Feast Or Fired

Earlier today, TNA's "Feast or Fired" match popped into my head. After a quick google search, the last match of this kind (that I could find) happened on December 20th, 2009 at TNA's "Final Resolution" PPV (this was shortly before Hogan & Bischoff arrived, in early 2010). Do I have that right? There hasn't been another "Feast or Fired" match since that one in 2009, correct? 

I apologize, as I don't remember when the first "Feast or Fired" match took place. At the time this match was first introduced, I wasn't watching (or following) Impact on a regular enough basis - at least at the time - to know the complete history of the "Feast or Fired" match.

I haven't heard any mention of a previous Feast or Fired match (or talk of another one happening) on TNA television since the arrival of Hogan & Bischoff. As I remember, this match used to happen once a year. TNA did not have a Feast or Fired match in 2010, right? Was this match-type phased out of TNA quietly, or did I miss something?

I guess that the FoF briefcases were mentioned in early 2010 after all, because I remember Kevin Nash cashing in his case (containing the "Tag-Team Title Shot") after Bischoff & Hogan arrived. If I remember correctly, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall won the Tag Titles when the briefcase was "cashed in". I think TNA's plan was to have "The Band" as the tag-champs -- with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Eric Young using "Freebird rules" (whatever it's called) to defend the titles. I can't remember exactly when they lost the tag titles, but obviously "The Band" fell apart shortly after this. Even though it seems that TNA wasn't planning on having another FoF match in the future, they still had to let the holders of the FoF cases use them (to tie up all the loose ends) before phasing out the match completely.

We all know that the "Feast or Fired" match was TNA's answer to WWE's "Money in the Bank" ladder match. Some might even say that "Feast or Fired" was a lame rip-off of WWE's original concept. This was TNA's way of doing something similar to MitB, but TNA had four cases up for grabs; unlike WWE's one briefcase (containing a World Title shot).

The Feast or Fired briefcases worked like this: the most important case was the one that held a contract for a match against the World Heavyweight Champion (with the title on the line), the second case held a shot at the Tag-Titles, the third had a contract for a shot at the X-Division title, and the holder of the fourth case was "fired". The contents of these cases were unknown, until they were later opened (and the results were revealed). 

The three cases containing title shots could be "cashed in" at any time, exactly like the WWE's "Money in the Bank" case. The fourth case (the "You're Fired" case) was usually TNA's way of getting rid of someone on the roster who was leaving anyway (IE: Sheik Abdul Bashir, in 2009). In other instances, the "fired" individual would leave television for a while, then come back after a few months (I think something like this happened with Christopher Daniels, but I can't remember for sure).

I guess the real question is whether or not TNA/IW will ever bring the Feast or Fired concept back to PPV. Personally, I believe that the FoF match is dead & buried. IMHO, the Feast or Fired concept will most likely never be reintroduced. The Feast or Fired match represents "the old TNA" (at least in the minds of some), even though it was a fairly new concept that was only used for a few years before it finally disappeared. It seems that TNA is now using the Bound for Glory Tournament as a potential way of getting a "fresh face" into the main event scene. If this tournament becomes an annual event, there's even less of a reason for FoF to return. 

Does anyone remember the last time a Feast or Fired match was mentioned on TNA television? Did Eric or Hulk ever mention it on-screen? I'm guessing that when the ring was changed from six-sides to a more traditional "squared-circle", the FoF match was also laid to rest. I'd have to assume that since Hogan & Bischoff were "changing TNA" during the first half of 2010, the FoF match was phased out of TNA's schedule without telling the fans directly. This makes sense, there's no point in telling the fans that they're not going to do the match again...just don't mention it again, and the fans might not even remember.