TNA iMPACT Report for November 18th, 2010

We open with a video package looking at the Jeff Hardy heel turn, him receiving the new TNA Divas Title belt, his new feelings towards the fans, and his attack on Matt Morgan last week.

We head to the Impact Zone where Ric Flair comes out to the ring for our opening promo. Flair has a message for Matt Morgan: he's complained about the officiating, he made the mistake of punching out Fortune, so Flair and Bischoff have decided on a special referee for his rematch with Jeff Hardy: it's Ric Flair. Flair wants Morgan to bring his "big lanky ass" out to the ring so he can talk to him face to face. Morgan and his big lanky ass stroll down to the ring, and Flair says that Morgan can't call him Naitch anymore because he's not his friend anymore. He tells Morgan not to look to the fans for support, and not to turn his face away from God. Flair lays it out for Morgan and says that he could have Fortune come out here and kick his ass right now, but being Ric Flair, he's never asked anyone to do anything he couldn't do, so if Morgan doesn't like the referee decision then he'll have to beat Flair right here tonight. Crowd chants at Morgan to do it, and Morgan says that wrestling Flair is number one on his bucket list so he's on. Flair takes exception to the bucket list comment and discusses his previous evening's exploits, then says he's going to embarrass Morgan tonight and make him regret walking away from Fortune, and says that if Hogan was standing in the ring he would have bitchslapped Morgan. Flair says that he'll see Morgan in two hours, and Morgan says he's going to let his actions do his talking when he takes his size 18 and shoves it up Flair's ass.

Really? We're really going to have to watch Flair wrestle again? I get that the guy needs money and thinks he can still do it, but this is Ric Flair we're talking about here, and I've talked at great length about how depressing it is to watch him "wrestle" at his age, but can't it at least be saved for PPV or somewhere else it's going to mean something instead of on a throwaway TV match? And since Flair said he'd see Morgan in two hours (putting it at 11:08pm), I guess that means we're just accepting that Impact runs until 11:15 every week and Reaction is a 45 minute show.

Generation Me are backstage, and they're...WALKING! Tara comes out and wishes them luck, then gives them both a slap on the butt. That's kind of gross, kind of like your friend's mom hitting on you.

Tonight: Jeff Hardy wrestles Raven, and if Raven loses, he gets fired. Also, Flair vs Morgan and Abyss will compete in an Open Casket Challenge, whatever that is.

To the ring for our first match...

Velvet Sky, Motor City Machine Guns & Jay Lethal vs Generation Me & The Shore

Lethal and Max Buck start the match and Lethal armdrags Max around a bunch and then tags in Alex Shelley, who comes off the top with an elbow to the arm, and Max finds himself in the wrong corner and gets beat up by everybody. The boys hang Max upside down in the corner and run over to the heel corner and distract the ref, so Velvet climbs up and steps on Max's groin while Sabin comes back with the hang time dropkick to Max's face. There's some teamwork. Shelley gets tossed to the outside and gets pummelled by Jeremy Buck & Robbie E, then they roll Shelley back in and Max covers for 2. Cookie tags in and stomps Shelley a few times and then tags out to Robbie E, who catches Shelley with a back elbow and tags Jeremy in. Shelley fights his way free and almost makes the tag, but Jeremy catches him and the Bucks hit the neckbreaker/backbreaker combo for 2. Robbie tags in and takes an enziguiri and Shelley makes the hot tag and Lethal comes in and cleans house on everybody. Lethal with the handspring elbow takes out both Bucks, then he pulls Robbie E into the ring and nails him. Cookie comes in and takes a slap but Lethal blocks the shot and gives Jeremy the Lethal Combination. Tag to Chris Sabin who comes in with a springboard clothesline, but only gets 2 and now everybody in the ring. Velvet with a flying headscissors on Max Buck and then the Guns hit a series of double teams in the corner and hit the Skull & Bones on Jeremy as Velvet beats up Cookie in the corner. Referee is distracted by people fighting everywhere and doesn't see Max spraying something aerosol in Sabin's eyes, allowing Jeremy to roll Sabin up and hook the tights for the win.

Winners: Generation Me & The Shore

The underlying story here that Taz and Mike Tenay kept referring to the fact that Sabin and Velvet are an item outside the ring, and it went from them vaguely alluding to it to them beating us over the head with it. The other main point here was that Velvet screwed up and cost herself another match by distracting the ref while her boyfriend was getting sprayed in the face. Good match though, tons of action going on and when it's this hard for me to recap it, you know the Guns and GenMe are in the ring.

