Source: TNAStars.com
iMPACT Wrestling – January 26, 2012
From the iMPACT Wrestling Zone in Orlando, Florida
Announced by Mike Tenay and Taz
Welcome everyone! Unfortunately, Jarrett Cox is not able to provide the results for this week’s episode of TNA iMPACT Wrestling. So you’re stuck with me and my cobbled together attempt at a report! We’re complete with pictures for the matches and even some videos… and here we go!
This week’s episode of iMPACT Wrestling opens up with a video package detailing the recent history between TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode, Bully Ray, Jeff Hardy, and James Storm. The video package ends are we’re right to a backstage brawl between Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy. These two guys are beating the life out of each other as Hardy tosses Ray onto the set where the Knockouts had their Valentine’s Day videos taken. After breaking a broom over Ray’s back, Hardy loses the upper hand for only a moment and tosses Ray into a ladder. The two men rumble their way through the backstage area to a bit of an open space before going out through a door where even more props from previous matches are kept. Bobby Roode pulls up in white Cadillac Escalade pickup and helps Ray get the advantage.
Ray drops a large wooden pallet on top of Hardy as the former champion cries out in pain. The bad guys throw Jeff Hardy into the bed of the pickup and James Storm comes out for the rescue. Ray appears to be bleeding as Storm loses the battle and is at risk of getting tossed into the truck. Sting comes out of nowhere and attacks both Roode and Ray with a baseball bat as the two scamper off. Sting yells for Roode to come back and we finally get the opening credits of iMPACT Wrestling!
No time for talking to open this week’s show because we go right to our first match.
#1 Contender’s Match
Velvet Sky vs. Tara vs. Mickie James
Mike Tenay notes that each of these women are former TNA Knockout Champions and that they are competing tonight to face off against Gail Kim at the Against All Odds pay-per-view. After each woman goes through their entrance the action begins with a handshake among the competitors and a kick to Velvet’s stomach thanks to Tara. After a volley, Velvet tosses Mickie out of the ring and goes for a one count on Tara. In no time short, Tara takes control of the match and sends Velvet into the corner. Mickie rejoins the action and fights both women until Tara tosses her into the corner and is firmly in charge of this match. As the women continue the match and Mickie halts Tara in her tracks… we go to our first commercial break.
A quick ShopTNA.com promotional video later and we’re back with Velvet Sky setting Tara up for a big move before Mickie James stops her in mid-move. Mickie can’t celebrate too long because Tara gives her a body dunk moments before Velvet takes control of the match with a series of chops on both women and a flying head scissors on Mickie. Tara comes in with a clotheline, but Mickie James is the only woman left standing. As James goes to the top rope and delivers a Thesz-butt press to Velvet, senior official Earl Hebner counts to two and Velvet is tossed out of the ring. Tara gets a big boot in the face from Mickie and Hebner crawls into position with a two count. All three women are back in the ring and Tara slams Velvet on top of Mickie James. While Velvet and Mickie squirm in pain, Tara pins Hardcore Country and becomes the number one contender for the TNA Knockouts Championship.
Winner: Tara
Backstage, Gail Kim congratulates Tara for winning the match and says that right now she’s the champion and that’s all that matters. We flip to a pissed off looking Sting pacing around the backstage area before our next commercial break.
Sting Sets the Main Event
We see a replay of the brawl from before the Knockouts match. After the replay is over, Sting marches to the ring with Jeff Hardy and James Storm. Once he grabs the microphone, Sting calls Bully Ray and Bobby Roode down to the ring. Both men come to the ring through the crowd and before any discussion starts, there’s a four-man brawl. Sting manages to get one man in each corner and exerts himself on Bully Ray to keep him mouth shut. Sting puts the good guys and bad guys together for a split second but it’s no use – both teams start attacking each other and brawling all over the place. Sting begins using his baseball bat to equalize the problem as the crowd chants, “Let them fight! Let them fight!”
