The Impact Insight: 3/10/2011 + VICTORY ROAD 2011 Predictions

So tonight is the last show before Sunday’s Victory Road PPV. As of last week’s Impact, we had a glourious ONE MATCH confirmed between Ink Inc and Beer Money. TNA randomly decided to add four matches on Monday. Let’s see how they attempt to build to the PPV tonight.

Tonight’s Impact Title: The Return of an Icon
SEGMENT #1: Everyone’s angry
So we open the show (again in North Carolina) with Sting coming out…and my oh my does his facepaint look stupid. And he is also rocking a t-shirt as opposed to the trenchcoat still. He cuts the typical promo saying he would not be here without the fans and mentions how Hardy needs to get his head on straight. Hogan and Bischoff came out and had words with Sting resulting in Anderson coming out complaining about not getting his rematch, then Hardy comes out saying he is first in line, then RVD comes out complaining about not having his title shot. This main event scene is just full of whiners. Long story short, Bischoff sets up Hardy vs. Sting for the title at the PPV and Anderson vs. RVD as the #1 contendership as well and puts all four guys in a tag match tonight. This was just a mess and depressing to watch.
SEGMENT #2: Samoa Joe vs. Pope
Match Result: Pope pinned Joe in over three minutes
The way the commentary sounded, you would think the feud was over. However, due to the way the match ended, you would think it is continuing. This feud has lost whatever momentum it did possibly have. It had no coverage last week, and has not seen a lot of coverage since the later part of January besides the stupid pig on a table segment on 2/17. Joe completely dominated this match, got hit by a chain, and lost. Not much else to say here besides that these two continue to remain in booking limbo.
SEGMENT #3: TNA Knockouts Ladies Championship Match – Madison Rayne (C) vs. Roxxi
Match Result: Madison Rayne wins in about a minute and a half.
I will say, bringing in these former known Knockout’s is a good way to try to get Madison over. The problem is, in the case of Roxxi, I would rather see her regularly than basically anybody else in the division. Also, I am pretty certain that she has returned to TNA as many times as Sting has had someone turn on him over the span of his wrestling career. The match was not much to speak of as it was just Madison killing Roxxi and then Mickie James made her return to come after Madison. I honestly had not noticed that she had been gone off TV since the PPV. It feels like her quest to the title is neverending, unlike how it usually works in TNA when a former WWE star comes in to challenge for the title.
SEGMENT #4: Devon beats up Ray in the parking lot
So earlier in the show, we had Ray calling out Tommy Dreamer to fight in the parking lot. Then we had a backstage bit with Dreamer going out to the parking lot looking for Ray. Then we come back and Ray is wandering the parking lot? Is the parking lot in North Carolina the size of David Bowie’s Labyrinth from the 80s? Anyway, Devon jumps Ray in the parking lot and beats the hell out of him. Ray is acting like a coward as he is begging Devon to stop and is telling him that he is his brother. He grabs a sledgehammer and is about to lay into Ray when Dreamer shows up…and stops him. Wasn’t Dreamer just supposed to fight Ray? Also the match at the PPV is Tommy Dreamer vs. Bully Ray, so….I don’t even know. The whole segment seemed pointless seeing as it did not even promote the match that is happening Sunday. With that said, Devon acted like he cared a lot, which is a good thing regarding this feud seeing as I do not care about the participants.
SEGMENT #5: Cookie, Sarita & Angelina vs. Angelina Love, Velvet Sky & Winter
Match Result: Velvet pins Angelina in almost two minutes.
Ugh. I am so sick of Jersey Shore, and this did nothing to change that feeling. This served no purpose besides to pop Shore fans who are not watching anyway. Most interesting ting in this match was when Robbie E/Angelina/Cookie had Velvet set up for Katie to hit her, but Katie did not. Really the only thing you need to know about this, besides it being a bad match.
SEGMENT #6: Street Fight – AJ Styles vs. Ric Flair vs. Matt Hardy
Match Result: Flair pins AJ after a Twist of Hate on a chair by Matt.
This was actually a pretty ok segment, despite the fact that having two North Carolina heels in North Carolina was bound to not really work. Flair was pretty funny in his antics, by saying that he slept with everyone in the town and fertilized Fayetteville. Hardy told AJ (who he called kid, despite being four years older than him) that what tonight is is not personal. AJ said that he does not like Matt or his brother, and hits Matt. The match itself was, as you’d expect, basically a handicap match. A chair got involved, as did a ladder, and Flair bled (shocker). This is once again, TNA using a gimmick to build a regular match. I actually am kind of anticipating AJ/Matt though, but I will get to that later.
SEGMENT #7: Ink Inc vs. Generation Me
Match Result: Neal pins Jeremy in about four minutes.
This was an OK match. I would be more interested honestly if the PPV had Beer Money vs. The Bucks since at least that has not happened on PPV. This match had a couple solid spots though. No real complaints.
SEGMENT #8:Lots of video packages
– Victory Road 2011 video
– Pope promo in the back talking about how he will rid TNA of Joe.
– Recap of the wedding
– Ultimate X video
– Video of the Victory Road 2011 Card
– Sting video and interview in the back, with Anderson attacking Sting.
SEGMENT #9: Mr. Anderson & Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam & Sting
Match Result: RVD pins Anderson in about four minutes.
After the attack on Sting in the back, he does not come out for his match. I really don’t understand who is supposed to be the face in this match anyway. Hardy is obviously a heel, Anderson is a whining bitch, RVD is basically the same way, and Sting, am I supposed to care? Anyway, Anderson/Hardy work over Van Dam for a while. The lights go out and Sting shows up, hits Anderson with a few punches and lays out Anderson with the Scorpion Death Drop, setting up RVD to hit the **1/2 Star Frog Splash for the win. RVD and Sting stare down. Uh oh, are we going to do AJ/Sting again only with RVD in AJ’s place again? Doubtful, but with this company, I would not be shocked.
OVERALL
Better show than last week’s, but that’s not saying much. This show at least was not dull like the last (also there was zero Eric Young on this show, improving the show for me by tenfold.) No segment particularly stood out really, but nothing was colossally bad. Everything was just trying to get to the PPV, and from there, who knows where they go really.
Best segment of the night: Devon/Ray brawl, or the AJ/Matt/Flair match
Worst segment of the night: The six-woman tag.
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Victory Road 2011 Predictions

