By Matt Baxendell, PWTorch Writer

BAX’S TNA IMPACT REPORT
MARCH 3, 2011
TAPED IN FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.
AIRED ON SPIKE TV

Where We’ve Been: Last week’s Impact featured a lot of talking and a 3/3/11 tease that built up to this week’s big episode. This is the first Impact away from Orlando in over three years, so TNA has been hyping this show like it's a Pay-Per-View. I’ll be particularly interested to see how the fans react to each wrestler outside of the Bizarro World of the Impact Zone, where a couple dozen regulars and a few planted models end up leading half of the cheers and virtually no one is booed. This is a big testing ground for TNA to see who is actually over and who isn’t.

[Q1]

The show immediately started with a quick shot of the crowd before a three-screen ‘Dixietron’ from Bound For Glory was shown and Dixie herself is introduced. The crowd looks completely full on the camera-side of the arena. Various reports indicated that a 3,500 person turnout was the official number - a good crowd for TNA.

Dixie got on the mic and thanked the fans in a voice that made it sound like she was on the verge of tears. She said that she was grateful for the support of her fans. Dixie said that she was there to share the court ruling with the fans, a ruling that came down this morning. She said that while the ruling didn’t go the way she had hoped...

Before she could finish the sentence, Immortal’s music hit and the center panel of what now is apparently the ‘Hulkatron’ rose up to reveal the heels. Eric Bischoff and Matt Hardy led the crew down the ramp, followed by Ric Flair, Rob Terry, and Gunner & Murphy. As they walked down to the ring, the announcers said that the body language for Dixie didn’t look good.

Bischoff grabbed the mic to real live boos from the crowd and said that he didn’t agree to let Dixie say goodbye in the ring earlier in the day only to see her come out and politic and spin things. He said that he can’t begin to tell her (a woman in a man’s world) that she has one massive set of balls.

Flair asked her if she realized she was in Flair country. He said all the people in the crowd know that if she had just taken his room key the night he was signed then she’d have been along for the Immortal success line. Instead she had to text & Tweet because she thinks that fans love her. Flair said he was a limousine-riding, jet-flying, kiss stealin’, wheelin’ & dealin’ son of a gun. But to do that, he has to have money and to have money he needs power. Flair said its time to hear the legal ruling and introduced Hulk Hogan.

Hulk took his sweet time posing on the stage as Dixie stood alone in the ring surrounded by Immortal. Dixie continued to look like she was on the verge of tears while Hulk got in the ring. Hogan said that he was in the court room this morning with Dixie and he controls 100 percent of TNA. This drew some big boos from the fans.

He continued to mock her, telling her that he makes all of the decisions while Dixie is just unemployed. Hulk said that somewhere along the way she became delusional: people think he’s an egomaniac but no one believes their own hype more than Dixie Carter. He said that he and Bischoff used her to get back on top of the wrestling business as Dixie began crying.

Hulk said that she only supplied the money, period. It wasn’t about them being partners, it was about him and Bischoff using Dixie to get back to the top of wrestling. He said that he used her because she’s a weak woman and she has one thing left: her dignity, and as they say in Nashville, they’re “fixin’ to take that now too." Hulk told her that the fans can’t do anything about it either.

At that, Fortune’s new music hit and the Fortune Four came out on stage. A.J. Styles said that there are two ways to do this: the easy way and the hard way and Fortune likes doing things the hard way. But this time, there’s a woman in the ring (“And he’s not talking about you, Bischoff” interjected Kaz) and it's Dixie Carter, a lady they all care deeply about. She gave them all of their opportunities and she brought them here to Fayetteville.

A.J. told Dixie to get out of the ring and Bischoff told them they could have her. Roode got on the mic and told Hogan that he couldn’t believe that he was the reason that he became a pro wrestler. He said that you should never meet their idols because all they ever do is let you down: a statement that is true today.

