TNA iMPACT!
Orlando, Florida (Impact Zone)
January 27, 2011
Commentators: Mike Tenay & Taz
Report by: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
Impact opens up with clips of the Angle-Jarrett drama again this week.
We cut to the backstage area where Kurt Angle is walking towards the entrance ramp!
Angle walks out to the ring, no music. I just noticed an idiot directly behind Angle wearing an Auburn t-shirt. Really? Is there anyway we can get morons banned from the Impact Zone? Angle says last week he came out with the intentions of speaking with peace and he wanted to take an uncomfortable situation and put it behind him. He says unfortunately his ex and Jeff had different plans, they wanted to open wounds and tear the scabs from Angle. He says they also got Immortal involved as well. He says he didn’t want to go down this road. He talks about the promise he made that if he didn’t win at BFG that if he didn’t win then he would retire, but there comes a time when a man has to deal with circumstances that he didn’t expect. Angle says that circumstance is Jeff Jarrett. He says he does what he does in the ring, and he is the very best at it, for the people. Angle says when he comes to a crossroads in his career he looks to the people. A big “Angle” chant starts and Angle asks the fans how many want to see Kurt in the ring one more time. The fans cheer for it obviously. Angle says he’ll get back in the ring to beat the “living sh*t” out of Jeff Jarrett. Immortal’s music cuts Angle off.
Immortal and Fortune make their way out to the ring and Bischoff says he’s getting a cavity having to listen to Angle try and get “cheap heat” and try and get back on the roster with fan support. Bischoff asks if he thinks their idiots. Bischoff says Angle is retired and he did it to himself. He tells Angle to go raise horses or learn how to play golf because his days of wrestling are over. Bischoff says if it’s an ass kicking he wants then he came to the right place. He then sicks Fortune on Angle. Gunner & Murphy also come down to the ring. They ambush Angle and he gets the advantage early but the numbers take him out quickly. Fortune beat Angle down as Jeff Jarrett mockingly chants Angle’s name from the stage. James Storm takes a swig of his beer and then starts to swing at Angle, but CRIMSON shows up out of nowhere with a baseball bat and chases Fortune off! Ric Flair grabs a mic and screams at Crimson and calls him a dumbass. Flair says he doesn’t know who Crimson is talking about but “they” is him and next week Immortal will stick “they” whoever they are up their own asses. Flair gets hyped up and says “I’M A GOD” to Angle and then says if Angle wants to wrestle again then Flair himself will lift the ban and Angle can wrestle tonight! Flair says Angle can have Jeff Jarrett tonight and Angle smiles. Jeff Jarrett loses it and gets in Flair’s face, but Flair tells him to calm down. Angle says it’ll be Kurt Angle & Crimson against Jeff Jarrett, Beer Money, Kazarian, Gunner & Murphy, and Rob Terry. Flair asks Angle how he likes those odds and Angle spits at Flair. Flair spits back and goes nuts. I wonder if he went nuts like that in Europe when he wanted to get paid more this week?
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
Bischoff and Flair argue over Flair reinstating Angle in the Immortal locker room. Flair asks why they would allow Angle to dictate what they do and he’s sick of Angle. Bischoff says Angle is a “killer” but Flair says he can’t kill Immortal. Flair says they will take him out tonight and then they won’t have to worry about anymore.
Taz says tonight we will hear from Dixie Carter tonight plus Mr. Anderson will go one-on-one with Matt Hardy.
