TNA Impact Wrestling: Follow the Yellow Brick Road, Title Matches and More

TNA Impact Wrestling opened with TNA world heavyweight champion Bobby Roode.

He bragged about what he did to Sting last week and thinks that the Icon is done with TNA Wrestling. He went over his accomplishments in terms of being champion, but ending Sting’s career was the best accomplishment of his life.

This was another great promo by Bobby Roode. When it comes to mic work, no one else can touch him in TNA. The leader of the Selfish Generation loves to talk about himself and that really puts him over as a heel.

Roode has become one of the best heels in professional wrestling and it’s going to be hard to knock him off of his pedestal.

Backstage, Matt Morgan and Crimson are arguing about losing the titles. They’re blaming each other for the loss but are willing to put everything aside to get the belts back!

I knew it was only a matter of time before they started to feud again and it looks like it’ll be happening sooner rather than later.

Samoa Joe and Magnus vs. Matt Morgan and Crimson

Samoa Joe and Magnus retained the titles after Crimson accidently clotheslined Matt Morgan and they hit their snapmare/elbow-drop finisher.

This was a decent match, but unfortunately nothing too special.

Joe and Magnus really do make a great team and now that they’re done with Morgan and Crimson, I’d like to see how well they would work with another team.

I want to see them go up against the Motor City Machine Guns, but Chris Sabin isn’t back yet.

TNA needs more teams so they can rebuild their once-great tag division! Joe and Magnus are a great way to start that!

I’m quite glad Morgan and Crimson seem to be done. They had zero chemistry as a team and it was about time they ended their feud.

Super Bowl champion Brandon Jacobs made his way to the ring next.

What do you do when you win the Super Bowl? You go to Impact Wrestling! Well, at least that’s what Jacobs did.

He discussed celebrating James Storms’ victory last week and wanted Bully Ray to know that he was there and that they had unfinished business.

That brought out Bully Ray, who introduced himself and showed off his calves. He went over what they had in common before the crowd actually started to chant Jacobs’ name.

The bully wanted to beat him down and Jacobs wanted to fight, but Bully Ray would rather make fun of him.

Jacobs then went after him as the show went to a commercial break.

This was an interesting segment. You can tell that Jacobs was a little uncomfortable talking on the mic in the middle of the ring but he got by and was fine.

Bully Ray was great and like Bobby Roode, is a hell of a heel due to his mic work.

I would have preferred that this time go to an actual wrestler, but giving Jacobs his own time on the show gives TNA mainstream attention.

When you can’t get past a 1.2 rating, a little mainstream attention can’t hurt.

Back from the commercial, Jacobs is backstage looking for Bully Ray when James Storm approaches him. He whispered something in his ear and they walked off.

I wonder if the football star will be in Storm and Hardy’s corner? If he wasn’t I’d be surprised.

Zema Ion vs. Alex Shelley

Zema Ion picked up the victory after spraying Alex Shelley in the eyes with his hair spray and smashed Shelley with both knees.

I thought this was a good match, though it would have been nice if it had a bit more time.

Both X-Division wrestlers were good in the ring and they kept a quick pace throughout the match.

Having Austin Aries outside eating popcorn and drinking wine was great! It really adds to his cocky, heel character and it begins the mind games on Aries’ part.

As long as Ion doesn’t try to kill Aries, their match at Victory Road should be a great one.

Backstage, Garret Bischoff isn’t discouraged about losing to Gunner or what his father said last week. He’ll keep fighting and that brought in Hulk Hogan.

He isn’t surprised by his decision but told Garret that he had a massive bull’s-eye on his back. Eric will make his life a living hell and he has nothing to prove.

So after training Garret and giving him a massive amount of hype, Hogan wants him to quit because he has a bull’s-eye on his back?

I was hoping that this storyline was over but I guess it’ll continue.

Elsewhere, Madison Rayne hopes that Sting is done as he hasn’t been fair to her and Gail.

She says that being the No. 1 contender will strengthen hers and Gail’s friendship. She’s the only real competition and she wanted to give Gail a real fight.

It was weird hearing Madison talk normally as she’s usually screaming at the top of her lungs.

I really hope that she’s not the No. 1 contender because of the reasons she said; I want a Madison who isn’t a lackey but actually a competitor who wants the title!