Flair interrupted and told him that Hulk is his friend and Roode is talking to God, so kiss both of their asses and keep walking. Roode said how about instead of kissing their asses they kick their asses. Fortune charged the ring but they were stopped by security. Immortal hung over the ropes yelling at Fortune on the floor as Tenay threw to break. [c]

BAX REAX: What a difference a real crowd makes. Anyways, good opening segment. Dixie acted shook up before she said a word, which is far more than I expected from her. Immortal came out to bring back Hulk and announce to everyone that they run things in TNA now. They got in the helpless woman’s face before the good guys of Fortune cleared her out of the ring and saved the day. Good, basic storytelling that paid off one of the show’s big teases right away and allowed Fortune to shine on the microphone. You can guarantee a huge response for Beer Money later tonight after another great promo from Roode.

[Q2]

-Backstage, Immortal was celebrating the Verdict when Hulk shook hands with Bart Scott of the New York Jets and introduced him to the entire group. Matt Hardy & Scott went off looking for women before they ran into A.J. Styles, Kaz, and Dixie Carter. They tried to pick up Dixie, who ran off before A.J. got in Hardy’s face and Kaz asked Scott if he was Jermaine Hardy. Scott tackled Kaz and the two sides started swinging away. Some random new security guys broke things up quickly before the Jarretts walked through the hallway with smiles on their faces.

-Another promo recap of the Jarrett-Angle story before plugging the ‘wedding’ later tonight. [c]

-Hogan & Bischoff were sitting in what looked like an office back from break. Bischoff told Hulk that some network executive just told him that Jeff Hardy would be defending his title tonight. E.B. said that the only thing that he can assume is that they didn’t know which way the court case would go so they scheduled a title match to pop a rating. Even worse, the network won’t tell him who his opponent is. (Bischoff assumes it is Ken Anderson, so he’s clearly not getting the title shot.)

Hulk said that they know that things are set now though and he makes all of the in-ring decisions, so he feels like they’re going around him. While he thinks Anderson would be a dream in this situation, don’t assume anything because anything can and will happen in this business. Bischoff said that they need to be ready and Hulk agreed.

-Back out to the ring, the Tag Team Titles are up to be defended. They showed some really weird wannabe DX tag team pose for Gunner & Murphy (Gunner was sitting on Murphy’s back or something strange, they looked like Ace & Gary from Saturday Night Live) before Beer Money came out to a huge pop. James Storm brought back his motor cooler with the horns on the handlebars and rode on down to the ring.

1 – GUNNER & MURPHY VS. BEER MONEY (TAG CHAMPIONS) --- TNA TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH

Right off the bat, Roode was knocked out to ringside by both Gunner & Murphy, leaving the heels to tag team Storm early. Murphy slammed Storm’s face into Gunner’s boot twice before tagging him into the match. After a bit more brawling, Murphy tagged back in and the pair double-team Irish-whipped Storm into the corner. However, when Gunner was whipped in for a big slash, Storm got a boot up to knock him back. James then quickly hit a codebreaker on Murphy as the crowd went nuts for Roode to make a tag at ringside.

[Q3] Roode came in quickly attacking Gunner with multiple running clotheslines before hitting a back body drop. Murphy also fell victim to a fired up Roode, who then re-focused his attention on Gunner. This led to a big Double R Spinebuster that was good for a two count. As Roode was protesting the speed of the call, Murphy hit him with a big running boot to level him on the mat.

Murphy held Roode up for Gunner to hit but Roode moved at the last second and Gunner knocked his teammate over instead. Storm finally got off of the mat and hit the Last Call Superkick on Gunner before the duo hit a double team suplex on Murphy that knocked him out of the ring.

With Murphy out and Gunner down, Beer Money fired up the crowd with the “Beer!” “Money!” chant before hitting the DWI on Gunner to retain the Tag Team Titles

WINNERS: Beer Money in 3:00. So much for Gunner & Murphy being credible threats to Beer Money’s belts. After the initial surge for the heels, the outcome was never in doubt. Still, the match was full of crowd-pleasing offense and Beer Money was clearly WAY over with the live crowd. The right team won this match in dominating fashion.

Right after the match, Ink, Inc.’s music hit and Neal & Moore appeared on top of the ramp as the middle screen rose up. Moore had a mic and told them that the crowd was his people and the Crown Coliseum was his house. He then asked them if they knew what the book of Dilligaf was, saying “Do I Look Like I Give A...” before letting the crowd finish the sentence, complete with a censored bleep.

