TNA Impact Wrestling Report
January 26, 2012
Taped in Orlando, Fla.
Report by Scott Turner, PWTorch contributor

[Q1] The show opened with a video recap of highlights from last week’s show with Jeff Hardy and James Storm making their cases for being the next in line for a title shot, before being denied by Robert Roode. TNA quickly cut to Hardy and Bully Ray brawling backstage. Hardy beat on Ray with a broomstick before they made their way outside of the Impact Zone. Bobby Roode pulled up in a truck and double teamed Hardy with Ray. They attempted to put Hardy in the back of the truck until James Storm made the save. The numbers game caught up to Storm until Sting, in his street clothes, made the save with his bat.

Turner Reax: That backstage bit brought back bad memories of the Abyss and Hardy brawl from a year ago. The selling dynamic in backstage brawls in TNA is so far removed from what happens in the ring that it’s almost comedic.

1 -- TARA vs. VELVET SKY vs. MICKIE JAMES -- three-way #1 contender match to Knockouts Title.

The girls started the match with a handshake until Tara threw out the first kick. Tara took Sky to the corner with some shoulder thrusts until Mickie made the save with a roll-up. Tara took the offensive again until Mickie put a stop to it which led into a commercial break. [CB]

[Q2] The show returned with Sky hitting Tara with a monkey flip. Mickie hit a cutter-looking move on Tara that Taz referred to as a neckbreaker. Tara took Mickie down, only to miss a standing moonsault on James. Mickie went for a top rope Lou Thez press and connected on Sky. After using Sky as a weapon, Tara scored the pin on James with a move that resembled Brock Lesnar’s F5.

WINNER: Tara in 9:00.

Turner Reax: Fun match that was leagues ahead of the matches that WWE allows their Divas to have. Sky hung with the seasoned women wrestlers and has come a long way since she separated from Angelina Love.

The show cut to a backstage shot of Gail Kim congratulating Tara on her victory and talking about their upcoming match at Against All Odds.

Sting was shown making his way to the ring.

[Commercial Break]

The show came back with footage of the backstage brawl that transpired at beginning of the show.

Sting, Hardy, and Storm each made their way to ring. Hardy was selling the beat down. Sting called out Bully Ray and Storm, and they made their way to the crowd. Once they made their way to ringside, a brawl ensued. Sting held back Hardy with a bat around his neck and then proceeded to nail Ray in the stomach with his bat. Sting unsuccessfully tried to separate the heels and the babyfaces before they went at it again. The crowd chanted, “Let them fight!”

[Q3] In response to the crowd’s wishes, Sting booked Storm and Hardy vs. Ray and Roode in a match tonight. The situation broke down again until Storm finally got his boot on Ray’s neck, then challenged the opposing team to a tables match, which Sting agreed to.

The show cut to Alex Shelley backstage talking about his ring rust and his match against Zema Ion later in the show. Shelley talked about how Ion needed to improve “in certain areas as we all do,” and went on to talk about his confidence concerning facing Austin Aries.

[Commercial Break]

Eric Young was shown working out backstage before hassling a Universal crew member, acting as if he thought the crew member was Sammy Davis, Jr. Winter and Angelina Love then tried to seduce Young before Love went for a failed attempt at a low blow. Young was wearing a cup and claimed it was a yeast infection. ODB came out after wondering where her cup had been.

2 -- ALEX SHELLEY vs. ZEMA ION

The announcers mentioned Alex Shelley’s absence being in part due to respect for Chris Sabin's inability to wrestle. As the bell rang, the crowd chanted for Shelley as the two wrestlers exchanged side headlocks intro arm drags. Ion wanted to “cut the cameras” as he was getting beat in the corner by Shelley. Ion hit Shelley with a neckbreaker after awkwardly throwing Shelley on top of the ropes. Shelley came back with a flying knee, clothesline, and dropkick combo. Shelley dropped Ion face-first into the bottom turnbuckle, but Ion came back with a DDT, then took to the ropes, only to a miss a 450 splash. Shelley took the opportunity to capitalize on Ion’s miss and hit the Sliced Bread for the win.