Jeff Jarrett is backstage in MMA gear and he's...WARMING UP!

We go to GenMe as they're backstage congratulating themselves for beating the Guns, but the Guns crash the party and say they didn't beat anyone beat anyone, and they're the champions because they don't need cheap tactics like that, and they suggest that the four of them settle it tonight on Reaction. Good idea, take two of the best teams in wrestling and use a confrontation between them to get people to tune in to Reaction.

We go to Jeff Jarrett with Gunner and Murphy, who says that MMA is his new thing and he wants them standing outside to keep Kurt Angle out of the building. He says Kurt is not a man of his word because he said he'd retire but he still comes around breaking windows and attacking him. He tells Jeremy Borash to come over and hands him a piece of paper and tells him that he'd better read it right this time. He smacks Borash and tells him that he'll have six students in the ring and he'd better describe the pain they're in. Borash asks what happened to the Jarrett he used to know, and Jarrett smacks him again and says that he's tired of people looking at him like he sold out because everything's right now, and he, Hogan, Flair and Bischoff are finally going to make the company profitable. He shoves Borash out the door and stares after him.

I liked this segment up until the very end when Jarrett dropped the profitable line. So once again, TNA is basically coming out and saying they suck and this latest plan is going to make everything work. Okay, how about this: no more talking about how the company's not profitable, because all the viewers hear is "We suck so bad that nobody wants to buy what we're selling." Also, instead of talking about how you're going to turn things around, you just turn things around and DON'T TALK ABOUT IT! You never saw Vince McMahon going on TV in late 97-early 98 saying "Well, we've had a rough time and haven't made much money for years now, but we're working to change things and with Austin leading the way, he's going to take us back to the number one spot in the business!" It just makes TNA look so bush league.

Kurt Angle video package to remind us he's alive, then we're at commercial.

We're back and Jeremy Borash is in the ring, informing us that it's time for the...

Double J MMA Exhibition

Jarrett is escorted to the ring by six alleged MMA fighters. Borash informs us that what we are about to see is an exhibition being performed by professionals, and Jarrett grabs the microphone and orders the truck to put a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen to not try this at home. The first move Jarrett demonstrates is a Jujigatame, or cross armbreaker to you laymen. Jarrett describes the mechanics of the move, down to putting the knee into the solar plexus, then torques it until the guy taps. The next move is a Japanese knee lock, which he helpfully reminds us is something his buddy Frank used to tap out a big guy named Brock. Move #3 is one familiar to all of us...the Ankle Lock! Jarrett says his friend used this to become a champion all over the world, and he used it to become a World Champion here in a TNA ring, and it took him years to learn it but Jarrett learned it in a matter of weeks. That's right, he learned it from his friend...Ken Shamrock. He demonstrates the move and the guy taps. Next move is the rear naked choke, which he learned from his good friend...Royce Gracie. He gets the rear naked choke on the guy and won't let go, and now Samoa Joe's music hits and he comes out and says to stop wasting everybody's time and just spar with him. Jarrett says he's got two students left, and if he goes through them, he'll face Joe one-on-one in a submission match right here tonight. Predictably, Joe comes out and goes through both of them in mere seconds, so now he's earned himself his match with Jeff Jarrett, so I guess we've got...

Submission Match: Jeff Jarrett vs Samoa Joe

Jarrett just tosses the students at Joe and Joe plows through all of them while Jarrett runs. The big one he tappes out last suckerpunches Joe from behind and tells him to come on, so Joe destroys him and lays him out with a Muscle Buster. Okay, well I guess it's...

No Contest

I really enjoyed this, it was such a classic "antagonistic heel pushing the babyface's buttons then heading for the hills" moment, and it was informative on top of that! Also, it's fun watching Joe tear through six guys by himself.

Raven and Stevie Richards are backstage, and Stevie says that he knows everyone is trying to screw them, but this is a huge opportunity for Raven. Tommy says that Raven has the opportunity to show what a leader he can be, so Raven stands up, flips the double bird at the camera (directed at Immortal), and heads out the door. Yep, Tommy and Raven beat each other bloody at Hardcore Justice, and once again they're all buddy buddy. This is why I give up every time I think about writing a wrestling history book.

