By Ryan Kester

Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Taped earlier in Orlando, Florida.

[Q1] Roode made his entrance and complained about Aces and Eights screwing him over. He demanded answers from Aces and Eights and the group made their entrance. Devon told Roode someone outbid him and tonight he may just find out who.

Jeff Hardy made his entrance and called off his music. Hardy said he was here to fight ad he attacked Aces and Eights, along with James Storm, and the two chased the group off…

Velvet Sky spoke backstage about how she was happy to be back in TNA. She said she was targeting the Knockouts Championship. She said the pigeons were ready for action… [C]

Ryan's Reaction: Simple and effective opener. Best of all, it did its job without dragging on too long.

Footage of Mickie James crying after her loss at Final Resolution aired. James said she was the best female wrestler in the world and she's better than that…

[Q2] 2. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne. Sky went on offense early and worked over Rayne, but Rayne quickly regained control and began attacking Sky's neck.

Sky put Rayne away with her butterfly facebuster…

Velvet Sky defeated Madison Rayne in 3:11.

Kurt Angle did some product placement backstage… [C]

Ryan's Reaction: Time has not been kind to Sky. I'm not a fan of her new getup and she hasn't improved one bit from her previous ring work. That's really disappointing.

Backstage, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian denied being behind outbidding Bobby Roode. They then gloated over beating Styles at Final Resolution…

A video package aired showcasing the TNA team overcoming Aces and Eights at Final Resolution…

[Q3] 2. Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco (w/ Kurt Angle) vs. Robbie E and Robbie T. The Robbies took control early and spent the majority of the match working over the young faces.

Wes Brisco put Robbie T away with a flying crossbody for the quick victory.

Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco defeated Robbie E and Robbie T in 2:48.

After the match, an Aces and Eights member ran out and clubbed Angle's leg, and Angle sold on the floor... [C]

Ryan's Reaction: Better match, but it was too short to really get excited about.

Kurt Angle was shown selling the attack in the training room backstage…

Joseph Park was shown going to OVW to learn how to wrestle…

Tara and Jesse walked into Brooke Hogan's office. Tara wanted to pick her opponent for Championship Thursday. Hogan declined her offer and she sent them on their way…

A brief video hyped a debut for 1/3/13…

[Q4] [C] Kenny King gave a brief promo about how he would learn from his loss to RVD and he's have better luck next time…

3. Jeff Hardy and James Storm vs. Aces and Eights.

Jeff Hardy and James Storm defeated Aces and EightsDOC and a large masked Aces and Eights member represented the heel faction. The faces took control quickly and left DOC and his partner lying at ringside... [C]

[Q5] Back from the break, Aces and Eights took control and began to work over Hardy. Hardy eventually got the hot tag to Storm, who took out both heels quickly.

The finish came when more Aces and Eights members ran out and began to attack Storm and Hardy, but Hardy avoided their attacks and put away the masked member with a Twist of Fate…

Jeff Hardy and James Storm defeated Aces and Eights in 12:56

After the match, Devon revealed that Austin Aries outbid Roode...

Hogan got on the phone backstage and told Aries he needs to come clean by the end of the night. Roode fumed over Aries paying off the group he tried to pay off…[C]

Ryan's Reaction: One of these days, Aces and Eights will have to win a match if TNA expects the audience to take the seriously. TNA has undermined the faction for far too long at this point. The match was solid, but the booking is off.

A video package covering Daniels defeating Styles at Final Resolution aired…

Styles made his entrance. He grabbed a mic and said he demanded a chance to talk. The fans chanted you still got it and Styles looked disgusted. Styles said he's not going anywhere, but he has no idea where he is going. Styles said he's forgotten about himself as he tried to be a corporate guy.

[Q6] Styles said he's sick of being a corporate janitor that cleans up the TNA mess and does the right thing. Styles said from now on he's doing his own thing. The fans cheered him as he left… [C]

Ryan's Reaction: If that was supposed to be a heel turn, it was executed poorly. Not a fan in the building turned on Styles despite his best attempts to heel it up.

Backstage, Dixie Carter stopped Styles and asked him who he was. He threw his shirt at her and left. Daniels and Kazarian were watching a monitor. Daniels tried to celebrate, but Kazarian killed his buzz before saying he has a surprise for Daniels later…

4. Kenny King vs. Rob Van Dam in a non-title match. The two men did some chain wrestling to start the match. King began to gain the upper hand, and he went for several early pin attempts.

RVD caught King with a suplex and he began to make his comeback. Kenny King rolled RVD up off of a flying crossbody, but he had his feet on the ropes to do so…

Kenny King defeated RVD in 5:27.

[Q7] Backstage, Hulk Hogan fumed at Bully Ray for not coming to him first before engaging in a relationship with Brooke. Ray asked Hogan what he thought about how it could be Brooke that was pursuing him. Ray said they were on a couch because she was apologizing for her father being an ass. Hogan wasn't buying it… [C]

Ryan's Reaction: That was the best exchange Hogan and Ray have had thus far. By all means, if they need to keep to pretapes to make this angle work, I am all for it. King did a great job in his match of establishing himself as a cocky heel that isn't above cheating to win.

5. Bully Ray vs. Jesse (w/ Tara). Ray was aggressive early and worked Jesse over with a series of strikes. Jesse got in a few shots, but Ray no sold before he mauled Jesse. Tara ran in to try and talk Ray down, but he spanked her out of the ring.

Jesse lost his mind and attacked Ray with reckless abandon. He snarled and had an intense look on his face that was more comical than intimidating. Jesse reopened the cuts on Ray's forehead.

Ray recovered quickly, however, and he put Jesse away with a quick cutter…

Bully Ray defeated Jesse in 4:12.

[Q8] Aries appeared backstage briefly and said he will be clearing things up after the break… [C]

Ryan's Reaction: Simple match, but I like the story they told. Jesse did well other than his laughable facial expressions.

A video package aired covering the Aces and Eights attack on Hardy and Roode at Final Resolution... [C]

Aries made his entrance and explained that he wanted to get his TNA Title back. Aries said he didn't care that he was outed; he just wanted the job to get done. Aries complained about Hogan pitting him against Aces and Eights months ago.

Aries promised to push the buttons until he gets his title back. Jeff Hardy made his entrance and said all Aries had to do was ask for a title match. Hardy recalled that next week is Championship Thursday, so they might as well have their rubber match then. Aries declined.

Hardy attacked Aries and the two men brawled. Hardy hit Aries with a Twist of Fate and the two men ended the show with a stare down from across the arena.

Ryan's Reaction: Good stuff. They moved on quickly from Roode, but I get the feeling he will interfere next week and go on to have a triple threat down the line. Overall, this show was alright, but it suffered from some less than stellar wrestling and some frantic shifting between stories. I'm still not entirely enthralled with the stories TNA is running with at the moment, so I find myself unable to get really excited about the product as a whole.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.

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