Moore then told Beer Money that Chapter 13 of the Book of Dilligaf said that it would be Beer Money vs. Ink, Inc. at Victory Road for the Tag Team Titles...that is, if Beer Money aren’t cowards.

Storm asked him if he thought he was talking to a bunch of rookies. He said that they’d get their tag title shot because they’re the best tag team in the world, Beer...”Money” was the reply from the big crowd. Tenay plugged the Tag Title Match at Victory Road between the two teams before throwing backstage.

-Where we were subjected to the Jarretts talking about their wedding cake. Fortunately, Eric Young opened a door behind them where he was apparently sitting on the toilet. E.Y. had a tuxedo t-shirt on and tried to convince Double J to make him the Best Man, Maid of Honor, Bridesmaid, and Ring bearer. Jarrett agreed to let him be the ring bearer.

-Former Jersey Shore cast member Angelina was shown arriving at the Crown Coliseum before Taz & Tenay plugged the Jarrett wedding and the Hardy vs. Mystery Opponent. Taz: “Will this be the first wedding in wrestling history to go off without a hitch?” Thank you for mocking this, Taz. [c]

-Returning from commercial, Kurt Angle was shown backstage walking his son into the arena before Sarita & Rosita were shown posing in the ring. It looks like Velvet Sky’s career match is up next. Velvet looked really serious tonight as there was no pose on the stage and no crotch-rub on the second rope. Nice intensity from Velvet.

2 – VELVET SKY vs. SARITA --- VELVET SKY MUST WIN OR RETIRE

After the bell, Sarita got into Velvet’s face a couple of times while playing to the crowd before Velvet clotheslined her down. There were a couple of strong early moves by Velvet Sky in the first minute before Rosita tried to climb into the ring to interfere. However, Angelina speared her and ref Earl Hebner sent both women to the back.

This allowed Sarita to try to take control back of the match. However, she played to the crowd and that allowed Velvet to reverse it into a DDT that was enough for a victory.

WINNER: Velvet Sky in 2:00. Wait, all this build-up to a match for Velvet Sky’s career on the line and it was over in two minutes? While I guess there is the explanation that Velvet put her game face on and that focus allowed her to beat Sarita, a two-minute match payoff that included interference just didn't match the build-up to this moment. This is what happens when you overbook a show - a Tag Title match that lasts three minutes and a retirement stipulation match that lasts two. But wait, there's another Jersey Shore reject moment soon...

-Velvet had barely stopped celebrating when Robbie E., Cookie, and Jersey Shore Angelina walked out onto the ramp. “Hey skanks,” yelled Cookie as an introduction. Cookie asked them if they remembered when they brought J-Wow on the show and beat her down four-on-one. Well, this time, Cookie has some back up, pointing out Angelina, who she said was the real star of Jersey Shore. Cookie said Angelina has a message for J-Wow.

“You Suck!” was the quick response from the crowd. Angelina told the Beautiful People that she was challenging J-Wow to a match Jersey Shore-style next week. Her heelish attitude was really undermined by her persistent ‘woo!’ at the end of her statements.

[Q4] Velvet Sky told her that she had no idea what street corner she just walked in from. She told Angelina to tell whatever she has to say to J-Woww to her face and then ignored her to celebrate. However, she had barely begun to pose on the second rope before Angelina kicked her, leading to a brawl where Sarita interfered and the BP were left lying in the ring.

Angelina Love managed to grab the mic and yell ‘Hey Bitches!, which got the crowd excited. Love challenged them to a six-way Knockouts Tag Match next week as the announcers started making lots of ‘six-way’ jokes. [c]

-Back from break, Mr. Anderson was shown walking down a hallway backstage. He said his head is in the ring because he gets a title shot tonight. He said everyone made a mistake giving RVD a title shot instead of him and tonight they’re rectifying their mistake. He was asked if he had any last words for Jeff Hardy --- “Nice guys finish last and sometimes good things do happen to assholes” was his reply.

