TNA World Title: Bobby Roode d. Alex Shelley
X Title: Doug Williams d. Chris Sabin
Tag Titles: Young Bucks d. Jeff Hardy/RVD
Samoa Joe d. AJ Styles
Jeff Jarrett d. James Storm (DQ)
The Pope Elijah Burke d. Jay Lethal
Matt Morgan d. Robby E
Abyss/Shannon Moore d. Rhyno/Jesse Neal
TNA spent 2010 doing a re-run of a WWF angle from a few years previous. Shocking, I know. Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan are co-commissioners, both suit wearing veteran babyfaces, with Flair arguing on behalf of the smaller wrestlers, most specifically, the Machine Guns. The babyface title wins for Shelley and Sabin at BFG were cheered by Flair. But - just as was the case with Flair and Steamboat in their co-commissioner role in WWF, it was a swerve. There's a ref bump in the X re-match here, Flair runs in, and winds up counting a questionable fall against Sabin. It appears as if Flair just missed the call (like Sabin's foot being on the ropes), but when Williams comes unexpectedly down to the ring during the title match to attack Shelley on the outside, and instead of stopping the interference, Flair distracts the official to allow a Williams/Roode doubleteam, leading to a Roode win and a title switch, it's clear something else has occurred. Hogan gets stomped out when he attempts to enter postmatch - and Flair, Williams, and Roode hold up 4 fingers as the show ends.
All 3 titles switch at Final Resolution, the Bucks get the clean win and exit postmatch the lights go out - and when they come back on in the ring is the Blood Dragon (another Counterfactual WWF reference) he wipes out both Van Dam and Jeff with chairshots - then removes the mask to reveal....
...Matt Hardy. He beats his brother down good enough to justify Jeff's coming protracted absence.
Joe beats AJ viciously; Jarrett/Storm ends when Kurt Angle, gone since losing the belt attacks Jarrett, the first on camera acknowledgment of their real world situation, and its played without an ounce of laughter - we've spent many, many years building Kurt as someone who can go totally unhinged, and that's the guy we see here, he is only interested in hurting Jarrett. This wraps up Lethal, he definitively loses to heel Burke; watching in the aisle is Kennedy - he and Burke will form a tag team called Future Endeavors. Morgan goes over; as does the new tag team of Abyss and his little buddy Moore.
Real World Slammiversary will mean Counterfactual Lockdown. I'll be back in June with the build to Summer Slam 2010. Coming later this year
