Not even the hilarious antics of Eric Young could save a lackluster first Impact of 2012. While the wrestling action was decent, the promos ran too long and once again, the entire show felt like it dragged.
Aside from the budding relationship of Young and ODT, there was no promo that was remotely smile-inducing. The “swerve†of Kazarian on AJ Styles towards the end of the show proves that even in the new year, TNA still goes back to their old ploys. They have not yet learned to creatively tell a story without resorting to old Russo tricks.
The no-contest main event as well felt like a waste of time.
It looks like 2012 is going to be a long year in TNA.
Matches:
TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions Madison Rayne and Gail Kim vs. Tracy Brooks and Mickie James: A decent match with a good pace. Even the usually lackluster Brooks was solid. Her partner however needs to change stuff up. James is a great competitor, but those karate kicks continue to be lackluster; it’s best for her to probably take them out of her arsenal. In spite of a few weak moves by the faces, they threw the heels a beating for most of the match. But suddenly, the heels made a comeback and ironically, Brooks got the hot tag and was dealing out clothelines and jawbreakers at will. But thanks to quality teamwork, Rayne was able to keep James out of the ring as Kim hit a botched “Eat Defeat†for the win.
Gunner vs. Rob Van Dam: Without Ric Flair by his side, Gunner was forced to wrestle a clean match with Van Dam. Well, at least early on. Most of the match’s excitement came from RVD’s routine offense, as Gunner hit a few clotheslines and little else. But somehow, someway, Gunner was able to get DQed as he attempted to piledrive RVD on the concrete. RVD was a step ahead however and delivered a back body drop, but missed his signature spin kick on the guardrail. That almost opened the door for a Gunner piledriver, but the agents hit the ring and separated him from RVD.
Austin Aries and Kid Kash vs. Jesse Sorensen and Zema Ion: Aries and Sorensen looked great in this match, as Kash and Ion were distractions aside from a few nice spots. Nevertheless, it was a fast-paced match with plenty of offense. Would have made a fantastic opener. Ion’s constant tags were annoying, but luckily Sorensen had enough time in the match to hit his spinning reverse DDT for the win.
Wild Card Tag Team Tournament Finals: Magnus and Samoa Joe vs. Kazarian and AJ Styles: Speed vs. power and teamwork. This was like a Killer Bees vs. The Brainbusters match from the ‘80s. Good pace, nice amount of offense. One of these teams would be much better as tag champs than Matt Morgan and Crimson. Unfortunately only one could win and sadly Kazarian, in a typical bonehead TNA move, swerved Styles and left him at the mercy of Joe and Magnus, who ended up with the win.
Jeff Hardy, Abyss and James Storm vs. TNA Heavyweight Champion Robert Roode, Bully Ray and Kurt Angle: Abyss was in the ring most of the time for the faces, until Storm got the hot tag. He looked good until Bully Ray made the most of 20 years of tag team experience. From there, Storm was the one taking the beating until Hardy finally got in the ring. After Hardy got some offense in, the match went to hell, as it was ruled a no-contest. After the match, the heels laid into the faces before the show went off the air.
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