KELLER'S TNA VICTORY ROAD PPV TAKE
MARCH 18, 2012
ORLANDO, FLA.
AIRED LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW

(For the a detailed rundown of what happens in each of the matches, check out James Caldwell's report on the main listing. The following is my take on things with observations and analysis throughout the show.)

-Mike Tenay and Taz pushed harder than ever the social interaction element with fans, encouraging them to send Twitter questions for Austin Aries later.

-Bully Ray came out at the start and threatened to take the PPV hostage unless his match against James Storm is for the no.1 contendership at Lockdown. In other words, if he beats Storm, he takes his spot against Robert Roode in the cage. He did a nice job waiting out the tired, dated, stupid chants of "We Want Devon." It's 2012, not 2002, folks. Give it up for so many reasons. Most of all, Devon is not nearly as entertaining on the mic or good in the ring as the people Ray is currently feuding with, so why in the hell do you want him instead of Storm? It's insulting to the current wrestlers to fall back on this expired issue between longtime partners Ray and Devon. You could tell Ray didn't want it, because he wisely just waited it out without selling it. It eventually just faded away and then he moved into his planned promo about 2012.

-Storm came out and a greed to put his no. 1 contendership at stake.

-Quotebook - James Storm: "Bully Ray you come out here and talk about Calvzilla. Where we come from, we call those chicken legs."

1 -- JAMES STORM beat BULLY RAY in 1:00 to retain the no. 1 contendership status.

Early in the match Ray brought a beer into the ring and was going to spray it into Storm's face, but Storm surprised him with a superkick and scored the pin. A match that short makes me wonder if Storm still has concussion issues and they kept him from taking any bumps.

BACKSTAGE: Jeremy Borash interviewed Austin Aries. He asked him a fan question: When will Sting smarten up and let Aries headline a pay-per-view. Bischoff then interrupted Borash and told him to let him conduct the interview because unlike Borash, he knows what he's doing. Borash asked if he still has any authority. Bischoff said he knows he could kick his ass so shoe. Man, what a classic moment it would have been if Borash really did punch Bischoff in the face. Even if it cost him his job, he'd have a great story to tell the rest of his life. So they're turning Bischoff's Tweet about Borash at the bar into a TV angle, or is he going to claim it was always going to be part of an angle?

-For the record, Aries said he doesn't need to be in the last match on the show to be considered the main event. Bischoff gushed about how great Aries was after the promo ended.

2 -- AUSTIN AIRES pinned ZEMA ION to retain the X Division Title. (**1/4)

-Tenay marveled at Aries holding the X Title over six months, a record length of time. It's sad that a title that's been around ten years has never been held longer than six months. What does that say about the pace of booking and the resulting watering down of any of those X Title changes being memorable or creating a new star. They've been so frequent, no title change means nearly what it could have had they stuck with a champ for a couple years.

-Quotebook - Taz referencing Zema putting the hair spray can in his own tights: "I don't think Aries realizes what's in the tights of Zema Ion. Insert joke anyplace you like."

-The image of the hair spray can in Zema's tights is quite suggestive in and of itself.

-Aries grabbed his phone and Tweeted mid-match. He apparently said something about it being a great day to be champion.

-Aries eventually won despite being blinded by some hair spray. The crowd helped him find Zema and deliver a brainbuster and then apply the Lance Chancery for the tappet win. Decent action.

VIDEO: A video aired hyping that the Motor City Machineguns are returning soon.

3 -- BRUTUS MAGNUS & SAMOA JOE beat MATT MORGAN & CRIMSON retain the TNA Tag Team Titles in 10:00.

-Samoa Joe has a mohawk now.

-Morgan kept asking Crimson before the match if he was all about winning. Crimson said he was.

-Crimson was just disregarding Morgan throughout the match. Tenay said it's not much miscommunication as it is just Crimson knowing what he's doing and choosing to ignore Morgan.

-Morgan grew increasingly frustrated with not getting tagged in. The crowd chanted "We Want Morgan!" about 5:00 in. Crimson even let a beaten down Magnus hot-tag in Joe, again driving Morgan bonkers.

