Impact Wrestling
Date: July 5, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the final show before Destination X and we’ll mainly just be driving home the stories for the show. We’ll likely get more on the AJ/Dixie/Clair/Daniels/Kaz story which isn’t really clicking all that well. Other than that we also have the other two X-Division tournament qualifying matches which can bring in some new blood to the division. The main event tonight is Hardy vs. Storm which should be good. Let’s get to it.

We open with the voiceover guy explaining the Park vs. Ray story so far. Actually he’s also explaining the AJ/Dixie thing.

Here’s Ray to open the show. He has a huge announcement: he’s going live on Twitter. After his first tweet, he wants Joseph Park out here right now. Cue Park so Ray can accept the challenge for I assume next week. Park talks about precedent and how Park already beat Ray once, so he can do it again. Ray gets in his face but Park says that everyone is fed up with Ray and his bullying and he’ll win again. It’s next Thursday and anything goes. Ray pulls out a paper which is a restraining order against Abyss. If Abyss shows up, he’s going straight to jail. Ray jumps him and walks out. Nice change of pace here.

Aries and Hogan are in the back. Hogan says that Aries has to relinquish the title tonight and Aries says he’ll do it at the end of the night.

After a break we get ANOTHER recap of the AJ/Dixie thing.

Dixie is in the back with the agents and apparently she hasn’t talked to Clair (she was sitting next to Clair last week when everything happened) or AJ and has no comment.

TV Title: D-Von vs. Crimson

Crimson grabs a pair of quick two counts and make it three, the third try having his feet on the ropes. That gets him nowhere so he hammers D-Von into the corner. A low clothesline gets two and D-Von starts his comeback. Crimson takes his head off with a clothesline for another two which was really sloppy. Crimson walks into the spinebuster for the pin at 2:02. As usual, D-Von comes, he goes, the match ends and we move on to the next week.

Here’s Madison Rayne and she likes……Earl Hebner. Oh sweet goodness.

Here’s Sabin for a statement after his latest knee injury. He talks about how his dream is turning into a nightmare. He went home and talked to his family and they weren’t sure if he could keep doing this. His doctor isn’t sure either….and here’s Bobby Roode. Roode says that this is heartbreaking, but it’s also pathetic.

Just like every other X-Division guy, Sabin is complaining about his little injuries, just like he did last year and just like Sorensen is doing about his broken neck. Aries is giving up his title for one big score, but it could all go away from him, just like this. And with that, Roode kicks the leg out from under Sabin. He stomps away until Aries makes the save. Pure evil from Roode here.

X-Division Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Dakota Darsow vs. Flip Cassanova

Cassanova is Flip Kendrick. He does exactly what his name says and flips A LOT. Cassanova hits a standing 450 moonsault, landing in a sitting position on Darsow’s (Demolition Smash’s son) chest. Out to the floor and Flip hits a big spinning flip dive moonsaut. Cassanova has some freakishly skinny legs. Darsow kind of sucks in this as he’s looking completely off. His nose is also busted. Cassanova hits a springboard clothesline and a 630 dive off the top for the pin at 4:08.

Rating: F. This was BAD. Cassanova is one of those guys that flies all over the place but it looks like a mess most of the time. The ending looked horrible and I’d be stunned if Darsow wasn’t legit hurt. I can easily see why Darsow isn’t in FCW anymore. This was absolutely terrible and easily the worst match on TNA in months.

There’s no Knockout Title match tonight for no apparent reason. It’s a tag match instead.

We recap the end of the Gut Check segment last week.

Gail Kim/Madison Rayne vs. Tara/Miss Tessmacher

Madison jumps Tessmacher to start and sends her to the floor. Back in and Gail takes over as we get some great shots from behind of Tara. Madison comes back in and beats on the champ a bit more before it’s hot tag to Tara. House is cleanted by Gail breaks up the Widow’s Peak. Tara whips Madison into Gail and the Peak hits this time. Back to Tessmacher so that legsweep into a clothesline can get the pin at 2:57. Another bad match here and stupid booking as the right idea would be to have Gail pin Tessmacher to set up next week’s match. This advances nothing.

Storm talks about losing at Lockdown. He can’t live in the past anymore.

Here’s AJ to address the situation from last week (which we see for the third time in less than an hour. He talks about how Daniels had a big fake story last time, so how is he going to prove it this time? Cue Daniels and Kaz who say that while AJ might not get this, he does get junkies pregnant. AJ says he’ll use his redneck hands to rip Kaz’s head off. Daniels says he has proof but AJ cuts him off.

AJ says this started last year at Destination X when AJ won and Daniels couldn’t handle it. Now it’s a year later and Styles wants another match at Destination X. It’s a last man standing match and since Daniels isn’t a man, he doesn’t stand a chance. That’s it apparently, as we won’t be hearing from the girls at all. Next.

We look at a camera filming Hogan talking about Sunday when a guy comes in with an envelope, saying that this is the end for Hogan. He hands Hogan an envelope which Hogan opens to see playing cards: two pair, aces and 8’s, which is famously known as the Dead Man’s Hand. It also says see you next week. The guy leaves and that’s it.

