12/26 Shore's TNA Impact Wrestling live coverage: New TNA Champion Magnus speaks, Jeff Hardy and Sting vs. Ethan Carter III, Rockstar Spud, Robbie E, and Jessie in a handicap match, Monster's Ball match

By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Taped in Orlando, Florida.

[Q1] Mike Tenay checked in commentary and hyped several matches for later in the show. Rockstar Spud came out and introduced Dixie Carter as his new queen. Dixie put over Magnus and a "We want AJ" chant started. She started to make her promised "big announcement" but Jeff Hardy's music cut her off. He said he wanted answers, but Spud stepped in front of Dixie.

Spud told Hardy this wasn't on the schedule. Jeff said he only needed a second. Spud said it didn't matter and dismissed Jeff. Jeff choked Spud and said he only needed a second. Ethan Carter III ran out and dumped Jeff from the ring. Dixie started to make her announcement again and Sting's music cut her off. Dixie yelled in frustration.

Sting came to the ring and EC3 and Spud left. Sting said he wanted to get his hands on EC3 and Dixie should just put Carter and Spud in a tag match against he and Jeff Hardy. Dixie said no at first and Sting played to the crowd. Dixie said there would be a tag match main event and then her music played. She called for it to be cut but the show went to commercial instead...[C]

Shore's Slant: Pretty good opening. Dixie's frustrated yell is one of the little things that makes segments even better. She didn't quite announce those two teams tagging, she just said there would be a tag main event.

[Q2] Back from commercial, Dixie tried to make her announcement again, but Gunner cut her off. Gunner walked out and said what he had to say was more important. He announced he was cashing in his contract. Dixie denied it because Magnus was overseas. She started again and Gunner pulled her mic down. He told her to tell Magnus it didn't mater when, he was cashing in just as soon as possible so Magus better be ready.

Dixie tried again and again she was cut off, this time by James Storm. Storm came out and took Dixie's microphone. He demanded an explanation from Gunner. Gunner said he didn't owe Storm anything. Storm complained about Gunner throwing in the towel in his match with Bobby Roode. Gunner said he did it because Storm was in trouble and not recovered from his bar room beating the night before.

Storm accused Gunner of stooging out his location that night and Gunner got in his face. Storm challenged him to a match for the briefcase. Dixie jumped in and took the mic back. She booked the match and told Gunner he had to put up the briefcase for interrupting her. She then said she wasn't ready to make her announcement anymore so we would just have to wait. Earl Hebner came out for the match...[C]

Shore's Slant: I like what they did there with the announcement. Pretty clever stuff. The bad news means we have to see dixie again tonight. Oh well. The Storm vs. Gunner heat is still pretty flimsy, but it's enough to get the feud going. I just hate they are going to fight over the briefcase. It damages the purpose of the match where Gunner won it. Of course that is Feast or Fired so who really cares about that?

[Q3] 1. Gunner vs. James Storm for the TNA Championship briefcase. Gunner shoved Storm but Storm had the early offense. The match broke down into brawling and Gunner speared Storm to the floor. Gunner also fell to the floor and looked to take the worst of it. They fought on the floor and Hebner counted them both out...

Gunner and James Storm fought to a double count out at 4:43.

Both men continued to fight and refs and agents came out to break them up but the fight rolled to the back... Somewhere away from the fight backstage, Brooke walked up on Bully Ray in his hoodie and asked him what was going on. She asked if he did't want "all of this" anymore. He didn't answer so she said she was going to the ring and reveal his darkest secrets. Ray called he rack and simply said, "That would be a bad idea." Brooke stormed off...[C]

Shore's Slant: Four minute count-out? Wake me up when that match matters. Storm and gunner should have a good feud, but right now it's pretty light. I guess Brooke goes through a table tonight? I mean, that's usually how Ray deals with women.

Magnus spoke in a sit-down interview. He said he was champion now and got to tell his side of the story. He complained about the gimmicks he had been given over the years and said people were talking about him being close but some people didn't want to hang up their spot yet, "brother." He said once Aces and Eights took him out, he realized that he was on the map...

Shore's Slant: This was OK, but I hope this isn;t like Ray's explanation for Aces and Eights and Magnus claims all of this was in his grand plan.

