TNA Impact on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, Fl.

[Q1] Footage and still photos of the Genesis pay-per-view aired. Tonight's show is entitled "A.J. Styles..... Woooooo!!!" A long limo pulled up. Three random broads got out, followed by Flair, followed by Styles. Styles was in a suit and he said he felt like a champ...

Twill's Two Cents: Perfect way to start the show. The most important thing to come out of the pay-per-view was featured right away.

The opening video aired. Same music but the video included all of the new additions. Ric Flair and two of the three girls came out to the ring. Flair said he loved TNA and one of the girls gave him a little kiss. He said he came to TNA for three reasons. First, he hates Hulk Hogan. He said the feud would end in TNA, once and for all.

Secondly, Flair has been asked for twenty years who the next Flair would be. He said he's been watching TNA for the past six months and Kurt Angle is the best technician of all time. He said Sting is great. But A.J. Styles is the guy he is going to work with until he is out of this business.

Finally, Flair told a story about banging Dixie Carter and her giving him a contract as a result. Flair then introduced the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, A.J. Styles. Styles came out with the third woman and the belt over his shoulder.

Twill's Two Cents: Great stuff so far, except for getting a little sick every time I see a hot, young girl smile when Ric Flair talks about having sex. Other than that, great stuff from Flair. I've made the point in the past about World Champions looking better in suits, and Styles looks like a million bucks.

As Styles came to the ring, Mike Tenay complained that Styles "threw everything away" by aligning with Flair. Okay Mike, you kiss Flair's ass when he is a babyface, but if Styles turns heel, he threw everything away? Styles stood in the ring and cut a promo about how great he has been over the past eight years.

Styles said he was not taking a back seat anymore to guys like Angle, Jarrett, Foley, and Joe. Styles delivered Flair's "Jet flying..." line. Nicely done. Angle's music hit and he came out to the stage. Hulk Hogan joined Angle with a microphone in hand. Hogan said he said Angle would not receive another title shot in 2010.

Hogan said due to Flair's association with Styles and his inability to stay out of "World Championship" business, he was going to give Angle another shot at the title tonight. He said if Flair got involved, he would disqualify Styles and give the title to Angle. "It's real, it's damn real." Styles and Flair were pissed in the ring... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Awesome opening segment. That, and Bret Hart opening Raw on January 4th, were the two best opening segments in recent memory on any show. I'm curious how this main even is going to play out tonight, but I guarantee they kept their on the fence viewers who tuned in for the start of the show.

[Q2] Mick Foley was shown backstage. He was calling for Eric Bischoff and he threw some stools and ladders around. Tenay and Taz plugged the Nasty Boys vs. Kevin Nash and Eric Young, Mr. Anderson cutting a promo, and Styles vs. Angle...

1. Matt Morgan and Hernandez defeated The British Invasion (Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus) to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championships in 3:59. The Brits worked over Morgan in their corner but Morgan hit a discus closeline on Brutus. Rob Terry brought his briefcase down and tossed it to Magnus. He tried to hit Hernandez, but he hit Williams instead. Hernandez pinned him...

Magnus got pissed at Terry and the three bickered a bit. Foley hit the ring and took out all three members of TBI with a chair. He stood in the ring and received a huge "Foley" chant. He looked into the camera and said he was coming to see Bischoff tonight... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: I imagine we won't be seeing TBI in the title picture anytime soon. Cool attack by Foley and none of those chair shots were too dangerous. Now we have the main event and Foley confronting Bischoff to look forward to. Great first half hour.

[Q3] Highlights aired of Bubba The Love Sponge calling Jeff Jarrett and putting him on the air on Tuesday. Jarrett was not happy to be put on the air and kept hanging up on Bubba...

Backstage Hogan and Bischoff were talking about cleaning things up and all of the crap that is going on in TNA right now. Kevin Nash entered and Hogan got on him a little bit for what went on with Hall and Waltman at the pay-per-view. Nash said they have things going right now and needed Hogan's support. Hogan gave him a fist bump and Nash took off...

Orlando Jordan came down to the ring. D'Angelo Dinero cut a promo backstage before making his entrance. Pope made it rain and the camera went in close on the bills, and they were real hundred dollars bills...

2. Orlando Jordan defeated D'Angelo Dinero in 2:59. After a long exchange, Jordan slapped Pope in the face. That pissed him off and he mounted Jordan before hitting him with huge right hands. With Pope on the apron, Jordan hit a sweet dragon screw leg whip with Pope tied in the ropes. Jordan then scored the surprise pinfall...

