By Jason Powell

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

[Q1] The show opened with a recap video... "Genesis...The Beginning...Or The End" is the title of the show... Mike Tenay welcomed viewers to the first Impact of 2011 and noted that Taz was with him on commentary as Immortal walked to the ring. Eric Bischoff wished viewers a very happy new year.

Bischoff talked about putting a bounty on all the title belts that Fortune doesn't hold. With Immortal in the ring, Bischoff started by calling out Jay Lethal, who walked to ringside with a nervous look on his face. Bischoff assured him he would be okay, so Lethal cautiously complied.

Powell's POV: We're getting a late start tonight, but hopefully we can catch up by the end of the show. My apologies for the Superstars report being listed here earlier. There was supposed to be a note regarding our coverage starting late, but Chris Shore has a knack for posting his report in the wrong section. Hey, we all have our flaws, right?

Bischoff called out The Motor City Machine Guns next. The tag champs headed to the ring and stood next to Lethal. Finally, Bischoff called out Douglas Williams, who brought the TNA TV Title belt with him. Bischoff booked the champions in matches under the guise that they be ready for Genesis.

Bischoff booked Lethal in a match against Abyss. He said Douglas Williams would face Rob Terry. Finally, Bischoff announced that The Guns would face A.J. Styles and Kazarian. Bischoff said he wanted the wrestlers to shake hands. Instead, Immortal roughed up the babyface champions.

Bischoff pretended to act upset. "Gentlemen, this is not what we talked about," Bischoff said. "I will fine you." Eventually, Rob Van Dam's music played and he ran to the ring and helped the babyfaces run off the heels. Van Dam took a mic and demanded to know who his opponent is at Genesis. "I'll tell you when I'm damn good and ready," Bischoff said. Van Dam said he would find out tonight even if he has to beat it out of Bischoff...

Powell's POV: Why not tease that all these champions would be forced to wrestle in advance? I know they like to give the impression that Impact is live, but there's no reason they couldn't say Bischoff was going to book the champions. Anyway, a decent opening segment that set the stage for the rest of the show.

Backstage, Bully Ray looked into the camera and challenged Devon to meet him in the parking lot if he's man enough...

[Q2] [C] A video recapped Jeff Jarrett's MMA challenges against Amazing Red and Red's "baby brother"... Jarrett headed to the ring with his posse. The fans chanted "You sold out" at Jarrett. He said he had to make some changes to his MMA Challenge to make TNA legal happy.

Jarrett said that if someone is going to accept the challenge, they can't be taller than he is. "I do not want anyone to get seriously hurt," Jarrett reasoned. He said it's now an exhibition only. He brought out a stack of waivers and asked if he had any takers. He pointed to actor Boo Boo Stewart of "Twilight." Jarrett approached the child actor and asked if he wanted in.

Stewart said he wanted to match. Jarrett had Jeremy Borash check to make sure Stewart is smaller than him. The actor was smaller, but his father was taller. Jarrett said Stewart will be taller than him someday, so he's disqualified. Funny. Jarrett called out a planted fan in the back to join him in the ring.

1. Jeff Jarrett beat a fan in an MMA exhibition. Jarrett let the fan play to the crowd on the mic and then kneed him in the gut. Jarrett roughed up the fan for about 30 seconds before applying the ankle lock. THe fan tapped out. The announcers pleaded with Jarrett to let the fan go after the bell rang.

Kurt Angle hopped the guardrail and entered the ring. Jeff Jarrett left the ring and then pretended to be held back by his posse at ringside. Angle noted that he promised he would never wrestle again. However, since Jarrett is holding exhibitions, that means he's free to compete. Angle signed a waiver and said he'd see Jarrett's ass at Genesis...

Powell's POV: Good segment. Jarrett played his role nicely. The more sadistic he is, the better I like his chances of making this feel like more than a mid-card comedy angle. Either way, this is among my favorite Jarrett characters to date.

[Q3] [C] A recap aired of the Angle and Jarrett angle... The announcers spoke at ringside...

2. The Motor City Machine Guns defeated A.J. Styles and Kazarian in 4:50 in a non-title match. Tenay recalled Bischoff caliming he was making all the champions wrestle to sharpen their competitive skills. The Guns went after Styles and Kazarian aggressively to start the match. Ultimately, Styles took a combo move from the Guns and was pinned.