Video on Jeff Hardy who wants to win the BFG Series.

X-Division Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Kenny King vs. Lars Only

King is one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions. Only looks like a rocker or something. Apparently the title match will be Ultimate X. King hits a Japanese armdrag and makes fun of Only’s guitar playing gimmick. Only speeds things up (he’s a TINY dude) and hits a cross body to the back and a kick to the head for two. Actually there’s going to be 8 people in the tournament and the four winners of semi-finals will be in Ultimate X. Ok then.

They head to the floor and Kenny hits a flip off the apron as Tenay talks about male strippers. Back in and a kind of Pele gets two for King. Only avoids a legdrop and sends King back to the floor. Lars takes Kenny down with a kind of 619 around the post into a bad rana. A HORRIBLE looking modified Stunner gets two for Only. Lars tries a tornado DDT but King escapes and hits a reverse F5 (same starting position but Lars landed on his back) for the pin at 5:12.

Rating: D+. Lars is REALLY bad. This has been one of the worst in ring nights from TNA that I can remember in a very long time. This didn’t work for the most part at all but King was light years ahead of Only out there. If nothing else he doesn’t look to be Mysterio’s size but with none of the talent.

King says on Sunday a King will be crowned.

Video on Aries who is getting ready for his match on Sunday. He always finds a way to win, usually with brainbusters. He can win on his own merits, unlike Roode who needs beer bottles.

Aries hugs King in the back and they chat a bit. King leaves and a guy asks Aries if he’s going to relinquish the title tonight. Aries says of course he is.

Here are the BFG Series standings:

James Storm 36

Samoa Joe 27

Magnus 14

Kurt Angle 10

Mr. Anderson 8

D’Angelo Dinero 7

Jeff Hardy 7

Rob Van Dam 7

Christoper Daniels 5

Bully Ray 0

Robbie E 0

AJ Styles 0

Bound For Glory Series: Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm

Feeling out process to start and it’s a standoff about a minute in. Hardy runs from the Last Call and Storm runs away from the Twist of Fate. Tazz tries to explain that the Twist is faster than the kick which is kind of head scratching. We’re three minutes into this now and there’s been barely any contact. Storm hides on the floor so Jeff dives at him but only hits ropes. They lock up and we take a break. Great.

Back with Hardy having his chinlock broken up. This match is almost going in slow motion. They’re not doing anything of note which I hope isn’t what they call an epic match feel. Storm makes his comeback but Hardy takes him right back down and hits the legdrop between Storm’s legs for two. Storm goes to the corner and hits a kind of mat slam out of the corner for two. Hardy is holding his arm. He sends Storm to the floor and hits a dropkick through the ropes.

Hardy dives onto Storm but gets caught in a Codebreaker which the announcers seem to miss. Back in and Storm clotheslines him down but misses a corner splash. Hardy hits the slingshot dropkick and there goes the shirt. Swanton misses so Storm goes up and hits a top rope elbow for two. Last Call misses and there’s the Twist for the pin at 14:07.

Rating: D+. If this was supposed to be their big epic main event, it really didn’t work. The stuff before the break was Storm running away like a heel would and the stuff after the break was nothing better. TNA main event matches have a real problem with building drama and it was no exception here. Hardy avoided the kick and hit the Twist out of nowhere. It wasn’t horrible or anything but it was nothing great. Just kidn of there.

They shake hands post match.

We recap the history of Angle vs. Joe because they have a match on Sunday. Scratch that as it’s just Angle debuting and fighting Joe.

We run down the card, which is Angle vs. Joe, the title match, AJ vs. Daniels, four X matches and the Ultimate X match. Based on what we saw tonight…..oh dear.

Bound For Glory is in Phoenix.

Angle vs. Anderson is the main event next week.

Here’s Hogan for the closing segment with five minutes left. Hogan says he isn’t used to the fans being this loud….and here’s Roode. Roode says Hogan has been suckered in by this Option C thing and it’s been nothing but false promises from Hogan. On Sunday he’s killing the X Division and it’s on Hogan’s hands.

Cue Aries who says Roode has a tendency to do this a lot. Aries says the options tonight are to give the belt to Hogan, or wait for Sunday to beat up Roode, or Option C: beat up Roode now. There goes the jacket and they get in each others’ faces and Roode backs down. He swings the belt but Aries ducks and blasts Roode with the X Belt to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The streak of hot shows didn’t end tonight. It was shot through the head and dismembered tonight. This show was awful with bad matches throughout and a pretty weak build up for the PPV on Sunday. Aries vs. Roode looks good but other than that, I have no desire to see anything on the show. This didn’t work at all and I really hope it’s a one off problem so it doesn’t end their great streak forever.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 28, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

Back to the Impact Zone for another live show. The main thing tonight is a tag title rematch from the PPV which was great in the first place so hopefully it’ll be the same here tonight. Other than that we have the fallout from Gut Check which isn’t anything of note so far. Also we’ll build up more towards Destination X. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s events.

Dixie and AJ say they’re ready to move on.

