TNA Impact! – 3/8/10

TNA Impact on a Monday night again..?  Yes, this is really it!  The Monday Night War is back on!  The evening started out with a bang last night, so let’s get right to what went down:

Video Package: TNA Impact NEW introduction and theme.

Abyss & Hulk Hogan come to the ring.  Hogan takes mic, “It’s time to cut the clowning.  It’s time to take care of business.  Ric Flair, AJ Styles, you better get ready now!  This is TNA’s reckoning day!  Bring your asses to the ring!”

Abyss & Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair & AJ Styles
WINNERS: No Contest

• Mid match, Sting appears mid ring after the lights go out/on.  He stares down Flair and Styles, but turns and hits Hogan and Abyss with his baseball bat.  Three on two beat down.  Flair brings in a chair and busts open both Hogan & Abyss.  Sting walks out while Flair & Styles continue until security pulls them off.
• Hogan takes mic, “You and your puppet… this isn’t over.  We’ll finish this thing by night’s end… No DQ!”

Backstage: Dixie Carter tries to stop Sting, wondering what’s going on and why.

• Unlike Sting, he grabs her by the throat, pushes her against the wall and tells her, “I owe you NOTHING!”

Backstage: Jeremy Borash has reactions from Flair and Styles.  AJ first says, “If you want a do over Hogan, we’ll beat you up again!”  Flair grabs mic, “If I’m coming out of retirement, I’m going to make a statement heard round the world…  You want a restart, we’re going to finish the job.

Backstage: Abyss pounding the wall and screaming, “WHY STING?  WHY?!?”

Backstage: Hulk Hogan’s girlfriend is trying to console Brooke Hogan after she had to watch her Dad get beat up.

Kazarian is in the ring, “It was almost two years ago when I chose to walk away from TNA.  After soul searching, that doubt is gone!  I’m here to reignite the flame of the X-Division!”

• Daniels interrupts, “If anyone is going to lead the X-Division into battle, it’s going to be Christopher Daniels.  I, and I alone, will carry the X-Division to the highest of heights!”
• Interrupted by Doug Williams, “Let me assure you, the X-Division is alive and well because I am the X-Division Champion.
• Kaz interjects, “Seven years ago when WE were pioneering the X-Division, where were you?”
• The men argue back and forth for a little bit until Eric Bischoff interrupts them and makes an impromptu X-Division Title match between the three of them.

Triple Threat X-Division Title Match
Doug Williams (Champion) vs. Kazarian vs. Daniels
WINNER: Doug Williams via pin fall after hitting Daniels with the Chaos Theory Suplex

• After match, Shannon Moore runs in and attacks Williams.  Bischoff informs the champion that his opponent at the Destination X PPV is standing in the ring now… SURPRISE!

Backstage: Jeremy Borash is with Dixie Carter and she’s pissed off at Sting.  Puts him in a match tonight against a mystery opponent.

ANNOUNCEMENT: TNA Knockout Tag Team Titles vacated as Awesome Kong & Hamada failed to defend them within thirty days.

TNA Knockout Tag Team Title Match
Taylor Wilde & Hamada vs. The Beautiful People vs. Tara & Angelina Love
WINNERS: The Beautiful People via pin fall after Daffney snuck into the ring and hit Tara with the KO Title while ref’s back was turned

Backstage: Christy Hemme gets a word with “Pope” D’Angelo Dinero who begins to talk about his match tonight, but gets jumped by Desmond Wolfe who works over Pope’s leg/ankle with a chain.

Backstage: Jeremy Borash is with the NEW TNA Knockout Tag Champions, The Beautiful People who are ready to party it up with champagne.  (Not much of an interview).

Sting vs. Mystery Opponent (Rob Van Dam)
WINNER: RVD via pin fall after hitting Rolling Thunder

• Match was about ten seconds long because RVD jumped over the barrier and attacked Sting from behind.
• After match, Sting assaulted RVD with the baseball bat multiple times.  Hit a couple refs in the gut with the bat too.
• Hulk Hogan tries to come out and stop sting, but security gets in his way.  At one point Hogan gets too close to the ring and Sting jabs him in the ribs with the bat.
• Sting beats down on RVD some more and leaves.

Kevin Nash & Eric Young come to the ring and they have a one time only contract for Destination X.  There will be a match between Nash & Young taking on Scott Hall & Sean Waltman.

• Hall and Waltman make their way into the arena through the back door and down to the ring.  They start jawing at each other.  Hall calls Nash “Big Sellout!”  Hall says that he wants the big money contract when they beat them!
• Eric Bischoff appears on the screen, “If you beat Nash & Young, you’ll get your contract.  If you lose, you ride off into the sunset.”
• Deal is made, but Waltman slaps EY and a brawl ensues between the two.  Bischoff makes a match between EY and Waltman that instant as ref jumps in ring to break it up.

