anderson! Release overhead German suplex to RVD! Angle is on fire now and hits Anderson with the Angle Slam! But before he can take advantage, RVD hits him with a superkick. RVD tries for the frog splash, but Angle throws him off the top with the overhead belly to belly. Anderson tries for the mic-check on Anderson but Angle counters with a T-Bone suplex! You don't see that from Kurt often. He goes to apply the ankle lock to Anderson when suddenly wedding music begins playing and Jeff and Karen Jarrett make their way down to ringside with a couple glasses of champagne. Yes, not enough to just have them wrestle a good main event, we have to get this bullshit involved. This distracts Angle long enough for Anderson to hit the Mic Check and get the pin on Angle at 9:20. This was a damn good main event up until the goofy finish, though it followed your basic "throw one man out and have the other two fight, switch, repeat" formula of a triple threat. Angle looked fired up out there though and aside from a bit of shakiness on RVD's part, this was one of the better iMPACT! main events in quite some time. ***


After the match Jeff and Karen walk out of the Impact Zone triumphantly as Kurt Angle lays in the ring, defeated. Taz and Mike Tenay put over next week's big episode of iMPACT! in North Carolina with special guests Angelina from MTV's Jersey Shore and Taz's "Special guest", New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott. We go off the air with the numbers "3-3-11" flashing across a dark screen...hmmm, now where have we seen that before? Oh, right, the WWE did the same thing hyping up the 2/21/11 episode of RAW for the last month. Ever the originators TNA.


Bottom Line: As usual we have a whole lot of utter crap followed by a couple of redeeming factors, mainly the fun main event triple threat match. The remaining runtime of the show though was yet another awful episode of Impact with more shitty short squash matches and ridiculous angle progression. I'd say seek out the main event for a watch, but skip everything else. We'll go thumbs in the middle, slightly leaning down for the 2/24/11 episode of TNA iMPACT!


Score: 5/10





REMEMBER! You can find ALL of my reviews and match ratings at my blog:
X's Wrestling Review​
 
My thoughts on Impact 2-24-11

Mr. Anderson / Rob Van Dam segment
Pretty good segment teasing tension between both guys and building to the main event of the show.

Scott Steiner / Eric Young segment
Steiner promoting James Storm's brand of beer and EY interupting him was a funny segment. I liked it.

Gunner & Murhpy vs Eric Young & Orlando Jordan
Beer Money was on commentary. Alright match but I have a hard time buying Gunner & Murphy as a threat to Beer Money.

Angelia Love / Velvet Sky / Winter / Sarita segments
These segments were decent. I just wish they would have made a bigger deal about Velvet putting her career on the line against Sarita next week. It just didn't seem as important as it should have. Plus Taz & Mike Tenay not taking anything seriously on commentary doesn't help either.

Brother Devon / Bully Ray segment
I admit both guys delivered some great emotional promos I just don't care about this feud. Also is Bully Ray suppose to be a racist now?

Ray and Tommy Dreamer brawl and Devon accidentally hits Dreamer.

Madison Rayne / Tara segment
Madison tells Tara she's bored and wants a new challenge since she's beaten everyone in the KO divison. Yeah Madison sure you have.

Crimson vs Magnus
Crimson wins in a squash. Did Magnus piss off someone backstage?

Scott Steiner / Rob Terry segment
Nice promo by Steiner. OK segment with Terry laying out Steiner with a weight.

AJ Styels / Ric Flair segment
Nice promos from both guys. Hernandez comes out and attacks AJ and Matt Morgan comes out to fend him off.

Madison Rayne vs ODB
I really find Madison's current run as KO champion more annoying then her first run. To me she's not that much better than Velvet as in ring performer yet she is a 3x KO champion I don't get it. Also her character is just her doing TBP heel gimmick even though she changed her look. To me she looks like Mickie James' evil twin. Anyway ODB is back I wonder if it's fulltime. Madison wins with her finisher. I think this is her 1st clean win a a while. I guess Madison will be issuing these challenges until Victory Road.

It was weird that Mickie James didn't have a backstage segment at least.

The Jarretts wedding segments
Didn't like these at all. But I understand why they are being done.

Kurt Angle vs Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam
This was the main event. Pretty good match the finish came when the Jarretts came out and distracted Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson won by hitting him with the Mic Check.

Overall I didn't really like this Impact. Why to segment heavy with the main event being the only good match on the show. Plus they hyped the March 3rd Impact way more than their upcoming PPV Victory Road. Shouldn't they be trying to hype of Victory Road and get people to buy it? Don't get me wrong it's good that they are hyping up an Impact for once I just hope it delivers unlike that February 3rd show which was a letdown.
 
RTKC
(the Random Thoughts of Kitten Cutter)

Here we go; the Impact before 3/3/11…

- Does Ric Flair staying with Immortal count as a swerve?

- Mr. Anderson is in Austin mode. He even walks to the ring like him now.