6-Knockouts Tag Team Elimination Match
Sarita, Madison Rayne, & Tara vs. Mickie James & The Beautiful People
By the way the gorgeous Sarita recently signed a 2 year extension with TNA. Before Angelina & Velvet can walk through the curtain Winter grabs Angelina by the arm and pulls her back. She asks Velvet why she’s “doing this” to them. Angelina says that Velvet is her “BFF” and Winter needs to chill out. As BP walk off Winter goes bat sh*t crazy and starts screaming and hitting the wall. Angelina & Velvet are wearing long jerseys as their ring gear tonight, NICE! The faces attack the heels to kick off the match and we have a brawl to open things up! LET THE PIGEONS LOOSE! Mickie & Madison spill out to the floor while BP continue to brawl with Tara & Madison in the ring. Sarita rolls out of the ring and Velvet follows her. It’s down to just Tara and Angelina in the ring. Tara wings that big elbow brace at Angelina but Angelina ducks and Angelina grabs a wristlock on Tara and starts wrenching on that arm. Tara breaks it with a kick and then tags Madison in. Madison goes for a clothesline but Angelina ducks and then hits a hip toss followed by a clothesline and then a Front Slam. Madison comes back with a knee to the gut and then she quickly goes for the Rayne Drop, but Angelina counters into a clothesline. Angelina tags in Mickie but Madison dives to her corner and tags in Sarita. Sarita charges at Mickie and goes for a clothesline, but Mickie ducks it and rolls Sarita up! 1…2…NO Sarita kicks out! Mickie then locks Sarita in a side headlock but Sarita counters into a wristlock. Mickie flips forward to release the hold and then she kicks Sarita’s arm away and nails her with a forearm. Mickie locks in another side headlock and then tags in Velvet. Velvet dives off the middle rope with a Flying Sledge as Mickie held Sarita. Velvet goes for a clothesline on Sarita but she ducks and then she tries to kick Velvet. Velvet catches Sarita’s leg and swings her backwards slamming Sarita to the back. Velvet follows up with a Snapmare Takeover and then she kicks Sarita hard in the back and then a sliding dropkick to the front. Velvet attempts to whip Sarita into the ropes but Sarita reverses it. Velvet comes off the ropes and goes for her Spinning Head Scissors Takeover but Sarita blocks it and reverses it into a nasty Backbreaker. Sarita attempts to whip Velvet into the ropes and Velvet reverses it. Sarita comes off the ropes with a clothesline attempt but Velvet blocks it and counters into a Straight Jacket Slam! 1…2…NO the heels break it up! The babyfaces come in to even up the odds but the referee breaks the up. Sarita holds Velvet behind the referee’s back as Madison loads up the glove. She swings at Velvet but she ducks out of the way! Madison stops herself before she hits Sarita though. Velvet then tosses Madison out of the ring but Sarita rolls her up! 1…2…3! VEVLET IS ELIMIANTED! Mickie comes in and jumps on Sarita with a Thesz Press. Mickie slams Sarita’s head on the mat repeatedly and then she attempts to whip Sarita into the corner. Sarita reverses it and then charges at Mickie, but Mickie nails her with a back elbow. Mickie then goes for the Mickie-canrana but Sarita blocks it and flings Mickie over the top rope. Mickie lands on the apron and then blocks a shot from Sarita and nails her with a forearm. Madison distracts the referee and Tara nails Mickie in the face with the elbow brace! The heels toss Mickie at Madison for the big KO punch, but Mickie slides underneath Madison and sweeps her legs causing Madison to land on the loaded glove! Mickie then hits a Double Clothesline on Tara & Sarita! Mickie covers a knocked out Madison, 1…2…3! MADISON IS ELIMINATED! Sarita immediately rolls Mickie up with a side roll! 1…2…3! MICKIE IS ELIMIANTED! Angelina nails Sarita with forearms and then she slams her into the top turnbuckle. Angelina then whips Sarita into the ropes as Tara was trying to come in causing Sarita to hit Tara and send her crashing to the floor. Angelina then rolls Sarita up with an inside cradle! 1…2…NO Sarita kicks out! Angelina locks Sarita in a headlock as we go to a break.
