TNA Impact Wrestling Hits & Misses 3/8
By Teddy Panagiotopoulos

IMPACT HITS

BULLY RAY VS. ROBERT ROODE: When Sting gave Bully Ray what he wanted - a TNA Title shot - Bully Ray was as happy as a kid in a candy store. Although Ray believed he was getting a title shot, it was still good to see him get what he wants. For months, Bobby Roode has used Bully Ray as protection against Jeff Hardy and James Storm all the while Bully Ray has made it no secret that he wants the World Heavyweight Championship for himself. It made sense for Ray to have protected Roode to retain the championship because Roode seems more vulnerable than Storm and Hardy if they became champion. Although the Roode-Ray match ended in a no contest after Storm hit Roode with the Last Call, it was a taste of a future feud if TNA decides to go that route. Plus, Bully mentioned last week's assault on Storm in a backstage promo, so a “#1 contenders” match between the two should be upcoming at Victory Road.

MR. ANDERSON RETURNS: On my Lockdown crystal ball booking two weeks ago, I included Mr. Anderson in the Lethal Lockdown Match on the heel side, with the explanation of him returning to TV as a partner for RVD before turning his back on the “Whole F'N Show.” Well, he did return to TV on this Impact to form an alliance with A.J. Styles against Kazarian and Christopher Daniel,s so I was correct in that he would be back before Lockdown, but wrong on what he would be doing. In any event, this is just the next chapter in the feud, as Styles said he can't associate himself with friends anymore, but would with a-holes. I do think whatever Daniels holds over Kazarian should be revealed soon. Otherwise, the audience is not going to care when the truth comes out (if they haven't stopped caring already). In my opinion, Anderson is better served as a heel, but it is good to see him back in any capacity after taking the last few months off. I just hope Styles hasn't set himself up to be turned on again, this time by Anderson, since you can't really trust an a-hole anyway.

MAIN EVENT TAG MATCH: Alert the presses! Garett Bischoff has found himself in the Hits column for the first time ever! While the opening segment revolving around the Bischoff Feud was a Miss (more later), I thought the tag team match was a solid main event. It was wise for Hardy to wrestle the bulk of the match, as Garett's inexperience was on full-display when he took a hot tag into the match. But, even so, Garett did well in his performance as Jeff Hardy's tag team partner. I don't understand TNA's reasoning for having PPV opponents pin each other (Storm pinned Roode during the six-man tag last week), but it might give Angle extra motivation at the PPV for getting pinned by Hardy on Impact. It wasn't a spectacular tag team matc,h but ended with the heels getting their comeuppance after talking trash throughout the evening.

IMPACT MISSES

IMMORTAL OPENING SEGMENT: Even though the opening video package and the subsequent in-ring segment featuring Immortal and Kurt Angle did a good job advancing the feud between Bischoff and Son, I can't help but think how all the time invested in Garett would be better served on a more deserving talent. Nevertheless, the in-ring promo was fine with Flair and Bischoff declaring Garett would receive the consequences and how no one would want to team with him in the main event. Eric feigned surprise when Kurt Angle walked to the ring but, once that happened, it immediately gave away the shock factor on who Garret would select as his partner. I did not think involving Angle and Hardy in this feud was a good idea because in the event of trying to elevate Garrett, both Angle and Hardy are lowered in the process.

KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: The Miss is based on the result of the match rather than the match itself. The TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championships were introduced when the division was firing on all cylinders and when there were more Knockouts in TNA. But, as the number dwindled, TNA did the championship a disservice by not removing it when they had the chance. Now, just like the Television Championship, it has became a comedic prop. Eric Young, or therefore any male wrestler, should never hold a Women's Championship. Plus, winning the championships led to Eric Young proposing to ODB! Just great, winning a championship leads to the announcement of a comedy wedding. Don't get me wrong, I do like Eric Young's schtick. But, if the Knockouts Tag Championships are going to be used, they are better served for Tara & Tessmacher or Sarita & Rosita.

X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: I understand that Austin Aries's character as “the greatest man who ever lived” will make him over-confident in himself, but I don't think he should point out that if he defeated Zema Ion on Impact, then fans would have one less reason to pay money to see Victory Road. It isn't as if TNA is raking in PPV buys where they can afford to make such comments. Plus, what was the point of this match happening prior to Victory Road? If Aries had won, would there be no match at the PPV? And, if Ion had won, would Aries have won the championship back in the re-match? If it had gone that way, it would have been pointless to make the title change in the first place. If the match on Impact was booked as a non-title match, I would have nothing to gripe about. In fact, Ion should have won if that were the case so then Aries would have a reason to take the match at Victory Road seriously. Instead, he got DQ'ed in a title match, kept his championship, and Ion looks like a fool for thinking he got one over on Aries when he ended up winning the match but not winning the championship.

MORGAN & CRIMSON VS. ROBBIE E. & T.: Unlike the Knockouts Tag Title match from earlier in the night, this is a miss based on the match rather than the result. Did anyone believe Robbie Ee and Robbie T. were going to win this match? I didn't think so. Sure, the problems between Morgan and Crimson continued but, predictably, it did not affect them in winning this match. That will be saved for the Tag Title match at Victory Road. Speaking of, it will be the third consecutive PPV where these two teams face off for the championships. Joe and Magnus should win the “Series,” with Morgan and Crimson finally coming to blows before they face off at Lockdown.

***

FINAL THOUGHTS: Despite the three hits, I thought this was a pretty lackluster edition of Impact. The Misses outweighed the Hits, even with Mr. Anderson returning to TV. This coming Thursday will feature the in-ring return of Mr. Anderson as he faces off against Daniels in a preview of their tag match at Victory Road. But, even with that announced one week in advance, I don't know if that is enough of a hook for viewers to tune in next week. Plus, the Eric Young/ODB situation has gotten out of control with them winning the KO Tag Titles and now an upcoming wedding. I hope TNA doesn't feel with WrestleMania hype in full swing that they don't have to try too hard and are waiting for WM28 to pass before giving the hard sell for Lockdown. Because, if they are, viewers could continue to tune out and TNA needs to retain (and build) on its audience as much as possible.

VICTORY ROAD LINE-UP (As of 3/8)

-Bobby Roode vs. Sting
-Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle
-TNA Tag Titles: Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Matt Morgan & Crimson
-X Division Title: Austin Aries vs. Zema Ion
-Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Madison Rayne
-A.J. Styles & Mr. Anderson vs. Daniels & Kazarian
PROJECTED:
-James Storm vs. Bully Ray
-Gunner vs. Garett Bischoff

Crystal Ball Booking...

LOCKDOWN (As of 3/8)

-TNA World Title match: Bobby Roode vs. James Storm
-Hulk Hogan & Garett Bischoff vs. Ric Flair & Eric Bischoff
-Matt Morgan vs. Crimson
-X Division Title: Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley
-KO Title: Gail Kim vs. Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne
-TNA Tag Titles: Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Mexican America
-Queen Of The Cage: Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky vs. Tara vs. Sarita vs. Rosita vs. Brooke Tessmacher vs. Winter vs. ODB
- Lethal Lockdown: Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Bully Ray, Scott Steiner, Kazarian, and Christopher Daniels) vs. Team Hardy (Jeff Hardy, Sting, Mr. Anderson, Abyss, and A.J. Styles)

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

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