TNA Impact Hits & Misses 2/23
By Teddy Panagiotopoulos, PWTorch specialist

PRE-SHOW THOUGHTS: With WWE producing nine total hours of TV and PPV since last Thursday, and not to mention WWE currently on the Road to WrestleMania, Impact Wrestling has taken a backseat lately. Despite the recent string of solid episodes of Impact, the shows have flown under the radar and aren't attracting new eyeballs yet. Yes, the departure of Vince Russo has led to a transitional period within Creative and the company is in the process of working out the kinks, but this is the perfect time to allow the wrestlers to have stand-out matches on TV while Creative works on mapping out well-developed storylines. With that said, let's see how this week unfolds....

IMPACT HITS

BOBBY ROODE-STING FEUD: The continuation of the Bobby Roode and Sting feud book-ended this week's edition of Impact. The story going into the show was the comment Sting posted on Twitter, claiming he was “done.” In the opening promo, Roode spun the verbiage in his favor and rewarded himself with removing Sting from Impact Wrestling. TNA continued the theme throughout the night, hyping it as Sting's possible final night with the company. It was quite the hook to entice viewers to stick around the rest of the show. In the closing segment, Sting announced he had let things get out of control and subsequently announced he was “done.” Roode joined Sting in the ring, feeling it was the perfect time for Sting to call Roode the better man. Instead, Sting declared he was done being Mr. Nice Guy, and entered “Insane Icon” mode by smearing paint on his own face. Roode's facial expressions toward Sting's over-the-top mannerisms was priceless. The segment ended with Sting laying out the World Champion and announcing a singles match between Sting and Roode at Victory Road. The segment was a Hit, although I felt the revelation of Sting no longer condoning Roode's antics could have been better. Nevertheless, Roode needs a strong and definitive win against Sting at Victory Road before clashing with James Storm at Lockdown.

MAIN EVENT TAG MATCH: I am all for TNA booking main event tag team matches, as it gives fans their weekly dose of the top stars without giving away PPV-caliber singles matches on free TV. This week, it was Storm and Jeff Hardy teaming to face the duo of Bully Ray and Kurt Angle. At nearly 15 minutes, the tag match served its purpose well. Brandon Jacobs's involvement in the match was predictable, and for someone who isn't involved on a weekly basis, he certainly held his own. The spot with Jacobs putting Ray through a table via chokeslam was nicely done and it led to the babyfaces getting the victory. Will this eventually lead to Bully Ray vs. Brandon Jacobs at Lockdown? Probably not, but it worked for Ray to get his comeuppance after spitting beer in the face of Jacobs last week. It also appears Angle and Hardy will meet at Victory Road, although Angle has yet to explain why he cost Hardy the World Heavyweight Championship on last week's show. Presumably, Angle will date back to his backstage confrontation with Hardy when the “Charismatic Enigma” returned months ago, where Angle felt Hardy should not be given another chance and removed from the company. Anyway, although there was too much focus on a non-wrestler, TNA did a good job with this week's main event.

TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: I am pleasantly surprised with how quickly Samoa Joe and Magnus have formed a bond as a tag team. Both men work well with one another and the chemistry is flowing right now. As for the match itself, it was predictable for Crimson and Morgan to make amends prior to the match before another miscue cost them the chance to reclaim the Tag Team Championships. It seems logical for Joe and Magnus to shift gears elsewhere with Morgan and Crimson set to feud with one another. However, with the tag team division in disarray, there are not many teams for the new champions to feud with. It would appear Morgan and Crimson would square off at Victory Road, but not settling any issues and therefore facing each other again at Lockdown.

IMPACT MISSES

ZEMA ION VS. ALEX SHELLEY: The idea of Alex Shelley already filling the role of enhancement talent does not sit well with me. Granted, Zema Ion needed a victory heading into his match with Austin Aries at Victory Road, but Brian Kendrick (prior to apparently leaving TNA) or Anthony Neese could have filled the role instead. I did find it funny for Aries to sit at ringside, eating popcorn and drinking wine. Aries truly looks like a star and hopefully gets pushed further up the ladder in the near future. At four minutes, there was just not enough time allotted to invest in the match. Also, it would be good to see an X Division feud that does not have to necessarily focus on the X Title. But, in any event, I believe Aries vs. Ion will be a terrific match at Victory Road but the X-Division did not win me over this week.