After the match, Bischoff walked onto the stage with a disgusted look on his face. Meanwhile, Beer Money entered the other side of the ring and attacked The Guns. Styles showed frustration at ringside while Bischoff watched on with a look of disappointment...

Powell's POV: It would have been nice to get a longer match from those teams, but the match served multiple purposes. The Guns look good, Styles looks vulnerable heading into his "win or out of Immortal" match, and Beer Money gets heat. Nicely done.

Backstage, D'Angelo Dinero said he's going to callout whoever has been following him around and demand an apology... [C]

Powell's POV: What the hell is he talking about?

[Q4] Backstage, Eric Bischoff lectured A.J. Styles while Ric Flair stood by. Bischoff said Styles's job was simple in that he was supposed to go out and soften up The Guns. Styles said they are champions and it's not that simple. Flair said they just want Styles to be the best. Bischoff told Styles to get the job done at the pay-per-view "or else." Styles asked him what would happen. Bischoff said he didn't want to know...

Dinero came to the ring for a promo. Pope said someone has been following him around with a video camera. He said his congregation still respects him. Dinero called out whoever the person is. Samoa Joe's music played and he walked onto the stage dressed in street clothes.

Powell's POV: I guess it's hard to tell the difference between Hervey Cam and Mystery Stalker Cam.

Joe said the war isn't won in the ring, it's won via perception. Joe said Pope claims to be a street saint, but he's actually a scum bag. Joe said Pope claims to spend time doing charity work, but he actually spends time at a strip club. Joe continued to run down all of Pope's recent misdeeds. Joe said Pope had 35 noise complaints at his house this week. He asked whether Pope is a street saint or a scum bag.

Pope got upset and asked who Joe is to judge him. He claimed he went to the strip club to tell the girls that they didn't have to work there. He also tried to paint a rosy picture of the other issues Joe brought up. Pope told Joe to check himself before he wrecks himself. Yes, he really said that. Pope said they would have a problem the next time it happened. Mike Tenay said Pope had answers for all the allegations...

Powell's POV: Tenay is defending Pope and believing his side of the story even though he should be skeptical as hell? I'm always amazed to see the new and exciting ways Tenay loses credibility with viewers.

Devon told the camera that he would accept Ray's challenge to meet him in the parking lot. He excused himself because he has some ass kicking to do....

Powell's POV: If a guy told you he was going to the parking lot that could be seen right behind him in the camera shot, wouldn't you follow him rather than cut to the ring?

[Q5] 3. Madison Rayne and Sarita (w/Tara) defeated Mickie James and Velvet Sky in 4:35. The referee was distracted while Tara used her elbow brace to take a cheap shot at Sky. Sarita made the cover and the ref counted the three to the sound of crickets from the live crowd...

Powell's POV: I wonder how it made the other women in the match feel when the TNA preview for tonight's show hyped that Mickie James would be in action, yet didn't mention anything about anyone else in the match? As for the match, it was nothing special. I can't get over how little crowd cared about the finish.

Backstage, Rob Van Dam entered Bischoff's office in hopes of find out out who his opponent would be. Bischoff told him to focus on his match tonight. Van Dam wanted to know who his opponent was tonight. Bischoff complained about head games and then said he'd kick his opponent's ass tonight, and his opponent's ass at the pay-per-view... [C]

4. Douglas Williams beat Rob Terry by DQ in a non-title match in 1:30. A.J. Styles came to ringside and eventually attacked Williams. The referee called for the bell and they cut away just a few seconds into the beatdown...

[Q6] A backstage shot aired of Bully Ray walking toward the parking lot while surrounded by security... [C] Outside the building, security surrounded Devon while Bully Ray taunted him by telling him to go home. Devon called him a coward. "You used to be a coward, but now you're just a bitch," Ray said.

Security had to hold back Devon. Ray caught him with a low blow and then took a couple shots at the security guards. Ray told Devon he could take him out with a shot to the back of his head. He told him to go home to his family and to not show up at the pay-per-view on Sunday...

Powell's POV: Short, but effective. I like the Bully Ray character. He's always been a blowhard on the mic, so the character is perfect for him. That said, while the mic work is good, we'll see how he does in the ring when/if he's asked to do more than brawl.

