by James Caldwell, Assistant editor

TNA Impact on Spike TV
January 1, 2008
Taped in Orlando, Fla.
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

We start with Mike Tenay and Don West standing in the Impact Zone to introduce the Best-Of show for tonight. They're going to start with the 2008 "Comeback Match of the Year" from Bound for Glory featuring Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle.

(1) Angle vs. Jarrett (Mick Foley special ref) - Bound for Glory. During the ring intros, they showed inset promos on a split-screen with all three parties commenting. This continued throughout a replay of the match with all three talking about the storyline and back-story of the match. Jeff Jarrett said he got himself in shape to be ready for facing the best of the best. He said the match was everything he hoped it to be. Foley said he knows Jarrett is committed to putting on the best match possible. He was expecting a serious inner and physical struggle from Jeff.

Foley said his expectations are always high for Angle, who seems to set the bar very high for himself. Angle spoke next on the split-screen about banging heads from the beginning with Jarrett. They've "kind of" co-existed and he said he has a "no-trade clause" of sorts in his contract where Jarrett can't fire him. While the match was going on, Jarrett said bringing in Angle was a mistake and said Angle lost his family and his dignity in the process. Angle said Jarrett is protected in this company, which is what's wrong with TNA.

[Commercial Break]

The BFG match continued with Angle talking about having Jarrett beat several times even with the politics of Foley ringside as ring enforcer. Jarrett re-appeared on the split-screen talking about one of the highspots where Angle wanted a top rope belly-to-belly suplex to the floor and Jarrett said his career might have been over had that happened. Angle said he wanted to end Jarrett's career right then and there to get him out of his life. He then hyped Jarrett's figure four and said there was a point where he wanted to quit, but he knew he couldn't let that happen.

[Commercial Break]

BFG continued with Foley talking about the ref bump during the match and Foley deciding to step in to do what he felt was right. They showed the violent chair shot to the head from Angle on Foley and Angle said when he grabbed the chair, he made sure Foley paid the price for getting involved. Foley then busted out Socko on Angle and Jarrett used the guitar on Angle for the cheap win.

Caldwell's Analysis: Even though the "inset promo" commentary from Jarrett, Angle, and Foley was completely storyline-based, this was the best presentation of a pro wrestling match recap I've seen. This was a great example of how to present quality pro wrestling storytelling to give the in-ring action a "sports feel" with the wrestlers offering their thoughts reflecting on the spot-by-spot match action. I would like to see TNA utilize this format for their TV shows to give the matches a greater sense of importance that is desperately missing from the weekly TNA Impact broadcasts.

[Commercial Break]

(2) Knockouts champion Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong. Tenay had a voice-over describing the current gimmicks for the women in the Knockouts division, showing the voice-overs were done well after this match occurred. Angelina Love was shown in the inset asking why in the world they are (a) asking her about this match and (b) why they are showing this match when they should be showing the Beautiful Peeps. Traci Brooks was shown talking about Kong being as big as a house. Roxxi cussed her way through a promo. ODB's hair filled the entire inset promo screen, distracting the viewer from anything she said. Kong with the Awesomebomb for the win to capture her first Knockouts Title.

[Commercial Break]

(3) Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle - Lockdown MMA match. TNA is calling this their Match of the Year and it's hard to disagree. Mick Foley said adding the six sides of steel made it a wild, unique match. He said he couldn't hold up in six sides of steel, so he admires guys who can thrive in that match. Joe said he calls it the ultimate test and there are no excuses. Angle said his goal was to beat Joe down and make him tap as quickly as possible.

[Commercial Break]

The Lockdown MMA match continued with one of those great wrestling sequences between Angle and Joe that really defined the match. Angle re-appeared on the split screen and said he's working on different ways to keep people locked in the anklelock, especially after Joe kept escaping his finisher throughout this match. They showed Angle stuck in the Boston Crab and Angle said he regrets allowing Joe to apply various submission holds, and now he knows how dangerous Joe can be with those submission holds. He won't make the same mistakes next time he's in the ring against Joe.