TELEVISION TITLE MATCH: This was a marginal miss because there were some positives and negatives surrounding this match. The positives: (1) The promo with A.J. Styles before this championship match, where he declared his refocus toward becoming World Heavyweight Champion again and forgetting about Kazarian and Daniels. (2) Of course, Kazarian and Daniels got involved in the match, with Kazarian attacking Styles at ringside. It was a nice twist to see the reaction of Daniels because when Kazarian was reluctant to attack Styles, Daniels was persistent. Now, when Kazarian seemed locked in on attacking Styles, Daniels was the one lost for words. Also, this attack led to the announcement of Styles wanting to face both Kaz and Daniels in a Gauntlet Match next week. All it took was ten seconds for Mike Tenay to hype this match with a week's notice and now there's a reason to tune in next week. Now, the negatives: (1) While Robbie E. has done wonders with the gimmick he has been given, he has not been featured on TV enough recently to be taken seriously as a threat. (2) The Television Title, while a good concept to have, is completely misused and should either be used to build a Superstar or not be used at all. Overall, there was nothing entirely wrong with the match but it was, at least, the third match of the night, where someone walked down to ringside to cause a distraction. It just felt repetitive by this point.

TNA STILL RIDING THE COATTAILS OF WWE: On two separate occasions during Impact, TNA focused on recent news stories that were in-directly involving WWE. First, Mike Tenay compared ODB and Eric Young's relationship to Chris Brown's recently rekindling his association with Rihanna. I am sure I am not the only one but, when he mentioned Chris Brown, all I thought about was Brown's recent War of Words with C.M. Punk. Second, during the Robbie E. vs. A.J. Styles match, Tenay stated New Jersey governor Chris Christie “has been in the news lately” and questioned whether Christie would approve of Robbie E. I am aware of Christie in the news for saying he will veto gay marriage in N.J., but the only thing wrestling fans would know about Christie is his participation in the announcement of WrestleMania 29 going to MetLife Stadium next year. Even though there were no direction mentions of C.M. Punk or WrestleMania, TNA should distance themselves from any and all association with WWE. And, lastly, although not a connection to WWE, Taz responded to Tenay's question proclaiming his love for "Jersey Shore." Sure, its fine for Taz to confess his admiration for reality TV, but his comments coincided with Jersey Shore airing on MTV at that exact moment! Nothing like reminding your viewers to change the channel during a championship match to watch Snooki upset at her boyfriend Jionni for vomiting instead of giving her “the business” in the Smush Room. Not that I watch Jersey Shore or anything...

***

POST-SHOW THOUGHTS: Once again, TNA presented a solid edition of Impact. Even the misses were not that bad. I did like the video package of Jesse Sorensen, which focused on Dixie Carter calling Sorensen's mother and then footage of Sorensen himself describing what he felt when he couldn't move following the incident at Against All Odds. It was surreal to listen to his comments and it goes to show for all the knack professional wrestling gets for its scripted nature, that it is still a dangerous sport and accidents can happen at any time. Well done by TNA to provide follow-up on this serious injury and hopefully Sorensen is able to return after months of rehabilitation. Also, the Knockouts Match between Gail Kim and ODB was not good but not bad either. I did like how ODB gave Gail Kim a challenge as it legitimizes the other Knockouts that just because they aren't the champion, or the #1 contender, that they are still an obstacle and not push-overs.

In conclusion, I have to agree with what PWTorch contributor Scott Turner wrote in his report that while TNA's product has drastically improved from a year ago, it is not must-see TV and there isn't much for the audience to sink their teeth into. Perhaps with the Lockdown and Slammiversary events in the coming months, TNA will continue to build momentum with strong television because, while the effort is definitely there, something still seems to be lacking on Impact Wrestling.

CRYSTAL BALL BOOKING: (As of 2-23-12)

Victory Road (March)

- Non-Title Match: Bobby Roode vs. Sting
- X Division Championship: Austin Aries vs. Zema Ion
- Knockouts Championship: Gail Kim vs. Madison Rayne
- Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy
- Bully Ray vs. James Storm
- Matt Morgan vs. Crimson
- A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
- Gunner vs. Garett Bischoff

Lockdown (April)

- World Heavyweight Championship: Bobby Roode vs. James Storm
- Hulk Hogan & Garett Bischoff vs. Ric Flair & Eric Bischoff
- Matt Morgan vs. Crimson
- X Division Championship: Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley
- Knockouts Championship: Gail Kim vs. Mickie James
- TNA Tag Team Championships: Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Mexican America
- TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championships: Tara & Tessmacher vs. Sarita & Rosita vs. Winter & Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky & ODB
- Lethal Lockdown: Team Angle vs. Team Hardy –Kurt Angle, Bully Ray, Mr. Anderson, Scott Steiner, and Christopher Daniels vs. Jeff Hardy, Sting, Rob Van Dam, Abyss, and A.J. Styles

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

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