- No reaction for mentioning Dixie Carter?

- Quick note: if you’re an asshole, not many people should or will like you. This is a public service announcement brought to you by the Kitten Cutter.

- Why does Anderson always try to be funny?

- Must Eric Bischoff start nearly every Impact?!

- Rob Van Dam really should be a heel. He has a lot of problems with other faces.

- Wow, Scott Steiner has really puffed up. I guess it's that time of the month.

- And here’s Eric Young. He’s trying too hard to be funny now. Just not the same anymore.

- Wow, Scott Steiner hasn’t changed much. Nothing like a little rage before a posedown.

- Oh no, not more Jeff and Karen segments. Jesus Christ. If the point is to show how obnoxious these two are, mission fucking accomplished. Let the record show that I HATE these segments. Like I DVR past them.

- Gunner and Murphy with real ring gear look legit.

- I’m not feeling Orlando Jordan and Eric Young anymore. Lack of air time has killed any momentum they had.

- And are they both faces now?

- Well, they seem relatively passable so far.

- Couldn’t Brother Devon get a new name too?

- I’m sure Devon is a good dad, but this year I’m afraid he lost the Father of the Year trophy.

- Maybe I’m the only one, but Bully Ray is growing on me. Too bad his finisher is a full nelson ass-buster.

- Hey, welcome back, Tommy Dreamer!

- And Tommy does what he does best: get his ass kicked, even when it’s inadvertent.

- Tara’s married?! There goes that wish…

- I’m curious how Madison Rayne will be portrayed tonight. I hope she works a much better match tonight.

- When was A.J. Styles ever in Ric Flair’s shadow? He was only his mentor for one year and they have very little similarities with each other, except for the whole dominant guy in a small wrestling company thing.

- Hey, hey! I was asking for it, and I have received! Crimson makes his one-on-one debut!

- Magnus really should not piss off a red-headed over-tattooed Englishman like that.

- Actually, anyone that hangs around Kurt Angle and Scott Steiner MUST be dangerous.

- I like Crimson. His intense style is impressive.

- I thought Magnus was going face when he helped Douglas Williams. Never mind.

- I LOVE Crimson’s finisher. Nice, innovative high-impact move that fits his ring style. Although if you break it down, it's Winter's Icebreaker combined with the Lethal Combination.

- I’m sorry…I’m gushing. I wanted to see his work and I’m impressed.

- Right now, there’s a pharmacy in Orlando that’s been ransacked.

- Maybe Scott Steiner though he said a pimp-down. He’s in his suit.

- I smell a Rob Terry beatdown.

- Did Steiner call someone else a chemical disaster?!

- That was a pathetic dumbbell hit. Really, Rob?

- Man, TNA security is busy tonight! This is the third time we’ve seen them run out!

- Velvet Sky, you’re not scary and not a bad-ass. Goddamn, you are sexy and I wouldn’t kick you out of bed, but you got a long way to go before anyone fears you.

- Oh, and for everyone's reference who are looking up Katie Lea's profile: I made up the name of Winter's finisher. I don't know if it's really called the Icebreaker. I just thought the name fit the gimmick.

- Ric Flair doesn’t look ready to fight. Was he supposed to wrestle tonight?

- WHOA! Smack!

- Hernandez is officially part of Immortal now, seeing as he is saving Flair over and over again.

- Styles has some great new intensity. He’s learned his lessons well!

- No, no, no more blood. Come on. Blood loses its meaning when it happens nearly every week.

- Plus, every time Flair bleeds I worry about him. Flair the man not Flair the wrestler.

- Why does Ric Flair want to keep doing this to himself?

- And where the HELL was Fourtune all this time?!

- I miss the old TNA World Title.

- And why wasn’t Eric Young carrying it tonight?

- Next week we find out who runs TNA, Dixie Carter or Hulk Hogan. I’m betting it’s a 50-50 split so both sides have power.

- Hey, it’s ODB!

- You know, this reminds me of Jay Lethal’s challenge to random wrestlers.

- She’s a welcome sight to the Knockout division.

- I see ODB got some sun with those tan lines…

- Wow, this is the best match I’ve seen Madison Rayne wrestle. This new gimmick could work. But…which idiot gave her the Zack Attack finisher? I’d almost rather see her with Regal’s “Power” Punch.

- ODB didn’t have to win, and she still looked good. I hope she sticks around.

- I’m noticing the Knockouts aren’t talking over each other tonight. It’s nice to hear what they actually have to say.

- It’s not a good sign when the best celebrities TNA can bring in are from Jersey Shore. When did TNA turn into Jerry Springer?

- I thought Kurt Angle was going to retire. Suddenly and without announcements he’s wrestling again?

- Three-way dance is OK so far, which isn’t good considering who’s in it. Then again, you can’t have five-star matches every night.