Joe appeared and said Angle knows how to cripple a man. He said he had fallen short a few previous times against Angle and his offensive arsenal, but he was determined not to fall short this time. Joe then hit the Musclebuster after escaping the anklelock and scored the pin for the win to capture his first TNA World Title. Joe re-appeared and said it meant the world to him. Being the standard-bearer, the man, and the main player was everything he dreamed of. He said he hopes to re-gain that belt soon.

Caldwell's Analysis: That was a great look back at one of the top matches of the year. Joe vs. Angle was such a template for how to present credible pro wrestling action in this era, and without needing to utilize the MMA format. Simply utilizing a "sports feel" format of build-up, execution, and star power will work to energize fans to suspend disbelief and buy into the wrestling product. The additional commentary, again, enhanced the storytelling.

Impact Zone: Back to the Impact Zone where Tenay and West stood in the ring to talk about Sting vs. Styles and a real-time match of Beer Money vs. LAX later in the show.

[Commercial Break]

(4) Sting vs. A.J. Styles - Turning Point. Sting appeared in the inset promo talking about respect and him representing the last generation of wrestling stars who understand respect. Styles said he respected Sting before this program.

[Commercial Break]

They showed Styles ramming Sting into the guardrail to build offensive momentum. Sting said his ultimate goal was to teach Styles a lesson, not just punish him. Sting said that to his credit, Styles never said quit and he is a great wrestler, but his mission is to get him to take that extra step toward understanding what he's teaching him. Styles said Frontline's plan for 2009 is to work their tails off and be the best in and out of the ring. He said that's why TNA is here because of guys like that, and TNA will be back to normal in no-time.

Styles had the match won with the spiral tap, but the Mafia came down to the ring to distract Styles and allow Sting to avoid the Pele kick and roll up Styles for the win to retain the TNA Title. Sting admitted that Styles had him beat, and he didn't know that the Mafia came down to interfere until he watched it back on tape and talked to the fellas post-match. Sting gave a non-answer on how he felt about that interference when he wanted to prove a point to Styles. Some nice hinting from Sting about why he's become distant in the storyline recently. Good use of the inset promo to set up 2009 storylines with Sting as champ, but not quite the leader of the Mafia.

[Commercial Break]

Video package: They aired a video on the LAX vs. Beer Money feud in 2008, leading to the first title match of 2009 in wrestling.

1 -- TNA tag team champions BEER MONEY, INC. (ROBERT ROODE & JAMES STORM w/Miss Jacqueline) vs. LAX (HOMICIDE & HERNANDEZ) -- TNA Tag Title match

Picking up the finish on youtube after my DVR ran out Hernandez took a hot-tag and landed a double dropkick on the heel tag champs to show off his athleticism. Hernandez gave Roode a sit-out powerbomb, but Storm broke up the pin. Homicide then took a tag and Hernandez hip-tossed him onto the champs. Hernandez with a superplex on Storm, but Roode caught him with a spinebuster from behind. Things became over-choreographed in the final minutes. Homicide scored a nearfall on Roode to show Roode's invincibility, even kicking out of a belt shot to the face. Things completely broke down to make sure the 2009 TNA year starts off with all kinds of referee incompetence and finished with Jacqueline love-tapping Homicide with a chair to allow Roode to score the pin on Homicide for the win.

WINNERS: Beer Money to retain the TNA tag titles. Check out Daniel Wilkenfeld's report on the main listing for a complete review of the main event.

Overall "Recap" show thoughts: A while ago, TNA presented one of those "Best of" shows where they tried to incorporate ridiculously over-the-top camera angles and slow-motion, slow-speed movie shots to recap the best matches from TNA's history. It was a step backward for TNA, as they didn't harness the technology to create a compelling show.

This was the exact opposite. This was a very well-done recap show complete with meaningful promos from the wrestlers involved in some of TNA's top matches of the year. As I said earlier, this format should - not just could - but should be used by TNA to enhance the in-ring action on their weekly TV broadcasts. We need to know why matches are important or what the wrestlers are thinking in anticipation (or reflection) of their matches airing on TV. Well done.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for an "Impact Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on Impact, click here.

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