Kinda meh show opening video compared to the usual ones, but I liked that it showed Bully tapping to Aries. I loved Roode's promo because he put himself over, his match at the PPV, and RVD as well. Roode saying he'll have the biggest bash ever is just setting things up for failure since TNA doesn't even have the budget for the average NXT skit let alone THE BIGGEST BASH EVER. Loved him listing his rider, including golden confetti, from Canada, Hogan asking for it, and Roode telling him to hold on cuz he had a few more. This led to Hogan putting Roode over huge on the mic, saying that everyone wanted a shot at him, leading to the whole roster, including the X Champ Aries, coming out as potential foes. This ruled. Then he announced four matches tonight, including Joe-Angle, to determine potential foes for next week. This was an efficient use of 12 minutes and was really good stuff. They hyped up the Impact Summer Bash starting on the 31st, so at least they're pimping that pretty well now. They replayed the return of Abyss and showed the reactions from Roode and RVD - great, made it seem important.
Kinda odd to have Bully Ray in a one on one qualifier for the world title instead of Aries. RVD came out doing a great Sakuraba impression all taped up. I loved Bully doing a bunch of holds to hurt the taped-up knee of RVD more. They hyped up A BIG SURPRISE for 5/31. If it's just the Brooke signing, then they'd be idiots for hyping it like that period, let alone announcing it ahead of time. Glad to see the Bubba Cutter win for Bully. They aired a brief video package for King Mo, using what appeared to be Sengoku footage to do so. I loved Bully's promo knocking the Kardashians leading to Joseph Park coming in, saying he was sorry, and also saying that Bully was the fire, leading to more Bully rage. They cut to Tenay and Taz on a set that at least resembles their Impact Zone booth, but shot so you can't see that it's just a studio set.
Didn't like them airing so much of the MMA Uncensored Live deal, including Craig saying that PRO WRESTLING ISN'T THE REAL DEAL. Edit that shit OFF OF YOUR OWN SHOW. Strange disconnect between that and Gail and Madison having a wacky meeting of bitching about stuff, then Velvet and Brooke came in to act poorly and brag about winning. The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived (and won at the PPV) got a shot in the battle royal...well, that's better than nothing. GARETT BISCHOFF, ODB, and EY were in this thing. Wow. ODB, EY, and Crimson were eliminated at the same time. Crimson actually sold for ODB. They hyped up Madison's crush on someone...so I guess Morrison's coming in at the 5/31 show. Loved Tenay saying they were down to the final five...if his math was correct. I would really hope that five wouldn't be too great a number of things for Tenay to keep track of. Devon got eliminated by Garett, who I guess is the next TV Champion. Loved Aries and AJ getting a little showdown - I hope they have a match at Destination X. Gunner helped Bully by getting rid of Aries, who then got tossed by AJ. Very good ending stuff with Aries and AJ. Glad to see AJ in the world title mix. Odd to have it also be while he's mired in the mid-card. They said they'd come back with AJ after the break, which makes sense given that they hyped him speaking at some point, and it makes sense to do post-match promos as well.
Loved the AJ/Angle/Kaz/Daniels video package. Made the PPV match seem kinda epic. Loved AJ calling out Roode in his promo, then trying to address the pics only to be interrupted by the tag champs. Loved Daniels showing a video of AJ and Dixie on his iPad step-by-step. Very handy tutorial on not only iPad usage, but also life-ruining. LOLed at Taz saying that it was their fault when AJ and Dixie are doing this stuff. Great recap of the Joe-Angle Turning Point '06 match, leading to an Angle-Joe brawl backstage. I also liked Joe saying that the world title is his. Anderson watching pics of the ending on...I think a Kindle Fire was amusing because he was subdued, but also looked chubby due to how he was sitting. Outside of visual humor, this was good stuff. Anderson wasn't annoying, and brought up giving Jeff another chance even though he was given the W on the PPV.
Nice Slammiversary video with Dixie and some local dude in the town it's at reminded me of the hokey Starrcade '83 bidding war video on the first Flair DVD set. Loved them using AJ's X Title win over Daniels to not only show the history of the promotion, but also some of that duo's history as well. Very efficient use of footage there that also made their current feud seem like more than just a battle of mid-carders. LOLed at Taz and Tenay talking about Anderson at Tribeca hyping up a movie with him, Dixie, and Matt Morgan in it. The execution was hilarious, but it really did help TNA seem like a respectable company due to having involvement in something that is on a small scale, but also probably pretty good. Anderson-Hardy was fine, and they went into overdrive hyping up the 5/31 show's time slot change and BIG SURPRISE! Hardy hit a real swank slingshot dropkick on Anderson. Great finishing sequence here with Anderson countering the Twist of Fate with the Finlay Roll, only to get crucifixed for the win. I liked that more than the PPV match. Anderson and Hardy hugged, which should've been brought up as a major showing of sportsmanship, but was instead just shown for a few frames while they went through what was left on the show. Not perfect there, but still better than Anderson being an asshole or having him just turn on Jeff.
Loved the Angle-Joe Lockdown '08 video, but their cropping leaves a lot to be desired. Brooke's gear looks good, and her robe/vest thing is nice, but defines Major League Generic. Velvet used an amusing thing resembling a small package at one point. They did a hilarious half-crab/dragon sleeper at the same time deal, while I fan held up a GAIL IS A NINJA sign. They did another wacky three-person spot with a cradle that looked ridiculous. I think they should've done what the Rockers did and tried these things out with action figures first. Loved Gail winning after Velvet's finisher, mainly because she gave her a wedgie afterwards, then pinned Brooke in a lewd manner. Yet another awesome TNA history video aired, including the rana off the cage, Angle and Flair's debut. This really made it seem like the company went from relatively nothing to being THE biggest deal in wrestling. Whether it's true or not, at least they're telling that story now. This absolutely made you want to see Slammiversary just because it's the tenth anniversary show.
Joe-Angle got to follow this and man did it ever feel like a return to form for TNA. Loved Tenay talking about Joe's 18 month undefeated streak being stopped by Angle. If there was a way to get Joe back over as a main event-level guy in TNA legit, tonight's treatment of him was it. The crowd was really hot for Joe. They normally are to some degree, but tonight, they really seemed happy to see him back in the main event of Impact. He really did redeem himself in his tag role with Magnus, and they helped themselves out a lot because it really did make you forget about the shitty booking of him for years by the company. Match was moving at a good clip until Roode came out. Really lame MMA Uncensored Live "comedy" commercial happened. Roode was pretty good on commentary and said that no matter who won, NO ONE WOULD STOP HIM FROM BECOMING THE LONGEST-REIGNING CHAMPION IN TNA HISTORY and then he said he beat half the guys he COULD face, and ran down a list of the others he beat too.
Great deal there and Roode is really good at putting over the world title as being THE most important thing in the world. Joe and Angle worked this as best as they could given their age and injuries since their last run together, but it seemed like the best match that they could possibly have now and was pretty damn good. It was sad to see Joe not go for the jumping corner kick, and instead turning it into more of a Cro Cop high kick instead. I liked Roode going beyond calling it as a heel, but also calling it like a commentator normally would and putting over what each guy was doing well. Nice finish with Angle winning off a cradle - it was a good one, and perfectly put both Joe and Angle over. I really liked that Roode was upset about Angle, but DID NOT jump him, and instead, just went up to the ramp and got into a staredown with all 4 guys he could face. Going into the show, I wasn't really hyped too much because it's been such a big news day, but this show made me forget about all of it and was an awesome show overall. Way, way, way better show than Raw and SD, and I dig the new show-ending 10 Years of TNA graphic.
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Not pictured - whale