- As I watch this, they keep hyping next week. Why don’t they ever hype the pay-per-views like this? Oh, that’s right…ratings.

- It is an interesting dynamic watching three faces fight. TNA does break up the face-heel monotony which is good, but we know someone will get screwed here somehow.

- RVD botch. Poor Kurt was just standing there.

- They should make it less obvious that they’re waiting their turn to wrestle their part of the match. You’d think these three could cover that up better. Or maybe it’s the producer’s fault for not putting the cameras in better spots.

- The Mic Check should be a faster finisher. Anderson does one move too many to hit it.

- WTF? Wedding music?

- Jesus Christ. Really. A lifetime wrestler and professional athlete, who wrestled in the goddamn Olympics and won a gold medal with a broken neck, got distracted by wedding music?!

- What a crappy ending to a good match. This is overbooking. Maybe Russo thinks this is innovative, but to me it’s BS.

- You know, the way Anderson is acting reminds me of The Pope before he turned heel the first time…you know, bitching because he was getting passed over. Do I smell another swerve?

- Bart Scott…nice one. Not a complete celebrity but it’s better than Jersey Trash…excuse me, I mean Jersey Shore.

- Really, TNA, really? You just HAD to mock that video, didn't you?!

- Well, I guess Sting is coming back next week. Either that or The Undertaker has some ‘splaining to do!

- Last thing: Really, TNA?! Really?!

Overall: Wow, this show had its ups and downs. I rolled my eyes a lot more than I expected to. There’s some major overbooking going on, and the Kurt Angle\Jeff Jarrett feud has gone too far and is overexposed. Meanwhile, Jeff Hardy, the freakin’ World Champion was nowhere to be found. The one thing about next week is that these stupid Jeff and Karen segments end with the wedding, and we all know what’s going to happen: Angle is going to attack Jarrett and someone is going to be covered in wedding cake. It happens in every wrestling\wedding angle in the past 10 years and it’s going to happen here too. Thank God it comes to an end next week.
 
- Velvet Sky, you’re not scary and not a bad-ass
Click to expand...

I don't think she's trying to be scary or a bad ass Velvet carries herself in a confident manner. Though I know say she shouldn't be confident after all these loses she's taken but at least from a character stand point she doesn't let it bother her. Which is one thing I like about her.

As for Velvet not coming off a threat I believe that's more TNA's fault since they never bothered to establish her as being one.

I still they should have made her putting her career on the line actually mean something. Velvet did a good job of doing that but the announcers didn't. Which is one of my main problems with TNA's commentary these days.
 
TNA iMPACT! - February 24, 2011

Opening Segment - I'm a little mixed on the opener for last night's show. On one hand, Anderson was his usual quite solid self on the mic though the more he uses his asshole line, the less interesting it becomes for me. Rob Van Dam came out and was his usual wooden self on the mic, the man just cannot cut a decent promo. Bischoff & Immortal came out on the stage, Bischoff talked a little trash and was his usual douche bag self. The main event of the night was set, being a 3 way match between Anderson, RVD & Kurt Angle. The physical stuff between Anderson & RVD just kind of bored me, I just wasn't really feeling it. It just doesn't seem like a clash between two titan babyfaces, if that's what TNA was hoping for. Nothing at all great here, pretty standard actually but it did its job. Thumbs Up

The Jarretts - They showed a couple of more vignettes featuring Jeff & Karen Jarrett preparing for their wedding on iMPACT! next week. The first one with them looking at wedding dresses was weak but I dug the second one they did with the "priest". It was so blatantly absurd that I just couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. Some have attempted to defend this angle by saying that TNA has intentionally tried to make this funny, I've never bought into it, but I could buy it for the priest segment. Jarrett's "nondenominational" line was also kind of funny. Again, it was so absurd that I just couldn't help but laugh. Thumbs Up

Gunner & Murphy vs. Eric Young & Orlando Jordan - This was about 3 or 4 minutes of absolute shit. Just an awful match that did absolutely nothing whatsoever to build up Gunner & Murphy. Beer Money came out and did commentary and did their best and putting Gunner & Murphy over but I just wasn't buying into a single word of it. There's so much work to do with these two that there's no way I can see them as legit #1 contenders for the tag titles. The first half of the match was spent with Young & Murphy doing crisscrossing the ring. The match was completely dull and forgettable with Gunner & Murphy getting the win. 1/4*

Angelina Love & Velvet Sky Backstage - TNA has done a lot of these "retirement" or "career ending" stipulation matches & angles and they mean nothing anymore. Velvet Sky is probably one of the bigger ratings draws in TNA and even though Sarita is far superior to her in the ring, Velvet won't lose her match to her next week. Thumbs Down

DeVon & Bully Ray - Pretty dull segment overall, with Bully Ray really being the only decent aspect of it. DeVon comes out trying to be emotional, talking about his boys and how Ray hurt them at AAO and all that. Ray pops up on screen and does his thing before threatening to put someone backstage through a table. Tommy Dreamer shows up and starts beating on Ray and they move out into the studio. Ray ultimately gets away and DeVon accidentally hits Dreamer. Meh. Thumbs Down

