One of my first thoughts after Jeff Hardy debuted in TNA was that the money match is Hardy versus A.J. Styles. Surprisingly – or maybe not considering it's nothing new for either TNA or Eric Bischoff – that match was given away for free on Monday night's episode of Impact.
As someone who never misses Impact but rarely watches TNA pay-per-views, I'm not complaining, but it seems obvious that it would have been better for the company as far as making money – which I think is the object – to build to the match and have it headline a pay-per-view. Oh well.
The match, which went about 10 minutes and resulted in a clean win for Hardy, was good, although I'm not sure it's a great idea to have the TNA world champion losing so often. Styles has now been pinned by Hardy, Abyss and "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero in the past month.
The other thing that TNA gave away with no buildup was Bischoff getting his head shaved by Mick Foley, although I'm not sure many fans would have paid to see that anyway. I believe this is the third time that Bischoff has had his head shaved on TV. One thing I will say is that Bischoff's extreme haircut put over the idea that anything can happen on Impact.
Other thoughts on Monday's show:
I'm on record as saying that I'm in favor of TNA making blood a part of its product because it differentiates it from WWE, but there is such a thing as overdoing it to the point that it won't mean anything. Ric Flair came out for the opening segment with hideous-looking wounds on his forehead – the result of his recent massive blade jobs – and within minutes he was wearing the proverbial crimson mask from punching himself in the head. Later in the show, Kurt Angle had blood spurting out of his head after Mr. Anderson attacked him with his medal. ...
I couldn't believe that Flair told Hardy to "get high on your paint." It was one thing for CM Punk to bring up Hardy's past issues with drugs, because at the time it appeared that Hardy had turned himself around, but Hardy currently has drug charges pending, so I'm not sure it's smart to go there. ...
Hardy kind of flipped out at the end of his promo. What was with that screaming? By the way, he referred to his fans as the "creatures of the night." Isn't that what The Undertaker used to call his fans? ...
It was advertised that Hulk Hogan was going to confront Sting about his actions last week, but Sting was jumped by Rob Van Dam before he could say anything. That was disappointing, because I was looking forward to hearing Sting cut a heel promo and explain why he turned. ...
Having The Nasty Boys (especially Brian Knobs) and Scott Hall on the show makes it look low rent. It was painful watching Hall, in street clothes and tennis shoes, moving around the ring in slow motion (that discus punch was just embarrassing). Jimmy Hart, who is 67, can physically do more in the ring at this point than either Knobs or Hall. Hogan constantly says (in the story line) that people in TNA need to earn their spot, it's a new day and all that, yet he has given jobs to The Nasty Boys, Hall and Chubba. ...
Bischoff confronting Hogan about not telling him that Hardy and RVD had been signed is the strongest hint yet that Bischoff and Hogan are headed for a feud. ...
It was refreshing to hear Bischoff say that he and Hogan were "leading the company" rather than "turning the company around." ...
It appeared that Angelina Love hit her head hard when Daffney swung her into the ramp. I couldn't tell if she was selling or if she really was out on her feet. It was scary because Love has suffered multiple concussions in her career. ...
Amazing Red lived up to his name when he did a flip dive off a ladder in the ring onto four guys on the floor. ...
That was a pretty wimpy slap that the Generation Me guy (not sure if it was Max or Jeremy) gave Alex Shelley. Perhaps Sean Waltman should show him how it's done. ...
I thought it was funny that the childlike monster Abyss was the one driving the car that contained Hogan, Hardy and RVD. Do you think Abyss is wearing the mask in his driver's license photo? ...
Hogan said that Sting built the company from the ground up. Actually, that would be Jeff Jarrett. ...
Styles is trying so hard to be Flair that he even yelled, "Sit down, fat boy!' to a guy in the audience. ...
Taz said that Mr. Anderson has consistently been one step ahead of Angle. Did he watch last week's show? ...
Taz's commentary was annoying me even more than usual this week. When talking about Dixie Carter being on Twitter during the Team 3D and Brother Runt vs. The Nasty Boys and Hart match, he made some remark about Runt having "tweedle dees and tweedle dums" in his head. As Daffney was about to attack Love with a hammer, instead of using a serious tone, Taz sarcastically said, "Daffney with a hammer's not a good thing." He may as well have said, "Wrestling is fake and that's just a prop." Taz also said that he was going to make sure he used the word "vintage" in every show. How clever. Michael Cole's response should be that he's going to make sure he says "whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!" in every show whenever someone is about to hit a big move. ...
Shannon Moore said that he represents "the tattooed, the brood and the screwed." So he represents Randy Orton, Gangrel and Bret Hart?