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
Back from break Sarita fights to her feet and then shoves Angelina into the ropes. Angelina comes off the ropes with a clothesline attempt but Sarita ducks it and goes for a Back Suplex, but Angelina lands on her feet! Angelina then nails Sarita with a spinning heel kick! 1…2…NO Sarita kicks out and then they show a replay of how Madison was eliminated. Angelina locks Sarita in a body scissors and Taz gives us the line of the night: “I wouldn’t mind being Sarita right there (in the body scissors).” A shot of the backstage area shows Velvet laid out and holding her head. In the ring Sarita fights the body scissors and counters out of it with back elbows. Sarita then dives for a tag to Tara. Tara comes charging in but Angelina trips her up with a Drop Toe Hold. Tara slaps Angelina away and then grabs Angelina by the hair, but Angelina hits her with a back elbow and then she tosses Tara across the ring by her hair. Tara tags right back out to Sarita. Sarita comes in and kicks Angelina and then she lifts Angelina up onto her shoulder and goes for some type of Swinging Fireman’s Carry but Angelina reverses it into an armdrag! Angelina kicks Sarita and hits a Jawbreaker. Angelina attempts to whip Sarita into the corner but Sarita reverses it and then grabs the referee to distract as Tara hits Angelina in the head with the elbow brace! Sarita then drags Angelina to the center and covers her. 1…2…NO Angelina kicks out! Sarita and Tara put the boots to Angelina together and then Sarita leaves the ring and Tara chokes her. Sarita comes back in and the two hit a Double Suplex on Angelina. Sarita covers Angelina and gets another nearfall. Sarita throws Angelina into the corner and then she puts the boots to her and then she tags Tara in but throws Angelina into Tara’s boot before Tara comes into the ring. Tara then tosses Angelina across the ring by her hair. Tara picks Angelina up and then tags Sarita in. Sarita punches Angelina and then tags Tara back in. Sarita puts Angelina in a Full Nelson and Tara goes to hit her but Angelina kicks Tara. Angelina then breaks the hold and hits an arm drag on Sarita. Angelina hits the Botox Injection on Tara out of nowhere! 1…2…3! TARA IS ELIMIANTED! Sarita grabs Angelina and rolls her up! 1…2…NO Angelina grabs Sarita’s tights and rolls her backwards into a rollup of her own! 1…2…3!
Winners: Beautiful People & Mickie via Angelina being the lone survivor
Kurt Angle is talking to someone on his cell phone in the back. He asks if the person is at the hotel but he says they’re going to have to “speed up the process” and he wants the person on Impact tonight.
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
In the back Matt Hardy cuts a promo. He says Mr. Anderson got lucky against Jeff and he thinks Anderson is stupid. Hardy says he has one purpose tonight and that’s to make sure that Anderson doesn’t even make it to next week. Hardy says he’ll do his brother the biggest favor a big brother can do for a little brother. He says he’ll do it with a “smile on my face and cold blood running through my icy veins.” Boy was that corny.
Kazarian joins Tenay & Taz on commentary for the next match. Tenay says over the next 3 weeks there will be 3 Triple Threats and the winners of those 3 matches will advance to a Triple Threat at Against All Odds where a NEW #1 Contender to the X-Division Title will be named.
As each man in the 3-Way comes to the ring they show a promo from each that they cut before coming out. Red says he will get back his title because he is the original face of the X-Division. Max buck says it’s either his time or it’s his (Jeremy) time, it’s “our” time to win the X-Division Title. Kazarian says that what GenMe doesn’t understand is that you’re balls actually have to drop to win the title (OUCH). Sabin says when destiny knocks on your door you answer it and tonight destiny knocks on his door. His destiny is to become a 5-Time X-Division Champion.