-In the end, Morgan tagged himself in and then gave Crimson the middle finger and f-you on camera and mic. Crimson returned to the ring and speared Morgan and left him prey for being pinned. Crimson yelled, "I'm the winner. I'm the undefeated one. You're just a loser." Tenay called Crimson a glory hog.

BACKSTAGE: Borash said: "I apologize for my coworker Eric BIschoff. What really can be said about him that hasn't been said about him already backstage for the last 20 years."

-Borash then interviewed Robert Roode. He said the mind games are over, Sting has made his bed, and now it's time for Sting to lie in it. He vowed to end his career. Storm walked in and they exchanged intense words and closed with a staredown.

ANNOUNCERS: Taz and Tenay read some Twitter comments. They showed on a video screen behind them the Twitter comments rolling. Taz then said, "Why is it hash-tag? Why isn't it pound side? What is a hash tag anyway? It's number sign." Tenay asked what year he was in. Taz has a point, though.

4 -- DEVON pinned ROBBIE E. (w/Robbie T.) to capture the TV Title in 3:00.

-Robbie E. said no one in the back answered his open challenge, so he invited any fans. He even invited So Cal Val. This went on and on for a while. Eventually Devon answered the challenge.

-Brooke Hogan yanked on Robbie E. when he grabbed a chair at ringside to use against Devon.

-Eventually Devon won clean almost out of nowhere after fending off interference from Robbie T. on the ring apron. Surprising to see Devon get the TV Title. He doesn't seem like the type of wrestler you'd give a TV Title reign at this stage of his career.

INTERVIEW: Dixie Carter told Borash backstage that their 10th Anniversary event, Slammiversary, will be in Dallas-Ft. Worth at the University of Texas arena. She said it's a new market for them.

5 -- GAIL KIM pinned MADISON RAYNE to retain the Knockouts Title in 7:00. (**)

-Another heel vs. heel title match. You could even say, to a degree, all three title matches so far have been heel vs. heel. It took away some of the passion from the crowd.

-Match itself was solid, ending with Eat Da Feet by Kim for the win out of nowhere.

INTERVIEW: Borash interviewed Kaz and Daniels. Daniels interrupted after Kaz was asked a question and said he's in charge. Kaz clenched his face, but it was tough to tell if it was out of anger or determination or disagreement or solidarity with Daniels.

6 -- MR. ANDERSON & A.J. STYLES defeated DANIELS & KAZ in 14:00. (**)

-Daniels and Styles look like they coordinated some ring gear upgrades or accessorizing. Styles has new long white and blue trunks and boots with blue gloves to go along with it. It makes him look more distinctive, but it's not clear what message he's sending in terms of what he's all about. Daniels had black facepaint around his left eye and black fingerless wrist-high gloves.

-In a nice extra touch, Daniels ground his knuckles into Styles's ribs or kidney area as he held him in an abdominal stretch.

-Styles blind-tagged himself into the ring by slapping Anderson on the back and then surprised Kaz with a Styles Clash for the win. I'm old school with tags. I think there should have to be a slapping of hands while one person is standing on the ring apron holding the tag rope. They're really gotten loose with that in recent years in order to sell the idea of blind and unwilling tags into the ring. It's a tool they use, but I like taking that away and making things a little more strict as I think it actually adds more drama when achieving a tag has to be clear-cut and deliberate on the part of both wrestlers.

-The match itself was decent but wasn't memorable. It felt like a solid house show match, but it didn't really advance or solve anything.

ANNOUNCERS: Tenay and Taz again invited viewers to send in questions to #VICTORYROAD on Twitter.

INTERVIEW: Borash interviewed Kurt Angle backstage about facing Jeff Hardy. Angle told his son Cody that normally he doesn't want him watching violence on TV, but he wants him to see his daddy destroy Hardy tonight. He said he's going to tear Hardy's colorful hair and shove it down his throat because real men have shaved heads. He said he's going to choke Hardy with his goofy socks. He said as for his make-up, he'll need more make-up after the total reconstruction he'll need on his face.