Bound For Glory Series: Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam

Anderson has 9 points coming in while Van Dam has zero. They’re already tweeking the rules as all matches are now fifteen minutes. That’s probably a very good idea as the matches last week were really short. They go to the mat for some near falls off small packages to start. Anderson hits a snap suplex for two but Van Dam comes back with a bridging Indian Deathlock with a chinlock as well.

They go to the mat and Van Dam hooks some freaky hold with Anderson getting all tied up. It’s hard to describe actually but it’s kind of like an abdominal stretch on steroids. Russian legsweep gets two for Anderson as does a northern lights suplex for Van Dam. A cartwheel into a moonsault gets two for RVD as well. The split legged moonsault hits knees so Anderson hits his neckbreaker for two again. Van Dam grabs a crucifix rollup out of a fireman’s carry for the pin and seven points at 5:57.

Rating: C+. Anderson’s matches have a style that I don’t usually care for but it worked pretty well here I guess. Van Dam was fine out there and it looked about as good as it was going to. Adding the extra five minutes seems to be a good idea, but it’s not like the other matches couldn’t have done this as well. Still though, not bad here and a good opener.

Here are the updated standings:

Storm 36

Joe 17

Angl 10

Dnderson 9

RVD 7

Pope 7

Magnus

Jeff Hardy 7

Christopher Daniels 5

Bully Ray 0

Robbie E 0

AJ Styles 0

Here’s Aries to talk about his path to get here. He’s graduated from the X Division and has beaten up heavyweights, but he still respects the title. That’s why he came up with Option C and it’s why he’s facing Bobby Roode for the world title at Destination X. But what happens to the title? There’s going to be a tournament at the PPV and it’ll have old and new faces of the Division.

Cue the world champ who says that what he’s holding is the real title. It’s the real world title because he’s made it that way. There are 12 people waiting for a shot at this at Bound For Glory because the title matters so much. Aries gets his shot because of Hulk Hogan and because of Hulk Hogan alone. Option C is a failure, now get out of his ring. Aries says this is his ring, and if Roode wants him out of it, make him get out. Roode bails.

We get a clip from the end of the show last week with Clair admitting she’s an addict.

Clair and Dixie are in the back and Clair says that she met Dixie at a party. She says she has no idea who Kaz and Daniels are but she can’t believe they would use her to get at Dixie and AJ.

Kaz yells at Daniels who he really has no reason to be with anymore. Kaz says this ends tonight and walks out on Daniels. See? It’s not hard to be logical.

X-Division Tournament Qualifying Match: Sonjay Dutt vs. Rubix

No idea who Rubix is but he’s in a mask so it might be someone I’ve seen before. He’s got long limbs. This is one of four qualifying matches so it’s a four man tournament at the PPV. Rubix flies around a bit and sends Sonjay to the floor for a suicide dive. Back in and Sonjay hits a springboard splash for two. Rubix hits a German for two but gets caught in a tornado DDT. A moonsault into a double stomp (FREAKING OW MAN) gets the pin for Sonjay at 3:15.

Rating: C+. Take two guys, give them a few minutes, have them fly around and fire up the crowd a lot. Dutt was around back in the day to do lots of flips and there’s nothing wrong with that. He never won the X Title so it’s cool to see him here like this. Good little match here but the amount of time they had hut it a lot. SICK finish though.

We hear from the Gut Check people who talk about Taeler. They aren’t sure about her but they think she’s been through a lot. Apparently her cancer diagnosis was a false one.

We get a clip from last week with Joseph Park and Ray having another confrontation.

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. Bully Ray

Ray gets in his face so Joe gets right back in his face and it’s a standoff. Ray stalls some more as you would expect him to. They ram into each other a few times but Ray drops him with an elbow smash. There’s a suplex and a falling headbutt for no cover for Ray and we take a break. Back with Joe making a comeback by running at Ray a few times. He slugs Ray in the head but a double clothesline puts both guys down.

Joe tries a suplex but hurts his shoulder in the process. Ray goes after it as the fans chant for the fat boy. Allow me to adjust that statement: they chant for the fat Samoan. Ray works on the arm for awhile but Joe takes it to the floor. That goes badly for him as well as the arm gets rammed into the steps. They’ve been going almost ten minutes here so the time is starting to become a factor.

Ray misses a splash and Joe pounds away with right hands. An atomic drop puts Ray down and the senton backsplash gets two. By my math they’re over 11 minutes in now as Ray hits a Rock Bottom for two. Ray’s middle rope splash misses and he rolls to the floor. Joe hops out and gets his head kicked off….but here’s Joseph Park. He pops Ray with a right hand and Joe grabs the choke for the tap at 13:00.

Rating: C+. Pretty good stuff here with Joe making a big jump up in the standings. Actually scratch that as he’s still in second but he’s a lot closer now. Park continuing his story and having more confidence now is a nice touch as he continues to be one of the most interesting characters on the show. I was thinking this would be a draw so a surprise is always nice.

Park says he’s Joseph Park but Ray is a bully. He talks about being bullied his whole life and it stops tonight. He’s tired of Ray imposing his will on everyone and the people are sick of it too. Park says that in two weeks, he’ll fight Ray again and he’s bringing the fight to Ray.

Tazz and Tenay say to go to the website to listen to the full unedited version of Dixie and AJ’s phone call from a few weeks ago.