Twill's Two Cents: Throwaway match that honestly surprised me in I thought Dinero would get a win after his pay-per-view loss to Desmond Wolfe.

[Q4] Kurt Angle cut a promo backstage and said it made him sick to see what Flair had done to Styles. He said the match was not supposed to happen, but it is going to happen. He said he would win the title. "It's real, it's damn real." ... [C]

The commercial teaser showed Angelina Love stretching and getting ready for her match...

More footage aired of Jarrett and Bubba. Jarrett kept making the point that TNA was just fine before Hogan, Bischoff, and Bubba came to TNA...

Twill's Two Cents: Was this storyline so important that Bubba had to be featured on the show so much?

Young approached Nash backstage. He asked Nash if Nash was with him, "or with them?" Nash said Young and him needed to take care of business tonight and once Hall and Waltman got to know him, Young would fit right in. They shook hands...

Footage aired of TBP saying Angelina Love turned them into monsters. It was followed up by their reunion, and Love attacking all three members of the group. Love and Madison Rayne were shown split screen walking through the backstage area... [C]

Part three of the Bubba and Jarrett conversation was aired. They continued to argue over the changes in TNA. Jarrett hates them and Bubba defended Hogan...

Bobby Lashley and Eric Bischoff spoke in his office. Lashley said he wants to wrestle and he wants to be in TNA. He said his wife will not speak for him and he wanted to talk to Bischoff man to man. Bischoff praised Lashley and said he would talk to Hogan. He told Lashley to be here next week. They shook hands, Lashley left, and Bischoff displayed a sneaky smile...

Twill's Two Cents: I'm sure there was more to that than meets the eye, or at least I hope so because we don't need the old, boring Lashley back. Bischoff continues to be great in his role.

[Q5] 3. Angelina Love defeated Madison Rayne in 1:03. Love won the match pretty quickly with a kick. She ripped off Rayne's shirt and choked her with it. Velvet Sky (wearing the best pair of jeans ever) and Lacey Von Erich hit the ring. Love fought them off at first, but TBP knocked her out with the ugly stick. They celebrated over her prone body...

Twill's Two Cents: Love seeing Angelina and TBP featured prominently, but let's get Angelina back in the group please! That being said, she plays a very effective babyface too.

Backstage, Bubba the Love Sponge interviewed Hall and Waltman. He said if you google "screwup," their pictures came up one and two. Waltman said they bring in ratings. Hall said, "Take another hit Cheech." Funny. Hall said he and Waltman would have official contracts by the end of the show...

Hogan and Bischoff were shown walking... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: If you google "idiot douchebag," Bubba's picture is the first one to come up. Nice promo by Hall. He looked and sounded healthy.

Hogan and Bischoff came out. By the way, the new stage looks very major league. It is a drastic improvement and the "coming up the stairs" effect is very cool. The crowd popped huge for Hogan and chanted his name. I guess they are over the six sided ring stuff.

Hogan said he was tired of the "rock paper scissors gaga," and he was here to see people wrestle. Hall, Nash, and Waltman came out to an nWo remix (different from Hogan's). Hogan said Hall and Waltman did not work in TNA, so he kicked them out of the building. They were escorted out.

Mick Foley made his way to the ring on the floor to the side of the ramp. He screamed at Bischoff that they needed to talk. Bischoff said if Foley want to talk, they would talk. The security guys prevented Foley from entering the ring... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Other than Hogan saying he was in TNA to see people wrestle, as he cut a promo in the ring where people are supposed to wrestle, that was another good segment. I'm pulling for Scott Hall because I'm a fan of his work, so he had a good showing tonight. I hope things work for him this time. I have a feeling Eric Young will be getting a beating later.

[Q6] Backstage, Nash stopped the security guys from putting their hands on Hall and Pac. Nash said he would take care of things. Hall said Nash never let him down in the past and that he trusted him...

The Nasty Boys made their entrance. There are two fans with Nasty Boys shirts on at ringside. Nash and Young made their entrance and the music is almost exactly the same as the old nWo music. Like I said before, Hogan's music was actually used back in the old WCW...