Triple Threat Match
Amazing Red vs. Max Buck w/Jeremy Buck vs. Chris Sabin
Max pie faces Sabin at the bell and then tries to kick Red but Red catches his foot. Red swings the foot around and Sabin catches it. Red then nails Max with a Leaping Enziguri and Sabin sweeps Max’s free leg. Sabin covers Max but Red pulls him of and then covers Max. Sabin kicks Red and then he tosses Red over the top rope. Red lands on the apron and then slingshots over Sabin’s back into the ring as Max rolls out. Red hits the ropes and hits a Sunset Flip on Sabin, but Sabin rolls through and then tries to kick Red. Red avoids the kick and rolls Sabin up! 1…NO Sabin kicks out but Red immediately goes for a round kick. Sabin ducks and Red spins around into an Enziguri attempt but again Sabin ducks it! Sabin goes for a La Magistral Cradle but Red trips Sabin and the two stare each other down. Max charges into the ring and lays both Red & Sabin out with forearms. Max then nails Red with Shoulder Blocks in the corner and then whips Red into the opposite corner. Max then charges at Red but Red moves out of the way. He then hits a Double-tap Dropkick on Max in the corner and follows up with a Spinning Head Scissors Takeover that sends Max flying out of the ring. Red sets up for a dive but Sabin cuts him off with a nasty Lariat! 1…2…NO Red kicks out! Max gets back up on the apron but Sabin knocks him back off with a dropkick to the knees. Sabin then springboards off the middle turnbuckle into a Plancha over the top rope onto Max on the floor! Sabin rolls Max back into the ring and then he goes for a Springboard Flying Clothesline but Max ducks and then pokes Sabin in the eyes! Max then tosses Red out of the ring and nails Sabin with a Running Back Elbow for a nearfall. I’m just now noticing that it looks like players from a High School football team are in the front row. Max Buck whips Sabin into the ropes and hits a Hip Toss followed by a Backflip into a dropkick for a nearfall. Max locks Sabin in a side headlock but Sabin fights to his feet but Sabin breaks it with back elbows. Red comes from out of nowhere with a Double Missile Dropkick off the top onto Sabin & Max! Red nails Max with repeated forearms and then he attempts to whip Max into the ropes, but Max reverses it. Red comes off the ropes and Max leapfrogs him. Max then hits the ropes but Red nails him with a Hurricanrana! Red then follows up with a Spinning DDT! 1…2…NO Max kicks out! Red goes out to the apron and springs to the top and dives off but Sabin catches him in midair and holds him up into the air like he’s going to suplex him, but he props Red on the top rope and nails him with a Hanging Overdrive! 1…2…NO Max breaks it up! Sabin hits a Spinning Back Kick on Max and then goes for a DVD but Max blocks it. Max then locks Sabin in a Waistlock but Sabin reverses it. Max hits Sabin with a back elbow and then he Backflips into a Headscissors attempt, but Sabin blocks it and counters into a Wheel Barrow Slam attempt. Max hits a crazy reversal as he rolled underneath Sabin’s legs in midair and countered into a kind of modified Code Red. Max covers Sabin but Red breaks it up! Red goes for a Roundhouse Kick on Max but Max ducks but Red spins around into an Enziguri! Sabin tries to kick Red but Red blocks it and then hits a Back Kick on Sabin. Red hits Code Red! 1..NO Jeremy gets on the apron to distract the referee. Red knocks Jeremy off the apron and then climbs up top but Jeremy crotches him on the top as Max distracted the referee. Max hits a Hanging Spike DDT off the top on Red! 1…2…3!
Winner: Max via pinfall (Hanging Spike DDT)
In the back Jeff Jarrett is getting ready for his match. Jeff says Kurt is a lunatic but Karen says Kurt was talking to someone to come tonight, but Jeff says she’s just falling into the conspiracy crap. Jeff says he’s probably talking to some stupid Angle Foods crap and then he asks her if they get a cut of that. Jeff tells Karen to give him a massage but Karen says she knows Kurt.
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
In the back Velvet goes nuts and Angelina asks her what happened. Velvet says Winter attacked her from behind but Angelina asks her if she was sure. Angelina asks her if it was “that crazy Mexican” Sarita. Velvet says she knows it wasn’t Sarita because she was is in the ring when Winter attacked her. Velvet says if Angelina doesn’t handle that b*tch then she’ll handle her.
A video package runs hyping the Anderson-Jeff match.
Jeff Hardy’s music hits and he walks out to the ring. Jeff says he’s troubled…troubled by “you people” (the fans). He says for more than a decade all he did was break himself for the fans. He says all they are is “marks and internet junkies” that don’t care about him. Jeff says at BFG he finally did something for himself and he took the title, the money, and his respect. A “where’s your title” chant breaks out. Jeff says it’s time to address the “asshole” now and he says all the fans are assholes. Jeff says at Genesis Anderson beat him but that’s alright because mistakes happen. He says they are 7 days away from him taking back what is rightfully his. Jeff screams at the fans to shutup and says when he gets his title back he’ll take that moment and shove it right up their asses. Mr. Anderson’s music interrupts Hardy.
