TNA Impact Wrestling Hits & Misses 4/5
By Teddy Panagiotopoulos, PWTorch specialist

- Pre-show Thoughts: Ladies and Gentlemen, your friendly, neighborhood, Impact Wrestling Hits & Misses columnist has returned! First and foremost, I want to apologize to all my readers for not having a column these last few weeks. Usually it is easier to voice your opinion when things go wrong, which has been the case the last two weeks on Impact, but I just couldn’t muster the strength to write my thoughts in a professional matter. Plus, with WrestleMania hype in full-swing, I was definitively suffering from WrestleMania Fever prior to the big event this past Sunday.

Since the last time you guys heard from me, TNA presented Victory Road. I thought the overall PPV was pretty good. James Storm looked strong in defeating Bully Ray in mere minutes. The rest of the undercard consisted of solid matches without any cheap finishes and it provided a nice surprise with Devon becoming the Television Champion. The main events were fine as well, as Kurt Angle used some underhanded tactics, like a cowardly heel would, to defeat Jeff Hardy. Sting vs. Bobby Roode was probably the best singles match Sting has had in years. The ending that involved the chair spot with Sting was unnecessary but, at the end of the day, Roode’s treatment of Dixie Carter made him out to be the biggest scumbag and gave the fans a reason to support James Storm all the more heading into Lockdown.

As for the two weeks of TV that followed, it's one step forward and two steps back for TNA. The focus of TV should surround Roode vs. Storm for the Heavyweight Championship but, besides a great video package highlighting their careers from the beginning of TNA and Storm dropping Roode’s lawyer with the Last Call, the focus has instead been on Hulk Hogan deciding to accept the position as Sting’s replacement for General Manager of Impact. Of course, at a time when wrestling fans are glued on the industry more than at any other point of the year because of WrestleMania, Hogan is positioned as the center of attention.

This week, Chris Sabin returns to action and the Motor City Machineguns look to get back on track as a team. The problem is there aren’t many teams left in TNA for them to fight. It only means the pending Tag Title match with Samoa Joe & Magnus will come sooner rather than later. On with the show...

IMPACT HITS

- Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle: While I originally disagreed with the match happening in the first place, I liked how the events of the match unfolded. The blood on Angle’s face, while purely accidental from the landing he took on the guardrail, enhanced the intensity he had in his face at various points in the match. And, with the way Angle was performing, you could not really notice he had a torn hamstring if it wasn’t bandaged. Angle and Hardy have phenomenal chemistry together, which was on display at Victory Road several weeks back, and it continued to show on Impact. Angle fleeing the ring when he was on the verge of defeat did not surprise me and a false finish, in this case, was the right route to take.

I liked the “you couldn’t be beat me on my worst day” line from Angle even though he was just about to lose when he escaped the ring. The match ultimately set up the segment backstage with Hogan announcing to Angle he would face Hardy inside the steel cage at Lockdown. With Angle cheating to win at Victory Road and the count-out for Hardy on Impact, the series is tied with both men each having a tainted victory over the other and should result in a clean win for either man at Lockdown.

- Bully Ray-Austin Aries: Two weeks ago, after suffering an embarrassing loss at Victory Road to James Storm, Bully Ray got his “heat” back by attacking Austin Aries, Kid Kash, Anthony Neese, and Zema Ion during and X Division Championship match. It made a statement that the entire Division is still looked at as beneath the Heavyweight division and this is not how the X Division should be looked at. But, I am happy it sparked a feud between Bully Ray and Austin Aries. Although Aries is still the X Champion and the belt can’t be defended against anyone over the 225 lbs. weight limit, I like the decision of placing Aries in a feud higher up the card.

Aries is a marketable talent and, far and away, the best wrestler in the X Division today. He has held the championship for seven months and I do not see him losing it any time soon. I am glad holding the championship is not holding Aries back from competing against the main event guys in TNA. Aries was all business when he came out, popping Ray in the head with the microphone and got in some offense before Ray ended the attack with a powerbomb. I could easily see Austin Aries vs. Bully Ray at Lockdown, but I can also see Aries and Ray on opposite ends inside Lethal Lockdown.

- Knockouts Challenge: I give this a marginal Hit because there were some definite pros and cons in this match. Pros: the in-ring action was pretty good. It was nice having six women who have all had feuds with one another over the last year in this match (Sky-Love, Mickie-Madison, Madison-Tara, Tara-Mickie, etc) and these six women were the right selections to have for this contest. I also liked the referee motioning to the Knockouts, although they ignored him, when they were not the illegal woman in the match. Finally, the end result with Velvet Sky winning was predictable, but fine since she stated on TV recently she wants her KO Title re-match.

Cons: Why were the rules of the match where the women had to be tagged in to be legally involved in the match? Who was going to willingly extend her hand to tag someone in when a championship opportunity is on the line? I get they worked around this plothole by forcing the tags on each other, but if I were in such a match, I wouldn’t tag anyone since I could be handing a title shot to my opponents. Nevertheless, good action from these six women and Velvet will probably win the KO Title back at Lockdown from the woman who defeated her for it.

