My Impact Wrestling, March 1st 2012 Recap

Kurt Angle started off Impact by explaining the reasons he attacked Jeff Hardy a couple of weeks ago. The reasons included Hardy's appearance, the fans preference of him (including Angle's own son), among others. Angle then called out Hardy, who obliged to the request. The Olympic gold medalist challenged Jeff to a match atVictory Road, which he accepted in the form of a beat down on Angle. Although Taz described it as "Hardy just exploded all over Kurt Angle" I'm not going to even touch that...   

Backstage during an interview with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode, fellow champion Austin Aries interrupted and explained to Roode what many things they have in common, including the fact that they both have quarrels with Sting. It's a very refreshing change to see the charismatic and talented Aries finally getting the attention he has earned by being associated with the World champion. 

AJ Styles before his Gauntlet match up, said that if he wins then Christopher Danielsand Kazarian must reveal the truth behind Daniels' mysterious hold over Kaz and his turn on his former Fortune partner. Kazarian accepted on Daniels behalf. This storyline has been dragged on for too long now, I'm sure most fans have already lost interest.  

Kazarian defeated AJ Syles in the Gauntlet Match after Kazarian raced into the ring and applied a Fade To Black to AJ, causing Daniels to be disqualified but gaining him the one-two-three over Styles. The bout itself had been an exciting and heated contest between Daniels and AJ, a lot more entertaining then their last few battles in TNA. 

Backstage TNA Knockout Champion Gail Kim revealed to her tag partner (and number one contender to her Knockout Title) Madison Rayne that she had gotten her a "gift" in the form of a match with ODB. What a friend, huh? Rayne was not impressed.  

ODB defeated Madison Rayne in a mediocre match which did nothing at all to help promote the number one contender to Kim's title. It was a waste of time to be honest, except only to further emphasis the crumbling of Rayne and Kim's partnership.

Backstage Ric Flair warned Garet Bischoff that he has one week left to officially retire from professional wrestling, or else. Garet is still, after all Flair, his Dad and Gunner have done to him, humble and respectful to Flair. It just makes him look a bit pathetic to be honest.

Bobby Roode, accompanied by Austin Aries and Bully Ray, told Sting that there would be no match between them at Victory Road because "I'm done." Bully Ray then blamed Sting for NFL Player Brandon Jacobs physical attacks on him, thereby causing Ray "the biggest embarrassment of my career." Aries accused Sting on the mic of being"jealous" of all three of them and their abilities and blamed him for not being booked in a single main event on Impact, which I actually agree with he does deserve that spot. As a form of protest all three men then sat in the ring, that was until 'Stinger' suddenly appeared in there with them after the lights went out.

Sting warned Aries and Roode that if they are indeed "done" with the company then they'll both be stripped of their respective titles. He also decided to grant Aries his wish and booked him in the main event with Roode and Bully, where they would take on the TNA Tag Team Champions Samoa Joe and Magnus, along with the World Title number one contender James Storm.       

Zema Ion defeated Shannon Moore in a solid enough match up, not a classic by any means. Ion is certainly showing plenty of personality and getting the right reaction from the fans, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does in the future.

Velvet Sky and Mickie James defeated Angelina Love and Sarita in a match which ranged in quality. It started off rather drab until the underutilised Sarita (standout performer of the match for me) picked up the pace and provided some nice action with James. Velvet picked up the win after hitting Love with the In Yo' Face.   

Unfortunately during the said tag team bout Mike Tenay kept annoyingly plugging TMZ during the match too, which just got on my nerves. I have no quarrels with advertising being involved with pro wrestling, but just not on commentary during a match.   

James Storm, Magnus and Samoa Joe defeated Austin Aries, Bobby Roode and Bully Ray in a very entertaining and action packed main event tag match. All six wrestlers looked like they belonged in the main event, and you could tell that each of them wanted to put out a memorable performance. Aries gave a solid display and I hope this is a sign of things to come for him, if it were up to me I'd have him drop the title to Ion and then feud with someone like Storm or Hardy to really get his status up.

Afterwards Bully Ray cracked Storm in the face with a steel chair by big booting it. This is most likely leading to a match between them at Victory Road where I imagine Abysswill most likely (unfortunately) return for revenge on Ray.

Overall it was actually a pretty entertaining Impact, with the majority of matches delivering and the storylines progressing nicely. The post Russo era is starting to look positive for the company.