Back to Dixie and Clair with Dixie explaining the photo. It was the time that AJ explained how bad it was to Dixie and she kind of snapped. They were going to the hotel to see Clair after she got out of rehab too. The call about Serg was about his birthday. I CALLED THAT ONE WEEKS AGO!

Kaz pleads his case to Daniels and says he can’t tag with him tonight. He wants the tag match but not with Daniels. Hogan says prove that you’re a new man when you’re out there tonight with Daniels. Please, not tag champions that hate each other.

Madison goes up to Garrett and looks very nervous. She says she has a crush on someone and asks what he’s like. It’s not Garrett apparently but she whispers the name in his ear. Garrett says good luck with that and leaves.

Brooke gives Tessmacher a campaign with Direct Auto Insurance. Gail comes up to complain and talks trash. Hogan continues her bad acting and tells Gail that she gets her rematch next week.

X-Division Tournament Qualifying Match: Rashad Cameron vs. Mason Andrews

Cameron has a BIG afro while Mason looks almost identical to Percy Watson. They speed things up to start and Andrews sends him to the floor. He hits a HUGE dive but trips on the rope and hits Rashad in the head. If he wasn’t out cold I’m amazed. Back in they speed things up again and Cameron dropkicks him out of the air for two. Apparently Mason is Scorpio Sky from PWG.

They go back and forth a bit with Andrews hitting a jumping knee to the head and a springboard cross body for two. Cameron knocks him to the floor and hits a BIG flip dive. Back in he goes up but gets ranaed down for two. Andrews is almost sent into the corner but as he turns around Cameron hits a jumping Downward Spiral (think R-Truth’s Little Jimmy) for the pin at 4:04.

Rating: C. Not bad here but the sloppiness hurt it. Again the idea of throwing people out there and having them fly around is the best idea you can go with at times. I just hope this lasts beyond the PPV unlike last year where Destination X happened and then it stopped happening. Bringing in some new faces for it doesn’t hut at all though.

Cameron says this is the beginning of the Rashad Cameron movement.

Hogan is on the phone and talking about Sting. Storm and Hardy are with him and want to know what’s going on with Sting. Hogan doesn’t quite know what’s going on. Storm says he’s ready and Hardy says he’s feeling the Series. They fight next week.

Gut Check time. Taeler says last week she gave it her best and she’s ready to shine. The fans chant YES and Tazz agrees with them. Snow says he’s been around Taeler a lot and here’s Joey Ryan to yell at Tazz. He’s in the front row and yells a lot but we can’t really hear what he’s saying. Security gets him out as the segment grinds to a halt. Ok back in the ring now and Snow says no. Taeler gets 30 seconds to convince Pritchard. She says someone gave every one of them a shot and that’s all she wants. Bruce says he isn’t sure if she’s ready yet but he’ll give her a yes anyway.

Angle says the old AJ is back and that’s a great thing. AJ says he’s ready. He gets Daniels at Destination X in a last man standing match.

Tag Titles: Kurt Angle/AJ Styles vs. Kazarian/Christopher Daniels

Daniels and Kaz are challenging but Kaz doesn’t like Daniels all that much right now. He and AJ start and AJ takes him down followed by a kick to the back. Off to Angle and Kaz tags out, almost by slapping the taste out of Daniels’ mouth. Kurt charges into a boot and Daniels hits his slingshot elbow. Off to Kaz who covers off that elbow for some reason. Daniels yells at Kaz and tags himself back in but runs from AJ. The challengers argue on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Daniels in control of AJ and hitting his running STO for two. Angle comes in and cleans house. He fires off Rolling Germans on Kaz and does the same to Daniels. Kaz grabs a TKO for two on Kurt but gets caught in the ankle lock. That gets broken up quickly and everything breaks down. AJ clotheslines Kaz down but gets caught in a Blue Thunder Bomb. Angle gets sent into the referee by Daniels so Chris grabs a chair. Kaz pulls it away and lets AJ hit the Pele. Kaz tells AJ to finish this, but then hits AJ in the back with a chair, giving Daniels the pin and the titles at 11:34.

Rating: B-. So Kaz is evil for the sake of being evil. I guess that works, but would this count as two turns in the same show? Eh it’s fine as it’s better with AJ and Kurt not being champions again as the titles weren’t really fitting on them. This was nowhere near as good as the Slammiversary match but it was fine for a TV main event.

Daniels says Clair didn’t tell all of the truth because her baby’s daddy is AJ. Let the soap opera continue.

Overall Rating: B-. Another good show this week although there are some holes in it. It’s personal taste but I can’t stand the Gut Check stuff. I don’t like reality TV at all so I’m definitely not the right audience for it. Bringing in new people for the X Division is a good thing as that division is dying for a lack of depth right now. This was another good show though as the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 21, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s Open Fight Night 3 and the BFG Series gets going tonight as well. The two main focuses of the show though are going to be Aries decision about forfeiting the X Title in exchange for a world title match and Dixie revealing what is going on with her and AJ. TNA is on a total roll at this point so hopefully they can keep things going. Oh and we might be able to find out who attacked Sting. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Hogan to open things up. He isn’t going to give the masked men any more publicity but things will be made right for Sting. That’s enough about that though so let’s talk about Austin’s choice. Here’s Aries to answer Hogan’s ultimatum. He talks about being given two options, either to drop the title for a shot or keep this title. Aries says he has Option C: he’ll hand over the title for his title shot, but every year the X Champion gets the same option at Destination X. Hogan says ok, and here’s Roode.

