Impact Wrestling – April 11, 2013: The Best Big Show In A Long Time
Impact Wrestling
Date: April 11, 2013
Location: American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Todd Keneley, Tazz
We’re live again tonight and in the new location of Corpus Christi, Texas. This is the big live show that is more or less the PPV special of the month, featuring the Full Metal Mayhem (TLC) match between Hardy and Ray for the title, AJ vs. Storm and a few other major matches. This show was hyped up very well over the last few weeks and it should be awesome. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of AJ’s dilemma of which side he should pick in the war between TNA and Aces and 8’s. We also look at the other matches tonight, including Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell and Aries/Roode vs. Guerrero/Hernandez for the tag titles.
Hogan greets hardy.
We get an intro sequence which looks like opening credits.
Tag Titles: Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. Bobby Roode/Austin Aries
Roode and Aries are defending and if they win, Chavo and Hernandez can never team again. This is also 2/3 falls. The challengers have a boxing legend whose name I couldn’t catch here with them, carrying a Texas flag. The champions jump the challengers as they get the boxer a seat and the brawl is on fast. Roode sends Aries into the corner to dropkick Chavo, who stumbles into a a Roode spinebuster for the first fall at 35 seconds.
Aries immediately tries a Frog Splash on Chavo but only hits mat, letting Chavo hit a quick rollup to tie things up at 1:38. Aries pounds away on Chavo but it’s Roode hitting a big slam for two. A slingshot hilo by Aries keeps Chavo in trouble and a Ted DiBiase fist drop gets two. Back to Roode who escapes a tornado DDT but gets caught by a Chavo dropkick. Hernandez is nowhere to be seen though as he was sent into the steps in the pre-match attack.
Actually scratch that as he’s back up and gets the tag to clean house. A gorilla press puts Aries down and there’s the big running charge down the ramp to jump back into the ring for a double clothesline to take the champions down. We take a break and come back with Aries diving off the top onto Hernandez for two. We get a long shot of the Spanish announcers as Roode hooks a quick chinlock followed by a necksnap, setting up a middle rope elbow to the back of Hernandez’s neck by Aries.
Hernandez finally comes back with a double clothesline to put the champions down and there’s the hot tag to Chavo. He comes in with a slingshot hilo to Roode and a headscissors sends Bobby to the outside. Chavo hits a big dive onto Aries and Roode for a near fall back inside. There are two Amigos to Aries and three of them for Roode. Aries breaks up the Frog Splash and Roode gets a rollup for two. Off to the Crossface on Chavo but Hernandez breaks it up. Hernandez tries another dive but takes out Chavo by mistake.
Roode only gets two from the mistake but there’s a HARD dropkick in the corner from Aries. The spinebuster is countered into a DDT but Austin makes another save at two. Aries loads up a superplex but Hernandez pulls him off into Border Toss position. The champions have a double suplex countered and Chavo hits the Frog Splash onto Roode for the pin and the titles at 15:13.
Rating: B. As is the case with every match the new champions have, it was entertaining but it does nothing for me because they’re so ridiculously uninteresting. I was hoping for the titles to stay on Roode/Aries here, but we have to appease the Texas crowd right, because Texas is AWESOME.
Brooke Hogan shrugs off some sexual harassment from Joey Ryan and tells him he has a match tonight.
Aces and 8’s arrive and they’re actually on motorcycles for once.
Here’s Joseph Park to discuss some business. He has issues with Aces and 8’s and Bully Ray in particular. What Aces and 8’s have been doing to TNA is nothing short of felonious and just mean, so it’s time for justice to be served by Jeff Hardy tonight. Once Hardy wins the title though, it’s not over. Park is a divorce lawyer and he has drawn up a writ of annulment for Brooke and Bully which will be filed soon.
Cue D-Von who takes the paper and rips it up. If Park has a problem with Ray, he has a problem with D-Von, so stay out of family business. D-Von goes to leave but sneaks up on Park and lays him out with a chain shot to the ribs.
We get a video package on Terrell vs. Kim.
Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim
ODB is guest referee. Taryn starts fast with a suplex for two and a monkey flip puts Gail down. Kim pulls her off the middle rope and stomps away before dropping Taryn with a forearm. Gail chokes awayo n the ropes but stops to get in ODB’s face. A rollup gets two for Gail but she gets caught holding the tights. During the argument between Gail and ODB, Taryn gets a rollup of her own for the pin at 2:30.