Crimson vs. Magnus - Basically a 1 minute squash match and it's a shame to see Magnus wasted like this. I know he hasn't been on iMPACT! for a long while, basically his career has been in limbo forever it seems. However, the man's too talented to be fed to Crimson in a 1 minute squash. I get that they're building Crimson up, but why not just pull in Shark Boy or Orlando Jordan or some random jobber from the Team 3D Academy? 1/4*

Scott Steiner & Rob Terry Posedown - Just when I thought the show couldn't get more boring, here comes this. It wasn't really a posedown, mostly just Terry standing around in a pair of really small spandex shorts and Steiner wearing a suit talking trash to each other. Terry jumps Steiner from behind, hitting him gingerly with a barbell he brought to the ring with him. I dunno, I just wasn't paying a huge amount of attention here and I couldn't care less about this. Thumbs Down

Ric Flair & AJ Styles - Flair came out to the ring and did his thing, a lot of the usual "I'm God" stuff before Styles comes out. Flair runs him down for a bit before slapping him in the face. Styles goes off and starts beating on Flair before Hernandez pops up and attacks from behind. Styles has a strong showing here as he fought off Hernandez several times before going back to work on Flair. Seeing Flair ripped out of his clothes again was something I could do without, it just makes Flair look kind of pathetic to me. The rest of Fortune eventually runs out, dunno what the hell they were waiting for. At any rate, a good showing for Styles here. Thumbs Up

Madison Rayne vs. ODB - Pretty decent match, generally speaking. It was kind of nice to see ODB again and, quite frankly, it's nice to see someone other than the same handful of Knockouts involved in a Knockout match on iMPACT!. The crowd was into ODB but Madison did eventually get the clean win. The finish was weak as shit with Madison hitting some sort swinging knee shot to the back of ODB's head for the win. Decent little showcase match for Madison. *1/4

Jersey Shore Angle - I had a feeling that this was going to be the big surprise when TMZ announced that TNA had signed a former Jersey Shore cast member. I can understand TNA wanting to get their name out there in the more mainstream press, no problem with that at all. However, the Jersey Shore thing just isn't going to pull people in I don't believe. If I remember correctly, the segment they did several months back with J-Wowww didn't draw and it was just a shit angle anyhow. No interest here. Thumbs Down

Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle - I thought this was a fun main event match with some hefty star power involved. Good strong showing from all three of them and it's just a good several steps up compared to the rest of the show. The ending has me wondering if a heel turn might be on the horizon for Anderson. Angle is going for the ankle lock when Jeff & Karen Jarrett come out on stage, getting Angle's attention and focus. Anderson takes advantage and hits the Mic Check on Angle for the win. It just seems like TNA is booking Anderson to need help or some degree of interference in order to get wins. At any rate, good match to close the show with. **1/2

Overall Show - While this week's episode of iMPACT! was better than last week's, it was still a pretty bad show from top to bottom. The first hour of the show was extremely dull and just felt really flat and bland. The segment with Styles & Ric Flair was a nice change of pace and made Styles look strong, though I could've done without Flair flopping around in his drawers. I couldn't care less about Scott Steiner's feud with Rob Terry and TNA's biggest surprise of the year was, expectedly, a huge dud. The main event was a fun, competitive match though I'm wondering if all these weak wins that Anderson has racked up over the past month or two is an indication of a possible heel turn. This show, however, did not do anything to make me excited for the March 3rd episode of iMPACT!. The tag title match between Gunner & Murphy against Beer Money has lackluster written all over it and I won't be surprised if Steiner & Terry have a match next week as well. The Jersey Shore bit that TNA is doing will also be on next week's show and, thus far, I'm just not impressed with what I'm seeing.

Grade: D+
 
I'm a big fan of Eric Young right now. he is funny. Steiner talking and in the background there's EY posing. I thought Steiner was going to hit him or something.

does Crimson remind anyone of someone who used to be in WCW? Goldberg? Crimson is fierce looking! now 1-0 in singles. could TNA make him into something like Goldberg?

does Hernandez seem to care about the people he's in the ring with? I mean seriously. the way he tossed AJ a few times it looked like he didn't care how AJ landed. maybe it's just me, but it looked like Hernandez didn;t care if he hurt AJ non kayfabe.

there is a lot of talking in TNA, but I think there always will be.

Impact could have been better, but I was still entertained.
 
Impact 2/24/11 Hits and Misses:

Impact Hits:​

Mr. Anderson vs RVD vs Kurt Angle: This was a strong triple threat main event. All three men worked hard, and it translated to a good match. Ill give the cheap finish with the Jarretts a pass, as it was logical in the build toward the wddding next week for the big March 3rd show. I liked how Anderson showed a "win at all costs" mentality by taking advantage of said distraction to hit the Mic Check on Kurt for the win. Anderson is far better off as a tweener only looking out for himself, and this was a great exhibit as to why.