Bobby freaks out and asks if Hogan and Aries are kidding him. He told Hogan to stay in the office a long time ago. Roode wants to know what Aries thinks he’s doing because the X Title means nothing to Roode. He talks about how he won’t be a footnote and says he’ll keep his title at Destination X. Aries says this is Open Fight Night so let’s do it right now. They brawl in the aisle until the agents break it up. Once they’re split up, here’s Anderson, who says he’ll win the BFG Series and face the winner.

Bound For Glory Series: Mr. Anderson vs. Christopher Daniels

They’re going to have everyone face everyone in this which is a BIG improvement over last year where they seemingly had people fighting at random. Also every match has a ten minute time limit. Daniels works on the arm of Anderson which may have been injured by Roode last week. An elbow to the face puts Daniels down but the Mic Check is countered into a Blue Thudner Bomb. Anderson pops back up again and hits his spinning neckbreaker into the Mic Check for the pin at 3:04, giving Anderson 7 points.

Rating: C-. This was barely long enough to rate which makes it hard to talk about. This is the first part of a LONG series so it’s hard to say where things are going from here. Anderson seems to be getting a push in this as he’s coming in after being the #1 contender. I’m not wild on either of these guys but how much can you complain about in three minutes?

AJ thinks there’s another way to do this. Dixie isn’t sure.

Brooke is in the back with the Knockouts who might be getting the title match tonight. The girls have to tell her why they want the title. ODB says she’s different than everyone else. Madison says she’s held the title forever and Brooke tells her to drop the crush. Mickie says she’s the best female wrestler in the world and Madison says she’s the second longest reigning champion ever. Madison gets thrown out. Velvet didn’t say anything.

Robbie challenges anyone in the BFG Series to a match.

Bound For Glory Series: Robbie E. vs. Kurt Angle

Suplex, Angle Slam, ankle lock, ten points for Angle in 31 seconds.

Video on Taeler Hendrix who is the Gut Check girl tonight.

Here’s Magnus who says he’s going to pick his opponent for a BFG Series match here. Women around the world want a shot at him so he knows what it’s like to have women trouble. He doesn’t go after other men’s wives though, so AJ, get out here.

Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Magnus

AJ charges into the ring and starts fast. A backbreaker puts Magnus down but AJ changes his mind before going up. Magnus pops up and catches AJ’s cross body into a suplex. Cool counter. AJ snaps off his dropkick but the Pele misses. Off to a chinlock which AJ breaks before Daniels and Kaz come out with more papers. The distraction allows Magnus to hit a Juvy Driver for the pin at 2:31 for seven points.

Taeler Hendrix vs. Tara

Gut Check time. Tara suplexes her down but gets caught in a quick sunset flip for two. Tara chokes her in the corner for awhile before getting caught in a Stratusphere. Joseph Park is being taken out for some reason. Hendrix comes back with some clotheslines but a spin kick misses. Widow’s Peak and it’s over at 2:36.

Back from a break and Park wants to know why he’s being taken to the back. It turns out to be a trap set by Ray, who yells at Park. Park talks about Ray beating him up last week and gets shoved for it. If Ray ever sees either of them again, it’ll be the last time they’re ever seen.

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. James Storm

Joe pounds him down into the corner and hits his kick to take Storm down. The armbar is countered as Storm makes the rope so Joe slaps on a nerve hold. Storm fights out of it but walks into a snap powerslam for two, followed by an armbar. They trade forearms but Joe goes back to the arm to slow Storm down. There’s a crossface chickenwing but Storm breaks that quickly as well. The Cowboy goes up top but gets kicked in the head. No MuscleBuster but Joe hooks the Clutch. That gets broken up and the Last Call ends this at 3:56.

Rating: C. This wasn’t bad but Joe seemed to be outmatches by Storm at almost every turn. I like Joe being all fired up again and he looks like he’s lost some weight on top of that. Storm is pretty clearly the favorite to win the whole series which is probably the right move, but again I don’t know if they need to spend three months building that up when he has a built in story already.

We recap the AJ/Dixie stuff which has been going on for awhile now.

Back to the Knockouts Reality Show with Velvet saying she never got a rematch. ODB gets thrown out because of Eric Young. Next.

Bound For Glory Series: D’Angelo Dinero vs. Bully Ray

This is another call out, this time by Bully. Ray jumps Pope to start and gets some quick two counts. A boot to the face puts Dinero down but a splash misses for Ray. Dinero comes back with some elbows but Ray hits a corner splash. As he pounds away in the corner, here’s Abyss in the crowd. He tells Ray to bring it and the DDE sends Ray to the floor. Abyss comes over the rail and goes after Ray, who gets back in the ring but walks into an STO for the pin at 3:45.