Anderson comes out to the ring and holds the belt up in front of Jeff. Anderson says Jeff sure does piss & moan a lot. He says all he does is “bitch, bitch, bitch.” Anderson says the only things that matter are W’s & L’s and he has big freaking W right here: and holds up the title belt. He mentions that the belt as Hardy’s face on it and that’s because he took it from Hardy. Anderson says some of the fans still love hardy despite all the BS he’s put them through but he then asks how many assholes are in the building. Anderson says it’s all about the Title and next week after their match he’ll continue being the TNA World Heavyweight Champion…CHAMPION. Anderson leaves a pissed off Hardy in the ring.
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
In the back Crimson says he’ll always be there for his brother, Red, but as of late he was given a very lucrative offer. He says it was an offer he can’t refuse and next week everyone will find out who that offer came from.
Clips of the damage Crimson has been inflicting the last few weeks are shown. Taz says Abyss is seriously injured and Tenay says Abyss is out indefinitely.
Velvet Sky walks out to the ring now. Velvet calls Winter a bitch and then she says Winter thinks she can come to TNA and break up the Beautiful People, but she doesn’t think so. Velvet says she has something to say to that “glass bottom boat loving bitch.” WOW, um, I do believe that is a pretty explicit, nasty sexual maneuver. Wow. Velvet says if Angelina won’t take care of her then she will and she tells her to get out to the ring.
Winter’s music hits and the freaky chick makes her way out to the ring. Velvet dropkicks her before she can get in the ring and then she starts beating her around ringside! Velvet slams Winter into the ring apron repeatedly and then she whips Winter into the guardrail. Velvet continues to beat the hell out of Winter all around ringside. Winter rolls into the ring and Velvet follows her in. Velvet then hits a Sliding Dropkick and then she slams Winter’s head into the mat repeatedly and she screams “she’s my tag partner not yours.” Winter shoves Velvet away and then screams in her face. She then slams Velvet and starts beating on her repeatedly with some pretty lousy strikes. She starts pulling Velvet’s hair now and finally Angelina runs out and pushes Winter off of Velvet. Winter gives Angelina a crazy look and then she smiles and leaves the ring as Angelina checks on Velvet.
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
The Pope’s music hits and he swags his way out to the ring. Pope says last week he allowed his temper to get the better of him and he may have done some things that shouldn’t have been done. Pope says he is going to do something tonight that none of us would ever do, lead by example. Pope says tonight on something he likes to call “Confessions by the Pope” he will confess. Pope says many of us are sitting or standing next to someone who you know you can’t stand. Pope says you act like everything is great and then when that person leaves you stab them in the back. Pope says a lot of people will go into their room and get into the bed knowing that you’re sleeping with the enemy. Pope says he’s bigger and better than that and he is better than all of us. Heel turn complete. Pope says he will kneel down as a “scum bag” chant starts. Pope says he wants to tell Joe “I don’t like you.” Pope says he doesn’t like Joe, what he does, or what he stands for. He asks what kind of person goes around saying “I’m gonna’ kill you” and then he asks what kind of people would go around chanting “Joe’s gonna’ kill you.” Pope says there is no hope for Joe and he can’t work wonders because he’s only one man. He says he can give one of his members of his congregation a chance to follow Pope’s lead next week and come into the ring and bow down to Pope and confess. Pope says he’ll do what he’s always done and change this world one smile at a time. Pope has spoken.
In the back Immortal is arguing about something. Flair says they are a group and it’s time to get focused. For some reason Eric Young is standing with them. Flair says he put his ass on the line tonight and he told them that they could handle this. Flair finally notices Eric Young as Immortal starts to leave. Flair says Young ain’t champion of nothing and screams at him to leave.
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
A video package chronicling of the history of Immortal and the situation with Dixie Carter is shown.