-Eric and Orlando were shown in their locker room as Orlando was in his underwear. E.Y. seems to think he is the best man. He can’t seem to find the ring so he dumped Orlando on his back and started choking him, asking him what he did with it. Orlando asks him if he checked his shoe, where E.Y. apparently keeps all of his valuables. Young finds the ring and tells Jordan he’s still his best friend.

-Jarrett is shown next, buttoning up his tuxedo in his dressing room. Flair comes in to talk about the honeymoon. Double J tells Flair that he’s an expert at honeymoons --- they’re riding the Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios with their five kids. Flair, incredulous, tried to get him to change his tune to no avail.

-Next they cut to Kurt Angle, who is taping his wrists while his son is watching him. Angle is wearing a tuxedo, so is he going to fight or participate? The answer is next. [c]

-Hulk is in his office on his cell back from break. He tells the person on the other line that Hardy’s a fighting champion and doesn’t have a problem defending the belt tonight. He has a problem with the network hiding Hardy’s opponent, though. He didn’t agree with the person, saying surprises don’t equal ratings, instead things should be planned out. Hulk asks a very fair question of the network, complaining that he doesn’t understand all the secrecy when they’re supposed to be on the same team. However, the network apparently won’t budge and Hulk hung up in frustration.

[Q5]

-Back out in the arena, the wedding is apparently starting as some flute-based music is playing. Eric Young comes out first (infuriatingly, he is still wearing the old TNA Title belt) with Orlando Jordan as the flower girl. The crowd starts booing the second Jeff Jarrett appears on the stage next to the cake.

TNA doesn't waste any time waiting for something to happen, as Kurt Angle comes flying down the ramp and attacks Double J from behind, still in his full tuxedo. This makes the crowd a lot happier. The two men fight up onto the ramp right next to the cake and Kurt punches him right up to the edge of falling into the cake three times before Jarrett rakes his eyes. However, when he charges Angle, he gets a clothesline for his trouble.

Kurt slowly points at the cake to the delight of the crowd before Karen comes running out and jumps on his back before throwing a tantrum and slapping Kurt in the face. Kurt feinted like he was going to hit her before grabbing her by the hair and slamming her face into the cake. She looks like the Abominable Snowman with icing all over her face. Angle’s music played as the Jarretts threw a fit next to their ruined cake.

BAX REAX: If this is the end of this stuff for tonight’s show then that was so much less painful than I ever expected.

-Jeff Hardy is shown in a suit backstage as Hulk walked in to talk to him about the Main Event. He broke the news to Hardy that the network sees him as a fighting champion and he has to wrestle tonight. But, Hulk can’t tell him who he is wrestling because the network won’t tell him. Hardy is upset that Hulk wants him to defend against the unknown. Hogan agrees but he can’t do anything about it. He tells Hardy he’s the leader of Immortal and he has to handle the situation tonight. Hardy agrees and Hulk tells him that they’re behind him the entire way. [c]

-Back from break, Karen’s faceplant into the cake is recapped. Live, the Jarretts are throwing a fit in the Immortal Locker Room. Bischoff tells the Jarretts that the wedding will take place tonight as they storm out, leaving E.B. and Flair to stand there dumbfounding. Bischoff: “I hate weddings.”

Hogan entered to express concern about the network’s plan tonight. He and Bischoff both were worried that ‘he’ was the one that they were sending. Before they talked about it any further, Flair went off to take care of the Jarrett situation and we’re left hanging wondering who Hulk & Eric were talking about. What seems pretty clear is that Anderson isn’t going to be the opponent.

-Back in the arena, Rob Terry made his entrance for his match with Scott Steiner as Tenay wondered whether the wedding would happen tonight or not. Last week’s ‘posedown’ was recapped before Steiner’s siren hit and Big Poppa Pump came out for the match. Lots of crowd shots during his entrance; TNA’s really making their 3,500 attendees count tonight. Can’t blame them, this is a strong atmosphere.

3 – SCOTT STEINER vs. ROB TERRY

Right of the bat, Terry attacks Steiner before he can even take off his entrance gear. Terry’s advantage didn’t last long as Steiner hit a nice fisherman’s suplex before clotheslining Terry over the top to the outside. However, Terry recovered and slammed Steiner back-first into the ring post before throwing him inside.