Matt Hardy vs. AJ Styles
This match could surprise a lot of people. Originally, when Matt Hardy came in, he looked straight up awful. He proceeded to have one of the worst debuts that I can recall on PPV in quite a long time. With that said, he showed quite a bit of improvement last month and if there is anyone on this company to count on on PPV (besides Angle and The Machine Guns) it is AJ Styles. This should be a good match depending on how Matt works, and I fully expect AJ to win this one.
Winner: AJ Styles

Bully Ray vs. Tommy Dreamer
This should be OK. Tommy Dreamer on PPV besides his AJ I Quit Match has been quite snooze inducing, but as a brawl, it should work. Bully Ray will win here, and then the feud will end in a cage at Lockdown.
Winner: Bully Ray


FIRST BLOOD MATCH: Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan
I really see no reason to care about this match. This feud was dead to me when it happened last year, and it remains that way in 2011. Hernandez will likely win, seeing as it is his first match back on PPV and Morgan has zero momentum.
Winner: Hernandez


#1 CONTENDERS MATCH: Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam
This should be OK. Anderson is fine, and Van Dam is very hit and miss (more the latter). Anderson will win and earn his title shot at Lockdown. I don’t expect anything blowaway, but nothing terrible either.
Winner: Anderson



TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Ink Inc vs. Beer Money ©
This match should be solid. Absolutely zero chance of Ink Inc winning the titles here. If they did, I would be stunned. They had a pretty solid match in December anyway, and that’s really all that I expect here.
Winner: Beer Money to retain


ULTIMATE X MATCH FOR THE X TITLE: Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Kazarian © vs. Robbie E
Could this match have had any less build? Yes, Rob and Kazarian were feuding towards the end of February, but Ultimate X out of nowhere. If it were a regular four way, I suppose it would make sense. With that said, UX should help the match as Kazarian and the bucks can get their flips in while Rob proceeds to…fist pump of course. Kazarian should (and probably will) retain here, although if they randomly decided to hotshot the title to Robbie E for no reason, I would not be stunned.
Winner: Kazarian to retain

KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Sarita & Rosita vs. Angelina Love & Winter ©
These titles still exist? There could not be a more worthless title in wrestling today. Oh wait, the TNA TV title still exists. At least Sarita is getting on PPV. She is the only Knockout that I like really besides Mickie, even if her dancing is annoying and stupid. There will be some kind of miscommunication with Velvet running out leading to Sarita and Rosita winning the titles here and proceeding to….dance with them I guess seeing as they have no one to defend against.
Winner: Sarita and Rosita to become the NEW Knockout’s Tag Champions


WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Jeff Hardy vs. Sting ©
That Sting picture is so awful. I can’t believe someone was paid money to take that. Only in TNA would you find a match taking place on free TV ten days ago as the main event for the next PPV. I expect nothing here. Sting in 2011 is completely dull. Jeff Hardy in 2011 is better, but not by much. I fully expect Immortal involvement as well as potentially RVD/Anderson but in the end, the person walking out with the title will likely be Sting. Although, they have hotshot the title twice now on PPV, so even if they did put the belt on Hardy, it’s not like I would be floored.
Winner: Sting to retain
Most anticipated match: AJ Styles/Matt Hardy
Least anticipated match: The World Title match, First Blood, or KO’s tag titles.
Recommendation to order: I’d say skip. I have felt that way about many TNA PPVs for a while. The last show I would have recommended to order was No Surrender 2010 and before then, I would say none since Final Resolution 2009/Turning Point 2009. $35 for a PPV (especially a TNA PPV) is too much right now. Plus, you can use a bit more than half of that money to order both ROH iPPVs in April. With that said, there are a few matches can turn out well such as AJ/Matt, Ink Inc/Beer Money, and the Ultimate X.
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To end this week, I thought I would start adding to the end of my column the matches that, in my opinion, you should check out from TNA this year. As the year goes on, obviously I will continue to add permitting that TNA gives me matches to add. I included my own personal star ratings, since I know that a lot of people are all about those even though I am not.
Best Matches of TNA 2011
1) Kurt Angle/Jeff Jarrett (Against All Odds 2011 2/13/2011) ****
2) Motor City Machine Guns/Beer Money (Genesis 2011 1/9/2011) ***3/4
3) Ken Anderson/Jeff Hardy – Ladder Match (Against All Odds 2011 2/13/2011) ***1/2
For now, those are really the only three matches I would recommend checking out from TNA this year. Hopefully Victory Road contributes to it on Sunday.