Jeremy Borash announced via an online poll that Jeff Hardy had been named the 'TNA wrestler of the year'. Soon into Hardy's acceptance speech Bobby Roode interrupted him and berated the World Champion for caring about the fans opinion as much as his title belt, stating that it meant everything to him when he held it. Austin Aries (my personal TNA wrestler of the year) then also chimed in and called the whole contest "rigged" as he felt after his top PPV performances and record-breaking X Division title run he deserved the accolade of wrestler of the year.
Hardy then settled things by challenging both men to a Triple Threat for the title at Genesis to prove he was the better man. Aries and Roode decided they'd then had enough of the 'Charismatic Enigma' and began attacking him, but Jeff soon turned the tables and managed to take out both men.
James Storm defeated Kazarian in a decent contest with a great finish. Both men gave fine displays here for the most part as they went back and fourth, with an excited crowd to help boost the atmosphere. For the finish Storm executed a superb Last Call Superkick to Kaz as he came off the top rope, it looked tremendous and had the fans on their feet.
In the Aces & 8s headquarters Mr. Anderson agreed to help out the gang, but warned them that they'll have to show no fear when Sting returns that night. Doc then came out to the ring by himself and demanded that 'The Stinger' come on out. But there was no sign of Sting, and all Doc received was a black baseball bat fall to the ring in front of him.
Christian York bested Kid Kash to advance in the X Division Title tournament. The bout itself was a bit of a mixed bag, with decent moments of action here and there but signs of sloppiness and nerves from York still. I just feel that York's a bit overrated by many fans, he shows moments of promising ability in the ring but he's still coming across as a bit of an amateur and slow to me, which isn't good enough for someone with as many years experience as him.
Matt Morgan announced on the way to the ring that he'd picked up an injury doing weights in the gym, so instead Joey Ryan was taking his place in the following match against Hernandez, much to Ryan's surprise.
Hulk Hogan apologised for not appearing on last weeks Impact, then went on to call out Brooke Hogan and Bully Ray to sort things out after seeing them kiss. He accused Bully of breaking the code among pro wrestlers by being involved with his daughter and then indefinitely suspended him without pay and demanded that Brooke leave the ring also. The storyline's taken an interesting turn.
Mickie James and Brooke Tessmacher beat Tara and Gail Kim in a largely average tag bout. It wasn't a bad match, there was just nothing exceptional about it at all. Mickie James was the only stand out performer with a worthy display here, while Tara, Tessmacher and Kim were disappointedly pedestrian.
Before the main event cage match begun, Doc attacked Kurt Angle and dragged him away, then locked Samoa Joe inside with Devon and a masked Aces & 8s ally.
Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe defeated Devon and the masked Aces & 8s member in a Steel Cage match. The first third was fairly drab as Devon and his fellow gang member began beating on Joe, but once Angle managed to make a comeback and open the cage door after beating it off Doc, the main event picked up and started to gain some excitement. Angle as usual was on good form as he began throwing around and taking out his two opponents, Joe also looked decent here, Devon and his ally gave fair performances. Angle grabbed the win after applying an Angle Slam.
Afterwards a swarm of gang members ran into the steel structure and began taking out Joe and Angle. But predictably Sting then made his return and took out all the Aces & 8s goons with his signature baseball bat. Considering the build up to his return, it all felt rather anticlimactic to me. He just strolled down in his T-Shirt, without any music or at least the lights going out, and the way he was able to take out all those men looked ridiculous, like they wouldn't be able to take down the far older 'Stinger'? Disappointing return for me, but then I wasn't that hyped to begin with. I still feel he would've been better off retiring two years back.
Overall it was a largely pedestrian Impact for me. Storm versus Kazarian and the second half to the main event were the highlights, other than that I didn't really get that into the show. At least we had some nicely executed progressions in the Hogan Bully Ray storyline and World Title picture.
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