By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Taped on 1/31 in Manchester, England.

[Q1] A video hyped Gunner vs. Magnus for the TNA Championship... Backstage, Dixie, Magnus, EC3, and Rockstar Spud all spoke. I had issues with my satellite for a moment and when I got it back, Magnus was in the ring with Dixie and called out MVP. MVP made his entrance and Magnus cracked about MVP being in jail. He said nine minutes in the ring with him would seem longer than nine years in jail.

MVP mocked Magnus always telling people he was the champion and called him a paper champion again. MVP said they could do this all night, but he was out there to see if Dixie agreed to his Lethal Lockdown proposal. Magnus told the crowd to be quiet and said they accepted the challenge. Magnus said he would not be in the match as team captain because he would be defending the title against Samoa Joe because he was going to beat Gunner tonight.

MVP asked him if he was really going to look past Gunner. He called Gunner a war hero and legit bad ass. Magnus said he was a bad ass and said he was going to make MVP his "beyotch." MVP warned him not to say it before he did and then punched Magnus in the face. EC3 ran out and they beat down MVP.

A picture in picture showed the Wolves being held up by security and Spud. The Wolves beat up security and then tossed Spud into a packing box. Gunner ran out to save MVP and EC3 and Magnus split. The Wolves came out behind the heels. Magnus saw them and shoved EC3 at them before running away right past Eddie Edwards, who barely looked at him. EC3 tried to hit Eddie but he caught the arm and held him for Davey to kick EC3 and then they joined MVP in the ring...

A video recapped the Bobby Roode story. He arrived to the building and IQG asked him if he had any comments. Roode said he would say whatever he had to say to the world...

Shore's Slant: I hate I missed the setup for the opening segment because maybe it would have made things better. I doubt it thought, because the problem wash;t context, it was content. TNA is destroying Magnus faster than WWE destroyed Randy Orton. He is a pathetic joke, not a real heel champion. Then he runs away RIGHT PAST EDDIE EDWARDS! That was the worst segment I have seen out of TNA in some time. Absolutely terrible.

[Q2][C] Backstage, EC3 stormed into the locker room and demanded to know why Magnus did what he did. Magnus said it was because it was best for his Aunt D. EC3 yelled that he had Magnus's back in an over the top manner and left...

In the ring, Samoa Joe said he was in Manchester to fight and challenged anyone in Dixieland to come down to the ring. Bro-Mans and Zema Ion came out and all three entered the ring. Joe asked which one it would be and then answered himself that it would be all three. He attacked them to start the match...

1. Samoa Joe vs. Bro-Mans and Zema Ion in a handicap match. Apparently the heels didn't have to tag. Joe got in a several shots before the numbers game got him. They all hit a combo move in the corner and then Joe pulled Bro-Mans into Zema's missile dropkick. He tossed Bro-Mans to the floor and dove on them. Zema went for a tornado DDT and Joe slammed him down. He followed with the muscle buster and rear naked choke for the win...

Samoa Joe beat Bro-Mans and Zema Ion at 3:37.

Backstage, Christy Hemme talked to some guy about her radio and laughed at what he said. She walked off and Sam Shaw attacked the guy from behind. He slammed him around and then petted Hemme's radio...

Shore's Slant: Half hour in and this show is terrible. Why did Samoa Joe just beat the tag champs and a third guy in three and a half minutes? I don't mind him beating three guys to look like a bad ass, but the tag champs? Stupid. Shaw's attack looked fake and killed any chance the segment had of working. Plus, the production is weird tonight. The cuts are even more jarring and sudden than usual.

[Q3][C] The announce team hyped Kurt Angle's Hall of Fame induction next week... Backstage, Bobby Roode spoke with James Storm. Roode said he had a hard time trusting people and it reached a point where he was a man alone in the locker room. He said it had gotten to be to much. Storm asked him what he was saying. Roode said they had some good stuff and bad stuff and the bad was on him and he could't change it. He said the good stuff they had was special and Storm was the only guy he could trust and he screwed that up.