A.J. Styles "versus" Ric Flair: Im glad we didn't get the match as advertised, as giving away a match that big without a strong build would be poor booking. Kudos to TNA in limiting this to a strong verbal exchange and a fine brawl. Flair was his usual excellent self on the mic, and AJ showed why the company should get behind him as the top face and stay there, both verbally and in the brawl. He was phenomenal in both aspects. It was also a nice job at the end in involving two storylines in one, with first Hernandez getting involved, then Matt Morgan. This further cemented Hernandez' alliance with Immortal, and also advanced the Morgan/Hernandez storyline as well. Morgan's promo later in the show was a good, intense one as well. My only complaint with this was Fourtune taking so long to get to the ring last night, as they were always quick to the scene as heels. Its these logic gaps that make me scratch my head, but this was an excellent segment overall.

RVD and Mr Anderson promo: Ive yet to see better mic work from RVD since arriving in TNA. He's always been an average talker at best, but he did a phenomenal job in playing off of Mr. Anderson. He seemed far more comfortable in this type of setting then he does when doing a solo promo. I would have preferred they kept the verbal exchange between the two of them as it was flowing nicely, but Immortal and Eric Bischoff interrupting was essential in setting up the main event of the evening. The segment was quite effective in establishing a legitimate beef between the two, and setting up the main event as well.

Ray and Devon: The Impact Zone was quiet as a mouse for Devon's promo, but that seemingly was only due to them listening intently to what Devon was saying. Their timing of their applause for Devon is a good reflection of that. This was more a reflection of a focused, intense promo by Devon that the crowd was eating up. was as quiet during his promo as I've ever heard the Impact Zone. Devon was excellent here, as was Ray. Ray played the role of scumbag heel perfecly once again, especially with the "your people" reference to the African-American man he was about to powerbomb. I never thought Id say this, but I think TNA has done an excellent job with the Devon/Ray feud. Devon has come off as the sympathetic face, and Ray keeps stooping to new lows each week. Im not sure why Tommy Dreamer was interjected whatsoever, despite his past history with both men. Overall however, this was an excellent segment, with both Devon and Ray at their best.

Overall Show: This was a good episode of Impact. It was nice to see ODB back, and the former Knockout champion putting Madison over. Madison is becoming the best female heel this side of Vickie Guerrero. The verbal exchange between Velvet and Angelina was well done, as the significance of what will be on the line(Velvet's career) if she loses was addressed in a serious manner. There were three excellent segments between Devon/Ray, RVD/Anderson, and Styles/Flair. The show may have been light on wrestling, but it helped build toward the March 3rd special beautifully. Styles has shown since once again turning face that he should be the MAN TNA gets behind as their top face, and pushes to the moon. His verbal exchange and brawl with Flair and Hernandez served to accentuate this. B

Impact Misses:​

Crimson vs Magnus: This was a short three minute match that served little purpose at all. Crimson went from being involved in a main event angle to wrestling a man who hasn't appeared on Impact in almost a year? The debut should have been hyped properly, but it was just thrown out there like another match. Crimson showed good intensity and decent in-ring skills, but the match was too short to really make any evalution on him whatsoever. Crimson's first match should have been a bigger deal then it actually was.

TNA's biggest surprise: So TNA's biggest surprise that they were hyping for the past week turned out to be nothing more then a rio-off of WWE's 2-21-11 vignette? It's obvious it's Sting, and while his return is a big deal, its not worth the hype it received. They better deliver big with him next week to salvage this.

Scott Steiner/Rob Terry posedown: This has been done before, and Ive never been a fan of these. The idea of stepping into the ring is to determine who the better wrestler is, not the better bodybuilder. The steroid "joke" that was slipped into Steiners promo was a huge mistake seeing how Terry looks the poster boy for usage, valid or not.

Gunner and Murphy vs Eric Young and Orlando Jordan: First and foremost, I have absolutely no idea what Gunner aand Murphy have done to warrant a tag title shot, seeing how they lost at the PPV, and to INk Inc. prior. I could have done without Orlando pressing Gunner into his crotch as well. A win over a comedy team such as Young and Jordan does nothing to validate the title shot, as a win over a more established team would have done them a world of good. Beer Money did an excellent job of putting them over on commentary, making the match seem more realistic then it actually is, but Gunner and Murphy are simply too green in the ring to be considered top contenders for the tag titles. Where are Ink Inc., Generation Me, and the MCMG's? They've disapeared completely from Impact. The MCMG were the tag team of 2010, and they've been MIA for weeks. I know Shelley is injured, but thats no reason to keep Sabin off the show.
 