The Gut Check judges talk about the match last week.
Magno gets the shot in the ring.
We look at AJ’s issues and him walking out on TNA.
Hogan says he’s nervous about getting the world title back but first up, it’s AJ’s time on the clock.
AJ has nothing to say to a TNA cameraman. Anderson brings him another vest.
Video on Hardy vs. Ray tonight.
Here’s Hogan to call out AJ Styles for his decision. AJ comes out and Hulk gives him an ultimatum. Styles isn’t pleased and says he doesn’t react well to demands, but here’s Storm to interrupt. James says he isn’t here to deliver ultimatums or even to drink beer. Instead it’s for a fight and they lock eyes, but here’s Bad Influence. Kaz says they’re here to mend fences and not throw fists. They see through everything going on here because they’re both sexual and intellectual.
Thunderlips (Hogan) is trying to get AJ to join TNA, which is a good idea because Aces and 8’s are destroying his company. Aces and 8’s are smart to try to recruit TNA’s best soldier of the last eleven years. Daniels says it’s a bad idea for AJ to join either, because they’ll just chew AJ up and spit him out. Therefore, AJ should join up with Bad Influence.
Daniels brings up Hogan and Dixie turning their backs on AJ and brags about all the world titles “they” won together. AJ gets annoyed and shakes a bit, but Storm gets in his face. Styles leaves the ring and looks at Bad Influence before walking away. Hogan begs again and makes Styles vs. Storm next week.
Joey Ryan vs. Rob Terry
Joey is scared to death and is immediately run over with chops and shoulder blocks. Two boots in the corner from Joey are easily blocked and it’s a powerslam to plant him down. A fireman’s carry into a spinebuster ends Ryan at 2:30. Total squash.
Brooke tells Hulk she has to be at ringside for the main event. Matt Morgan pops up and says that it’s another Hogan mistake, like not making him #1 conteder at Lockdown. Morgan says that those mistakes will keep happening and then they’ll all come crashing down on him.
It’s time for Gut Check. Danny Davis isn’t sure but eventually says no. Magno cuts a promo that is barely understandable as English isn’t his first language. Pritchard says Magno isn’t ready yet so it’s no, which ends this.
Bully Ray makes Aces and 8’s promise not to interfere tonight.
TNA World Title: Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy
This is Full Metal Mayhem which is TNA’s version of TLC, as in you have to climb a ladder and pull the belt down. Brooke Hogan is at ringside as well. Ray yells at his wife before the bell and Brooke looks irritated. Hardy hits a Twisting Stunner and Poetry in Motion to start and Ray is in early trouble. The challenger brings in a chair and cracks Ray over the back with it before bringing in the first ladder of the match. Jeff makes an early try for the belt but Ray tips the ladder over.
A mule kick staggers Ray but Bully backdrops Jeff onto the ramp to take over. Ray whips him in the back with the chain but Hardy still pops up to slug it out on top of the ladder. Hardy gets suplexed down off the ladder as we take a break. Back with Hardy getting off a table and blasting Ray on the ropes with a chair. Hardy turns a ladder upside down but can’t superplex Ray onto it due to high levels of fat.
Instead Ray comes back with a front suplex to crush Hardy’s ribs against the steel. Some chair shots to the legs keep Hardy in trouble and Ray brings in another ladder. The table is still set up in the ring. Ray shouts about beating up Hardy and then keeping the title then slapping Brooke around, but the distraction lets Jeff get in some shots of his own. Ray takes Hardy back down but goes to the floor to yell at Brooke for a LONG time. Brooke finally slaps him and here comes Hardy.
Jeff slams Ray into the steps and puts him on a table….which immediately breaks. Hardy goes all the way to the entrance of the arena to get a table but a Twist of Fate keeps Ray down. Jeff puts Ray on the table for a BIG Swanton to the floor and both guys are down. Hardy goes up the ladder in the ring but Taz hands Ray a hammer. Ray goes up the ladder but hits Hardy with his fist instead of the hammer. Jeff gets his hand on the belt but a hammer to the head knocks him off and through the table. Ray retains the title at 17:10.
Rating: B. Solid match here and that Swanton was great. It wasn’t as great as most of the TLC matches but at the same time, we’ve seen these guys do this so often over the years that it’s kind of hard to get new stuff out there over and over again. That being said, it was entertaining which is exactly what it needed to be.