Storm told Roode to chill. He said they knew when they got in the business it was hard. He said if the business was slapping Roode in the face then he needed to slap it back. He said it was a dog eat dog world. My satellite went screwy again and I didn't hear how it finished... In the divided office, MVP asked Austin Aries to be on his Lethal Lockdown team. Aries said he would think about it and they shook hands... A video seemed to be about the UK tour, but it turned into a cellphone video of Gail Kim and Madison Rayne brawling backstage, which lead to Madison making her entrance for a street fight...[C]

Shore's Slant: I apologize if you are depending on this report for your Impact fix tonight. We apparently have something going on in the atmosphere around here to mess up my signal. The Knockouts are going to have a street fight. I don't know why it's just randomly happening on Impact without any build, but whatever.

2. Madison Rayne vs. Gail Kim in a street fight. Madison grabbed a cookie sheet and attacked Kim during her entrance to start the match. Tapa stood there and watched her attack and din't do anything at all about it even though this is a street fight and therefore there are no rules. I guess TNA has just given up on logic completely at this point. Madison continued her assault and tossed Kim to the floor. Tapa stood between them and Madison jumped off the apron onto Tapa. Tapa caught her, but accidentally spun her around to hit Kim before slamming her into the apron.

[Q4] Kim put the figure four leg lock around the post on Madison for a while and then went for a chair. She tried to hit Madison in the leg, but Madison moved her leg and kicked the chair into Kim's face. Kim bled from the nose afterward. Back in the ring, Tapa climbed ion and Madison hit her with a cookie sheet and a kendo stick. She wound up with a chair, but Kim hit Madison with the belt and covered for the win...

Gail Kim defeated Madison Rayne at 4:29.

Another video hyped Gunner's military experience...[C]

Shore's Slant: Whoever put that match together should be stripped of their agent duties. That was terrible. There was little to no logic in most of the action, and it was all about the big weapon spots instead of telling a story. I genuinely shocked at how bad this episode has been.

Backstage, Hemme was looking at photos of Anderson's kids with him. Shaw walked into frame, looked pissed, and walked away... Another Gunner hype video aired. It even showed his wife and family... Bobby Roode was shown walking backstage...[C]

Shore's Slant: This show has been so bad I feel compelled to point out any good I can find. The Gunner video package was well done and they are doing a good job of making him look special.

[Q5] A video recapped EC3's attack on Kurt Angle two weeks ago and then the announce team hyped Angle's Hall of Fame induction again. Backstage, IQG asked EC3 about ending Angle's career. EC3 said out of respect for all Angle has done, he will let Angle make the official announcement next week...

Storm talked up Gunner backstage for his match. Gunner said this was what he had waited for all his life and he appreciated all Storm had done for him. Storm said Gunner's humility is what he liked about him but he needed to seize what was his tonight. Gunner handed Storm the tag title briefcase and told him to keep it safe so they could go get what was their's again. They hugged and Gunner continued to get ready...

Bobby Roode made his ring entrance and took a mic. He said he was proud to have called Impact his home. Roode put over how much he loved wrestling in front of fans like in Manchester. He said there were a lot of things in his carer he wasn't proud of. He said he can't change what he has done, all he can do is change his future, and that was why he was here tonight. A "please don't go" chant broke out and Roode announced he was leaving wrestling.

A "No!" chant broke out and Roode said they didn't understand. He said he hated himself. He said he has had to listen to Dixie Carter's crap for weeks and he just could't do it anymore. He thanked all of the fans and choked up a little before dropping the mic to leave, but Dixie's music cut him off.

Dixie had a mic and said he didn't get to decide when he leaves because he had a contract and she decided when he left. Roode said he didn't want to be there anymore. Dixie said that was too bad because she needed him there. She apologized to him and said she hadn't treated him right because she had been distracted. Roode said he didn't care; he didn't want to work for her anymore.

Dixie said Lethal Lockdown was for control of the company and she needed a captain for her team. Roode asked her why he should trust her after all her broken promises. Dixie offered him 10 percent ownership of the company if the team won. He again asked why he should trust her and Dixie told him to have his attorneys draw up the paper work and she would sign it. Roode struggled with the decision and then agreed. He told her if she tried to screw him he would spend the rest of his life trying to ruin hers...

Backstage, Jeremy Borash started to interview a German Gut Check winner when Sam Shaw attacked Anderson in the background. Hemme went down like she had been shot as Shaw slammed Anderson into a door. Shaw picked up Hemme and carried her away...

Shore's Slant: There's what TNA needs, yet another authority figure! I'm going to reserve final judgement until I see how it lays out, but the idea of yet another authority figure in this mess makes my head hurt. Hemme didn't even look like she was touched, she just collapsed. I guess the attack was supposed to lock her into the wall, but it just looked like she fainted. It was a bad visual.

