TNA Impact Wrestling 1/12: Roode Retains, a No. 1 Contender Is Crowned and More

Impact Wrestling opened with world heavyweight champion Bobby Roode.

He has become the most dominant champion in the history of the company. He’s simply the greatest.

He gave Hardy credit for becoming a role model once again for his fans. He then called out Hardy to accept defeat and shake his hand.

That brought out Sting instead. Sting is the boss and Roode is the employee.

He booked Roode vs. Hardy for the title in the main event.

This was short and to the point, which is what I liked about it.

Roode got some mic time to advance himself more as a heel and Sting came out and booked the match after a little banter.

I love Bobby Roode as the heel champion as he’s never been better!

Sting fits well into the boss role, but I’d like to see him be a little more neutral instead of favoring the faces 99 percent of the time.

Earlier today, Matt Morgan and Crimson did a plug for Direct Auto Insurance in front of the store.

Their match against the Robbies is brought up. They’re going to destroy them and then go clubbing.

A cheap plug for the sponsor gave way for the champions to also plug their match.

Matt Morgan and Crimson vs. Robbie E and Robbie T: Non-Title Match

The champions picked up the victory when they hit a double spinebuster on Robbie E.

As they celebrated, Samoa Joe and Magnus ran in and attacked Morgan and Crimson. They beat down the champs and left them down and out as they posed with the belts.

The match was a squash, but I liked it. It shows the dominance of the champions.

I love the fact that TNA is keeping Joe and Magnus together. They really make a great team and bring a lot of intensity to the ring.

The feud between these two teams is quite intense and very physical. I can’t wait for them to go at it again.

After appearing backstage, Eric Bischoff headed to the ring.

Just because Sting gave him wrestling boots doesn’t mean his son is a wrestler. He has no future in the business and he should give up his dreams.

That brought out the younger Bischoff, who took the mic from his father. He’s not giving up and isn’t going anywhere. He’s proud to be in a TNA ring.

No matter what his father does, he’ll keep coming back.

He has a new trainer and his father will be shocked to find out who it is.

I was hoping that this feud was over, but I guess it’s not. Once this does end, I hope it leads to Eric Bischoff being taken off television for good.

Immortal is all but dead so he should stick to the business side of things now.

I am very interested, though, to see who this trainer will be that will shock Papa Bischoff.

Backstage, Angelina Love and Winter think it’s time for the people to remember who they are. They head to the ring as Winter is scheduled to face ODB.

I also think it’s time for the fans to remember who they are.

The Knockouts division has been about Mickie James since she came back last year, but now it’s split between her and Gail Kim.

It’s time for another Knockout or two to get the spotlight.

Winter vs. ODB

ODB picked up the victory with the Bam.

This was a decent match, but I’m surprised it wasn’t better. While the quality wasn’t the greatest, it was certainly an entertaining match with the involvement of Eric Young.

Throughout the match, he kept getting up on the apron and grabbing the tag rope, which was funny at first but quickly became repetitive.

The ending of the match saw Angelina Love get in the ring only for Young to cut her off with an airplane spin.

It was good to see Winter and Angelina finally get some television time but I would have preferred if it was Angelina in the match as I feel she’s the better performer of the two.

ODB winning gives me hope that she will be entering the hunt for the Knockouts Championship soon.

If there’s anyone that could take the title from Gail Kim, it’s ODB.

A.J. Styles then headed to the ring. He wanted answers from Kazarian for his actions last week.

That brought out Kazarian who couldn't tell him why, but Christopher Daniels could as he made his way to the ring.

He saw Styles as a lost cause. Kaz cut Daniels off, but  Daniels ended up forcing Kaz out of the ring.

That resulted in Styles throwing the mic at Daniels and going on the attack. Kaz then pulled him out of the ring to end the segment.

Looks like the never-ending Styles-Daniels feud is continuing. I’m very interested to see where Kaz fits into all of this, though.

He couldn’t tell Styles why he walked out on him but when Daniels gave a reason, he cut him off.

What is the reason Kaz turned on Styles? I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.

Backstage, James Storm is on his way to the ring.

Mike Tenay has no idea why he’s in his gear even though the TNA website and a Spike TV commercial confirmed James Storm vs. Kurt Angle in a No. 1 contenders match.

Come on Tenay, the fans aren’t stupid.

Elsewhere, Bully Ray bragged about trending on Twitter during Genesis. Roode didn’t care and talked about the title match instead.

The bully said that he had his back and Roode promised him a title shot.

Bully Ray as World Champion? I can get behind that.

James Storm then made his way to the ring. He called out Kurt Angle, bringing the Olympic Gold medalist to the ring.

He knocked the mic out of Angle’s hand and went off on him for the way he won the match at Genesis. He then bragged a bit about beating Angle for the title and then challenged him to another match.

Angle got the mic and declared that it’s his night off. Storm won’t get a rematch because Angle is the better wrestler.

Sting’s music hit and he headed to the ring. He said that if Roode gets disqualified then Hardy would win the title.

Getting to the two men in the ring, he booked Angle vs. Storm with the winner getting a title shot.

More great mic work from James Storm here while Angle did his thing. Making this a No. 1 contender’s match is a great way to end this feud.

James Storm vs. Kurt Angle: No. 1 Contender’s Match

James Storm picked up the victory with the Last Call super kick.

I thought this was a good match. It featured some nice back-and-forth action, more so towards the end, and had a nice pace to it.

I’m glad to see Angle doing the job for Storm here. He’s been at the top of TNA since he debuted in the company six years ago. It’s good to see him step aside and let others have the spotlight.

James Storm has come a long way since he started with TNA on their very first show.

While 2011 saw the transformation of Bully Ray in terms of wrestling and mic work, 2012 will be the year of James Storm’s transformation.

He has already had many good matches since the breakup of Beer Money, and his mic work is some of the best today.

I can’t wait to see James Storm have a title reign that lasts more than two weeks.

A video package was shown of Brooke Tessmacher posing in a bikini for a Hooter’s competition.

Looks like TNA wants the fans to vote for her.

Backstage, Madison Rayne approached Sting. She apologized for being a little crazy at first and would like to be the vice president of the Knockouts division permanently.

Sting wanted to know why she should have it over someone else.

She said that she could get the job done and Sting responded by booking her in a steel-cage match next week against Mickie James.

The Knockouts in a steel cage match that’s not at Lockdown? I love Sting as the general manager, or whatever his title is!

Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy: TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match

The match ended in a no-contest when Bully Ray pulled the referee out of the ring and kicked him in the face.

This was a good match and I even liked the ending. It keeps Roode’s heat as a heel alive while also keeping Hardy in the main event.

Roode has become one of the best TNA has right now and I think he’ll be champion for most of the year. I believe he’ll lose it a few times, but he’ll have the gold for the majority of 2012.

Jeff Hardy has proved to me that he deserves this last chance. He seems rejuvenated in the ring and is back to entertaining his Creatures with his wrestling ability.

While I do think Hardy will be world champion this year, it won’t be until the summer.

Despite the match-count being lower than usual, I felt this was a good episode of Impact Wrestling.

All of the in-ring segments were short and to-the-point, and the four matches were either good, entertaining or built up another feud.

Backstage segments were plentiful, and while some were better than others, it’s something TNA should consider cutting down on.

Overall, it was a good show. I can’t wait until next week.