Dixie Carter is on the phone with Tenay and Taz. She says she is 100% confident that when they have their day in court next Thursday she will have control of TNA once again. That was a whole lot of nothing. We then cut to Eric Bischoff who says Dixie Carter has been drinking her own Kool-Aid for so long that she doesn’t know the difference between Kool-Aid and Scotch but he does. He says next week the only 2 things that matter are Jeff Hardy winning his belt back and Hulk Hogan will prevail from a legal perspective and they will put the Carter family behind them and things will be as they should be with Immortal in control. Bischoff says he puts this “They” thing in the same category as the Tooth Fairy because it’s just wishful thinking.
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
Non-Title Match
Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Hardy
Anderson & Hardy lockup and Matt forces Anderson into the corner. Matt swings at Anderson but Anderson blocks it and then nails Matt with right hands. Anderson then whips Matt into the corner and charges but Matt gets his boot up. Matt climbs up top but Anderson cuts him off and then climbs up with Matt. Anderson tries to Superplex Matt but Matt blocks it and then he hangs Anderson’s arm up in the ropes. Hardy then grabs the arm and slams it to the mat. Hardy covers Anderson and gets a nearfall. Hardy wrenches are Anderson’s arm and slams it into Matt’s shoulder and then he puts Anderson in a hammerlock and slams him shoulder first into the ring post repeatedly! Hebner gets between them and the corner so Hardy can’t do it a third time. Hardy decides to just start punching the arm now and then he locks him in a Hammerlock. Anderson fights it and breaks the hold with back elbows form the good arm. Hardy then cuts Anderson off with a knee to the gut. Hardy then attempts to whip Anderson into the ropes but Anderson reverses it and hits a clothesline. Anderson follows up with a back elbow and then a Swinging Neckbreaker for a nearfall. Anderson goes for the Green Bay Plunge but Hardy blocks it and then shoves Anderson into the ropes. Hardy then hits a DVD for a nearfall. Hardy follows up with a Twist of Fate attempt but Anderson reverses into the Green Bay Plunge! 1…2…NO Hardy kicks out! Anderson sets up for the Mic Check but Matt blocks and counters with back elbows. Hardy then this the Side Effect! 1…2…NO Anderson kicks out and Anderson rolls Hardy over as he kicks out! 1…2….3!
Winner: Anderson via pinfall (rollup)
Jeff Hardy attacks Anderson from behind as he celebrates. The Hardyz beat on Anderson in the ring together. RVD runs down to make the save and he nails Matt with a big spinning heel kick and Jeff Hardy escapes through the crowd. He wanted no part of RVD.
In the back Angle and Crimson walk towards the entrance and Angle tells Crimson not to worry because they won’t be alone tonight.
———————-COMMERCIAL BREAK————————
Handicap Match
“Olympic Hero” Kurt Angle & Crimson vs. Immortal (Beer Money, Kazarian, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Terry, Gunner, & Murphy) w/AJ Styles, Ric Flair, & Karen Jarrett
Crimson is a monster but he’s not so jacked up that it looks like it takes everything he has just to move around a little (like Terry). Jeff Jarrett isn’t out here for this for some reason. Crimson and Robert Roode will start the match off. Roode shoves Crimson into the corner and starts beating on him with rights and lefts and then he stomps on him. Roode whips Crimson into the ropes but Crimson comes flying off with a Shoulder Block. He follows up with a clothesline and then a Sitout Vertical Suplex for a nearfall. Crimson tags in Angle and Kurt beats on Roode while Crimson holds him. Roode comes back with a knee to the gut and then tags Kaz in. Kaz attempts to whip Angle into the ropes but Angle reverses it and then nails Kaz with a Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker! Storm tags in and goes for a German Suplex on Angle but Angle takes Storm down to the mat where Storm puts Angle in a head scissors. Both get to their feet and Angle hits Storm with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex and then Angle knocks Immortal off the apron! Angle then backs up into a Backstabber from Storm! Storm follows up with a Last Call attempt but Angle ducks and Storm nails the referee sending the kids teeth into about the 10th row. Angle then catches Storm with an Angle Slam! Now all hell breaks loose as Immortal attacks Angle and Crimson. Gunner, Murphy, & Terry beat on Angle while the rest beat on Crimson on the floor. Jeff Jarrett’s music hits and he finally comes out to the ring with Karen by his side. Jeff sets up to hit Angle but Angle ducks and German Suplexes Jeff! Immortal then jumps Angle again and everybody beats on him. Jarrett then hits the Stroke on Angle and covers him but there’s no referee. Finally the rookie Jackson James runs out and counts the 3. Mike Tenay calls it “a bunch of bullsh*t” on commentary.