[Q6][C] Backstage, Bad Influence politicked Roode to put them on Team Dixie. Roode said the match would give him everything he ever wanted so he couldn't just pick his friends. He told them to go out and prove they belonged on the team...

3. The Wolves vs. Bad Influence. Kazarian and Eddie Edwards started. Daniels distracted Eddie and Kaz attacked from behind, but the Wolves came right back. Davey tagged in and once again Bad Influence cheated to take control. Davey hit a kick on Kaz and Kaz legit kicked him in the face as he sold Davey's kick. Ouch. Eddie got the hot tag and dumped Kaz before going after Daniels. He hit the backpack chin checker and covered, but Kaz broke the count. The Wolves dumped him back to the floor and hit top rope double stomps on Daniels for the win. Richards bled from the mouth afterward...

The Wolves defeated Bad Influence at 5:34.

Backstage, Sam Shaw laid Christy on a table and held her hand. She woke up holding her head and asking what happened. He called her princess and told her to lie down, he had it all under control. She laid back and Shaw saw the camera. He started to walk toward the cameraman but the shot ended abruptly... A short video put over Magnus as champion...[C]

Shore's Slant: The blood from Richards had to be from the accidental kick from Kaz. Tough break there. The match itself was a let down, but I also had high expectations for it. They just didn't have the time to deliver the match those two teams are capable of. Shaw going after the camera man would have been better if we had seen how it played out or if he hadn't seen it at all. Him seeing the camera shows the flaws in the way TNA does backstage shots. If the camera is a real thing, then why is the camera man just shooting instead of trying to help the obviously abducted Hemme?

[Q7] A Magnus hype video aired. Magnus said the difference between he and Gunner was Gunner was a wrestler; he was an asset... Another weird ass Willow video aired... Both Gunner and Magnus were shown heading toward the ring... [C]

Shore's Slant: Some odd commercial placements in this show. That segment was shorter than the last commercial break. We must be getting the title match with limited commercial breaks.

Gunner and Magnus made their entrances, followed by old school ring introductions by Jeramy Borash. The announce team announced just before the bell that it would be contested under Magnus rules, meaning no-DQ. Ugh...

[Q8] 4. Magnus vs. Gunner for the TNA World Championship. The first two minutes were in the last quarter. Magnus worked a two minute headlock to start and then dumped Gunner to the floor. Magnus waved to the back, but the Wolves and James Storm came out instead...[C]

Back from commercial, Magnus was still in control and hooked on a camel clutch. Gunner made his feet with Magnus on his back and drove Magnus back into the corner. Magnus went right to a sleeper and Storm yelled for Gunner not to give up. Gunner hit a back suplex to break the hold, but Magnus squashed the comeback.

Magnus grabbed the title belt and tried to hit Gunner. Gunner ducked and the title belt went flying. Both guys ended up hitting cross bodies on each other and sold. EC3 and Bro-Mans ran out and fought with Storm and the Wolves to the back. Gunner hit a power bomb and top rope elbow. He covered, but Spud was there to put Magnus's foot on the rope. Gunner went after Spud, allowing Magnus to hit Gunner with the title for a near fall.

Storm ran back out and chased Spud around the ring a little and then quit. Weird. Magnus slammed Gunner into the turnbuckle and that got Gunner hyped up. He started his comeback as Storm banged on the ring. Gunner hit a slingshot suplex and slam. Gunner climbed the top rope, but Spud stood in the ring between he and Magnus. Storm slid in the ring and tossed Spud to the floor. Gunner jumped off and Storm hit a super kick on a diving Gunner. Magnus covered for the win...

Magnus retained the TNA Championship at 16:35.

Shore's Slant: Uh...OK? I'm all for the swerve and all, but that made no sense in the long running arc of the relationship between Storm and Gunner. Why bury the hatchet just to turn four weeks later? I don't get it. They are going to have to do some real work to get this to make sense, and based on this show, I don't think they have the creative talent to do so. The match itself was OK, It suffered once again from run-ins taking attention away, but it wasn't poorly wrestled. Gunner looked good here, and Magnus continues to be booked to look like crap.

All in all this was an awful episode of Impact. The first half hour was almost beyond words bad and the show never recovered. I'll have more tomorrow in the Impact Hit List and audio review. Thanks for watching along tonight.

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