[Q6] Terry continued control with a shoulder slam that led to a two count. The crowd is hot for Steiner but they’re pretty ambivalent towards Terry. This is especially obvious when Steiner turns the momentum and hits a big belly to belly suplex. After that, it was a big clothesline, followed by his cocky elbow drop & push-up routine.

Steiner set up Terry on the top turnbuckle at 3:00 as a big ‘Steiner’ chant broke out from the crowd. With a picture-perfect fallaway slam while standing on the second turnbuckle, Big Poppa Pump was fully in control of the match and he put Terry into the Steiner Recliner in the middle of the ring for the victory.

WINNER: Scott Steiner in 3:00.

After the match, Taz tried to say it was a good showing by Rob Terry but I’m not exactly sure how anyone can have a good showing in a three-minute match, much less Robot Terry and his four moves. The crowd sure dug Steiner throughout the match.

-Backstage, Kurt Angle was introduced to Bart Scott by Ric Flair. Angle tried to introduce himself but Scott asked Flair who he was. Flair told Angle that he had hired Scott as an enforcer and if Kurt interfered in the wedding later tonight, he had to deal with Bart Scott. Scott stood nose to nose with Angle and told him that he was a lot smaller in person. [c]

BAX REAX: It looks like TNA is going with another segment of wedding stupidity instead of giving the Main Event or another more worthy match more time. On the plus side, at least they’re getting some mileage out of Bart Scott’s appearance as he appears to be the Dennis Rodman to Immortal’s NWO. I’ve actually enjoyed Scott’s part tonight, so I’ll give him a thumbs up so far.

-Back from break, there’s another big crowd shot before an on-camera shot of MMA fighter Joe Warren, who wrestles with Bellator, sitting next to Taz & Tenay. Interesting, they’re having a MMA guy on commentary for the Hernandez-Morgan match. How much cross-promotion can TNA pull off in one night? Morgan actually got a nice pop going to the ring while Hernandez didn’t really get much response from the fans.

4 – MATT MORGAN vs. HERNANDEZ

Right off the bat, Hernandez charged Morgan, who ducked him and nailed a clothesline as SuperMex came off of the ropes. After some beating in the corner, Morgan hit a big splash and a side slam that was good for a two count. Hernandez rolled out of the ring and tried to walk away but Morgan chased after him and brought him back to the ring.

Hernandez tried to beg off Morgan but all he got was a big boot to the face for his trouble. Morgan tried putting Hernandez on his shoulders but Hernandez fought out. He whipped Morgan into the corner and pulled out a t-shirt to do his spot where he wraps the shirt around his opponent’s neck and throws him across the ring. However, Morgan blocked it, which surprised Tenay, who said he’d never seen anyone stop that move before.

With Morgan back in control and the crowd rallying behind him at 3:00, Hernandez had his shirt spot turned against him as Morgan wrapped the shirt around Hernandez’s head an threw him the whole way across the ring. Morgan followed that up with his rapid fire elbows and a big clothesline over the top rope to ringside. Morgan played to the crowd while Hernandez crawled around ringside.

Morgan walked over to a prone Hernandez, who was begging off again. However, this time, Morgan got caught and SuperMex tripped him face first into the ring steps. Taking advantage of Morgan being down, Hernandez slammed him face first into the ring steps twice more, drawing the ire of Earl Hebner. He was warned that if he didn’t stop, Hebner would disqualify him. Hernandez didn’t want any part of extending the match, so he slammed Morgan’s head into the ring steps for a fourth time, earning him a disqualification and causing Morgan to bleed profusely.

WINNER: MATT MORGAN via DQ in 5:00.

-Backstage, Hulk was on his phone again and was really fired up. He told the person on the other end of the phone that he needed to know who was in the Main Event tonight, saying to go through files or do whatever it takes to find out. Guess Immortal has a spy at Spike TV.