- Motor City Machineguns Return: It is great to see Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley back together as a tag team. It is coincidental that MCMG wrestled Mexican America when Sabin suffered his ACL injury in a match early last year against Anarquia. But, when you implode the tag team division, you are not left with many options. Even though the Guns had one match and didn’t really "earn" the opportunity, I am looking forward to the Guns vs. Samoa Joe & Magnus for the Tag Team Championships at Lockdown. This match has “show-stealer” written all over it and I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a heated feud and lasts until Slammiversary in June.

- Lethal Lockdown Announcement: This is a Hit for the fact that after Lockdown, TNA TV will be with one less Bischoff, presumably. The announcement during the main event that Hogan announced a “Best of Three Series” with the participants in the Lethal Lockdown match is predictable and it would not be surprising if the heels get the man-advantage, once again, for Lethal Lockdown. While those who are on each team have not been made official, as of press time, this is my prediction for the teams. Team Garrett Bischoff would consist of Garrett, Austin Aries, A.J. Styles, and Mr. Anderson and Team Eric Bischoff will consist of Gunner, Bully Ray, Christopher Daniels, and Kazarian.

IMPACT MISSES

- Opening Segment: I do not think this should surprise anyone. I have no gripes with Hulk Hogan, the person, (we even share the same birthday on August 11 in case anyone wants to send some birthday love), but, I just can’t stand the Hulk Hogan “character” anymore. Six months ago, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were in control of TNA. Had Hogan defeated Sting at Bound For Glory, they would still have complete control. But, as the events unfolded back then, Hogan couldn’t let Immortal demolish Sting and Hulkamania was back, brother!

So, now, all should be forgotten, right? Did Dixie Carter just forget Hogan and Bischoff took the company right from under her nearly 18 months ago? Sting claims this is the “real” Hulk Hogan now. So, who was the Hulk Hogan that joined TNA? Did he turn “fake” when Immortal was formed? It’s all just mind-numbing and this does nothing to make TNA better. Plus, how gullible is Sting for suggesting Hogan as his replacement? How gullible is Dixie to make the decision? And, how gullible is the entire TNA roster (mainly the babyfaces) to cheer and shower Hogan with this love-fest? Who’s to say Hogan isn’t playing them for fools again and realign himself with Bischoff once more? It makes zero sense for Hogan to have any position of power as an on-air personality given what his character has done the last two years.

Plus, on the production side, you could tell the segment was heavily edited. It just was not the best opening segment but, all the questioning aside, it was better than the last two weeks of admiration thrown the Hulkster’s way.

- James Storm vs. A.J. Styles: This is a marginal miss mainly because it was given much time to have an actual match. But, by the same token, it is saved for what could be when Storm wins the World Title at Lockdown and Styles could be a potential challenger for the championship. The finishing sequence with Storm avoiding the backflip/reverse DDT move from Styles and connecting on the Last Call was awesome. I also liked Storm getting on the mic after the match to announce he wants an in-ring confrontation with Bobby Roode days before Lockdown. They need that final in-ring confrontation to build anticipation for their match at the PPV.

- Bobby Roode vs. Mr. Anderson: Is it just me or did Mr. Anderson look very worn out or tired in the face? Maybe he’s just getting older, but I would think after a near-four month layoff, he would appear fresh, healthy, and motivated. In relation to the match, it was subpar at best. The referee’s decision to remove Roode’s security was a non-factor since Roode took a fan’s beer bottle and smashed it over Anderson’s face to win the match. Why did the fan have a glass bottle? Aren’t vendors suppose to pour the alcohol into plastic or paper cups so fans don’t smash bottles over each other’s heads? Logic!

In any event, this match earned the Miss because of the ending. Look, I understand Roode’s character is to cheat to win. But, does he really have to cheat every single time? Is it that hard for the champion to build credibility by beating a top contender with a clean victory? I also know Roode will be stuck inside a steel cage against James Storm at Lockdown, so the odds of him using any outside shenanigans to win will dramatically decrease, but I do not understand why Roode couldn’t pin Anderson with the fisherman suplex and show he can win matches without having to cheat EVERY time. It would instantly plant a seed of doubt in the eyes of Storm fans that Roode doesn’t need to resort to dirty tactics to win and could beat Storm one-on-one. I just don’t get it.

All I know is Roode using these tactics will result in them backfiring against him at Lockdown and James Storm will become the World Heavyweight Champion. The payoff to the feud will be a fine ending, but the build-up has been lackluster. Hopefully that final segment next week gives a strong endorsement for Lockdown, as the World Title program is nothing to where it should be. In fact, with Lockdown being one of the biggest events of the year, there is very little buzz surrounding the event.

[Torch art credit Joe Borzotta (c) PWTorch.com]

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