5/27 Powell's TNA Impact Live Coverage: Double main event with A.J. Styles vs. Mr. Anderson, Jeff Hardy vs. Desmond Wolfe, new Slammiversary pay-per-view matches announced

By Jason Powell

TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.

[Q1] The show opened with a recap of last week's television show... The show is called "The Enigma and The A-Hole"... Mike Tenay and Taz checked in on commentary and hyped the various matches for the show and questioned what Mr. Anderson was up to last week when he helped Jeff Hardy...

Ring announcer Jeremy Borash introduced Jeff Hardy, who came to the ring for a promo. "What's up, creatures," Hardy started. He said he was trying to figure out what was up with "the asshole himself, Mr. Anderson." He asked Anderson to come out and explain himself.

Mr. Anderson obliged by coming to the ring. "Jeff, Jeffery, Jeffro," Anderson said. He said he maybe extends hands and gives assists to confuse people, including Hardy. "Maybe I did that because I'm an asshole," Anderson said. The fans chanted, "We're all assholes."

Anderson spoke about Hardy's look and mimicked his dance. He said an old woman walking down the street would say, "That boy is an asshole." Anderson said Hardy should embrace his inner asshole. "Wouldn't you like to be an asshole too?" Anderson sang. Hardy looked like he was amused by Anderson's routine and even clapped for him.

A.J. Styles's music played. Styles, Ric Flair, Beer Money, and Desmond Wolfe walked onto the stage. Styles said he just arrived at the building and "saw I had a match with you tonight." He kept talking about "you" while saying the person doesn't even belong in the same ring with him. Styles said Bischoff said the man had requested the match.

Hardy said he hasn't requested anything. Styles said he was talking to the "butt munch" beside him. Styles asked if Anderson knows who he is. Anderson teased doing his catchphrase, but waited for his own mic to drop from the ceiling before saying "Mr. Anderson"... [C]

Powell's POV: It looks like Anderson is a babyface, but it's possible that's just what they want us to think. Keep in mind that lead writer Vince Russo is all about shades of gray, so I see Anderson as a tweener at this point. Anderson could definitely get over as a babyface, but I'd rather see him stay heel for now, as he was really strong in that role when he went for boos rather than laughs. The opening segment was solid, but nothing special.

[Q2] A video recapped the Team 3D and Ink Inc. saga...

1. Ink Inc. defeated Kevin Nash and Eric Young (w/Scott Hall) and Team 3D in a three-way non-title match. Hall and Nash both stood on the ring apron while Young started the match for their team. The announcers questioned which one of them was actually teaming with Young for the match.

Neither Hall nor Nash tagged in. Brother Ray worked over Jesse Neal aggressively. He went to ringside and grabbed a chair, but Devon took it away from Bubba. Neal hit the surprised Ray with a spear for the win.

Afterward, Brother Ray asked Devon if he was out of mind. Devon told him to get his hand out of his face. Ray turned his attention to Neal and challenged him to a singles match at the Slammiversary pay-per-view...

Powell's POV: Team 3D is trying to get their student over, but I just don't give a damn about this feud.

Backstage, Christy Hemme congratulated Kazarian on his battle royal win last week. He said he's more confident than he's ever been in his career. Ric Flair walked into the picture and Kazarian credited Flair for instilling confidence in him. Flair said that if Kazarian wants to impress him, he needs to go out and manhandle Jay Lethal.

A.J. Styles walked into the picture and said he'd been looking all over for Flair all day. He wasn't happy that he found Flair with Kazarian, and said he has a big match coming up with Mr. Anderson. "You're A.J. Styles, you'll be fine," Flair said. Flair basically blew of Styles and turned his attention back to Kazarian...

Powell's POV: Um, didn't Styles, who was supposedly looking for Flair all day, just see him 15 minutes ago in the opening segment? Is Flair only interested in Kazarian because of his match against Lethal? Are they setting up the eventual Flair and Styles split?

Backstage, Hervey-Cam showed Rob Van Dam stating his intention to call out Sting tonight... [C]

[Q3] 2. Kazarian beat Jay Lethal in 4:40. The usual half-assed crowd reaction for Kazarian, who still lacks a real connection with the live crowd. Lethal got a slightly better reaction. Ric Flair walked to the ring about 90 seconds in, which distracted Lethal. Kazarian took advantage and went right after Lethal.

Kazarian performed moves and looked to Flair for his approval. Lethal regained control of the offense and taunted Flair before applying the figure four. Flair headed to the ring and encouraged Kazarian to grab the ropes, which he did.