Brooke made her ring entrance and said she was tired of taking the heat for what happened in his match and demanded he come out and tell the truth. Ray came out and she asked him what was going on. She said she had been calling him and he would't answer. She said it was no one's fault the Aces and Eights ended.

Ray jerked his hand away from her and she popped off on him. She said he had destroyed everything. She said he was supposed to be her ticket to the top but he was like the awkward high school kid who hand no friends. She screamed for him to look at her. He did and she said she didn't need him anymore and then said she was done.

She tried to walk away and Ray grabbed her arm. He took the mic and said, "You're done when I'm done with you." He said he didn't blame her for screwing everything up because she wash;t much in the brains department. He said he kept her around for certain needs he had and she wasn't very goo at those. He said sometimes he would close his eyes and wished he was with the first Brooke again.

He said he could treat her like Anderson and pile drive her. He said she knew how sick and twisted he could be and he wanted her to spread his message and tell everyone it was going to be worse. Some weird ominous music sounded and Ray said he was done with her and to leave. Brooke left and stared at him as the arid music played...

[Q4] Backstage, Joe Park looked at the barbed wire and tacks in his room and called them barbaric...[C]

Shore's Slant: Brooke was decent here and Ray was his normal self, but the segment sucked simply because of the music. It just didn't fit there and made the whole thing campy.

Magnus spoke more about his career. He put over his return to the UK last year and being added into the Main Event Mafia. He said he was honored, but the proof was that he was added so they could keep him down...

Shore's Slant: Bleh. This is all very flimsy. It's like they are trying to redo the Bully Ray thing but there just isn't the backstory there like Ray had.

Backstage, EC3 and Spud whined to Dixie about the match. Dixie told them she had them covered...A video hyped the silliness Joe Par and Eric Young had been through over the past few months. At gorilla, EY talked up Park and then said it was time to do the match. Abyss's music hit and Park said it wasn't his music. EY said it was and sent Park out for his ring entrance...[C]

[Q5] Backstage, Sting said he was marking out about teaming with Jeff. Jeff just stared off and Sting said obviously Jeff didn't feel the same. Jeff said he didn't come to fight tonight. Sting asked if it was about what happened with Dixie and Jeff nodded. Sting said he was Jeff Hardy and he would make Dixie listen but they needed to concentrate on this match. Jeff agreed and shook his hand... Bad Influence made their ring entrance...

2. Joseph Park vs. Bad Influence in a Monster's Ball match. Bad Influence took a crutch and kendo stick and knocked Janice away from Park. They beat him down and tossed a ton of weapons in the ring. They hit Park with all kinds of shit in the ring and then dumped him to the floor to beat him up some more. Bad Influence blundered to stop their assault and Park hit a splash on Kazarian with a trashcan lid. He locked on the Boston Crab, but Daniels made the save with a crutch.

Kaz grabbed Janice and Park crawled out of the ring and started crawling up the ramp. EY came out and encouraged Park. Park said he needed EY's help. EY started to punch Park in the head but Bad Influence made the save. They rolled EY in the ring and Park followed. They went to hit EY, but Park pushed him aside and took the kendo stick to the head. He came up bleeding and turned into Abyss. He no sold chair and kendo stick shots and then took out Bad Influence. He hit the Black Hole Slam on Daniels for the win...

Abyss defeated Bad Influence at 10:22.

Post-match Abyss didn't revert back to Joe Park. He held up Janice and celebrated with EY in the ring... Backstage, Jeff Hardy was talking to his wife on the phone. Even though we could hear Dixie on the phone last week for some reason we couldn't hear Beth. Jeff said he knew what he had to do and would call her when it was over. He asked her to trust him and hung up...

Shore's Slant: Total garbage match with Monster's Ball, but at least the transition seems to have stuck this time so at least no more Joe Park. If Jeff going to quit? That's certainly the angle they are hinting at here.

[Q6][C] "The Rise of Magnus" video series continued. He put over his BFG run and then said he got beat by AJ in the finals. He said sitting on the apron and watching AJ celebrate was a feeling he never wanted to feel again. He said after he beat Sting he knew he would do whatever it took to get to the top...