Winners: Immortal via pinfall (The Stroke)
Immortal continue to beat on Angle after the match as Crimson is laid out on the floor. Matt Morgan’s music hits! He runs out to the ring and he starts cleaning house but the numbers get the better of him as well. Now Immortal is stomping on both Angle and Morgan in the ring. The lights go out in the arena and SCOTT STEINER’S MUSIC HITS!
The lights come on and SCOTT STEINER is in the ring with a pipe! Immortal bails the hell out as Steiner is swinging at anything that moves! Steiner dares any of them to come into the ring and he’s wearing one of the Main Event Mafia suits as well! Steiner tells Flair to get in the ring and he’ll kick his ass. Steiner looks over at Angle and points at him and then Angle nods to him. Guess who THEY is yet?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Before I say anything, I have to say the Impact Zone sucks so bad. Those fans are dead 90% of the time and I understand by this taping it had been 3 tapings in a row but good lord. That’s part of the reason that February 23rd can’t get here quick enough so we can get an Impact AWAY from Orlando.
Back to Impact, it was solid for the most part this week. We got some good action in the ring and some good promos as well plus a nice return from Steiner.
The opening segment with Angle and Immortal was pretty good moving things along. They’ve made this thing with Angle coming back hard on themselves by doing the “if I don’t win I’ll retire” thing in the first place though.
Really good opening match with the Knockouts. They got plenty of time to showcase themselves and all of the girls worked hard. The stuff with Winter & Velvet later on wasn’t good at all but that has more to do with the fact that Winter just sucks in general honestly. She does a nice creepy gimmick but anytime she has to get physical she is just bad.
Great X-Division action tonight as well, pretty much just a spot fest but it was definitely entertaining. I like that they’re really building towards the next contender with them having qualifying matches just to get into the #1 Contenders Match. Good to see Red getting some shine and he was definitely the highlight of the match. Max going over was a nice change of pace though. For those wondering, Alex Shelley is legitimately injured and may be out for awhile (collarbone).
Jeff and Anderson’s face-off was well done and hyped up their match next week nicely. Hardy plays the dickhead heel great.
Pope’s promo was definitely the best mic work done since this program between he & Joe started. They need to get to some action in the ring though because it’s getting redundant. In other word’s Joe needs to start killing people quickly.
The phone call with Dixie was pointless as hell. I understand they won’t to get over the fact that the legal stuff will be finished next week but an announcement of that would have been fine rather than those pointless interviews with Dixie & Bischoff. I do like that Bischoff is acting cocky as hell and saying there is no way they lose control.
Anderson-Hardy was decent but the crowd was dead. It was short and sweet and I did like that Hardy picked out a body part and worked it over giving something for Jeff to go after, but it was nothing special.
Main Event was a Handicap Match so the in-ring stuff sucked but the main point was Steiner’s return. I’ve known about it for weeks (which is what sucks about taped shows) but the crowd at least popped for that. If you haven’t guessed the rumored THEY is Main Event Mafia returning. The question is whether or not Booker, Sting, and Nash are returning. We’ve heard nothing about Sting or Booker and Nash has repeatedly said via his Twitter that he is NOT returning to TNA (he’s likely working the fans though) so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happened. They also at least told that Crimson was “hired” by THEY to deliver the message (likely because of how he took down Jarrett).
–Promo/Segment of the Night: Anderson/Hardy face-off
–Match of the Night: X-Division 3-Way (***)
–Overall Grade: C +
Scheduled for Next Week:
-TNA World Title: Mr. Anderson (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
-TNA X-Division Title #1 Contenders Qualifying 3-Way: TBA vs. TBA vs. TBA
Against All Odds Lineup:
-TNA X-Division Title #1 Contenders 3-Way: Max Buck vs. TBA vs. TBA