2/16/12 Impact

Ratings:
Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy (No Time Limit, No DQ; World Title): ***

Austin Aries & Zema Ion vs. Alex Shelley & Shannon Moore: *1/2

Knockouts Battle Royal: *

James Storm vs. Bully Ray: **
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Good opening segment, with Roode on mass gloating mode. Crazy Sting gets to the point. Hardy and Roode, no time limit and no DQ. Sounds great! Damn, it's now!

Fast start! Screw the main event intros! Here we go! Hardy with crowd-awakening offense early. Brawling on the outside, guess there's no countouts as well! Very physical match here that had substantial time on the outside. Hardy dominated a bunch of this match. Roode did a steel steps bump that would make Mick Foley proud. Poetry in Motion on Roode on the guardrail! This is a great opening match so far as we head to break. Back from break, they're back in the ring and Hardy's still on offense. Roode uses underhanded methods to seize control. Master of the shortcut. Back to the outside. Moves for RR, but Hardy backdrops RR on the ramp. Hardy and Roode fight near the announce table area. Whoa, it's Angle! Angle attacks Hardy. Spear from RR and it's over.

RR gloating in the back again. Sting's not through with him, since James Storm and Bully Ray will have a #1 contenders match later. Gonna be interesting...

Update on Jesse Sorensen. Fractured the C1 in his neck. Truly frightening stuff. Glad to know he's recovering well. Doctors say he could make a full recovery. Would love to see him back in the ring. Talented kid.

Ion and Aries are tagging tonight. Shelley and Moore on the other side. Chris Sabin should be back later in the year. Brandon Jacobs sighting in the Impact Zone! No shortage of cockiness on the heel side. Decent action, good pace. Heels with the win, although Aries isn't happy Ion "stole" the win here.

Knockouts Battle Royal to determine new #1 contender. Tessmacher with the Texas-inspired outfit. Only a few knockouts get actual TV entrances. Note Madison said any lady in the ring could be the new #1 contender -- and Madison was in the ring. Rayne goes to sit with Gail at ringside. Guess this is over-the-top-rope elimination action. Tara favored that knee at the end of her time in the ring. Down to Angelina,Sarita, and Velvet. Velvet getting encouraging chants. Double-team on Velvet. Madison and Gail enjoying the action. Sarita is sneaky and eliminates Angelina. Oops. Sarita then flies over the top, so Velvet thinks she won.

Nope! As probably everyone guessed, Madison comes in and eliminates Velvet. Gail looks shocked. But yup, it was pretty clear this would happen. I hope this Gail/Madison thing is an actual match and not like the damn fingerpoke of doom thing.

Nice to see Joe and Magnus with the tag titles. Look forward to seeing them defend the belts.

Holy crap, it's a Chelsea sighting! Same girl that was with Desmond Wolfe (yeah, remember him?). Dammit Flair, I'm jealous. HA, Bischoff with a "future endeavors" reference!

Bully worked on Storm's left leg. Announcers say it could eliminate the Last Call superkick. Unfortunately, Storm kicks with his right leg and had enough power to place weight on the left. Loved the boot coming off. Fairly solid match here.

Brandon Jacobs gets involved! Oh yeah! Good beer spray from Bully. Bully is frightened. And yes! Al Snow and D'Lo sighting! D'Lo! D'Lo! D'Lo!

Sting and Roode close the show in the ring. Roode and Storm in a steel cage at Lockdown! Two low blows from Roode. Vintage snapping! Title belt shot! Sting bloodied!

Not a bad episode. The opener had a lot of physicality, and Roode's heel push continues. Probably will hear more about Angle's involvement next week.