I just saw the preview clip of tonight's Jersey Shore/Beautiful People segment and despite hating what was going on in the ring, I was impressed by the arena.

Taking Impact on the road is a big thing for TNA and it's paying off handsomely. It's not even a particularly large arena, it just looks more professional than the Impact Zone.

If they can keep booking medium sized arenas and hold off running back to Orlando, I think they could be onto something.
 
Is it just me or does this not look really good? If they could keep going on the road maybe the smaller major venues in certain markets I might could actually believe in this thing.
 
TNA iMPACT! 3/3/11
March 3rd, 2011
Cumberland County Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Attendance: 3,500+​


This is a big show for TNA here as they've gone on the road for iMPACT! for the first time in several years, drawing over 3500 in Fayetteville, North Carolina in the midst of Flair/Hardy country, which you'd think might be an issue for the taping since Flair and the Hardys are all heels, but it's probably the main reason they drew so well tonight here. Tonight we get the answer to the Dixie Carter-Hulk Hogan legal battle for control of the company, as well as the Jeff and Karen Jarrett wedding vows renewal ceremony which Kurt has to attend. Not exactly a thrilling sounding show for such an important iMPACT!, but let's just get to it.


Your hosts are Mike Tenay and Taz


We open the show with Dixie Carter coming out to the ring, of course. Can't have our show opening with one of those pesky wrestler guys. Dixie gets all choked up saying Thank You to the fans, but the look on her face just makes you want to slap some sense into her head. Show looks great with such a big audience who are actually excited to be there unlike at the iMPACT Zone. Before Dixie can get much further Immortal interrupts and comes down to the ring with Ric Flair. Crowd pops big for Flair, letting the trademark "Woo!"s sound out, completely killing the point of this entire segment and angle. Flair introduces Hogan, who gets a nice pop himself as he limps down the ramp to the ring. Hogan announces that TNA is 100% in his control now and plays up to the crowd, who continue to cheer him as this entire angle has fallen flat on it's face at the payoff time, because nobody cares even slightly about Dixie Carter, her loss, or her crying. Fortune's music hits suddenly and they play up to the crowd a bit, dissing Hogan and Immortal. They hit the ring and security has to break them all up as we go to commercial.


When we return Immortal is backstage greeting Bart Scott, linebacker for the New York Jets. Fortune runs into them and Kaz cracks a funny joke, asking if Bart is the long lost brother of Jeff and Matt, Jermaine Hardy and they all end up brawling, Bart Scott included.


After another quick break we return to see Bischoff and Hogan talking in the back. Eric says "The Network" (ripoff ECW much guys?) called and told him that Jeff Hardy will defend his TNA World title tonight.


TNA World Tag Team Title Match
Robert Roode/James Storm (C) vs. Gunner/Murphy

Mike Tenay actually has the balls to say that Gunner & Murphy are getting this shot because of an "impressive victory" over comedy jobbers Eric Young and Orlando Jordan. I have no clue how he was able to say that with a straight face. The fact that Gunner and Murphy are even getting a title shot is pretty ridiculous to begin with, but whatever, let's just go with it. All four men brawl to start as the bell rings. Gunner and Murphy gang up on James Storm for a bit but Storm hits a codebreaker and gets the hot tag to Roode. That may have been the shortest tag heat segment I've ever seen. Roode cleans house and then hits the big spinebuster on Gunner for a quick two count. Tag rules are alredy out the window as Beer Money hits a double suplex on Murphy nd then finishes Gunner off with the DWI at 3:11. Well that wasn't very good to be kind, Gunner and Murphy never looked like a threat and Beer Money just hit a few signature moves and squashed them in a couple of minutes. What was the point to this? ½*


After the match Ink Inc of all people come out and welcome Beer Money to North Carolina, which makes a bit of sense since Moore is from around here. He calls this "his house", which is just downright hilarious. Ink Inc challenges them to a match for the tag titles at Victory Road, and they accept. So Gunner and Murphy get a title shot after dispatching of some jobbers while Ink Inc gets to just come out after doing nothing for the last 3 months and get a title shot at the PPV? Sure, whatever.


Backstage Jeff and Karen are interrupted by Eric Young, who begs to be a part of the wedding. We cut to Angelina from the MTV reality show Jersey Shore arriving at the arena as we cut to commercial.


Velvet Sky vs. Sarita

The stipulation here is that if Velvet loses, she has to retire. So I guess Sarita is ripping off Madison Rayne's old shtick now? No sexy entrance makes this even more of a piss-break chance. Sarita has Rosita in her corner while Angelina Love is in Velvet's. Velvet hits an armdrag to start and then Sarita delivers a slingshot atomic drop, which is certainly unique. Angelina and Rosita start fighting it out in the ring as well and Earl Hebner sends them both to the back. Sarita drives her knee into Velvet's back a few times but then gets planted with a DDT and Velvet wins at 2:01. So Velvet gets to keep her job. Yay! Usual short yawnfest here. ¼*


After the match Cookie, Robbie E, and Angelina from Jersey Shore make their way to the ring. Cookie gives Angelina the mic and she calls the Beautiful People and JWowww (how many fucking W's do you need in your name?) ****s and challenges them to a six woman tag match next week. Just another waste of TNA's money on pseudo-celebrities that absolutely no one cares about, something they've been doing all the way back to their very first weekly PPV show.