7 -- KURT ANGLE pinned JEFF HARDY in 17:00. (***1/4)

-It started at a pace that suggested it'd be a long match. It was as it went over 17 minutes. Methodical at the start, as is standard for Angle matches. It picked up mid-way with some near falls. There were a few annoying "This is awesome!" chants.

-In the closing minutes Angle caught Hardy with knees to the back as Hardy flew off the top rope with a Swanton attempt. Then Angle scored a near fall after an Angle slam. Angle had a small cut on his forehead. Louder "This is awesome!" chants. Tenay said the crowd was right. It's still annoying because the point of a good match isn't to have a bunch of fans applauding the "performance quality." The fans should be into the ebb and flow of whether their favorite is going to win or not, lost in the moment, so to speak. "This is awesome!" translates into "We know it's a performance, and this is a good one, so keep performing for us because we're smart enough to appreciate it and want everyone to know it." It was a novel chant at one point and had its place, but I don't see that as a victory for wrestlers when the story they tell gets that reaction from fans anymore. Not in TNA in 2012. Maybe in ROH in 2002.

-Hardy tucked very late for a flying flip splash on Angle that caused a gasp from Hardy. Angle then scored a leverage pin by countering Hardy and yanked on the middle rope for added leverage to score the pin.

-When Tenay lamented the finish, Taz blew off his complaint by saying "it happens." That's just awful color commentary. The point of a match is to see who's better, not see who can cheat more effectively, and Taz should be in the same spot Tenay is - which is sad that they didn't really settle anything because Angle simply took advantage of a referee's blind spot. Taz isn't a heel announcer, so he shouldn't pull a Booker T and praise a heel for being a heel. It kills heel heat when the babyface commentary isn't outraged and framing cheating as ruining a good match and taking a cowardly shortcut. I think Tenay agrees with me, based on his reaction to Taz and then sticking with it afterward in post-match analysis. The crowd chanted "bullsh--!" Taz said it wasn't the ref's fault, he just got caught out of position.

ANNOUNCERS: Tenay and Taz recapped some of the happenings earlier in the night, then shifted to previewing the main event.

8 -- BOBBY ROODE pinned STING in 16:00. (**1/2)

-It's interesting that main event ring intros began 20 minutes into hour no. 3. That's leaving a lot of time for a Sting match.

-The crowd chanted "You still got it!" at Sting early twice, both time after Sting got the better of Roode and knocked him to the floor.

-Once Sting got in some early offense, Roode took over with sustained methodical offense against Sting.

-Taz read a Tweet from an 80 year old fan who has followed Sting's entire career who was cheering him on with his grandkids. I don't know, though, about the image that Taz is scanning Twitter during the matches. He should make it really clear that was forwarded to him by someone else to read.

-Sting hit a superplex 17 minutes in and then applied a Scorpion Deathlock for a near finish.

-Sting eventually gave Roode a Scorpion Death Drop, but the back of his head hit a chair set up in the ring when he dropped back, so Roode rolled onto him for the cheap opportunistic win. First, can't we be creative enough to tell stories without needing wrestlers heads and chairs crashing into each other?

-Quotebook - Robert Roode to Dixie Carter: "Look at him [Sting]! He's an embarrassment. Shut your mouth, bitch."

-Roode began duct taping Sting's arms to the bottom rope as Dixie tried to intervene. Doesn't this cross a line where clearly, by any sensible evaluation, Dixie should strip Roode of his title and fire him? I mean, he yanked her by her hair and called her a bitch and physically threatened and assaulted her. It also went on so long, it defied any believability that nobody was in the locker room running out to help her. The bookers have to think of this stuff because viewers do think of this stuff. Everyone at home is saying it's so stupid that nobody from the back ran out in the five minutes that Roode was torturing Dixie. There are ways to give heels heat with an attention to believability to the framework.

-The crowd finally picked up on how extreme this angle was by chanting "Fire Bobby!" It was funny because that was the moment they cut away from the live feed. I think even backstage they had to realize that was the only sensible thing to do in reaction to Roode's actions, and anything less than a firing is just ridiculous. I'm all for getting heat on heels, but frame it in a way where at least a certain percentage of the fans aren't just rolling their eyes.

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