Flair took off his jacket and pie-faced Lethal, who punched Flair. Kazarian rolled up Lethal and held the trunks while pinning him. Afterward, Flair entered the ring and attacked Lethal, who eventually fired back with some Flair chops and cleared him from the ring.

A.J. Styles ran out and put the boots to Lethal. Styles tried to punch Lethal, but Kazarian stopped him. Kazarian tried to hit Lethal, but Styles stopped him. Styles and Kazarian bickered until Lethal kicked them both out of the ring. The argument continued at ringside and Flair showed frustration with Styles...

Powell's POV: I'm happy to see them give up on Kazarian as a babyface because he doesn't have a connection with the fans. I'm also okay with the idea of splitting Flair and Styles. Having said all that, this segment didn't do anything for me. The idea is obviously for Flair and Styles to elevate Lethal and Kazarian, but it feels more like Flair and Styles are lowering themselves by working with these guys. I remained stunned at how little Flair means these days. Sad.

A shot aired of Shannon Moore lying face down in the backstage area with an ace of spades card on his back. The announcers questioned who was responsible...

[Q4] [C] A video recapped the Abyss, Desmond Wolfe, and Chelsea story...

3. Abyss (w/Chelsea) beat Orlando Jordan by DQ in 4:30. Jordan came out wearing Abyss decals on his nipples. Shocking! Okay, not really. Jordan shot Chelsea a look of disgust as she headed to ringside before the match. Abyss ripped the decals off Jordan's nipples early in the match.

Jordan worked over Abyss's injured arm and ripped off the bandages covering his cuts. They fought to ringside at 4:00. Jordan shoved Abyss into Chelsea and knocked her down. Abyss checked on Chelsea. Desmond Wolfe came out and hit Abyss with a pipe for the DQ.

The heels worked over Abyss until Rob Terry limped out on his bad leg. Terry went for the Freakbuster on Wolfe, who slipped away. Terry managed to hit the move on Jordan. Abyss headed back to ringside to check on Chelsea. He picked her up and carried her backstage...

A shot aired of Rob Van Dam backstage. Tenay said RVD would call out Sting after the break... [C]

Powell's POV: Basic stuff in the previous match. This certainly isn't the first time a babyface has "won" a valet for 30 days. The flaw here is that they didn't make people care about Chelsea. They barely established her as a selfish woman who wants Wolfe to give her items like the Hall of Fame ring, but it never got to the point where she had real heat. Thus, the fans don't seem to care about her 30 days with Abyss. Perhaps they have something planned that will actually put some heat on her and Desmond via the 30-day angle.

[Q5] A video recapped Sting's attacks on RVD, Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, Mr. Anderson, and Eric Bischoff...

TNA Champion Rob Van Dam came out to the best crowd reaction of the night. RVD said he was there to talk to Sting. "I know you're here, Sting, somewhere," Van Dam said. RVD assumed that Sting was after the TNA Title. He said it's amazing that their paths have never crossed before.

Van Dam said that Sting could come to the ring to get an idea of how things will go at Slammiversary. Sting's music played, but he didn't come out. Instead, a video played on the screen of Sting attacking RVD on the March 8 edition of Impact.

Sting appeared in the rafters and said that was just a small taste of what RVD would get at the pay-per-view. Sting said he's going to take the TNA Title. "It's going to be show time at Slammiversary," Sting said. Sting's music played and he walked through the rafters...

Powell's POV: That's it? The crowd was hot for RVD, but that was too quick and didn't accomplish much beyond reminding everyone of what the pay-per-view main event will be. It's also another week of Sting saying nothing to turn the fans against him. It's show time at Slammiversary? Oh, I really hate that Sting guy now! Sigh.

Backstage, Hervey-Cam said Mr. Anderson is a tough spot because the heels and the babyfaces all hate him. Anderson said he's an asshole. Hogan said he's a hell of a talent. Anderson said he was serious when he offered his hand to Jeff Hardy. Hogan was skeptical and told him to prove his sincerity. Anderson told him to watch what he does in the ring with Styles... [C]

An ad aired for the Half Pint Brawlers series that begins on June 2. After the ad, Puppet was sitting with the announcers and hyped the show briefly...

Backstage, Christy Hemme interviewed Roxxi about her non-title win over Madison Rayne last week. They showed footage of Roxxi breaking her ankle in a match against Hamada. She said she was cleared to return last week. Hemme told her that she has a shot at the TNA Knockouts Title at Slammiversary. Roxxi acted surprised and excited...

Powell's POV: Simple and effective. It was cool to see Roxxi act so excited about getting a shot. It should get fans behind her and it also makes the TNA Knockouts Title feel more prestigious...