After a quick commercial break we return to see Mr. Anderson walking backstage, where he says that he's going to be the one to get the title shot tonight against Jeff. Elsewhere we see Eric Young gabbing to Orlando Jordan about how excited he is to be helping out at the wedding. Eric accuses Jordan of stealing their wedding ring and starts choking him, but the ring is in his shoe, obviously. Eric Young might just be the most useless character in wrestling today.


Elsewhere Jeff Jarrett and Ric Flair are in the men's bathroom, talking about the vows ceremony. Jeff says he's going to bring Karen and all his kids to Harry Potter World in Universal Studios for their honeymoon. Uhhh...what? What is with TNA and men's bathrooms? We see Kurt talking to his son Cody while he's taping up his fist, dressed up formally for the wedding ceremony which I guess is next.


When we return Hogan is on the phone with "the Network" talking about Jeff's match tonight, trying to find out who his opponent will be.


And now it's time for the Wedding ceremony. Oh, joy. You can tell how excited I am, can't you? Eric Young and Orlando Jordan comes out first with the ring and some flowers I guess. Jeff is out next and gets some nice heat, but before he can make it to the ring Kurt Angle runs out behind him and attacks him. Kurt tries to throw Jeff into the wedding cake, but Karen runs out and jumps on Kurt's back. So he pushes her into the wedding cake instead. Yay, all is right in the world.


Backstage Hogan tells Jeff Hardy about his title match tonight.


When we return from the break Jeff and Karen are FREAKING OUT to Bischoff and Flair, who both have just a hilarious look on their face the whole time. Hogan shows up and asks if Bischoff has any idea about who Jeff's opponent will be tonight.


Scott Steiner vs. Rob Terry

And the hits just keep coming tonight. This is a bonafide battle of the roided-up freaks, so I guess it's interesting in that way. Still have no idea why they brought Steiner back just to feud with Rob Terry of all people. Terry dominates to start with big right hands but Steiner comes back with an elbow and then a big T-Bone suplex. He clotheslines Terry to the floor. Terry slams Steiner's head into the steel ringpost and then slides him back into the ring and gives him a big powerslam for a two count. Steiner comes back with a big belly-to-belly suplex and then a reverse STO. Samoan drop off the top rope from Steiner and then he locks in the Steiner Recliner and Terry submits at 3:18. This was actually FAR better than it looked with Steiner basically just tossing Terry around for a few minutes with some of his signature suplexes, which is always fun to watch. *¾


Backstage Kurt Angle comes up to Bart Scott and claims to be a big fan, but Flair and Scott basically just tell him to fuck off as Flair reveals that Bart Scott is apparently his new enforcer. So are we going to get ANY reasoning for this? Because last week Taz kept talking about how he personally invited Scott to this show, yet they haven't interacted once and Scott is apparently a heel all of a sudden? Whatever, shouldn't be too hard for a New York Jet to get some heat.


When we return from the break Joe Warren, the current Bellator (MMA) Feathweight Champion is at the commentary table plugging Bellator's next event. Umm...okay? Why?


Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan

So this has been a year in the making if you can believe it, going back to these two men holding the tag titles briefly last year before splitting up. If you remember correctly Morgan was the one who broke Hernandez's neck and made a fool out of him as the mega-heel, but now with Hernandez back and with Immortal now, the roles have reversed with absolutely no explanation as to why the fuck we should be cheering for Morgan when he was the one in the wrong in this whole feud. This angle makes my head hurt. Big lariat from Morgan as the bell rings. Sidewalk slam gets Morgan a two count, and this Joe Warren fella actually sounds happy to be here, so I guess I can live with him as a guest commentator. Morgan and Hernandez begin brawling up the stage now and then Hernandez gets tossed back into the ring. Hernandez begs for mercy but Morgan just gives him a big boot. Morgan tosses Hernandez across the ring with his own shirt tied around his neck and then starts laying in those big elbows in the corner. Clothesline to the floor sends Hernandez out again and this has been all Morgan so far. Morgan gets tossed into the steel steps a few times and Hebner calls for the bell at 4:23? We're supposed to assume Hernandez was DQed for repeatedly slamming Morgan into the steps, but no announcement of why the match was stopped or who won is made, so whatever. Decent brawl for a few minutes but I have no interest in seeing this feud continue. *¼


Backstage Hogan is on the phone again, yelling at someone from the Network trying to find out Jeff's opponent tonight. Mr. Anderson walks in and they both tell each other they hate each other. That's nice. Hogan says the Network isn't giving Anderson the title shot, and Anderson flips out.