[Q7] Anderson was called in right afterward. After they both agreed that they don’t like each other, Hulk broke the news to Anderson that he wasn’t going to get a title shot tonight. Anderson exploded, asking Hogan why he was screwing him. He told him that he didn’t care about Immortal and continued to yell before Hogan sat down. Hulk told him that he was sitting down before he put his fist through Anderson’s face before pulling out a back brace. Anderson calmed down and asked Hulk about it, saying “So that’s where you’re going? I never thought I’d say this in a million years but you disgust me” before walking out. As he left, Hogan yelled after him, “Let me know the next time you slam a 700 pound giant --- asshole.” [c]

-Back from break --- Stupid Wedding, Part 2! Great. Young & Jordan lead the procession again (Taz – ‘This is just crazy on about a million different levels’) before Jarrett came out to boos for the second time tonight. The ‘Here Comes The Bride’ music plays as Kurt Angle walked out with Karen Jarrett, her face still partly covered in cake as Kurt smirked the whole way down the ramp. Taz – “She didn’t take Bischoff’s advice and take a shower.”

Once they walked into the ring, Angle joined their hands and patted Double J on the back while continuing to smirk before taking his place next to Eric Young. The crowd was booing loudly as the official asked if ‘anyone has any reason that they should not renew their vows, speak now or forever hold your peace.’ This led to much louder boos, causing both Jarretts to speed through that part quickly.

After exchanging promises while Angle had a giant fake smile on his face, the crowd was asked if the crowd would do everything in their power to uphold the couple to their recommitment. Naturally, they booed the heck out of them. Up next were custom vows as the crowd chanted ‘Angle’ loudly.

Jarrett got on the mic and told Karen that she was now married to a real man instead of a harmless, gutless excuse of man. He told her that she was an underappreciated victim of a man who didn’t deserve to have her in the first place (while constantly checking on Angle over his shoulder).

[Q8] Karen’s turn was next and she was interrupted by a big ‘you suck’ chant. She told Jeff that he was a real man unlike "another man." She went through a bunch of different things while repeatedly saying ‘unlike another man’ while Kurt was still smirking at the two of them.

Eric Young was asked for the ring, but he couldn’t find them until he pulled the ring out of his shoe. The crowd seemed to be getting bored with this as the Jarretts traded rings. Finally, the wedding was made official by the power "invested" in the official by ‘the state of North Carolina and the Department of Motor Vehicles.’

Once the Jarretts kissed, Angle asked if the wedding was done. The minister said yes, so Angle knocked over the podium and pulled an axe out from underneath, causing everyone to clear the ring at light speed. Angle destroyed the wedding stuff in the ring with the axe as the Jarretts hightailed it out of the arena.

But before they disappeared, Bischoff showed up with Bart Scott, sending him down to the ring to take care of Angle. A staredown ensued and the Scott pushed Angle and told him to leave the arena. Scott pushed him a second time and then palmed him in the face. This caused Angle to snap and tackle Scott before locking in the Anklelock. Scott tapped quickly, but it was a moment before security (which has actually stopped brawls tonight, they must have hired a new staff!) pulling him off. Tenay quipped: “Look familiar, Taz? The Jets have been tapping out since 1969!”

-Hardy was shown backstage and he said that he wasn’t worried about facing a mystery opponent. He was in his home state and was going to leave as the TNA Champion. A quick shot was shown of a limousine pulling up before a shot of black boots was shown going to commercial. [c]

-Jeff Hardy’s entrance was in progress back from commercial two minutes before the top of the hour. The announcers talked up the mystery aspect of the match before the Dixietron showed the rainstorm and the 3-3-11 graphic, followed by lightning and some random rock music. This looks familiar (think Starrcade ‘97) and suddenly...

[Q9] It's Sting! Shocking to no one, but I thought it was awesome nonetheless, Sting is back as Hardy sold shock in the ring. Sting’s dressed differently, wearing red & gold on his entrance robe and wearing some red face paint to go with his traditional ‘Crow’ design. The crowd is eating up the Stinger’s return as Hardy is shown still in shock at ringside. Taz & Tenay played up the ‘rumors and speculation’ about his future, hyping that he’s in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to stay.

