TNA Impact Wrestling Hits & Misses 3/15
By Teddy Panagiotopoulos, PWTorch specialist

PRE-SHOW THOUGHTS: After last week’s lackluster and fairly uneventful edition of Impact Wrestling, I did look forward to this week’s show to see if Impact would redeem itself heading into Victory Road. Despite the buzz being around WWE (for obvious reasons given it is WrestleMania Season), Impact Wrestling had flown under the radar with its recent string of solid-to-very good shows prior to last week’s episode. With this week being the final stop before Victory Road, let’s see if TNA did rise to the occasion.

IMPACT HITS

- Bobby Roode–Sting Opening Video Package: Impact began with a short and sweet video package to recap the entire feud between Roode and Sting heading into their non-title match Sunday at Victory Road. Giving credit where credit is due, the TNA video production department has been on its game with all the video packages recapping the feuds going on in Impact Wrestling. Say what you want to say about Creative, but the video editors know how to get the stories across. Good start to the show with this video summary between the World Champion and the “General Manager” of TNA.

- James Storm-Bully Ray Promo: James Storm cut a great promo on the “Give, Want, and Take” regarding Bobby Roode and the World Title Match at Lockdown. Bully Ray’s interruption and subsequent promo about reminding Storm about trying to take him out of the Lockdown Title Match was nicely done. Bully Ray talking big before backing out when Storm confronted him was classic heel tendencies. Billing Gunner as “the toughest man walking this planet” is a bit overdoing it but it’s the latest attempt to put Gunner over.

- Crimson vs. Samoa Joe: I liked the comment from Taz about Crimson remaining undefeated in singles competition when he has been competing in tag team matches for the last five months. Morgan and Crimson seem to be differentiating a bit, as Crimson has become more and more cockier with each singles victory and Morgan has yet to really show heel mannerisms, although he did trip up Joe in the match. Perhaps the differences between Morgan and Crimson now is foreshadowing for their inevitable feud, most likely following the PPV. Overall, the match served its purpose with Crimson getting the victory to give the challengers a slight edge heading into their Tag Title match.

- ODB-Eric Young Wedding Talk: It was a brief backstage segment, but I enjoyed it mainly for the non-sense Eric Young spoke of during the bit. I especially liked the line where he eventually landed on the wedding taking place inside the wrestling ring because “Nothing ever goes wrong!” I know Eric Young is obviously oblivious with how the majority of wrestling weddings do not go according to plan and that’s why I loved it. I am not necessarily looking forward to whenever the wedding actually takes place, but maybe it will surprise me whenever it does happen.

- Austin Aries–Zema Ion: This segment between Aries and Ion featured more than just hype for their X Division Title match at Victory Road. Aries came to the ring, champagne bottle in hand, to bask in the glory of holding the longest X Division Title reign. Aries not only celebrated through speech, but with a video highlighting the men he had defeated to extend his title reign. I liked how the feed cut from the video to Aries dancing while watching the video and back to the footage again. “I want to say thank you for the X Division wrestlers for being good, but not as great as me," he said.

What I didn’t like about Aries’s promo was TNA bringing to my attention how in the ten-year history of TNA, there have been 53 X Division Title reigns by 25 different men. That is a ridiculously high number and, through “By The Numbers” research, the average X Division Title reign is roughly two months and one week long!

Regardless of that factoid, Aries and Ion played their parts well, even if both men are heels. I liked when Ion paid more attention to his champagne-soaked hairdo at the conclusion of the promo. It fits his character to focus on his looks. But, I do not understand the thinking of having two championship matches at Victory Road involving heels facing one another. Do heels always have to wrestle babyfaces in championship matches? Not necessarily, but it is ideal and it draws fans to liking the "face." But, as I’ve said before, heels don’t have to like one another because they are heels and these two should tear the house down on Sunday.

- Mr. Anderson vs. Daniels: This was a fine match for Anderson’s first TV match in several months. Anderson looked in better shape and lost some of the tire he was sporting around his mid-section during the Massachusetts live events TNA ran in January. Booking 101 indicates a victory for Daniels and Kazarian on Sunday, given Anderson won his in-ring return, but will a victory for either team at the PPV finally bring the revelation of what Daniels holds over Kaz?

- Bobby Roode - Sting Contract Signing: Video packages throughout the night hyped up the main event of Victory Road very effectively. The contract signing continued the theme and Bobby Roode’s promo about remembering when Sting won his first World Championship and how he wanted to emulate Sting was effective. Roode talked about how he surpassed Sting’s abilities and that Sting does not have what is takes anymore and he uses the paint to mask his shortcomings. Sting was silent throughout the whole exchange and used his actions to speak for him by attacking Roode all over the ring. Good segment to end the show with Roode nervous on the stage after the beat down handed to him by Sting. It gives the audience the impression that while Roode’s title is not in danger on Sunday, Roode’s physical well-being may be at risk in the No Holds Barred Match.