Eric Young vs. Sean Waltman
WINNER: Eric Young via pin fall after hitting a Pile Driver

A group of Army soldiers enter the arena and line the entrance ramp.  Kurt Angle‘s music hits and he comes to the ring.  “Mr. Anderson, these men and women represent our country, who choose to leave their family behind to defend what we believe in!  These are the people who two weeks ago, you spit on!  Winning a gold medal is nothing compared to what these soldiers do!  It’s my duty to protect and serve these soldiers when bitches like you degrade them!  You don’t mess with an American soldier!””

• Anderson appears on the screen.  He starts to talk smack about Angle and the soldiers.  Unknowingly while he’s ranting, Angle sneaks out of the ring to the interview set where Anderson is, attacks him, and drags him to the ring.
• Anderson hits Angle with the medal again in the head and tries to leave, but the soldiers block his path.
• Angle gets up and starts beating up Anderson some more.  He then throws him out of the ring multiple times to let the soldiers have their way with Anderson.  He then hits an Angle Slam on the loud mouth who isn’t talking anymore!
• The solders enter the ring and hoist Angle high as he holds the flag for all to see!

Backstage: Bubba The Love Sponge is with Hulk Hogan, “Just stop it!  Brooke is beside herself!”

• Hulk responds, “I didn’t want to go out there, but I’ve got to do this!”
• Interrupted by Earl Hebner who wants a second chance.
• Hogan tells him this is not the greatest of times, but BTLS convinces him to give him a shot.  Hulk tells BTLS to back off and tells Earl that if the match tonight gets out of hand, that he must promisse to stop things from going too far.  Earl agrees!

Mike Tenay & Taz run down the card for the Destination X PPV in less than two weeks.  (So much for it being an all X-Division Card)

Backstage: Jeff Jarrett finds James Storm and asks him if he was forced into this match tonight.  Storm gloats he volunteered.  Jarrett attacks him.  Storm’s partner Robert Roode saves his skin.  Mick Foley breaks up the fight.

Handicap Match – Mick Foley Special Guest Referee
Beer Money Inc. vs. Jeff Jarrett
WINNER(S): Beer Money via pin fall after hitting DWI (Drinking While Investing)

• Mid match, Foley handed the barb wire bat to Jarrett, but it was never used as referee Slick Johnson came out and took it from him.

Backstage: Abyss and Hogan are talking strategy as to who will start the match later.

• Interrupted by a crying Brooke Hogan who doesn’t really want her dad to go out there.
• Hulk tells her, “Don’t worry!  I’ve got Abyss out there with me!”
• She asks her dad to promise that there’s no more after this.  He agrees.

No DQ – Main Event Match
Hulk Hogan & Abyss vs. AJ Styles & Ric Flair
WINNERS: Hogan & Abyss via pin fall after double boots and a Black Hole Slam on Styles

• After match, Desmond Wolfe attacks Abyss with a chair.  Turns his attention to Hogan who blocks the chair shot, but gets caught by Flair with a chop block.  Three on two beat down.
• The Pope comes out to even the odds, but with his injury they are able to beat him down easily.
• Out of the back comes Jeff Hardy who cleans house. (TV broadcast ends 10 seconds too soon cutting off a Swanton)

QUICK THOUGHTS:

Well, even though this was a new version of TNA, I can’t help but feel like it had a little bit of extra excitement to it tonight.  It started off hot and stayed strong throughout most of the evening.

It’s good to see Sting back, but I’m not overly fond of the “new” “heel version” of Sting.  I’m guessing that it’s not really a heel, but version where Sting is in the middle of the spectrum.  He’s had such a great and storied history with Ric Flair that he sides with him more than he does with Hogan, especially because he was the one who first thought AJ Styles was the one who needed to carry the TNA torch.  It was also pretty messed up that Sting put his hands on Dixie Carter… You don’t put your hands on a woman like that, let alone the woman that signs your checks!

The X-Division match was great!  I really want to see more of this on Impact!  If Bischoff is really being honest when he says, “The reason why I came to TNA is because of the X-Division” he hasn’t shown it in past weeks.  I hope they take a step back towards the young, high-fliers and away from the old guys!

Rob Van Dam got a huge pop, from both the crowd (and me) and Sting’s baseball bat (multiple times).  What a way for a guy to come back to the business!  Get a huge win in about ten seconds over a wrestling legend, then have him beat you down with a bat after the match!  WOW!  I hope that this is actually a legit signing for the next six months or a year because if that was it for RVD, a one time only gig, that sort of sucks!

The segment with the soldiers was cool.  It’s good to see that TNA is going to support this story line and let Angle defend the honor of the USA and our troops.  It would be really screwed up if Angle lost when their feud comes to its climax.

It was very nostalgic to see Hogan and Abyss both “Hulk Up” and then hit the big boot!  It wasn’t the best match in the world, but it wasn’t a cluster f**k either!  I hope that this is the last time we see Flair and Hogan in the ring though.  It’s just hard to watch two former superstars in the ring who are shells of their former selves.  Bravo to them for getting back in there for the sake of TNA, but please if you want to help the business, stay on the sidelines.