Rating: C-. Not much here as these short matches are getting a little annoying. Abyss vs. Ray is still probably the most interesting story on the show right now which is covering a lot of territory. Pope was pretty much there to fill in a spot and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to do that forever.

Hogan makes Hardy vs. RVD as the main event because they’re the only two BFG people that haven’t fought tonight.

Here’s the Montgomery Gentry video with Velvet in it.

Knockouts Title: Miss Tessmacher vs. Mickie James

Ok then. Feeling out process to start with Mickie taking her down to the mat pretty quickly. She hooks a chinlock with a bridge and even adds in a cheap shot. Mickie hasn’t ever been heel in TNA that I remember so that could be something interesting to see. Brooke gets in a few shots including a facejam out of the corner but Mickie takes her down with that spin kick of hers for two. Tessmacher hooks a sunset flip out of nowhere for the pin at 5:20.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing of note but it was fuel for Mickie’s apparent heel turn. See, this is a big difference in what you get in today’s TNA than what you would likely get under Russo’s TNA. Here, Mickie has had little things like the music video going to Velvet to start her down this path before she just does it. With the old system of stuff, it would happen all of a sudden and you would have to fill in the gaps yourself. Here, it’s slowly built up and we get the payoff for the build. That’s called good storytelling.

Bound For Glory Series: Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy

Van Dam takes him down with a leg scissors but Jeff speeds things up, hitting a legdrop to the back of Van Dam’s head and a pair of dropkicks for two. Hardy sends him to the floor but van Dam comes off the top with the jumping kick. Rolling Thunder gets two as does the split legged moonsault. Hardy comes back with a bulldog but the Swanton misses. Van Dam goes up and tries a 450 of all things, but Hardy moves. DDT gets two and the Twist gets the pin at 3:48.

Rating: C+. This was pretty good but again the shortness of it isn’t helping anything. The 450 was a nice surprise and it’s good to see someone getting a clean pin in the main event here. Granted that’s what’s been happening lately though so I can’t complain much in that regard either. Good stuff here, but way too short.

Here are AJ and Dixie for the big reveal. The fans still cheer for Styles because he’s their hero. Dixie has trouble talking and AJ says we don’t have to do this. Some woman comes out and says she wants to do this. Both of them seem to know who she is and she seems to be pregnant. She says she’s known both of them forever and says they’ve both helped her a lot. She’s going to tell us the truth: they’re not having an affair.

This chick says she’s an addict and she’s stolen money to pay for it. She’s woken up with a stranger more than once and had to go to AJ and Dixie for help. AJ took her to rehab and the video/photos were about her. Daniels is freaking out in the back and here he comes. AJ runs him over as the girls get out. Here’s Kaz as well and AJ beats him up too. AJ kills Kaz with a powerbomb and Peles Daniels. He pounds away on him as the show ends.

Overall Rating: B-. I was happy with the amount of wrestling we got, although the longest match being less than six minutes if I remember right didn’t help much. I like the way this show is going lately though as Hogan has been kept to a MUCH more reasonable amount and the angles have been given time to grow and develop, which was probably th ebiggest issue with Russo’s booking. Another solid episode here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 14, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

After this Sunday’s great Slammiversary show, it’s time for Impact again. We begin the 2012 Bound For Glory series tonight as well as see the return of the Ultimate X, which I believe is the begin of the buildup to Destination X. We also have Anderson vs. Roode for the title which should be….uh yeah. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video on Storm, who returned at the PPV and is coming for the title again.

X-Division Title: Austin Aries vs. Chris Sabin vs. Zema Ion

Ion immediately goes to the corner and is promptly pulled down and gets LAUNCHED into the corner. Aries and Sabin have a nice gymnastics routine resulting in Aries taking Sbain down for the Pendulum Elbow. Ion pops back up and goes for the belt, only to be taken down by Sabin almost immediately. Sabin comes back with the springboard tornado DDT but Aries stops Sabin from going for the belt.

Aries gets Sabin onto his shoulders and rams him into the buckle a few times like he’s setting for an Oklahoma Stampede, but instead goes with an airplane spin. Since he’s dizzy he can’t climb, so he tries a slingshot dive instead. Ion gets back in and Aries has to take them both down before hitting the suicide dive to both guys on the floor. Aries almost makes it to the belt but Ion makes the save.

Aries and Ion go to the corner and Ion gets rammed into the structure so that Aries can go for the belt. Ion gets back up though, only to get ranaed down to the mat. Brainbuster ends Ion and it’s time to go for the belt. Using his legs to help hold him up, Aries crawls across and gets the title at 7:23. Sabin disappeared for the last minute or two of the match and is helped to the back by the referee.

Rating: B-. This was very fast paced but the ending and length of the match hurt it. It looks like Sabin is legit injured given how long he was out at the end of the match, and though I don’t think he was supposed to win or anything, it didn’t help that he was gone for so long. Aries keeping the title is interesting, although with Destination X in a few weeks it’s not surprising.