Sting says that the fans are right and he’s going to let them fight in a tag match tonight. Bully Ray runs his mouth again and James Storm tells him to “Shut your mouth, fat boy!” As you might imagine, the brawl breaks out once again and all four men are going at it. Storm tells Sting to make it a tables match, Sting checks with the crowd, the crowd agrees and we’ve got a tag team tables main event!
We’re backstage again and Alex Shelley talks about how this injury put him on the injured reserve for the longest time in his career. He says that Zema Ion isn’t TNA X-Division Championship material and we go to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and Eric Young is doing some type of warm-up. A guy walks by and Young thinks that he’s Sammy Davis, Jr. Winter and Angelina Love come out of the back and try to seduce Young. Love tries for a knee to lower region and she screams in pain as Young reveals that he has a cup on. Winter and Love slither back into the darkness as ODB takes Young off to get ready for their match later tonight.
Zema Ion vs. Alex Shelley
Zema Ion is introduced by the lovely Christy Hemme followed by one-half of the Motor City Machine Guns – Alex Shelley. Mike Tenay notes that Shelley is going to go the singles route while Chris Sabin continues to rehab from his injury. Taz wonders if there is any ring rust on Shelley and we’ve got an opening bell to get this one going. The crowd begins with an “Alex Shelley!” chant as the two high-flyers lock up. Shelley gets Ion in a headlock and stacks him up in an extremely quick, luchadore-style roll up. The two men then exchange chops before Shelley kicks Ion in the spine.
Ion begs for a break and for the cameras to stop while Shelley presses down on him in the corner. Shelley goes for a quick walk around the ring and comes back to a corkscrew body press from Ion. The advantage doesn’t last long as Shelley gets Ion out of the ring and goes for a baseball slide, but misses. Ion takes the upper hand in the ring with a neckbreaker and gets a two count. He locks in an arm bar and the crowd claps for Shelley to get up and fight… which he does!
Shelley gets a finger in his eye and throws a few haymakers before getting a dropkick from Ion. Shelley soon recovers and kicks Ion in the back of the head to set him up for a forward face plant into the second turnbuckle. A missed top rope attempt by Shelley sets Ion up to deliver a vicious DDT on one-half of the Motor City Machine Guns. Ion misses the 450 splash, but Shelley hits the sliced bread and wins the match – and the chance to fight against Austin Aries for the TNA X-Division Championship at Against All Odds.
Winner: Alex Shelley
By the way, Alex Shelley’s sliced bread finishing move on Zema Ion is tonight’s Direct Impact of the night, brought to you by the insurance company! Backstage, AJ Styles is complaining about Kazarian being Daniels’ puppet and he says he’s going to get to the bottom of it all tonight. We flip over to Tara who is excited about winning the match and reminds Gail Kim that they know each other and that she’s coming to take the gold. Before the commercials begin, Eric Bischoff is shown walking in on his son, Garett Bischoff, while he’s training.
Back from commercial and it’s Mike Tenay and Taz (who has an orange pen, by the way) recapping the recent history between the Bischoff family. Tenay then leads us to the footage of Eric Bischoff walking in on Garett Bischoff during his training. The video begins with Eric saying that nobody wants to train this punk kid, Garett. Eric refers to his son as “punk” and asks him where the big trainer is – Garett responds by looking off to the side of the building (off camera) and Eric demands that the video guy leave the room.
And we’re back in the iMPACT Wrestling Zone for a mixed tag team match… but first a commercial break!
Mixed Tag Team Match
Winter & Angelina Love vs. ODB & Eric Young
After the commercials are over, we join this mixed tag team match as its getting ready to go. Eric Young goes to lock up with Earl Hebner and it’s a disaster. Taz comments that after seventy-five years in the business you’d think that Hebner know how to lock up correctly. He quickly corrects himself and notes that Hebner has only been in the business for seventy-four years and this match is going nowhere fast.