Gail Kim and Lei'D Tapa made their entrance Kim said Madison Rayne embarrassed her last week. She asked Tapa how that happened and Tapa just stared ahead. Kim said that was correct, it was a fluke. She said ODB stuck her nose in her business and that meant it was Tapa's business now. She called out ODB to face Tapa...

3. Lei'D Tapa (w/Gail Kim) vs. ODB. The two women slammed into each other for four minutes and then ODB tried to slam Tapa. Kim tossed her belt in the ring and distracted the ref before pulling Tapa down on ODB. Tapa hit her finisher for the win...

Lei'D Tapa defeated ODB at 4:14.

Post-match, Gail Kim said the same thing would happen to Madison... Backstage, Sting told Jeff to get whatever was in his head out because he needed him for their match. Jeff nodded and put on his game face...

Shore's Slant: All that match did was make Tapa look weak. I doubt that was their intent but it was their result.

[Q7][C] The next Magnus video aired. Magnus said Dixie Carter had always believed in him. He said Dixie had a brief moment where she was blinded by the thought of needing Jeff Hardy, but after Jeff spit in her face she knew Magnus was the guy. He said he knew it then too and their partnership would last a lifetime...

The four men in the main event made their ring entrances. Dixie appeared on the screen and announced her big announcement was the coronation ceremony next week for Magnus. She went on to announce the main event was a handicap match and introduced Bro-Mans as the new partners for her team. DJ Zema handled the ring introductions with his stupid horn gimmick...[C]

Shore's Slant: Yeah, that introduction to Magnus smacked too much like the Bully Ray thing and it wasn't near as good. That was a tactical mistake on TNA's part. There were better ways to tell that story than a sit down performance like that.

4. Sting and Jeff Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III, Rockstar Spud, and the Bro-Mans (w/DJ Zema). Sting and EC3 started. EC3 got in Sting;s face and tagged Spud. Spud backed into Sting and then tagged in Jesse. There was finally a lock up and Sting took out both Bro-Mans and then tagged in Jeff to do the same. Bro-Mans and EC3 ended up on the floor and Hardy used Sting to jump to the top rope and dove on the heels...

[Q8][C] Back from commercial, the heels were getting heat on Hardy. Carter tagged in and mocked Sting before missing the Stinger splash. Sting got the hot tag and beat up everyone. Spud jumped on his back and Sting continued to beat everyone up with Spud on his back. Spud let go and Sting scared him out of the ring. EC3 slid in the ring out of nowhere and rolled Sting up for the win. He might have had a handful of tights in the process...

Ethan Carter III, Rockstar Spud, and the Bro-Mans defeated Jeff Hardy and Sting at 12:24.

Post-match, Jeff apologized to Sting for last week and tonight. He said Sting was the reason he got into wrestling and that was why he was apologizing because the creatures didm;t deserve this. Jeff said Dixie's actions had nearly taken his heart out of it and in this business you need your heart. He said he killed himself last week and he still lost. He said Dixie owned the new champion but not him. He said he was tired of the politics.

A "Hardy" chant broke out and Sting told him to listen to them. Hardy started to say more but Sting cut him off and told him not to say what it sounded like he was going to say. Jeff said he wanted to stay and fight but the fight was all gone. A "No" chant broke out and Jeff said this was his last match in TNA. He said he wouldn't return until the light shined on this dark kingdom. He said he loved the creatures, took off his shirt, and hugged Sting. He climbed out of the ring and walked to the back as the fans chanted for him...

Shore's Slant: An interesting hook that lost something with the cryptic "until the light shines on this dark kingdom." Between that and the weird music over Ray's promo this was a weirdly written show. I like Carter getting the win there. Sting has a lot to give in this respect of putting young guys over, and he can absorb this loss without a speck of damage. No we have to wait and see how long Jeff is out. His contract isn't up, he's just getting written offTV for a while, at least as long as the UK tour since he can't go.

All in all a mediocre show. It wasn't bad but it wasn't a standout performance either. The Magnus videos were a mistake, though after the success of the Bully Ray ones I understand the try, and Dixie's big announcement was yet another fart in church. Still, there are some thing to look forward to here over the next few shows. Thanks for watching along tonight.