TNA World Champion Jeff Hardy vs Raven

Jeff Hardy has a cool new entrance, and his new belt GLOWS IN THE DARK! Isn't that cute? Jeremy Borash does a great introduction where he announces Hardy's hometown and weight, then calls him the Charismatic Enigma, the Antichrist of Professional Wrestling, and the TNA World Champion, and then says, "And his opponent...Raven." Raven tosses Hardy to the floor to start and gives him a Russian Legsweep into the guardrail, then tosses him back into the ring. Raven with a bulldog off the top and covers for 2 then wedges a chair between the top and middle ropes and goes to whips Hardy into it, but Hardy reverses and Raven crashes into the chair and tumbles out to the floor. Hardy goes out after him and rams him into the apron, then tosses him back in the ring and goes for the Whisper In The Wind, but Raven dodges and hits a discus clothesline, a clothesline in the corner, and a bulldog and covers for 2. Raven is starting to look more and more like Jimmy Valiant. Hardy gets the Twist Of Hate out of nowhere and hits the Swanton for the win.

Winner: Jeff Hardy

Raven's outta here, and the remaining members of EV2.0 come out to join Raven in the ring, but Hardy pauses at the top of the ramp as Hulk Hogan comes out to share his thoughts. He says this is quite appropriate for the occasion because Dixie Carter said that EV2.0 meant the same to wrestling as Hogan did. Raven gets out of the ring to go after Hogan, but the rest of EV2.0 hold him back, so Hogan says "You're fired, Raven. Quoth the Hogan...nevermore."

Decent enough for what it was, I don't think losing Raven is exactly going to send this company spiraling into the abyss, and at this point it's pretty clear they're working the ECW guys out one by one. Hardy finally got a chance to come out and squash someone, but he's still standing in the background while Hogan talks and he's not even being portrayed as amongst the leadership of the group with Hogan, Flair and Bischoff. I don't get what the point of the Hardy heel turn was if they weren't going to run all the way with it. And the Borash introductions were hilarious, I love the way Borash is selling being forced to do these ridiculous introductions and announcements with a straight face.

Speaking of EV2.0, after commercial we come back and Tommy Dreamer is in the ring calling Rhino out because, much like Lucy, he has some explaining to do. Rhino tells Dreamer that all the members of EV2.0 at Turning Point knew that after the PPV was over, his contract expired and nobody cared...except Eric Bischoff. Bischoff gave him a choice between employment and unemployment, and he's got to be honest with Tommy: at first he told Eric he could kiss his ass, but he soon realized that he was here years before Tommy and RVD, and when they came to TNA they stole the spotlight and all the glory, and Rhino became an afterthought. He hopes his actions last week made Tommy realize that he doesn't take a backseat to anybody. Tommy says he doesn't think Rhino takes a backseat, he considers him one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. He then says that he and RVD came to TNA because Dixie Carter offered them contracts and they wanted to be a part of TNA. Contracts expiring is just a part of the business and he and RVD had nothing to do with it, but Rhino did what they all swore they would never do, he sold out for the almighty dollar. Rhino asks if he and RVD are going to support him and his little girl, and said that they never thought of him one bit and all Rhino is going to think about from now on is himself. Tommy says that Rhino's right, he gets the part about being a father, but look what happened to Sabu and Raven. They're all at Hogan and Bischoff's mercy, but Sabu and Raven went down with a fight, but Rhino just quit on them and all the people. Rhino has finally heard enough and yanks on Dreamer's dislocated wrist and attacks him, and RVD runs out to make the save, but stops to check on Tommy and gets gored.

We then go backstage to Abyss, who is pushing the casket out for his match, which is up next.

Really good segment, I know I may be in the minority here but I consider Tommy one of the best promo guys in the business, he has a way of conveying the emotion behind his words and making you care about his story like few other people in the business today can. I didn't like how they cut backstage to Abyss almost immediately after Rhino hit the gore and didn't allow it time to sink in before hitting us over the head with the next segment. But great promo, and it illustrates the motivation behind Rhino's actions, and anything that gets him on TV in a position of some importance is okay by me.

We go backstage to Matt Morgan, whos says that if he has to go through Ric Flair to become a World Champion, then so be it.

Time for our next match...