Gail Kim vs. ODB

Gail Kim picked up the win with Eat Defeat. This was a good women’s match that saw some nice action and had a good pace to it.

Gail Kim is finally starting to not bore me. Maybe that’s because she’s actually facing Knockouts who aren’t Mickie James.

Gail is good in the ring and she showed that here.

ODB is sometimes much underrated. She’s quite good in the ring and her actions get over big time with the crowd.

While I’m usually entertained by the ODB/Eric Young pairing, I hope TNA lets her ditch the comedy act and get back into the title hunt.

Post-match, Madison Rayne tried to celebrate with Gail but the champion didn’t want to celebrate with her. The whole time Madison kept telling Gail that she loved her.

Madison is either really trying to stay friends with Gail or she is playing some mind games with the champion.

If they’re mind games, which I hope they are, Madison is doing a great job so far!

Earlier, A.J. Styles declared that he wouldn’t lose his way like Christopher Daniels and Kazarian did. He wanted to put his focus back on the World Heavyweight Championship.

I highly doubt his feud with Daniels and Kaz is over, but Styles really does need to refocus on the world title.

A video package on Jesse Sorenson is then shown with comments from him and his mother. After it aired, Mike Tenay said that he has since been released from the hospital and is on the road to recovery.

It’s good to hear that Sorenson is recovering. I hope to see him back in TNA soon!

Robbie E vs. A.J. Styles: TNA Television Championship

A.J. Styles got the victory by disqualification when Kazarian attacked him. This was a good match—up until the ending that is.

Styles was great like he usually is and he continues to prove that he’s the best in TNA Wrestling!

He should really be treated better as he’s been there since day one and it’s guys like him that helped build the company. His feud with Christopher Daniels needs to end, and soon!

If you can look past the ridiculous gimmick, Robbie E is a great athlete. He has had his moments inside the squared circle and he was able to keep up and perform well next to someone like A.J. Styles.

He really needs to ditch the stupid Shore gimmick so he can actually wrestle more often!

I found it quite interesting that Daniels seemed really surprised when Kaz went right for Styles without being ordered.

Since this feud began, Daniels has had to order Kaz to take out Styles, but he did it all on his own here.

Is Kaz finally seeing “the light?” Whatever Daniels has been feeding him may finally be sinking in.

I can’t wait to see what Kazarian has to say about this.

Jeff Hardy and James Storm vs. Kurt Angle and Bully Ray

Jeff Hardy and James Storm picked up the win after Brandon Jacobs chokeslammed Bully Ray through a table.

This was your typical tag-team match but I thought it was a good one. All four wrestlers performed very well and it’s certainly good to see Kurt Angle back in the ring.

I’m very interested to hear his reasons for screwing Hardy out of title last week.

I loved the finish with Jacobs chokeslamming Bully Ray through the table, but I was confused by the actions of the referee.

He literally just stood there while Jacobs and the bully were face-to-face. Shouldn’t that chokeslam have disqualified Hardy and Storm?

Either way, it was a cool way to end a match.

Sting then made his way out to the ring. Too much is slipping through his fingers and it’s becoming too much for him to handle.

He’s done, and that brought out Bobby Roode. He bragged about being the better man and how Sting was done.

Roode didn’t win anything, though; he just woke Sting up. Sting then pulled out some makeup and begins to put it on.

He felt alive and thanked Roode for waking him up.

He is done doing things half way. He’ll be putting on his gear and war paint and then he’ll take out Roode at Victory Road.

Roode tried to kick Sting in the jewels again but Sting blocked it this time and delivered a kick of his own.

He then told Roode to follow the yellow brick road to Victory Road.

This was quite the segment. Sting delivered a hell of a promo here, albeit a strange one.

The Stinger hasn’t delivered a good Insane Icon promo in a while and it was nice to see him return to that form.

The look on Roode’s face really sold the segment. It seemed like Sting had lost his mind again and Roode look genuinely scared and worried about what he would do.

Sting’s promo and the way Roode sold it made this segment great!

Overall I think this was another solid episode of Impact Wrestling. All of the matches were enjoyable to watch and the in-ring segments were great.

TNA Wrestling has truly been on a roll lately and they certainly didn’t stop here. If they can keep this up, 2012 may very well be the year of TNA!