Reviewing the 3/1/12 episode of IMPACT WRESTLING…

1. Not just for him to have his quality of life back, it may end up being a case of turning negatives into positives for TNA that Jesse Sorensen’s prognosis is good for a full recovery. They will have essentially helped beef up both Jesse and Zema Ion’s characters coming from two different places. One, being the miraculous underdog and the other, a remorseless prick.

2. Magnus has morphed into very solid compelling talker. Especially with an intense talker in Samoa Joe by his side, Magnus can carry his portion of the team so much that Joe need not even utter a word now while Magnus sarcastically and eloquently can get their point across without Joe’s usual yelling.

3. Not that there is anything wrong with the team of Angelina Love and Sarita, it does seem a bit odd and out of nowhere to team them together to attack Velvet with absolutely no explanation where their partners are or went. Seeing as Mexican America has pretty much dissolved, maybe that explanation can easily be explained away by Mike Tenay or Taz, but to explain why Angelina and Winter suddenly and inexplicably are not together is a little bit of a bigger dilemma since their relationship has been a big part of the Knockouts Division for a while. Now, while both Winter Love and Mexican America had Vince Russo’s handiwork written all over them, TNA should still make even the smallest effort to explain away anything they may be doing away with now that he is gone.

4. While some of Gail Kim and Madison Rayne’s interactions are starting to become more entertaining, TNA is still failing to assert which one of them is going to be the baby and which one is going to be the heel in their feud. They do look like they are on a collision course with Team Trailer Park for the Knockouts Tag Titles and perhaps Knockouts gold for Eric Young, believe it or not. This should be interesting. It would be nice, however, for them to choose a clear cut role for each Knockout just as it seems that Zema Ion will more than likely be the clear cut heel in the X-Divison match/feud at Victory Road.

5. TNA has had some time to think about where the Kazarian/Christopher Daniels/AJ Styles feud is headed and what explanations are needed for people to buy why Kaz is doing what he is doing alongside Daniels. I’ve narrowed it down to Daniels loaning him money for a gambling problem(or sick relative’s hospital bills out of control), although nothing stands out as Daniels having million dollar man like bank account. It could also be Daniels having found out about Kaz’s secret man crush on AJ and Kaz doesn’t want to reveal that to his former(?) friend although that might seem out of place or awkward as it did in the movie Chasing Amy with Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. That would seem more like a Vince Russo storyline anyway so I might have to rule that one out since he’s gone.

6. Move of the Night:

Austin Aries’- Crucifix Takedown on Samoa Joe.

Very cool and dreaded looking. Also loved A-Double’s High End Spin Roll on Magnus earlier showing off some great amateur wrestling.

Close second would be Mickie James’ Top Rope Thesz press on Sarita

7. Line of the Night:

a. After Bully Ray told the cameraman to shoot his calves calling them cows

Taz – “His calves aren’t even that big I gotta be honest with you.”

Delivery was perfect and I was waiting for Taz, a man who would know about working out his calves to eventually say that. ha ha.

8. Match of the Night

6-Man Main Event Tag Team Match

World Champion Bobby Roode, X-Division Champion Austin Aries and Bully Ray vs. #1 Contender for World Title Cowboy James Storm and World Tag Team Champions Magnus and Samoa Joe

What an all-star caliber Main Event that definitely delivered. With the addition of Austin Aries as well as Joe and Magnus the match had a fresh feel and was filled with a lot of great action. Seeing Austin interact with non-X-Division guys was a treat. The story of the match had Roode avoiding Storm at all costs until the finish where Storm caught Roode with Closing Time and the Last Call. Joe’s chest was lit up by Bully Ray early on and you could clearly see how red it was later in the match. Good stuff all around and delivered the goods. Bully Ray’s post match attack set up the fact that they will square off at Victory Road. Nice way to finish the show as well

9.  Final Show Thoughts:

TNA began the mystery of where is Abyss. They said his family sent a letter asking about his whereabouts? Who? His Mother? Will he return without his mask with a complete overhaul? A big question, however would be why would TNA allow Abyss to win if they were going to write him off TV for a while? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have Bully Ray win and then continue bludgeon him after the match thus buidling him up even further? Although if he would have lost I believe the stipulation was he would have rejoined Immortal, so I guess I can see why they didn’t take that route either. I guess I’ll reserve any further comment until I see where this story is going. Velvet Sky’s finisher is now called “In Yo Face”(sp?) . Nice and appropo. Velvet definitely seems to have turned the corner in her improvement as well in both the promo and in ring area. Both Velvet and Mickie picked up the tag team victory over Angelina and Sarita. ODB also picked up the big victory over Madison Rayne this week in singles action as this was a gift Gail Kim gave to her “BFF” Madison Rayne. I like the fact that Impact Wrestling is not afraid to feature the Knockouts in two matches as well as give them proper time to entertain. The show was well paced for sure and while maybe not a stellar show, it was solid enough to be entertaining throughout. Kurt Angle’s explanation of jealousy of Jeff Hardy’s popularity and not being his own son’s idol was a nice way to set up the feud, but Kurt may not have been allowed to mention Jeff’s past demons which he did use when Jeff first came back and why he didn’t want him around because he was a screw up. Although to Kurt’s defense he did allude to that when talking about autograph signings, Jeff coming in late and then seeing the fans flock to him while he was there early signing autographs only to be ignored by the fans. While it may have seemed like a ludicrous premise at first especially with Kurt using the cue cards, the segment worked and set up the bad blood quite nice. This big time match definitely has a lot of potential to steal the show at Victory Road and I’m looking forward to it.

10. IMPACT PLAYERs of the WEEK: 

James Storm, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, Bully Ray, Magnus and Samoa Joe

I have to give all the Main Event players the nod this week as this was one of the best TV Main Events in a while, especially for an easy to be passable Tag Main Event.

That is all.

M.C. Brown

You can find me on Twitter as

ShocXwavE

Tags: 10 Thoughts, 10 Thoughts on TNA IMPACT WRESTLING, 10 Thoughts on TNA IMPACT WRESTLING 02.16.12 - Bobby Roode, Abyss, AJ Styles, Angelina Love, Austin Aries, Bully Ray, Christopher Daniels, Cowboy James Storm, Eric Young, Frankie Kazarian, Gail Kim, impact wrestling, Jeff Hardy, Jesse Sorensen, Kurt Angle, madison rayne, magnus, Mickie James, mike tenay, ODB, Samoa Joe, Sarita, Taz, TNA, tna impact, TNA Wrestling, Velvet Sky, Zema Ion