The 10:00pm EST hour begins with Winter in the ring against Young and the most action that we’ve seen so far is Young getting the crowd to clap their hands and a second collar and elbow tie up with Earl Hebner. Young then takes his pants down to get into his skivvies and now it’s Angelina Love’s chance to do nothing. ODB tags herself in and we’ve got a fight. ODB beats down Love and delivers a split type of bronco buster before Young inadvertently distracts Hebner. With the referee distracted, Winter and Love double team ODB and get a two count. We get some good women’s action as Winter hangs ODB in the tree of woe and chokes her with her foot. Winter delivers a kick right to ODB’s “lower region” (thank you Taz), gets a two count, and puts ODB in a headlock. ODB fights back and catches Winter in a jawbreaker. Young gets the flask in the ring and ODB gets a drink while Love runs in to test her a bit. After a series of forearms and shoulderblocks, ODB delivers a fall away slam and jumps back to her feet.
Winter attempts to interfere, but Young stops her in her tracks. A double airplane spin later and ODB gets the pin on Angelina Love for the win.
Winners: ODB & Eric Young
Backstage, Bully Ray wants to know where James Storm grew a set of balls to challenge him and Bobby Roode to a tables match. Roode doesn’t know who Storm thinks he is and Roode says that Ray should beat the hell out of Storm for him. Ray wants to know why ROode is all worked up and the two guys have a problem leaving the locker room together.
A video package is shown detailing the history of the feud between Matt Morgan & Crimson and Samoa Joe & Magnus.
Samoa Joe w/Magnus vs. Matt Morgan w/Crimson
Both men and their tag team partners make their way to the ring. Typical opening match back and forth with Joe putting the punches to Morgan in the corner and Morgan returning the favor on the other side of the ring. During the match, Mike Tenay voiceovers notes that next week’s iMPACT Wrestling will be coming to you from Wembley Arena in London England!
Morgan dominates the opening minutes of the match until he catches a back elbow from Joe in the corner. Joe manages to connect with a pretty impressive leg lariat from the top rope and then delivers a headbutt followed a standing enzuigiri in the corner. The two big men go toe-to-toe until Morgan comes out on top and splashes Joe corner-to-corner and follows up with a side slam for a two count.
Morgan pays the price for showboating and Joe takes control with a back splash for a two count. Meanwhile, Crimson and Magnus are talking trash to both men on the outside. Morgan regains control and hits Joe with a massive clothesline for the three count.
Winner: Matt Morgan w/Crimson
After the match is over we get a brawl between the four men that leaves Crimson laid out on the steel steps and Morgan writhing in the ring.
As we go to commercial, AJ Styles is seen walking backstage as Mike Tenay wonders whether he’ll get answers – up next!
Back from commercial we have James Storm saying how it’s funny that he and Jeff Hardy started by kicking each other’s butts, but are now watching each other’s backs. Hardy says that they started iMPACT Wrestling off with a bang, but they’re going to end it with a boom!
AJ Styles In-Ring Segment
Styles walks down to the ring to talk about why Frankie Kazarian would turn his back on him. He details the history of the recent actions from Kazarian and says that Daniels has been treating Kazarian like a dog. Styles wants to know why Kazarian was allowing himself to be treated that way, which brings both of the aforementioned men out to the ring.
As they walk down the ramp, Taz notes that Kazarian can’t even stand up straight. Daniels starts ranting about how the sight of Styles in the ring complaining about adversity is all too common. He says that Styles is constantly complaining to the management like Sting and Dixie Carter and when he doesn’t get what he wants, he throws a tantrum. Daniels notes that he and Kazarian aren’t playing that game and that Kazarian doesn’t owe Styles any explanation. Styles threatens to come out of the ring and beat both of those guys up, but Daniels mocks him to the point where Styles says that he’s going to stand in the middle of the ring and allow Kazarian to hit him from behind.