Open Casket Challenge: Shannon Moore vs Abyss

Now wait, Abyss was pushing the casket out from the back, but when we come back from commercial the casket's already at ringside and Abyss is nowhere to be found. What, did Abyss push it out to ringside, then return to the back so he could make his normal entrance? Moore dodges and ducks, but Abyss picks Moore up and goes for a powerslam. Moore ducks out the back and lays in a few shots at Abyss, but he's like 1/4 the size of Abyss, so Abyss catches him on a leaping something into the corner and dumps Moore out to the floor. Abyss goes after him and tries to toss him in the casket (I guess that makes this a Casket Match), but Moore slips away. They head back in the ring where Abyss goes for the Choo Choo, but Moore moves and tries a charge of his own, but gets backdropped to the floor, so he climbs to the top and hits a bulldog and then points to the casket. He rolls Abyss over to the casket, but Abyss comes to his senses and punches Moore in the face and stands up. Moore continues trying to knock Abyss off the apron and into the casket, but Abyss grabs him in a clawhold (he must have been watching his World Class tapes) and tosses Moore to the floor again. Moore fires at Abyss and slumps him over the side of the casket and then slams the lid down on him and hits an Asai Moonsault onto Abyss on the floor. That brings back some fond Ultimo Dragon memories. Moore tries to get Abyss in the casket again and gets him most of the way in, but Abyss kicks him off and slides back out. Abyss grabs him by the head and rams him into the guardrail, they head back in the ring and Abyss tries to chokeslam Moore, and Moore escapes but runs right into the Black Hole Slam. Abyss drags Moore like a dead deer to the casket and opens the lid, and Pope is laying inside. He does the Undertaker situp and viciously attacks Abyss until Abyss rolls out to the floor, grabs Janice, and heads up the ramp where he stares down Pope. Referee called for the bell when Pope went after Abyss, so let's say...

Winner By DQ: Abyss

Much better match than I would have expected, I was thinking total squash, but Moore kept it pretty competitive and they had a great big man/little man match with the casket twist thrown in. That said, the casket gimmick really belongs to the Undertaker and I think everyone watching thought the same thing, but I'll let it go.

Angelina is backstage saying she's the leader of the Knockoots locker room, and she knows Mickie is a great wrestler, but if she thinks she's just going to come into TNA and take over the Knockoots Division, she's got another thing coming.

Mickie James vs Angelina Love

Angelina with a go behind takedown and a cover, but Mickie escapes and gets an Oklahoma Roll for 2. Mickie with an O'Connor Roll for 2. They share a nice handshake and tie up again, and Angelina gets a side headlock, Mickie tries to send her into the ropes but Angelina hangs on to the headlock so Mickie rolls her way out, but Angelina goes right back to the headlock. Angelina into the ropes and takes Mickie down with a shoulderblock and tries a hiptoss, but Mickie reverses to a monkey flip and a dropkick for 2. Tieup again and Angelina takes Mickie to the corner and give her an elbow in the jaw and follows it up with a flying clothesline for 2. Angelina with a front powerslam for 2 and then gets a sleeperhold, Micke goes for a back suplex but Mickie rolls through and Angelina tries the Botox Injection, but Mickie dodges and Angelina looks frustrated. Mickie extends the hand again and Angelina takes it, then yanks Mickie down by the hair and covers for 2. Now Mickie's pissed, and she takes Angelina to the corner and rams several shoulders to the ribs, but Angelina with a really nice leapfrog into a schoolgirl rollup for 2. Now Mickie catches Angelina with a flying headscissors and a neckbreaker for 2. Mickie goes up top, but Angelina dodges whatever she was going for and hits the Botox Injection, but hesitates before going for teh cover and only gets 2. Angelina picks Mickie up and goes for a uranage, but Mickie fights out and gets the DDT for the win.

Winner: Mickie James

With this win, Mickie will now go on to challenge Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Title. I thought this was a really good match, and Angelina showed better psychology and workrate in this match than I think I've ever seen out of her. I was really impressed.

Brother Ray is backstage, and he's...WALKING!

We go to Angelina Love backstage, and she's so pissed off over losing that she trashes the backstage area and starts crying. Winter comes over and puts a hand on Angelina's shoulder, and she says that all this was meant to happen and is happening for a reason. She says that things are going to start falling into place, and it's time the two of them get to know each other.