IMPACT MISSES

- Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky: The preceding backstage segment with Madison Rayne and Gail Kim, leading to Sting placing both women in Knockouts matches, raised more questions than answers. If Gail and Madison did not happen to be arguing near Sting, would they have each been scheduled in singles matches? Then, Sting told Madison Rayne she would be facing Velvet Sky "next." it just revealed the scripted nature of pro wrestling. Granted, this has happened numerous times in both TNA and WWE over the last several years, but it doesn’t mean the tactic is used correctly. In this scenario, Madison was not aware she would be fighting in the next segment against Velvet Sky. Usually, this is a consequence for a heel so he or she does not have time to prepare. Yet, it is conceivable Velvet Sky had no time to prepare, either. Yes, Taz covered the tracks by stating he and Tenay could only assume Velvet had no time to prepare for the match, as well. Perhaps I am just over-thinking it. In any event, the match itself was decent with Velvet showing some intensity that has been missing from her recent outings. Madison winning was predictable for her to look strong heading into Victory Road.

- Mickie James vs. Gail Kim: Gail Kim and Mickie James did not wrestle to their potential against one another even though Gail had to cheat to win. Nevertheless, the KO Champion needed to momentum heading into Victory Road. With Madison and Gail both as heels, who exactly should the fans be rooting for, especially when neither one has shown signs of turning babyface? It should be interesting to see how the KO Title match unfolds at the PPV.

- Kurt Angle vs. Garett Bischoff: Even wrestling Kurt Angle in a singles match does not help Garett Bischoff avoid landing in the Miss section this week. The only reason the match lasted the full five minutes was because Kurt Angle was dominating Garett Bischoff from the opening bell. Angle toyed with Garett for the majority of the match until the end when Garett tossed Angle to the floor, frustrating Angle. The frustration turned to anger when the time expired on Angle and he went ballistic on the referee and on Garett, by applying the anklelock on the young Bischoff. Jeff Hardy prevented the attack from escalating by knocking Angle out of the ring. Basic set-up for Angle vs. Hardy at Victory Road, although incorporating Garett into their feud over the last two weeks was unnecessary. As stated last week, attempting to push Garett by having him "mix it up" with the likes of Angle and Hardy has dropped the latter two down a level rather than bringing Garett closer to the top.

- James Storm vs. Gunner: Unspectacular main event between James Storm and Gunner. With the time constraints, it did not have the opportunity to become anything of substance, but it continued to build up James Storm as a credible challenger for the World Heavyweight Title by defeating Immortal’s henchman Gunner. While I did not care much for the match, I liked how the physicality was nonexistent between Storm and Ray this week. It was the right choice, as it buildt fan anticipation for when they lock horns at the PPV.

***

POST-SHOW THOUGHTS: Despite the scales tipped in the favor of the Hits department, this was not a tremendous episode of Impact. But, this week greatly surpassed last week’s bucket of hot garbage. At the end of the day, though, the hype for Victory Road has not been strong. I understand TNA is gearing up for Lockdown, but the perception created by TNA is that Victory Road is not worth a monetary investment. I used to feel the same about the No Way Out PPV when it was sandwiched in-between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. My perception has changed over the last few years with how unpredictable the Elimination Chamber PPV has become and how it usually throws a wrench in the plans for WrestleMania. I am not saying TNA throw a wrench in their plans for James Storm vs. Bobby Roode at Lockdown, but I do think TNA should make their PPV events feel like "Can’t Miss” shows and I just don’t get this impression with Victory Road.

With that said, this is a very nice line-up on paper. Four championship matches, one non-title tag match, and three grudge matches (one of which is the No Holds Barred Match). Since I did not mention it in the above report, I like how the Television Title Open Challenge is back again. I just hope a better opponent is planned for Robbie E. than Shannon Moore (paging Alex Shelley). OR, it would be nice if TNA debuts a new Superstar to face Robbie E.

In relation to the main event, I understand how people do not like the fact Sting is headlining when he is an authority figure and not an active wrestler anymore. But, I liked how TNA put together the closing segment Roode getting the best of Sting verbally and vice versa with Sting physically owning Roode. I am reminded of Mick Foley’s promo around Lockdown 2009 (oddly enough against Sting) when Foley quoted Toby Keith when he said, “I may not be as good as I once was, but for one night, I’ll be as good as I ever was.” It is conceivable that while Sting might not be who he used to be, he can still tap into what made him a top draw over his career and give Roode a fight to remember at Victory Road.

And, if it’s done right, then Roode defeating Sting clean will finally slot him as a dominating champion with a ton of momentum heading into Lockdown. Because, let’s face it, in all likelihood James Storm is becoming the next World Champion and it would be wise by TNA to make it appear as though a World Title change is not a given on April 15.

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

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