TNA Victory Road Reactions

As you know, the big story from TNA’s Victory Road last night was the condition of Jeff Hardy.  The scheduled main event of Sting defending the World Title against Hardy was barely a match at all, lasting just a minute and a half and consisting solely of a Scorpion Death Drop and a pin.  Although details are sketchy, early speculation is that Hardy was under the influence and in no condition to wrestle.  As a result, Sting rightfully refused to carry on with a full length match, and the crowd went home disappointed after the main event fiasco.  Sounds about right.

This wouldn’t be the first time that Hardy was unfit to compete at a TNA show, but it is the first time that it was made so obvious.  In the past, he was either replaced or he wrestled his match as scheduled, despite his problems.  Sting, the consummate professional, refused to take the risk with Hardy this time though, and TNA management didn’t bother to find a replacement.  News early today is that Hardy has been sent home from tonight’s Impact tapings, although with speculation running wild about this situation, I’m taking everything with a grain of salt.  I’m sure we’ll hear more as the week progresses, and tomorrow I’ll delve a little deeper into the significance of this debacle.  Until then, we give the rest of Victory Road a look after the jump, and it honestly wasn’t as bad as a lot of people are saying.

• Mr. Anderson wrestled Rob Van Dam to a double countout in a match to determine the #1 contender to the World Title, much to the ire of the fans in the Impact Zone.  The match didn’t really show me much, and while I’m a big fan of both of these guys individually, I’m not too sure that their styles mesh that well.  To be honest, when Eric Bischoff approached the ring before the World Title match, I thought he was going to make it a fatal four-way because of the outcome of this match, but he did not.  Retrospectively, it would have made sense for that to have been the case.
• AJ Styles gained a victory over Matt Hardy (thankfully) in a really good match.  There were a few high spots in this one, including AJ sliding under the ringside barricade when Matt attempted to whip him into it.  Hardy busted out a really interesting double underhook grapevine submission that I’ve never seen him use before at one point.  This match was given a ton of time, and it paid off.  Styles won after a Spiral Tap, and he got some revenge on Flair with a shot below the belt after the closing bell.  This was easily the best match Matt Hardy has had since joining TNA.
• The tag team title match between the Inc.’s (Beer Money and Ink) was pretty great.  It lacked any really memorable spots, but there was plenty of back-and-forth action from bell to bell and it kept my attention throughout.  Beer Money went over after a DWI, and I’m really impressed with what both teams did out there.  Post-match, Jesse Neal shook hands with the victors, but Shannon Moore opted to spit beer in their faces instead.  Regardless of the reason, it was good to see this match given so much time.  The competitors really made the most of it.
• The Ultimate X match was decent enough, and the team dynamic of Generation Me was interesting to watch play out.  Kazarian ended up winning, snatching the belt from above the cables while Robbie E reached for it from a ladder below.  Max and Jeremy Buck had been working towards the common goal of getting Max the title until near the end when Jeremy’s personal interest got in the way.  It remains to be seen if their mid-match disagreement is going to lead to more trouble between them, but I’m really hoping Generation Me continues as a tag team.  Before the match, Kazarian cut a backstage promo in which he referenced Charlie Sheen.  Somebody was bound to do it.
• Jeff & Karen Jarrett’s honeymoon was featured during a couple different points in the show.  Unlike a traditional honeymoon, the couple had the Angle kids with them and were participating in family activities in Universal Studios Florida.  Jeff was having the time of his life with the kids, while Karen wasn’t too keen on the idea.  By the end of the segments, Jeff claimed to miss Kurt Angle and wished he was there with them.  Oh boy.
• The ending of the Matt Morgan vs Hernandez match was mind-boggling.  A “fan” ran into the ring, and in the commotion of him being ejected from the arena, the referee was naturally distracted.  During this time, The Blueprint busted Hernandez open, but the powerful Mexican had a trick up his sleeve.  Pulling some kind of fake blood from his entrance attire in the corner, Hernandez sprayed Morgan with the substance.  When the ref came back to the ring, he saw the blood on Morgan’s chest and called for the bell, announcing Hernandez the winner, despite Morgan being the first to draw blood on his opponent.  Really bizarre stuff.  Are we to believe that this was really a fan that charged the ring, or someone who Hernandez had planted there?  If the former is the case, how could Hernandez have foreseen and planned for this opportunity?  It should be noted that prior to the match, Matt Morgan said after tonight he was going to focus his attention on the World Title once again.
• The cousin tandem of Sarita & Rosita became the new Knockouts Tag Team Champions with a win over Angelina Love & Winter.  Velvet Sky got involved on Angelina & Winter’s behalf, although after they lost, both of them looked upset with Velvet.  There’s clearly some kind of dissension being pushed between the Beautiful People, although the source of their troubles was poorly explained and kind of confusing in execution.
• Tommy Dreamer notched a win over Bully Ray with a little help from Devon and his boys.  Everything but the kitchen sink was involved in this street fight, including kendo sticks, a blowup doll, trash cans, and a plush minion from Despicable Me.  In the end, Devon’s sons appeared on the ramp to distract Bully Ray while Devon himself entered the ring.  When Ray turned around, Devon & Dreamer nailed him with a Dudley Death Drop through a table, which enabled Tommy to score the 3-count.  I thought Dreamer’s days of winning matches were behind him, but I’ll never complain about the Innovator of Violence scoring a victory.

Although the main event left a sour taste in everybody’s mouthes, the rest of the show was pretty all right.  I was actually impressed while I was watching it with the amount of time that was given to some of the undercard matches, namely the tag title bout and Styles vs Hardy.  By the end of the night, however, it became evident that TNA gave these guys the time not because they wanted to showcase their ability, but because they were forced to by Jeff Hardy’s inability to wrestle in the main event.  It looks like the World Title picture will be centered on Sting, RVD, and Mr. Anderson in the coming weeks, with the possible addition of Matt Morgan.  Another curious development on the show was the teased breakups of two top tag teams, Generation Me and Ink Inc.  One of the few things TNA has going for it is its tag team division, and I’d hate to see them flush that away with the splitting of two established teams, especially ones that I don’t see the members of succeeding as singles wrestlers.  All in all, this show was full of good wrestling punctuated by some terrible decision making, an ongoing theme in TNA wrestling.  The lack of Samoa Joe was also ridiculous.