Backstage, Bischoff told Jarrett he has to get rid of Rob Van Dam. Jarrett said he'd take care of it after Sunday. Bischoff said he needed it done tonight. Jarrett balked at doing double duty. Bischoff assured him that they'd stack the deck a little by making a No DQ match. Jarrett said he liked the idea...

Ring introductions for the Abyss vs. Lethal match took place... [C]

[Q7] 5. Jay Lethal defeated Abyss by DQ in a non-title match in 3:50. Lethal got the better of Abyss, but struggled to knock him down early on. Abyss finally went down when Lethal caught him with a missile dropkick. Abyss came back with a Black Hole Slam.

Abyss had the win, but Abyss picked up Lethal before the ref could make the three count. Abyss put his foot on Lethal's throat in the corner and refused to obey the ref, so he was disqualified. Kazarian came out and told Abyss he couldn't beat Lethal at Genesis if he doesn't have a pulse.

Kazarian said he'd like Lethal to stand up so they could be face-to-face. Abyss had to pick up Lethal. Kazarian said it will be a pleasure to meet him at Genesis. He said he wanted to shake his hand. Kazarian took Lethal's hand and shook it while Abyss held him up. "I'll see you at Genesis, kid," Kazarian said...

A snippet of Tenay's sitdown interview with Matt Morgan and Mr. Anderson was shown... [C] A video previewed Sunday's Genesis pay-per-view...

Tenay interviewed Morgan and Anderson inside the empty Impact Zone. They were all seated with Tenay in between them. Morgan wore a suit, and Anderson was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. Anderson got upset when the concussion issue was brought up.

[Q8] Morgan wanted to know where the medical clearance papers were. Anderson said it was none of his business. Tenay said he's interviewed every big name in the business. He said he looks in Anderson's eyes and he's the one guy he can't get a read on. He questioned whether Anderson is working him and Morgan.

Anderson said he'll know when he steps foot in the ring at the pay-per-view. Anderson said he will wrestle on Sunday. Morgan said the gloves come off when they get in the ring. Morgan and Anderson ended up going face-to-face. Morgan got the last word by telling Anderson to look for the right cross hospital and the Carbon Footprint graveyard...

Powell's POV: That could have been so much better. There's just too much focus on Anderson's head trauma. It worked early on and I'm sure it will play into whatever they are doing at the pay-per-view, but it's just not clicking with me anymore. I'd rather hear them talk about the importance of the match than continue to milk the Anderson concussion saga. By the way, Tenay is still terrible in the sitdown interview segments. It's just not his thing.

Separate shots aired of Jeff Jarrett and Rob Van Dam... [C]

6. Jeff Jarrett defeated Rob Van Dam in a No DQ match in 5:00. Van Dam was in control early. Gunner and Murphy hit the ring and helped Jarrett. They held Van Dam in place for Jarrett. However, when Jarrett got cocky and told them to release Van Dam, he stood up and kicked them.

Jeff Hardy hit the ring and hit the Twist of Hate on Van Dan Dam. Jarrett covered Hardy and got the win because it was all legal due to the No DQ aspect. The heels continued to work over Van Dam until Matt Morgan made the save. Morgan worked on Jarrett in the corner.

Hardy recovered and went to strike Morgan with a chair, but Anderson entered the ring and stopped him. Mr. Anderson ran in and took the chair from Hardy. He swung the chair at Hardy, who moved, causing Anderson to hit Morgan's back with the chair. Tenay questioned whether Anderson intentionally hit Morgan. He stressed that you can't read Anderson...

Powell's POV: Van Dam leaves Impact looking like the biggest moron in the business. He said he was going to do whatever it took to find out who his pay-per-view opponent was, but that didn't happen. Then he was booked in a No DQ match against a mystery opponent and didn't bother to line up any backup.

As much as I don't like Tenay in the sit-down interview format, he did a good job of following up with his commentary by stressing that you can't read Anderson. His initial comment in the interview set up the main event angle well, and then Tenay drove it home after Anderson struck Morgan. Overall, this show failed to get this viewer excited about Sunday's TNA Genesis. I'll have more to say in Friday's TNA Impact Hitlist.

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