Kazarian looks troubled about hitting Styles from behind, but Daniels nags him to do it anyway. Kazarian can’t do it so Daniels goes in to attack Styles and gets a kick to the head instead. Styles then challenges Kazarian to get in the ring as some weirdos in the iMPACT Wrestling Zone count out loud to 17 (makes no sense). As Kazarian appears ready to shake AJ’s hand, Daniels gets on the microphone and demands that Kazarian get out of the ring… so he leaves the ring. Daniels then says that he’s had enough of AJ’s temper tantrums so he’s challenging Styles to take on Kazarian and demands that Kazarian go and request the match from Sting. Both Mike Tenay and Taz aren’t sure what to make of this segment.
Tables Match
Jeff Hardy & James Storm vs. Bully Ray & Bobby Roode
Jeff Hardy makes his way to the ring followed by James Storm, Bully Ray, and then Bobby Roode. Taz notes that Roode is hobbling down to the ring and appears pretty hurt – Tenay agrees. Jeremy Borash introduces us to the main event of the evening and we’re ready to go! Before the opening bell we’ve got a brawl outside of the ring and the match starts anyway. Tenay goes over the rules – put one man from the other team through a table and your team wins. Ray and Hardy pair off while the former Beer Money go at it on the other side of the arena. Like most tables matches, there’s little rhyme or reason to the beatings in this one. Spike TV and iMPACT Wrestling give us a split screen so we can watch all of the mayhem and it’s breaking loose all over the place. Storm spits beer in Roode’s face, Hardy sets up a table but gets nothing out of it, Roode and Storm fight up the ramp with Roode scoring a suplex on the ramp, and Ray blocks a suplex attempt and body slams Hardy instead.
Ray goes over to attack Storm and Storm begins beating down Ray. Hardy comes out of nowhere and knocks the taste out of Roode’s mouth as Ray gets a water bottle to the head and tossed across the arena. Mercifully, we’re going to a break.
We’re back from the commercial break and the craziness continues. Storm spits beer in Ray’s face and unleashes a series of punches on one-half of the former Team 3D. Jeff Hardy then slingshots Bobby Roode into the ring post and positions a table on the inside of the ring. Storm and Hardy are together in the ring and prepare to put a lifeless Roode through the table, but Ray breaks it up and turns the table upside down. Taz notes that this is the value of experience that Ray brings to the match as Ray begins a pummeling of his opponents. Storm exacts a measure of revenge against Ray by tossing him over the top rope, but Roode catches up to Storm and sends him out to the floor, too. The TNA World Heavyweight Champion angles the table against the turnbuckles and attempts to toss Hardy into the table, but gets reversed. The celebration is short lived as Bully Ray is back in the ring and puts a foot through the table when Hardy moves out of the way.
Roode hits his patented spinebuster on Storm and then grabs another table from the outside of the ring. After bringing the second table into the ring, Roode goes after Hardy, but Ray is putting a sufficient hurting on the former champion from the outside of the ring. A quick smack up of Storm on the outside of the ring and Roode positions Hardy on the second table now set up in the middle of the ring. Storm climbs to the top rope and Roode tries to superplex him through the table. Hardy comes through with a Twist of Fate out of nowhere and holds Roode down on the table. Storm balances on the top rope and comes down with an elbow putting Roode through the table and gets his team the win.
Winners: Jeff Hardy & James Storm
The match might be over, but Bully Ray isn’t through with this fight. He attacks both Hardy and Storm with a steel chair as Taz comments that Ray has got to be embarrassed from losing this match. Ray brings a third table into the ring and sets it up near an opposing set of turnbuckles. He drags Hardy by the hair onto the table and calls for Roode to immobilize Storm outside of the ring. Roode then delivers some punches to Hardy and positions him for a powerbomb with Bully Ray through from the second turnbuckle. Hardy goes through the table and Ray celebrates in the ring as Roode clutches his championship. Medical personnel run to the ring along with TNA officials to help Jeff Hardy as Bully Ray looks on and the show comes to an end.
