Monday night's episode of TNA Impact began with Eric Bischoff playing acoustic guitar in the middle of the ring and ended with a really good main event in which Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam defeated Beer Money. In between, we saw Mick Foley get fired, Matt Morgan send tag team partner Hernandez to the hospital and Chubba Sponge get punched in the face.
In other words, it was a fun show.
The best thing was the Hardy/RDV-Beer Money match. It was great to see Robert Roode and James Storm in a prominent role again, and Hardy and RVD both looked good. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing these two teams wrestle again.
Other thoughts on Monday's show:
Bischoff forced allies Foley and Jeff Jarrett to wrestle each other, with the loser having to leave TNA and the winner having to be Bischoff's (rhymes with "itch). Foley was the lucky one – he lost. My guess is that Mick Foley is gone but Cactus Jack will show up in time for the Lockdown pay-per-view on April 18, maybe as the result of Hulk Hogan over-ruling Bischoff. Perhaps as a foreshadowing, Foley did Cactus Jack's trademark "bang-bang!" after punching TNA's resident annoying crony/shock jock in the nose on his way out the door. It looked as if Foley really connected with the blow to Chubba's mug. Did I mark out? You betcha, brother. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that taking the punch was an initiation of sorts that Chubba had to pass in order to get more of a presence on the show. I hope I'm wrong about that. ...
The Foley-Jarrett match was better than you'd think and it was compelling because of the stipulations and the fact that Beer Money were the special referees. It was kind of funny that the graphic under Foley's name said "3-time world champion." So they're not counting his TNA title reign? ...
Bischoff playing guitar while sitting in the ring with a spotlight on him was certainly a unique way to kick off the show. I'm pretty sure Bischoff wasn't really playing, as they shot close-ups of the player's hands but only showed Bischoff from behind and close-ups of his face. Uou couldn't tell if he was really playing or just faking it. ...
Jarrett was way over as a babyface when he came out to confront Bischoff, and he got a huge pop when he nailed Bischoff over the head with the guitar. ...
Morgan got a lot of heel heat during his match with Hernandez, especially when he delivered the Carbon Footprint while Hernandez's head was pressed up against the ring post. It looks as if Morgan is about to get the mega-push that he deserves. ...
It would have been nice if TNA had announced at the beginning of the show – or at least early in it – that the tag team champions were wrestling each other. It was the next-to-last match on the show. ...
To get across the fact that the injury to Hernandez was "real," Homicide, a heel who had been on the outs with Hernandez after LAX broke up, came out acting all concerned. Taz referred to Homicide as "Hernandez's best friend." ...
The segment that involved Hogan, Abyss, Ric Flair, A.J. Styles, Sting and "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero (did I forget anybody?) was pretty heated. Flair was great on the mic and he had me laughing out loud when he was trying to escape in his wheelchair from Hogan. By the way, does anyone remember when fans used to refer to WCW as "Wheelchair Wrestling" during the original Monday Night War because a lot of WCW's top stars were in their 40s? Now a lot of those same guys are in TNA. ...
Abyss cut a promo in which he said that he hoped Styles and Flair stayed back at the hotel and weren't going to show up. He said this, of course, after Flair and Styles had already been shown on camera pulling up at the studio in the "Orlando Stripperama" van. ...
Since Hardy pinned Styles last week, shouldn't he be in line for a shot at the TNA world title, perhaps against the winner of Styles' title defense against Dinero at Lockdown? ...
Hogan to Bischoff: "We're here to move this company forward, and we're doing it." I guess he hasn't seen the ratings recently. ...
I was surprised that TNA showed the ridiculous post-match slapstick routine that ended Sunday's Destination X pay-per-view. It would have been wiser to just pretend it never happened. ...
The eight-woman tag team match that saw The Beautiful People and Daffney defeat Tara, Angelina Love, Sarita and Taylor Wilde was fun. Daffney scored the winning pinfall on women's champion Tara, and it was announced that they will face each other next week in a First Blood match. I'm not really into watching women blade, and I don't think I'm in the minority on that one. I am really glad to see Daffney in a title program, though. I think she's going to end up being a popular babyface at some point. ...
Rob Terry, whose limitations are being hidden by having him win quick squash matches – including one on this show against Tomko – is starting to get over. Speaking of Tomko, it's hard to believe he was on the verge of becoming a breakout star in TNA a couple years ago. ...
Is Desmond Wolfe pimping out Chelsea to Flair? ...
It was announced during the show that Impact will not be replayed Thursday. Of course, that's what they said last week, too. ...
OK, let me get this straight: Hardy, RVD, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman are all going to be in the ring at the same time next week? Think there will be a lot of high spots?