5 – TNA champion JEFF HARDY vs. STING -- TNA Title match

Hardy climbed up to the ring apron and Sting jumped him quickly before Hardy rolled out to ringside. After stalling for a moment, he re-entered and was quickly caught in a Scorpion Deathlock. Hardy managed to struggle his way out to the ropes to avoid the quick defeat.

Jeff tried to run away again but Sting caught him on the ramp and hit him with a suplex. After tossing Hardy into the guardrail, he went for a Stinger Splash but Hardy managed to move, allowing him to toss Sting back into the ring. After a chinlock, Hardy tried to hit a Twist of Hate but Sting just did his ‘OWW!’ shout into his face and followed it up with Scorpion Death Drop. Is Sting going to win the TNA Championship? But, Hardy kicked out.

Sting didn’t like this and dragged Jeff to the corner and hit him with another Scorpion Death Drop, this time with Hardy’s feet on the turnbuckle. After dragging him back to his feet in the middle of the ring, Sting hit a third Scorpion Death Drop and pinned Jeff Hardy to become the new TNA Champion.

WINNER: Sting in 6:00 to win the TNA Title.

BAX REAX: So, let me get this straight: TNA now has a 52-year-old champion who wasn’t on TV for the last four months? While I'm as much of a fan of the Stinger as anyone else, this is another example of what appears to be Jeff Hardy’s real-life legal issues affecting the product on TV.

Overall, there were some positives to the show but I dislike the idea that they wasted a strong live turnout on a show that featured not one but two in-arena wedding segments and at least half of a dozen Jarrett backstage bits. If they’d left the wedding junk alone after the first try where Karen got hit in the face with the cake, I’d have been okay with it, but this was another show where Jeff Jarrett had way too much TV time.

This also drastically affected the other matches on the show: Velvet Sky finally beat Sarita (a feud that, gasp, actually made sense!), but it happens in a match that was less than two minutes long. I guess matches don’t actually count when you’ve got a Jersey Shore B-Team Player in the house, right? Speaking of guest stars, I was fine with the Bart Scott involvement. He was used well and it was actually one of the better celebrity appearances I’ve seen in wrestling recently. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing him back as Immortal’s Rodman every now and then.

But, I have to really question TNA’s decision to not feature A.J. Styles on this show in a match. If you’re hyping this show as a major event, don’t you want to put your best foot forward and show off your franchise player? Additional notable absences: Samoa Joe, Rob Van Dam, Motor City Machineguns (again), Generation Me, and the Pope. With all of those talents not on the show, TNA somehow decided to have Rob Terry wrestle?

In the end, this show was far too heavy on ‘attractions’ and ‘surprises’ and not reliant enough on what really should be TNA’s calling card: amazing wrestlers. Robert Roode had another great night as the dominant force in Beer Money’s match and their interaction with Ink, Inc. worked well. The Morgan-Hernandez match had the crowd involved and did a good job continuing their feud. Heck, even the six-minute Main Event between Hardy & Sting was a pretty decent match. I believe TNA's focus needs to be on their in-ring product and have wrestlers feud for tangible things like respect and titles instead of feuding about ‘power’ and talking about ratings every segment.

If Sting hadn’t come back and surprised viewers with a second upset victory over Jeff Hardy in a Championship Match this year, I’d have given this show a pretty low grade. Even so, I’m left with the feeling that this should have been a lot better. The good news: at least this Jarrett Wedding is finally over. Now, how about more wrestling and less talking going forward?

SHOW GRADE: C

Matt Baxendell is one of the Torch’s new contributing writers covering TNA Wrestling. He’s also live on air as one the Young Guns on Sports Radio 790 The Zone in Atlanta. If you want to talk wrestling, hockey or football with Bax, please email him at matt.baxendell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @MattBaxendell

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

We suggest these recent related articles...

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 9/30: Final hype for Bound for Glory, Ciampa also wrestles on Impact, Dollhouse vs. BP, more; Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 9/23: ECIII defends TNA Title, #1 contender match, Hardy "quits" servanthood, two more title matches, more; Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 9/16: Team TNA vs. Team GFW for control of TNA, new Knockouts champion, more; Overall Reax