We go back out to the ring with Brother Ray, and he says everybody wants to know why he turned on Devon. The answer is because he can, but because he's in a good mood he'll give us a better explanation. 15 years ago, he created the greatest tag team move in history, a move that can beat any team, a move that won him 23 World Tag Team Titles. That move was the 3D, and everyone has fallen to the 3D, and rolls off the names of about a zillion people he's beaten after giving them the move. He says nobody ever kicked out of it until Chris Sabin did it at Turning Point, but he didn't kick out because he was so tough, he kicked out because Devon was weak. Devon has always been weak, and the weak link in the team. He was the star of Team 3D, Devon was a co-star. Devon never stood by his side, he always stood two steps behind him where he belonged. He says that he'll put it simply so someone as simple-minded as Devon can get it: Brother Ray is the Shawn Michaels, and Devon is the Marty Jannetty. And for all the people who don't know who Marty Jannetty is, that's exactly his point. Any of the Dudleys could have been his partner: Brother Runt, Big Dick, anyone, because all Devon ever was to him was a guy who got his tables.

Wow, just wow. AWESOME promo, I loved it and it made sense becuase it's what we've all been thinking for years, but it's still so jarring to hear Bubba actually come out and say it. I loved the references to Marty Jannetty, Spike, and Big Dick, and I'm actually okay with him name dropping WWE guys here because he wasn't JUST name dropping WWE guys, he mentioned a bunch of ECW and TNA guys as well to illustrate that for their entire career as a team through all three companies, the 3D always beat everyone until Devon dropped the ball at Turning Point. Great stuff.

It's main event time!

Ric Flair vs Matt Morgan

The bell rings, and I look at flabby, 63 year old Flair standing across the ring from 7 foot tall Morgan and think "Yeah, he has a shot here." They tie up and Morgan shoves him off. Flair manages to take Morgan to the corner and lays in several chops, but Morgan shoves him off into the corner and gives Flair a much bigger backdrop than he ought to be taking at his age. Morgan whips Flair to the corner again and gets the machine guns elbows, and Flair comes out of the corner and does the Flair Flop. Morgan goes for the elbows again but Flair shoves Morgan off and into the referee, who tumbles out to the floor. Flair takes the opportunity to kick Morgan in the groin and pound him with punches and chops, but Morgan goozles Flair from his knees and stands up, but Flair sticks a thumb in his eye and tosses him to the floor. Flair goes out after him and chops him against the guardrail, but Morgan fights back and rams Flair into the guardrail and then repeatedly punches him in the head, and guess what? That's right, Flair is bleeding. Can this guy get through one damn match without getting juice anymore? Morgan tosses Flair back in the ring and Flair begs off, but Morgan nails him anyway and leans him in the corner and repeatedly drills Flair in the face until Flair Flops again. Morgan with a side suplex and a chokeslam, but now Fortune all come running into the ring and beat the Bischoff out of Morgan. Williams appears hesitant and AJ tries to force him to join in the beatdown on Morgan, but Williams instead suckerpunches AJ and lays out all the rest of Fortune, then makes his own exit, leaving Flair and Morgan alone in the ring. Flair gives Morgan his best shots, but Morgan no-sells and whips Flair into the ropes and hits the Carbon Footprint for the win.

Winner: Matt Morgan

Williams stands at the top of the ramp looking really pleased with himself as the rest of Fortune stands there making angry faces at him. Morgan will now challenge Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Title, presumably at Final Resolution, with Ric Flair as the special referee. Good enough match considering that Flair's way too old and limited to be taken seriously as a wrestler, and he's lost so many matches over the last few years that a win over him means nothing, which is just ridiculous to think about. But Williams is out of Fortune, which we all saw coming, and will presumably now be Morgan's ally to counteract Flair at Final Resolution.

Overall, I thought this week's show was a definite step up from the last several weeks. I hate seeing Flair wrestle, but I loved the Dreamer and Bubba promos, Mickie vs Angelina and Abyss vs Moore were both unexpectedly great matches, I enjoyed the mixed tag, and really got a kick out of the Double J MMA Exhibition. There were little details throughout the show that drove me crazy, but in terms of the broad picture, I was happy that it was a step back in the right direction and, for the first time in weeks, I didn't feel stupid just for watching the show. I think we ought to start setting up and announcing matches for the next PPV, but we've still got time. Thumbs up this week.

PWI