By Garrett Kidney
December 13th, 2012
Orlando, FL
- Standard opening segment which was thankfully kept as short as it needed to be and set up the main event. So much for Aces and 8s being better in numbers, they lost again conclusively at Final Resolution to a team with Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco. And that certainly wasn't helped on this show.
- Really don't care about Velvet returning. She looked fine in the match (not any better or worse than when she left), though the ring gear is a little suspect. I'm certainly not looking forward to more years of mediocre matches and even worse promos (with lots more shouting) but sure what can you do?
- Last weeks product placement was much better, I know they need to do it but do the product placement in a bit more of a tongue in cheek way like last week. Brisco and Bischoff looked fine (and the way Wes saved Doc from the hammer at Final Resolution was a nice bit of booking) but poor Robbie E. deserves better than this. Brisco's facial expressions are always hokey and over the top, he never seems natural and comfortable. His crossbody is nice though. And the crowd were into Garett Bischoff's comeback last night but not Jeff Hardy's at Final Resolution. The difference between the IMPACT Zone crowd for TV and PPV is just weird.
- Really fun tag match. I do like TNA pairing two random main event faces against Aces and 8s and just letting them loose. Though you'd expect nothing less from Storm and Hardy as a team considering they're two of the best tag team wrestlers of this generation (and Hardy is the best babyface in peril in the world). The crowd going nuts for Storm's hot tag and the finish was a load of fun. Too bad Aces and 8s are now no threat whatsoever in the ring. They're constantly beaten.
- I hope this is the furthest we see TNA go with teasing an AJ heel turn. Turning him would be ill advised, especially considering he was a little heelish last night and the crowd cheered him anyway. I hope they have the final destination of this story planned because the beginning has been really well executed and it warrants a strong conclusion. Let's just hope they don't change everything on a whim like they did last with they long running stories earlier this year.
- Interesting to see them turn Kenny King (or at least begin to). He does have a natural cockiness to him and his feud with RVD could use a spark to drive it out of the flat face vs. face territory. The match last night better than their PPV match (less clunkiness) and I'm hoping they can top it again with enough time and a more interesting dynamic and story.
- I like Jessie. He gets exactly what he's supposed to be. He's still green (though he is better than Bischoff and Brisco) but he adds to the show (and him and Tara have great chemistry). The Bully/Hogan segment was pretty good though I could do without them calling each other by their real names, you know because they're shooting. And Hogan continues to look completely irrational. The Jessie/Bully match was a lot of fun, and those chops were nasty.
-The last two times Aries wrestled Roode in title matches he beat him. The last two times Aries wrestled Hardy in title matches he lost. So why would Aries want Hardy to beat Roode? Anywho, reasonable set up for Hardy/Aries (though again why would Aries even begin to consider denying Hardy's challenge when he has no claim to a title match and a title match is what he wants) and it should be a great match next week.
Closing Thoughts
A solid if unspectacular show doing a lot to set up next week and nothing for Genesis.