Post match Aries gets in the ring and says that he’s been here for a year and things are going slowly for him. He’s been champion longer than anyone else but he’s tired of things moving so slowly. He wants to take respect rather than wait for it….and here’s Hogan as we take a break. Hogan talks about how he’s been where Aries wants to go and holds all the records and then calls the fans down for chanting for some reason. Hulk has never gotten goosebumps like he gets when he sees Aries wrestling. He’s willing to make Roode vs. Aries for the world title, but if Aries wins, he has to forfeit the X Title. Aries has a week to decide.

We get some clips from Slammiversary, including Joseph Park beating up Ray. We go to the back at catering with Park eating and talking to some people about the match at Slammiversary. They all leave when Ray comes up, wanting to know where Abyss is. Park says he was last seen putting Ray through a table. Ray turns the table over and says he won’t rest until he finds Abyss.

TV Title: Hernandez vs. D-Von

Before the bell Hernandez dives over the top to crush D-Von. A quick cover gets two and we’re off very fast. D-Von avoids a charge in the corner and gets his head taken off by a clothesline. Hernandez throws on a bearhug but D-Von comes back with a shoulder block and right hands. D-Von starts getting some momentum together but gets run over by Hernandez with a kind of shoulder to send him flying. SuperMex goes up top and kind of slips off with a shoulder block. And never mind as the spinebuster retains the title at 3:34.

Rating: C-. Not bad here and I’ll give them credit for this: TNA is doing a much better job of making their titles seem like they matter. When the titles finally change hands, the wins are going to mean something. Even with D-Von, as long as it’s not to some schmuck like Garrett or Robbie. Decent match here but nothing great.

We recap AJ/Dixie/Serg last week.

AJ and Dixie are in the back and AJ says he doesn’t want to keep this going anymore. It can’t be a secret anymore.

Bound For Glory Series: Gauntlet Match

I have no idea how the points are working here but the Series is back and the winner gets the title match at BFG. The participants are going to be introduced in this match. Up first we have AJ vs. Jeff Hardy. There’s a new entrant every 90 seconds and the winner gets 20 points and it’s over the top elimination only. After nothing between those two, RVD is #3. I’d assume there are 12 people in this too.

RVD monkey flips AJ and hits Rolling Thunder on Hardy as we take a break. Back with Magnus already in at #4 and Ray coming down as #5. With still nothing of note going on and no eliminations, Angle is #6. Other than Magnus this is pretty stacked so far. Angle Germans everyone and things slow down again. The Pope finally returns at #7 and we’re told that he’s going to be in Dark Knight Rises, which is only called The Batman Movie.

No one has been eliminated yet. Hardy is thrown to the apron and a big boot from Ray puts him on the floor and out. Abyss comes out from under the ring as everyone closes in on ray. They point out Abyss and the Monster puts Ray out. We take ANOTHER break and come back Robbie E in at #8 but there haven’t been any other eliminations. As I finish that word, Van Dam is out.

#9 is Daniels, giving us Daniels, Pope, AJ, Angle, Robbie and Magnus in the ring at the moment. Angle and AJ try to double team him but AJ accidentally kicks Angle in the head, allowing Daniels to toss Styles. He tosses Angle too and Joe is #10. Joe throws out Robbie with ease and fights off everyone ganging up on him. He and Magnus have a showdown and a low bridge puts the British guy out.

Daniels jumps Joe but the Samoan and Pope double team him as James Storm is #11. He immediately tosses Pope and backdrops Daniels, but doesn’t toss him. Codebreaker to Daniels sets up the superkick to…not eliminate him as it’s a clothesline instead. So we have Joe vs. Storm now and there won’t be any other entrants, as the winner will be whoever loses the main event tonight. Joe throws him to the apron but Storm skins the cat and gets back in. Joe gets sent to the apron but puts on the Clutch. Last Call puts Joe out to win it at 20:40.

Rating: C+. This took awhile to get going but the ending was good. It’s pretty clear that the simple answer would be to have Storm vs. Roode V or whatever number they’re on at BFG but you never can tell with TNA. That’s probably the right move, although I don’t think they need a three month series to set that up.

Storm talks about being here and saying that the last time he was here, his luck had run out. Then he was on his farm with his daughter and his daughter asked if he was really done with wrestling. That was enough to get him back here and he knows what this means to him again. He came back to be world champion and now he’s back for good.

Roode isn’t worried about Storm, nor is he worried about Anderson.

Angle wants to know what’s up with AJ. He yells at styles about everything being messed up with AJ for the last week and tells him to get his head on straight. AJ says he will.

Miss Tessmacher vs. Madison Rayne

Non-title here. Madison rams her into the corner to start and hits a spinning hair slam for two. Tessmacher comes back with a neckbreaker and a forearm. A middle rope facejam gets two. Brooke (screw you Hogan’s daughter) hits a Russian legsweep into an Eye of the Hurricane for the pin at 2:53.

Brooke is with Gail in the back and is talking about having a fourway for the title next week. Gail complains and says that it should be just her. Brooke doesn’t like the attitude but Gail yells and says she has a rematch clause. Brooke says she has the clause and that she gets to pick the title match. Gail won’t be in the match next week.

