Impact 1-26-12

Did you catch Girls Watch Wrestling on the Squared Circle Jerks podcast on Friday? Mehe and I joined the boys to discuss this episode of Impact, and it was great fun! For the benefit of those of you who don't follow the podcast (and you really should - it's squaredcirclejerks.com) and didn't get to hear us coin the phrase, "Alcoholic Popeye", here's the text-version rundown:


"To the rescue!" - 1
"Surprising no one." - 1

1. Mickie James v. Velvet Skye v. Tara - 3 out of 5
2. Zema Ion v. Alex Shelley - 3 out of 5
3. Winter & Angelina Love v. ODB & Eric Young - 4 out of 5
4. Samoa Joe v. Matt Morgan - 2 out of 5
5. Jeff Hardy & James Storm v. Bully Ray & Bobby Roode in a tables match - 3 out of 5.


So.. Not really a lot to say about this episode. It seems like it would be easier to tell you about it in a Good/Bad kinda way.

The Good:
1. Tara won the triple-threat bout for #1 contender to the Knockouts title. I thought this was actually a good call for TNA because, let's face it, going in, we all expected Mickie James to win. She's a favorite for sure, but Tara is just as dominating a force, if not more so, and it was a refreshing break from all Mickie, all the time. No offense, Mickie.
2. EY & ODB continue to be the most entertaining thing the product has produced in recent weeks. They inexplicably play off of each other very nicely, and they work as a team even more nicely.
3. The main event, while not as good as it could have been, did have some good things going for it, creatively. Watching the match on TV, the teams were paired off much of the time, so to keep viewers at home from missing any of the action, they used a split screen effect. I made a lot of Carrie jokes at the time, but when the time came to grade the show, I had to admit that I really liked the way that was done.

The Bad:
1. TNA tried to do a little teaser for the Bischoff storyline, where Eric showed up to Garrett's gym and found out who his trainer was, and then ran away, SHOCKED! This side plot isn't particularly entertaining, and it's even worse considering that it's more than likely going to turn out to be Hogan. If it's not Hogan, I'LL be shocked. Just like Eric Bischoff.
2. While I love EY & ODB, the side-by-side airplane spins looked uncoordinated and messy when actually executed. To be more specific, Eric looked great. But ODB's spin was slow, clumsy, and not at all up to par with her partner's.
3. The AJ/Daniels/Kazarian promo this week was more of the same, and the story didn't go ANYWHERE. Here's an indication of how boring it was: near the end of the promo, the crowd started to count for no reason. Those poor people had to resort to entertaining themselves.

The Meh:
1. Bully Ray and Bobby Roode are trying too hard to be Bully Ray and Scott Steiner. They're fairly entertaining, but I think it would be more entertaining if they tried to find a new, unique dynamic between those two.
2. Samoa Joe lost again. Who cares.
3. Direct Auto Insurance. Get some.