Impact Title: Don’t be Roode
SEGMENT #1: Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett berate Fortune, Robert Roode speaks up
In typical Impact fashion, the show opened with Immortal talking down Immortal. He claimed that he will not give up power because for fifteen years, he has made stars/built companies/changed the industry. *cough* Bischoff insulted all of them with “vanilla midget” esque insults before Jarrett ultimately called out the group. Jarrett explained how he gave the four of them jobs 9 years ago. Jarrett got in their faces but Robert Roode finally spoke up. He called Fortune the backbone of the company. He put over that he had chances to go away for more money, but stayed to help make TNA. He said that they will continue to rise despite Immortal. He says if Jarrett is going to do something, then do it and a brawl ensued. Angle/Crimson/Steiner come out to run off Immortal.
Standard Impact opening promo here with the main highlight being Robert Roode’s moment. People have always said that he could be the next “Mr. Perfect” or “Rick Rude” and I have never seen it really in his promos. He is a good wrestler, but here he actually showed some emotion that I liked. Pretty OK promo.
SEGMENT #2: Six-Man Tables Match – Bully Ray, Matt Hardy & the Pope vs. Brother Devon, Rob Van Dam & Samoa Joe
Match Result: Devon put Ray through a table around three and a half minutes in.
What a fustercluck of a match this was. Joe and Pope were seen for MAYBE ten seconds. RVD and Matt Hardy did basically nothing. The finish came when Devon’s kids jumped the rail and held Ray for Devon to push Ray off the apron through a table. This was just meant to get three feuds over for AAO and it did a pretty terrible job at that.
SEGMENT #3: Kurt Angle/Jeff Jarrett contract signing
This segment was meant to get over the new stipulation for Angle/Jarrett on Sunday. If Angle wins, he gets custody of his kids. If he loses, he has to walk Karen down the aisle on March 3rd. Jarrett as a heel was pretty on point here, but this angle has just gotten progressively more awkward as it has gone on. I actually did find some enjoyment out of the Jarrett segments last week, but thinking about it, the involvement of kids (such as Kurt’s 3 year old son) is not necessarily a good thing. It could hurt them, honestly. At least with Devon’s kids, they seem like they are in their late teens.
SEGMENT #4: Sarita/Rosita/Tara/Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky/Winter/Angelina Love/Mickie James
Match Result: Rosita pinned Velvet Sky via moonsault in less than three minutes.
Last week, Sarita said she was bringing her cousin to Impact named Rosita (Divina Fly). Much like the last match, this was just meant to continue feuds (only this time they are not on the PPV). It got Sarita/Rosita over as a unit, the Winter/Sky saga continued, and following the break it would attempt to sell Mickie/Madison.
SEGMENT #5: Madison yells at Mickie
Madison gets on the mic and yells at Mickie saying that she was the top women’s wrestler that came here to challenge the women in the top women’s promotion. Mickie can talk a good game, but cannot walk the walk. She will see her Sunday at Against All Odds.
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Something backstage that I thought I would make note of is that Angle and AJ said they were teaming to take on Jarrett/Jeff Hardy in the main event. Roode said to Angle that he would like to take Angle’s place and the crowd popped quite a bit. That could be a sign.
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SEGMENT #6: TNA World Heavyweight Title Match – Mr. Anderson (C) vs. Matt Morgan
Match Result: Anderson pinned Morgan in about five and a half minutes.
So throughout the show, they were pushing that this match was to determine who is facing Jeff Hardy in a ladder match at the PPV. That is only SLIGHTLY backwards. Jeff Hardy came out during the match to sit on a ladder and watch the match. The match itself was OK but ended in typical TNA fashion as Hernandez (the newest member of Immortal as seen towards the beginning of the show when he had talked with Bischoff) laid out Morgan causing Anderson to pin him. After the match, Hernandez and Hardy attacked Anderson.
SEGMENT #7: Threeway X-Division #1 Contender Qualifying Match – Brian Kendrick vs. Robbie E w/Cookie vs. Suicide
Match Result: Robbie pinned Kendrick in slightly over two minutes.
For those that are unaware, Christopher Daniels is in the Suicide costume due to a contract deal where he worked out with ROH and TNA. Kendrick is completely stuck in limbo at this point, and I am just stunned that Robbie ended up actually winning considering that he has pretty much been put in jobber status since losing the X title. Out of the 3 three-ways over the last three weeks, this was easily the weakest, but it was still watchable.
SEGMENT #8: Two backstage promos
Ink Inc had a brief backstage promo just putting themselves over.
They run down the PPV card which I will get to a bit later.
Devon then had a backstage promo claiming that his two sons will be in the match with him. Pretty bad promo here as well as very illogical. Why would he want his sons in a street fight with someone who has no issue messing with them? Very illogical.
SEGMENT #9: Jeff Jarrett & Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle & AJ Styles
Match result: AJ pinned Jarrett following flying forearm in about ten minutes (excluding commercials).
