TNA Impact Hits & Misses - January 19
By Teddy Panagiotopoulos, PWTorch specialist

Teddy P. is our new TNA Impact Hits & Misses specialist. The following is his debut column on last Thursday's Impact episode.

IMPACT HITS

Opening Segment: My DVR stuttered like Bubba Ray Dudley from late-'90s WWE and did not start functioning correctly until Bobby Roode entered the ring to announce that neither Jeff Hardy nor James Storm deserved to be the #1 contender to his World Championship. Sting came out and had other things in mind, by announcing Storm vs. Hardy in the main event. While a match between two of the hottest acts currently in TNA should have at least one week of hype, it was logical given the situation. Also, Sting, in his anti-authority figure wardrobe, seems to be Roode's ultimate comeuppance. Meaning every time Roode thinks he has out-smarted the competition, Sting quickly one-ups him. That's classic “heel champion vs. babyface authority figure” booking.

Knockouts Steel Cage Match: Physical match between Mickie James and Madison Rayne. I liked how Rayne was dominant for most of the match because it reminds the viewers she can actually wrestle. Despite it being a two-segment match, it just never got out of second gear, in my opinion, and Mickie was able to finish Madison off too quickly once she got her second wind. The cage aspect allowed the match to actually happen without any outside interference, which is how it should be. However, it feels like the cage gimmick has become overkill in both WWE and TNA; it's losing its luster. TNA should really only use a steel cage when it is deemed necessary in the feud or just for Lockdown. This match was Hit-worthy because of the clean finish and continued Mickie on her path to an eventual Knockouts Championship match with Gail Kim.

Austin Aries: The greatest man that ever lived is one of the greatest things going in professional wrestling today. His backstage promo about the promo he was going to have in the ring was brilliant. Then, the video package just further established Aries as someone who is full of himself. I like how he thinks his turquoise tights gives him a psychological edge over his opponents. But, the fact remains is Aries can back up every word he speaks, which is why I enjoyed his in-ring promo with Alex Shelley. This was an example of how the X Division should be positioned higher than an opening act. Aries-Shelley was a match I thought should have happened back at Bound for Glory in October, so it was good to see this match revisited. Hopefully this feud lasts longer than a one-month filler because it would be a fantastic title match at Lockdown.

Eric Young vs. Angelina Love: Your opinion of Eric Young's character will determine whether you liked this segment. Since I am a fan of EY, even though I know his gimmick is a goofball, this was a marginal hit. But, since TNA has toned down the overall comedy, it helps to make Young's character stand out. His match with Angelina Love was more of an angle than actual match, with the only move in the match being Angelina's swift kick to, as Taz would call it, the “yam bag” of Eric Young. The end result of ODB and EY kissing furthered the storyline with TNA's resident odd couple.

Storm vs. Hardy Main Event: As stated above, Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm is the kind of main event deserving of at least one week's worth of build-up. But, nevertheless, the match was fine but nothing memorable. For a 15-minute main event, including commercial, it is worthy of a Hit. I liked how evenly matched they were to start, as it should between the top two babyfaces. It was also a nice clash of styles with Storm trying to ground a high-flying Hardy. Also, given Bully Ray's backstage segment with Sting earlier in the show, it was logical for Ray to interrupt the match. If Ray is not going to receive a title match, it makes sense for his character to prevent everyone else from receiving one, too. Sting interjecting himself in the match to remove Bully Ray hopefully does not lead to Sting vs. Ray at Against All Odds, although it does seem that way. Finally, Bobby Roode laying out both challengers with the World Title belt and his short promo afterward were nicely done. Roode needs all the heat and credibility he can get at the moment and I thought this served its purpose.

IMPACT MISSES

Gunner vs. A.J. Styles: This is a marginal miss because there were some aspects I liked and others I did not. While I did not like this match, overall, I like the pairing of Ric Flair and Gunner. At this stage of his career, I do not believe Ric Flair should be the focal point of any storyline. However, this role, with being a mentor for a young talent like Gunner, works well. Plus, given his previous relationship with Styles, it would have been nice if they had a quick backstage segment going over Styles's strengths and weaknesses. At only three minutes, it was hard to get into the match, and with Daniels and Kazarian coming to ringside, there were too many moving parts. Gunner got the win, but it didn't feel as if he came out of this match any better than before. I am intrigued, though, as to what information Daniels has on Kazarian.

Magnus vs. Crimson: The pre-match backstage segment involving Magnus/Samoa Joe and Crimson/Matt Morgan was fine build-up for the singles match. In the segment, Magnus was the focus and Joe was the “silent assassin” in the background. I thought it worked because, although Joe's push has stalled over the last few years, he is still the more established of the duo. How much do we really know about Magnus, anyways? Plus, Morgan and Crimson played their parts as confident champions nicely. But, who are the heels and the faces in this feud? As for the match, it was a virtual squash to keep Crimson's undefeated singles streak alive (that needs to end really soon, by the way). The post-match beat down by Joe and Magnus erased the match result and positioned the challengers as an actual threat to the champions. Overall, a miss on the match, but I like the feud. I am looking forward to their Tag Title re-match at Against All Odds.

Garett Bischoff Training Video: Strong miss. I am not a fan of Garett Bischoff, at least not yet. I do not like how they are featuring him and this training video did not help matters. It is predictable that Hulk Hogan will be revealed as his trainer to set up a potential tag match at Lockdown. Maybe this whole Father vs. Son storyline will warm to me once Hogan is re-introduced, but, for now, I do not care.

***

Overall: I thought this was an average edition of Impact. Nothing terrible, but nothing spectacular either. The focus was mainly on the storylines involving championships (with the exception of ODB and Eric Young), which is never a bad thing. The pending triple threat title match between Roode, Storm, and Hardy, has great potential at Against All Odds, but only if Roode wins clean. He needs to be built up as a dominant champion and TNA is doing themselves an injustice by not doing so.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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