4. The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated Kevin Nash and Eric Young in 3:11. Young still has the Global Championship belt. Knobbs and Sags wear very baggy shirts and with their style, they can get away with being fat. Knobbs knocked out Nash on the floor. Sags sent Young to pitty city. Sags hit a pump handle slam on Young for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Young did not want to take that pump handle because he fought it all the way up. I'll say this, TNB didn't look half bad. Like I said, they aren't ring technicians, so they can get away with being out of shape more than other guys who depend on their look and wrestling. That being said, I don't want to see them in the ring every week.

Mr. Anderson made his way through the backstage area... [C]

During the break, Team 3D knocked out The Nasty Boys with chairs in the backstage area...

[Q7] A short video of Mr. Anderson was shown. Anderson then made his way out to the ring. He said he was not in TNA because the fans wanted him there. He said he was in TNA because Hulk Hogan called him and offered him an opportunity that he "would not have received elsewhere."

He said he lives by the saying "actions speak louder than words." Abyss slid into the ring behind Anderson. He kept cutting his promo, completely insulting Abyss. He called him a "stupid, dumb, idiotic moron." As Anderson broke into his catchphrase, Abyss attacked him. He went for the blackhole slam, but Anderson escaped the ring... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Mixed bag segment for me. I liked Anderson's promo. It was short, concise, and it made sense. I don't necessarily like the feud with Abyss continuing because that suggests Abyss will get a win. Anderson should be booked to be hot and unbeatable right now.

Backstage, Abyss apologized to Bischoff. Eric said Hogan liked Abyss and that was why he still had a job. Abyss asked Bischoff if he was going to be okay. He repeated himself over and over again while stroking his hair. He finally walked away...

Twill's Two Cents: Abyss is pretty creepy; he has that going for him.

Eric entered his office. Foley was being held back by security. He wanted to talk to Bischoff man to man, executive to executive. Bischoff agreed and sent the security away. Foley said he did not want to see Bischoff ruin what he had his own money tied up in. He said he was willing to take it back by force if necessary.

Bischoff calmly asked Foley if he was threatening him. He said things were getting tense and asked the cameramen to leave. Once they did, Bischoff followed and shut the door from the inside, Godfather style...

Twill's Two Cents: Kudos to Bischoff for actually acknowledging the cameramen in the room. How many times over the years have "private conversations" taken place with the cameramen right there? Interesting stuff with Foley and Bischoff.

5. A.J. Styles defeated Kurt Angle to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in 9:27. Styles attacked Angle right away when he wasn't expecting it. They traded multiple nearfalls very early in the match. Tenay said Styles threw away all of the integrity he ever had by aligning with Flair at Genesis... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Tenay, Styles has been a heel before, so I agree with Taz that Styles did the right thing holding onto his title anyway he could. Taz made a great point in saying Styles was a great wrestler, but Flair will make him a great champion.

[Q8] Styles hit a nice dropkick on Angle during the commercial teaser...

Back from commercial, Styles applied a figure four leg lock and almost pinned Angle with the move a couple of times. Angle fought out and hit the German suplex series, with the third with completing flipping Styles. He scored a nearfall. He went for the Angle Slam but Styles countered and hit the Pele.

Styles set up Angle for the Styles Clash, but Angle rolled down A.J.'s back and applied the ankle lock. He had it applied for several moments but Styles did not tap. Styles reversed the hold and Earl Hebner immediately rang the bell. Styles with belt, Hebner, and Flair all got the hell out of there...

Twill's Two Cents: Damn. Are you serious?

In the ring, Angle was pissed off and was cussing a lot. Tenay and Taz alluded to Montreal as Hulk Hogan came down to ringside. Angle could be heard saying, "I don't need this shit. I'll quit. I can go back to WWE." He spat at Hogan's face. Tenay said they would get to the bottom of this tonight and asked if we just saw history repeat itself... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Let's see where this goes in the next segment.

During the break, Angle continued his meltdown in the ring. He grabbed a chair from the announce table and started banging it against the new set. He then walked to the back. Tenay and Taz wondered outloud if Hogan played a hand in screwing Angle...

Eric Bischoff stumbled to the ring with blood running down his face from his head. "Mick Foley, you are fired!" The show then went off the air...

Twill's Two Cents: Well, this actually could be interesting. Hogan has been a tweener since joining TNA and now there is intrigue behind him "screwing" Angle. Angle was great playing his role, and this gives him something to focus on outside of the TNA Championship. Montreal is played out, but this might actually work for TNA. Very good show overall.

What did you think of the show? Feel free to let me know by shooting an email to dotnetrich@gmail.com.

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