WINNER: Shelley in 5:00.

Turner Reax: It felt like a throwaway X Division match, but it was good to see Shelley back in the ring. I’m hopeful that TNA will let Aries and Shelley tear the house down when they meet, as I can’t think of two better X Division wrestlers that TNA could showcase. Between mic and ring time these two could do very entertaining things together. That being said, where was Aries? It would have been effective to have Aries in Ion’s corner or on commentary.

[Q4] A.J. Styles was shown backstage visibly upset about how his former Fortune cohorts had either turned against him or grown apart from him.

Tara was shown discussing her upcoming match against Gail Kim at the next PPV.

In a video, Eric Bischoff was shown walking into a gym to confront his son Garett Bischoff about who he is training with.

[Commercial Break]

The show returned with Mike Tenay and Taz talking about Garrett Bischoff’s training. They introduced footage of Eric mocking his son’s training, claiming “no one would want to train that punk.” When Eric asked Garett who his trainer was, he caught who he was off camera and demanded that the cameraman leave.

3 -- ANGELINA LOVE & WINTER vs. ERIC YOUNG & ODB

The participants made their way to the ring with Love and Winter coming out first. As Young and ODB came out, the show went to commercial break.

[Commercial Break]

[Q5] The participants in the match made a scene out of who was going to start out contest. Winter and Young eventually started the match while ODB spanked herself on the apron, much to the amusement of the crowd. Young did a cartwheel into a thumbs-up gesture to the crowd before hugging referee Earl Hebner in the corner. Young took his pants off, and then Winter tagged Love in. ODB tagged herself in and dropped Love with a clothesline.

ODB hit Love with a Bronco Buster in the corner, then Love regained the upper hand and tagged Winter in. Winter beat on ODB after putting her in a Tree of Woe, which led to a two count. ODB proceeded to pull out a flask and chug what the announcers referred to as whiskey. ODB hit a bunch of offense on Love that Winter tried to break up before Young intercepted her. They both went for the same move, but Young got dizzy. ODB got the pin on Love.

WINNERS: ODB & Young in 8:00.

Turner's Reax: Last week, I found Young and ODB’s shtick to be pretty funny, not so much this time.

Backstage, a bloody Ray and Roode were shown bickering over how Storm challenged Ray to a tables match. Dissension between the two was teased.

A video aired on the feud between Crimson and Morgan vs Joe and Magnus. It recapped the past couple weeks of tension building between the two teams.

4 -- TNA tag champion MATT MORGAN (w/Crimson) vs. SAMOA JOE (w/Magnus)

[Q6] The match started with a chorus of “Joe” chants. The two men took the corner with Morgan landing chops before landing his leg drop drop over the top rope. Joe finally got some offense in out of the corner and took to the ropes to land a leg drop. Morgan tried fighting back until Joe eye-gouged Morgan, who came back with a few big clotheslines in the corners. Joe then kicked out of a pin after a sideslam. Joe came back with an inverted atomic drop that led to a standing senton off the ropes on Morgan. Morgan then beat Joe with a clothesline.

Post-match: Magnus threw Crimson into the steps, then Joe held Morgan down for Magnus to hit an elbow drop off the the top rope. Joe and Magnus made their way to back with another non-match "victory."

WINNER: Morgan in 5:00.

Turner Reax: This was presented as another throwaway match, but I have to give TNA credit for trying. This tag feud started as a makeshift program, but the company has stuck to their guns and given the wrestlers a substantial amount of television time to build this feud. I'd still rather see these wrestlers go down individuals paths, but I’ll take this over not having them on the show at all.

After the match, the camera cut to A.J. Styles making his way to the ring on the basis that he was “confused” over the actions of his former Fortune members.

[Commercial Break]

The show returned with Storm and Hardy discussing their upcoming Tables match. Hardy said, “We started Impact off with a bang, and we’re going to end it with a boom!”