AJ being back makes me happier to watch Impact at least. Throughout the show, they were hyping this up as a dream tag match. I don’t know who could possibly have been dreaming of this match but it was pretty solid. They built to Angle/Jarrett pretty well throughout the match with Angle going nuts to want to get his hands on Jarrett. The last few minutes had some pretty good spots as well. The ending came when Kurt was on the outside looking at Karen, Jarrett was looking at them, and AJ hit the flying forearm to Jarrett for the win. Good way to get AJ back into the scheme of things at least for a pretty solid TV main event.
After the match, they had a post-match beatdown that felt like it lasted forever and with Impact over the last six months or so it feels just there. Immortal guy runs out, laid out by a fortune/face guy, repeat until Anderson laid out to end the show.
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OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was a very hard show to grade. The wrestling was rather bad besides the main event which was OK. They promoted the main feuds for the PPV at least, and in some ways did more to take away from it then promote it (IE: having Angle/Jarrett now have a stipulation that affects an Impact and not a PPV, promoting Sarita and Rosita took away from Madison/Mickie, having Hernandez return tonight to seemingly restart his feud with Morgan on the go-home show of the PPV, etc.) If you want to check out anything from the show, I would say the main event and maybe Robert Roode’s promo. Not the worst Impact, but not a good show either.
4.0/10
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PREVIEWING AGAINST ALL ODDS
Samoa Joe vs. The Pope
Winner: The Pope
This match should be solid, but booking could hurt it. Joe could end up winning, and he needs to having lost the last three times he was on PPV, but I see this feud potentially continuing so that is why I see Pope winning.
* Matt Hardy vs. RVD
Winner: RVD
Their match last month was not good in the least. Considering they are pushing the faces taking the upperhand, RVD will get his win back here.
* Rob Terry, Gunner and Murphy vs. Scott Steiner and Beer Money
Winner: Steiner/Beer Money
Beer Money/Steiner winning, or the J.O.B Squad? Yeah, ok.
* Street Fight: Bully Ray vs. Brother Devon and His Two Sons
Winner: Bully Ray
As sad as it sounds, I see Devon’s kids turning on him to cost him the match. This could be OK as a street fight, but again, the booking will probably kill it.
* 3 Way #1 Contenders Match For The X Title: Max Buck vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Robbie E
Winner: Robbie E
Three heels in this match just blows my mind. Unless they go the route of having Jeremy win after promoting Max saying last week “it is all about me, not us”, I don’t see any other choice besides E winning.
* Last Knockout Standing Knockouts Title Match: Madison Rayne © vs. Mickie James
Winner: Mickie James to become the new Knockouts Champion
Mickie has been in the company since October and it has felt like she has been there for basically a year. She is easily winning the title here.
* Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle (If Kurt Angle wins, he gets custody of his kids, if Jeff Jarrett wins, Kurt Angle has to walk Karen Jarrett down the aisle on March 3rd.)
Winner: Jeff Jarrett
Probably should be MOTN but (again) the way the ending is booked could kill it. This feud is obviously going to continue to Lockdown, and having Jarrett go over is the way to continue with the story. I wish it was a straight up match with no stipulation, but that is the story of TNA.
* TNA World Title Ladder Match Mr. Anderson © vs. Jeff Hardy
Winner: Jeff Hardy to become the new TNA Champion
In order to give Immortal SOME credibility, Hardy is probably going to take back the title. If not for his court case, he probably would not have lost it. The match itself should be good. The two of them have had some OK chemistry and Hardy works better in this type of environment.
The PPV is sort of filler. It is sort of sad to me that guys like AJ, Doug Williams, Chris Sabin, and the missing Desmond Wolfe are left off the show in some capacity when Gunner and Murphy (two security guards, technically) and Devon’s kids are technically going to be on the show. We will see how the show turns out though.
TV Ratings Quarterly breakdown credit to ProWrestling.net
The following are the quarter-hour ratings for the February 10 TNA Impact television show.
Q1: 1.32 rating – Eric Bischoff and Immortal promo, Fortune out for a verbal exchange and then a beatdown, Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, and Crimson save, Winter bickers with Velvet Sky backstage while Angelina Love tries to play peacemaker
Q2: 1.15 rating – Hernandez backstage with Bischoff, Rob Van Dam, Devon, and Samoa Joe vs. Bully Ray, The Pope, and Matt Hardy, Karen and Jeff Jarrett promo, two commercial breaks
Q3: 1.23 rating – Kurt Angle out for the contract signing with the Jarretts, Knockouts match ring introductions
Q4: 1.18 rating – Sarita, Rosita, Madison Rayne, and Tara vs. Mickie James, Angelina Love, Winter, and Velvet Sky, Mickie and Madison angle, Jeff Hardy brief promo, two commercial breaks
Q5: 1.24 rating – Angle backstage with Robert Roode and A.J. Styles, Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan with Jeff Hardy and Hernandez involvement
Q6: 1.13 rating – Bully Ray promo on Devon and his kids, Robbie E vs. Suicide vs. Brian Kendrick, two commercial breaks
Q7: 1.13 rating – Ink Inc. promo, pay-per-view hype, Devon promo with his sons at his side, ring introductions for the main event
Q8: 1.22 rating – Angle and Styles vs. Jeff Hardy and Jeff Jarrett, post-match brawl, Anderson makes the save