After a quick commercial break we get a preview of the new Spike TV show "Roy Meets Girl", on next after iMPACT! tonight. It basically appears to be a guido walking around on a beach, asking women lewd questions. Groundbreaking stuff Spike.


The wedding music starts up again as I gues we ARE going to be having the Karen and Jeff vows ceremony...again. Christ wasn't once enough? Jeff comes out and actually makes it to the ring this time, and then Karen comes out with Kurt ecorting her down the aisle. Uh, why is Kurt suddenly all-smiles about this now? Karen still has some cake on her face and in her hair. I'm seriously tempted to fast forward through this bullshit, but because I love you, the readers, so much I'll sit through it. They exchange vows and this shit goes on for what seems like FOREVER, despite the crowd shitting all over it. We can't have a single match go over 4 minutes long, but we've got time to waste 15-20 minutes all night on TWO Wedding segments? Ugh. Things start getting creepy as they start talking about their sex lives, calling each other "Princess" and "Daddy". They kiss and mercifully, finally, it's over. Kurt then pulls out a freaking AXE and starts destroying the wedding set. So someone should probably take the deadly weapon out of the angry ex-husband's hand security. Flair and Bart Scott come out now and Flair sends Scott down to the ring and he gets up in Kurt's face. He pushes him a few times and Kurt takes him down and gives him the ankle lock. Good thing for Scott we're probably not going to be having a football season this year. Tenay makes a hilarious jab at the Jets, saying this is nothing new for Bart as the Jets have been tapping out since 1969! As a Patriots fan, that remark may have just been the highlight of the night so far.


We return from commercial and it's time for Jeff Hardy to defend the world title against a mystery opponent. TNA of course pretty much gave away who the opponent is going to be at the end of last week's iMPACT! with their little 3-3-11 promo, but whatever. We get a fancy little 3-3-11 video on the Dixie-tron, which is a total rip-off of the 2-21-11 promos WWE was running last month for the Undertaker's return. Always the innovator, TNA. Anyways his opponent is...STING! Nice pop for Sting as he used to regularly work this area with Flair for many years in WCW.


TNA World Title Match
Jeff Hardy (C) vs. Sting

Sting attacks immediately and Jeff bails quickly, taking a breather at ringside as we're now pass 11:00 and into the overrun at this point. Back inside Jeff gets a cheap shot and starts laying in kicks into Sting in the corner. Suplex attempt by Jeff is countered and Sting locks in the Scorpion Death Lock! Jeff gets the rope break though and takes another breather outside the ring. He teases walking out but Sting follows him out to the ramp and gives him a suplex right there on the rampway. Sting slams him into the steel guardrail and goes for the Stinger splash but Hardy moves and Sting hits the steel rail. Back inside Jeff Hardy is on top, dropping the leg on Sting and slapping on a chinlock. Jeff tries for the Twist of Hate but Sting shrugs him off and starts laying in big right hands. Sting hits the Scorpion Death Drop! 1-2--NOO! Jeff kicks out. He misses another Stinger splash but then Hardy gets caught on the top rope and Sting gives him the Scorpion Death Drop off the top rope! He drags Hardy to the middle of the ring and gives him ANOTHER Scorpion Death Drop and that's enough for the 3 as we have a NEW World champion at 6:15! I'll get to the whole Sting winning the title thing in a minute. As for the match itself, this was better than I was expecting and had a nice finish to boot, but it still wasn't as good as last week's main event. **½


So, Sting is the new world champion. WHY? The man has done NOTHING for TNA over the last few years and you just bring him back and immediately put the title on him over guys like Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson? Why? What is this going to accomplish? Sting yet again is the TNA World champion for the 5000th time, and just like almost every one of those reigns after the first one, it will accomplish nothing whatsoever. Fuck pushing our young talent, we've got ANOTHER middle aged star of the 90s! Give him the title, immediately! Ugh.


Bottom Line: Pretty awful show for the most part. The opening segment completely failed and made the entire months-long build for tonight pointless as Hogan and Flair were endlessly cheered while nobody gave a fuck about Dixie. We get more Jersey Shore bullshit, because I guess the fact that ratings massively and instantly plummeted the moment JWowww was on iMPACT! months ago wasn't enough of an indication that this shit is stupid. The Angle/Jarrett wedding shit went on WAY too long and took up probably about 3-4 times as much time as any of our actual wrestling matches tonight, which is nothing new for this show. The main event was actually decent wrestling-wise, but the decision to put the belt on Sting just confuses and angers me, like most things this company does these days. Terrible booking and shit wrestling everywhere on this show, so an easy and emphatic Thumbs Down for tonight's iMPACT!


Score: 3/10



REMEMBER! You can find ALL of my reviews and match ratings at my blog:
X's Wrestling Review​
 
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