A.J. made his way to the ring to the tune of an “A.J.” chant. Styles said he didn’t understand why Kazarian was taking orders from Christopher Daniels which prompted the two latter wrestlers to make their entrance. Taz noted that Kazarian couldn’t make eye contact with Styles.

[Q7] Christopher Daniels called Styles a “golden boy” and said whenever the spotlight wasn’t on him, he complained. He said that Kazarian didn’t owe A.J. any answers. A.J. then voluntarily turned his back to Kazarian and Daniels in hopes of having Kazarian attack him. Kazarian couldn’t bring himself to do it, so Daniels went in, only to get hit with a Pele Kick.

Styles told Kazarian he didn’t care what Daniels had told him, but he wanted him to come into the ring to “make it right” with him and shake his hand. Daniels told Kazarian to stop and reminded him that he knew why he wasn’t going to shake his hand and demanded that he get out of the ring. Daniels commanded Kazarian to go to Sting’s office to book a match between Styles and Kazarian. Kazarian looked conflicted.

Turner Reax: I’ve always been a fan of Christopher Daniels's in ring work, but it was only recently that I became a fan of his on-air character. Daniels is a good heel and a perfect fit for A.J., and Kazarian for that matter. They aren’t there yet, but I really feel that there is a way for TNA to strike gold on entertaining program between these three.

[Commercial Break]

4 -- JEFF HARDY & JAMES STORM vs. TNA World Hvt. champion BOBBY ROODE & BULLY RAY -- Tables match

Hardy and Storm came out first, followed by Ray and Roode with each wrestler coming out individually. Jeremy Borash gave an introduction to each team with Hardy and Storm in the ring looking down on Roode and Ray on the outside.

[Q8] Ray and Hardy went at it on a table set up outside, while Roode and Storm followed suit on the other side of the ring. The camera cut to a split screen shot to capture the action going on all over the Impact Zone. Roode hit a supplex on Storm on the ramp as Ray hit Hardy with a scoop slam on the mats near the ring. Storm made a comeback attacking both Ray and Roode until Hardy regained his bearings, joining Storm on the offense outside of the ring.

[Commercial Break]

After coming back from break, Storm was shown spitting beer into Ray’s face. Hardy and Storm set up a table in the middle of the ring setting up an attempt to double suplex Roode through. Ray made the save and took them both down. Ray tried to back drop Hardy through the same table before Storm made the save. Storm took Ray to the outside before Roode made the save and then set up a table in the corner for Hardy. Hardy put the brakes on an attempted Irish Whip through the table that Ray intercepted.

Ray went for a big boot on Hardy, who moved out of the way, leading to Ray putting his own foot through the table. Roode helped Ray regain the offensive edge and then set up another table in the ring. Roode set Hardy up on the table as Ray took to the ropes for a body slam before Storm made the save. Roode took it to Storm on the top rope, getting the better hand, until Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on Roode and set him up on the table for Storm. Storm hit a cross body on Roode, putting him through the table for the win.

[Over-run] Post-match: Roode and Ray disposed of Storm and then double-teamed Hardy until Roode fed Ray Hardy on top of the turnbuckle for a top-rope powerbomb through the table. Ray looked over Hardy as Roode cherished the World Title.

WINNERS: Hardy & Storm in 14:00.

Turner Reax: TNA is still giving away feud-ending gimmick matches on a weekly basis, but at least they’re longer than three minutes now. That was an entertaining tables match with four engaging wrestlers. Every participant was a well versed tag team wrestler with Hardy and Ray being specifically well-versed in the art of tables matches.

Overall Show Reax: I thought this was another solid edition of Impact that would have benefited from a little restraint. Impact is still a little too much, and a little too all over the place, but if you compare it to the product a year ago, there is no denying the improvement that have been made. If TNA could slow it down and let viewers digest what is going on on the TV show, some of the angles they are pushing could come off as bigger deals than they already are.

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