[Q6] 4. Lacey Von Erich and Velvet Sky (w/Madison Rayne) beat Taylor Wilde and Sarita to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag Titles in 2:20. Puppet sat in on commentary for the match. Lacey applied the claw on Taylor and turned it into a claw slam for the win.

After the match, Puppet entered the ring and celebrated with the Beautiful People. He got excited and slapped Velvet on the ass. The Beautiful People weren't happy. Velvet slapped him and Madison DDT'd him. Lacey wanted them to stop. She helped him up after the match, only to have him plant a kiss on her. She liked it and ended up kissing him back while Velvet gagged on the stage... [C]

Powell's POV: There are only two real tag teams in the Knockouts Division. The champions just beat their only real contenders in a two-minute match. Now what? Meanwhile, Lacey is fun. I like the way she's more fun loving (and easy) than conniving like her faction mates.

Upcoming house shows were plugged... Kurt Angle joined the announcers on commentary. He said he was there to scout two of the wrestlers who make up the top 10 rankings...

[Q7] 5. Desmond Wolfe beat Jeff Hardy in 5:45. Angle was on commentary for the match. At 5:00, Hardy went for a move off the ropes and accidentally hit the referee with his foot on the way down. Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on Wolfe and went for a cover, but the referee was out. Wolfe pulled a slapjack out of his trunks and scored the pin...

Powell's POV: Angle and the announcers talked about the top 10 rankings, but TNA should be featuring graphics of the actual top 10 rankings once per hour. They did a good job of making it seem important last week by having all the top 10 wrestlers walk onto the stage during Eric Bischoff in-ring segment, but they have to stay consistent if they want to maintain viewer interest. The match was not the dream matchup that fans of the two wrestlers may have expected. It was too short to be memorable, and the finish was weak. Wolfe wins, but only after they showed he would have lost had it not been for the slapjack.

Matt Morgan came out and recapped how "we" lost the TNA Tag Titles. He said management was making him find another tag partner for his rematch. He issued an open invitation to anyone who wanted to become tag champions with him. He pointed at Kurt Angle, who was still on commentary.

[Q8] Morgan called Angle "the little bald guy" and invited him to be his partner. Angle headed to the ring. Security followed, but Morgan assured them it wouldn't get physical. Morgan referred to Angle as "kid." Angle took offense and reminded Morgan that he pinned him the last time they were in the ring together. Morgan laughed at him and said, "A sense of humor, we love that."

Morgan shoved Angle to the mat. Angle went after Morgan, who ran to the ropes and backed away between the top and middle rope. Security held back Angle. Samoa Joe's music played. Morgan took a powder and said, "The Blueprint is off the clock." Angle and Joe went face-to-face...

Powell's POV: This was a mixed bag. Morgan's mic work was strong and his talking down to Angle was funny, but the "we" thing has really run it's course. Morgan was more comically arrogant than main event arrogant, if that makes sense. He's a tweak or two away from being there, though, and dropping the "we" thing would be a big step in the right direction.

The announcers hyped Douglas Williams vs. Brian Kendrick for the X Title, and Hall and Nash vs. Morgan and a partner for the TNA Tag Titles at Slammiversary... Ring introductions took place for the main event... [C]

6. A.J. Styles beat Mr. Anderson in 5:55. The finish saw Anderson got for a cross-body. The idea was that Anderson was supposed to roll through, but Anderson had to pull Styles on top of him for the pin. Styles's feet were in the ropes when he made the pin, and Taz referred to it as "highway robbery."

Anderson smirked and his mic was lowered. "You got me at my own frickin' game," Anderson said. He called to the "assholes" and asked if Styles pulled his tights. The fans applauded. Anderson punched Styles and put the boots to him.

Beer Money hit the ring and attacked Anderson. The three heels roughed up Anderson until Jeff Hardy's music played. Hardy came out with a chair in hand and ran off the heels. Anderson backed into Hardy for the uncomfortable moment. Hardy dropped the chair and then offered his hand to Anderson, who shook it as the heels watched on...

Powell's POV: I'm still suspicious that Anderson is playing Hardy, so they did their job if that's what they're going for with this angle. The show featured too many short matches. They billed a double main event and the two matches combined lasted less than 12 minutes. No, Vince Russo, I don't want two hours of nothing but wrestling, but I would like a main event that actually kicks into a second gear.

I'll have more to say about TNA Impact in the Dot Net Member exclusive audio recap later tonight. You can access this audio update and all the perks of membership within a matter of minutes by signing up for membership via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.