Aces and 8’s come in to celebrate to end the show.
Overall Rating: A-. This did indeed feel like a PPV quality show. It does drag in the middle and we didn’t get anything with AJ other than Bad Influence being interested in him, but other than that we got everything we were supposed to get. The main event delivered and it was still a hard hitting back and forth match with some close calls by Hardy. Good, solid show overall as TNA continues to do very well with the new style.
Results
Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez b. Bobby Roode/Austin Aries – Frog Splash to Roode
Taryn Terrell b. Gail Kim – Rollup
Rob Terry b. Joey Ryan – Fireman’s carry into a spinebuster
Bully Ray b. Jeff Hardy – Ray pulled down the title belt
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:
There is just something very entertaining about Bully Ray, and fortunately for TNA, him and Hardy have great chemistry. Also, you’ve got AJ and Storm set up for a potentially great feud. Things have kind of fallen into place nicely for TNA right about now. Their 2 main feuds have some decent drama to them and it’s a huge contrast to WWE which is looking a bit lame and lacking direction.
If TNA decide to feud Roode and Aries anytime soon then they’ve got a pretty awesome line-up. Plus you’ve got Daniels and Kazarian who are kind of treading water waiting to be put into something meaningful. Whereas WWE has Ziggler, who they’ve made look like a dork, and a load of very basic cut-out characters. Cena is their biggest star, and he kind of sums up the WWE – slightly lost, waiting for direction. Orton can’t get any serious action – why? Del Rio, Punk, Cena…there’s talent there, but the booking sucks.
This was indeed a good show; wrestling-wise, it was much better than Raw. On a “wow, live TV, what’s gonna happen next?” level, Raw won out, but Impact had a really good title “TLC” type match, a good tag team title match…and well, that was it, aside from a short Knockouts match. Still, those two matches trump anything seen on Raw and the storylines were better.
Yet TNA is doing a re-hash of WCW vs nWo with TNA vs Aces/Eights. They are also re-doing the Sting recruiting War that WCW did with AJ Styles playing the part of Sting this time.
Yes, they’re redoing a storyline from 16 years ago. I think it’s ok at this point.
This is clearly the first instance that a wrestling company has re-done or borrowed a storyline from another company. The E surely hasn’t done it ever, nope.
TNA writers are doing a better job with their product than WWE is doing with theirs. And one of those areas that TNA does a much better job than WWE is the ability to get you to invest in their characters. What I mean is that TNA has built a roster where they can swap people in and out of the main event and the mid-card because they do a great job of keeping most of their guys competitive.
In the WWE, if you aren’t a Punk, Cena, HHH or Undertaker, you will go through the cycle of getting pushed then buried, rinse and repeat. Just when you think you can invest in a guy like Ziggler, then he gets squashed like a loser only to then turn around and become World Champion and all of a sudden we’re supposed to think he’s a threat. And then they book all their undercard champions to lose every match that isn’t a title defense. It’s ridiculous.
In summary, WWE is in cruise control and has been for a long time because of no real competition. TNA has more to fight for and they are turning out much more compelling television.
That’s every company buddy. At this time last year, Bobby Roode was world champion. This year, he just lost the Tag Titles and was pinned by Chavo Guerrero. There’s only 1 title in this company and only two in WWE. Thus, there are only two top spots as there’s a champion and top challenger. When you aren’t one of those, you are something below it. That’s just how wrestling works.
A-? Really? It appears Klunder has become a Tna mark, as always overrating the show. Klunder gave raw a C+ but gave this ok impact a A-. Klunder always complains about how wwe always has the same matches over and over, yet when tna does it he doesn’t complain. Klunder boy you and your reviews absolutely suck! Nothing interesting happened in this show except for the tlc, that’s the only thing worth checking out.
KB reviews WRESTLING not crowd reactions which is basically the only reason why RAW was any good. (Along with Ziggler cash in) so it got a C+. Did RAW have any matches that came close to a B? Nope. It was full of squashes, bad or whyisthismatchhappening matches and one decent title match.
This show had two B TV matches that were built up for 3 weeks which is ages in TV wrestling weeks. RAW hardly ever promotes next weeks matches. Everything was also set for next week pretty nicely too.
What is set for next week on RAW? Why Ryback why? That is all.
I gave it a B.