12-15-11 Impact results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the December 15, 2011 episode of Impact

The show starts with AJ Styles and Bobby Roode facing each other with a 5 minute time limit to have a finish to their draw at Final Resolution.

AJ Styles vs. TNA World Champion Bobby Roode for the Title. The match goes to a draw.

Afterwards the crowd chanted for 5 more minutes. Sting comes out and says that AJ & Roode that they will go to a finish.

AJ vs. Roode for the Title – Part 2. Roode wins by submission to retain the Title. The match was solid, but they could have done a rematch on PPV. TNA dropped the ball with this one!

Bobby Roode & AJ Styles cut promos backstage about the match. Then Roode says that he is ready for Jeff Hardy.

They show Abyss & Scott Steiner backstage before they come out with Steiner trying to get Abyss on his side. This was idiotic.

Wild Card Tag Team Tournament match: Abyss & Scott Steiner vs. Rob Terry & Hernandez. Abyss & Steiner win when Steiner pins Terry. Abyss raises Steiner’s arm afterwards. This was a decent match but I don’t get why they’re doing this battle bowl like tournament.

Kurt Angle is backstage saying that he has had enough of Sting and it is time to do something about it.

Kurt Angle comes out and says that he wants to talk to Sting. Sting comes out and Angle complains about losing the World Title to James Storm and then losing his rematch and then at Final Resolution. He demands a rematch with Storm and Sting doesn’t grant him the match because Storm won and there is no reason to give Angle a rematch. Sting goes to leave the ring but then Angle tells Sting that he will go to Storm’s home town if he doesn’t get his rematch. This was a short segment thankfully.

Match 1 in a Best of 3 Series: Zima Ion vs. Tony Nese. Zima Ion gets the pin. This was a good match.

They show the Jarretts backstage and Karen says that she will bow out and Jeff says that he will step down. Then some guy comes in and says Sting wants to talk to them. Then they say they want to talk to Sting and they debate over who will resign continued. This was ok.

Zima Ion promo backstage saying that from now it is all about, “me, myself & Ion.” That was corny.

Ric Flair is backstage with Gunner and he tells him to forget about Garrett and to make an example of Jessie Neal.

Jessie Neal vs. Gunner. Jessie wins by DQ when Gunner hits the referee. Afterwards Gunner gives Neal a DDT on the floor. (This was Neal’s exit storyline from the company).

They show Karen Jarrett & Sting backstage and she’s telling him how great he looks. Then he asks what she wants. She then begs Sting not to fire her. Sting says that he is going to talk to Jeff too. This was crappy.

Jeff Hardy comes out for an interview and he says that he is still aching from the cage match. Then he talks about becoming World Champion at Genesis. Bully Ray then comes out and he tells Jeff that he has a match with him tonight. Ray then talks about how he got Jeff Hardy’s spot in Immortal back in March and that he is better then him. This was a short but good segment. Ray cut a good his usual good promo.

Samoa Joe & Magnus are backstage and Joe tells him that he doesn’t want to know him. Magnus tells him that neither of them get an opportunity and that he doesn’t care about friendship and they both want to win the tournament.

Wild Card Tag Team Tournament match: Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Robbie E & Douglas Williams. Joe & Magnus win when Joe pinned Williams. This was a solid match. I don’t get why they have The British Invasion facing each other, but I liked the match.

Jeff Jarrett is backstage with Sting and he mentions that Karen is anxious because being fired would be humiliating for her and he tells Sting to let her down easy. Sting asks if Karen isn’t looking for a nanny. This was just as crappy as the Sting-Karen segment.

They show Eric Young backstage talking nonsense. Then ODB comes in and she tells him that she will be his partner in the Wild Card Tournament. They grapple and more idiocy happens.

Devon comes to the ring and wants D’Angelo Dinero to come to the ring. Pope comes out with Devon’s sons. Devon tells Pope that he doesn’t want to put his kids in harms way (then how come they’re always at the shows?) Then he says that he will bring them up the way he wants to and that everything with Pope is over. Devon is about leave with his sons and Pope tells him that they want to be like Pope. Then he says that they should have been his sons. Then he says that he and Devon’s mom are working on that. Devon punched Pope and he tries to leave with his sons. Then Pope kicks Devon low and Devon sons stare at their dad. Dinero then attacks Devon and one of his sons puts on Pope’s shades and Pope beats down Devon. Then his sons hold him and Pope punches him. This was a mixed bag. Devon & Pope cut good promos but this storyline is really idiotic!

They show the Jarretts backstage and Karen tells Jeff that she told Sting that no one can take his place. Jeff then mentioned that he told Sting that Karen is a star. The same guy from before comes in and says that Sting wants to see them again. They think it’s individually but the guy says that Sting wants to see both of them together. This was lousy too.

Traci Brooks vs. Madison Rayne. Madison gets the pin. This felt like it was just there.

Jeff & Karen are in Sting’s office and they continue the same crap from before. Sting says that they haven’t seen one segment of the show and he mentions how they each ragged on each other. They say that Sting is stirring the pot and Sting shows the clips from earlier. They argue and Sting has a good laugh. I’m certainly not! They scream at each other and then Sting says that they’re both fired! This was really idiotic! I got a kick out of Sting saying that they weren’t watching the show, but the rest of this segment was awful! Why do they have the “no one sees the show” crap?

Jeff Hardy vs. Bully Ray. Hardy gets the pin. This was a good back and forth match. Roode was on commentary during the match. After the match Roode goes to the ring and attacks Hardy and he & Ray then set up a table in the ring. Ray powerbombs Hardy through the table and then Sting comes out (why come out AFTER the baby face gets flattened?) and Roode dares him to punch him and then they attack him. Roode then scrams at Jeff Hardy while holding the Title to end the show.

I thought that this week’s episode was a mixed bag on the whole. They had some decent to good matches and the main event match was really good. I wasn’t into the whole bit with the Jarretts & Sting. The whole thing was really stupid! The rest of the show had its ups and downs. The X Division match was good. The opening 5 minute Title match was lousy. They dropped the ball with that one. They could’ve had an AJ-Roode rematch at Against All Odds if they have Jeff Hardy challenging Roode at Genesis. Nope! TNA has to ditch this just like that. The other thing I don’t get is why does the main event start with 5 minutes left on the show? Overall this was typical TNA. They had decent to good matches and the booking was hit and miss.