TNA World Title: Bobby Roode vs. Mr. Anderson

It’s just past 9:30 so there’s plenty of time. Anderson takes over to start and cleans house, knocking Roode to the apron and hitting a suplex back in for two. Roode launches him to the floor and misses a dive, sending him crashing out to the floor. Anderson sends him into the steps and we take a break. Back with Roode holding a chinlock followed by a neckbreaker for two.

A knee drop to the back of the neck gets two and it’s back to the chinlock. Anderson comes back with a clothesline and neckbreaker followed by the double spin kick. Mic Check is countered into the Crossface but Anderson escapes. Roode sends his shoulder into the post and puts the hold on again….making Anderson tap at 10:46. Ok then.

Rating: C. I wasn’t all that into this match. Anderson came off as a guy challenging because we needed a challenger. The ending was good for putting Roode over and it’s probably good to not have Roode win by the skin of his teeth all the time, but it didn’t quite work that well.

AJ and Dixie say they’ll tell everything next week.

We get a long recap of the whole show up to this point.

We get the Sting HOF video.

Here’s Sting to close the show. He talks about how it took him a long time to get here and how he wants to thank the Jarretts. He starts talking about the future…..and we’ve got masked men. Three big guys jump Sting and choke him with a wire to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a pretty good show, but I’m really not looking forward to the BFG Series. I’d much rather have the title match be about a feud or a rivalry rather than making the match and then putting the feud in, unless they go with the obvious Roode vs. Storm. That being said, Roode vs. Storm doesn’t need a three month series to be set up. I wouldn’t call the show a letdown from Slammiversary, but it had to be a step down given how good that PPV was.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 7, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s another live show and we’re leading up to Slammiversary X this Sunday. The main event is Sting vs. Roode which doesn’t really blow the roof off the place but it’ll do I guess. Tonight we’re supposed to hear from Dixie about the AJ issue, which has been one of the big issues over the past few weeks. Other than that I can’t think of anything else for this week. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip from after the show last week of Dixie freaking out and screaming a lot. She goes into the production truck and wants to know where the footage came from but can’t get an answer.

Dixie is in the ring and is on the verge of tears. She feels sorry for Kaz and Daniels and gets booed out of the building. The two of them are filled with doubts and anger and various other bad things. Dixie says she’s going to tell the truth tonight, but here are Kaz and Daniels. Daniels says he knows what’s going on and Dixie had to have what she wanted. He wants to know who called who first and where the first meeting was. She tries to hit Daniels so he shoves her down, until AJ comes out and chases both guys off.

Serg, Dixie’s husband, gets in the ring and helps her up then lays out AJ with a punch. Serg leaves and AJ whispers something to Dixie and they both leave.

Crimson vs. Austin Aries

Joe continues his complaining to Aries in the back before the match. Aries attacks the legs to start, hitting the low dropkick in the corner. A slingshot corkscrew plancha hits Crimson but a Lionsault misses. Red Sky is countered into a rana to send Crimson into the corner. Brainbuster is escaped and we head to the floor where Aries hits the suicide dive. Joe makes the not shocking interference and drives Aries’ head into the apron, giving Crimson the pin at 3:28.

Rating: D+. The match was ok but the ending might as well have been written in the middle of the ring. They hit a wall with Crimson months ago as there’s no point to him winning much anymore but they’re starting to play up the streak even more. Not much here but it set up Aries vs. Joe at Slammiversary.

Crimson brags about being undefeated longer than Goldberg was and says he’ll keep that going at Slammiversary with an open challenge.

Hogan says nothing of note about Brooke.

Brooke introduces herself to the Knockouts and there’s a fourway for the title match on Sunday. Also Velvet is going to be in a music video with Montgomery Gentry.

Here’s Hulk in the arena for a chat. He talks about how this Sunday is the anniversary and it’s a big party. We’re going to keep the party going through next week’s show in the form of a world title match. Roode comes out and complains. Hogan keeps trying to talk but Roode keeps saying he’s not done yet. Roode calls Hogan jealous and grabs him by the shirt, saying get out of his ring. Cue Sting who gets beaten down, but as Roode looks at Hogan he turns around to face Sting.

Joseph Park isn’t sure how things got where they are now.

Mickie James vs. Tara vs. Velvet Sky vs. Brooke Tessmacher

Mickie and Velvet clear the ring to start and Mickie gets a rollup for two. Gail comes out to watch and we take a break about a minute in. Gail sits in on commentary as we’re back. Brooke grabs a rollup for two on Mickie and takes her down for two. Velvet makes the save as Gail brags about her accomplishments. Tara comes in to roll up Sky for two.

Boston Crab goes on Brooke by Tara, but Mickie grabs a dragon sleeper on Tara but Brooke grabs a headlock on Mickie for a quadruple submission. Think about that and you’ll get why it’s stupid. The ring gets cleared again but Tara misses a moonsault on Mickie. Tessmacher wants Tara to hit her but the older one is reluctant. Tara takes over but as she shakes her hits Velvet takes her down. Mickie hits the top rope Thesz Press and kicks Velvet’s head off. She takes too long yelling though and Tessmacher hits her flip mat slam for the pin at 10:36.

Rating: C. These girls are WAY better than the Divas. The match ran long and I’m not liking Tessmacher’s finisher at all, but it’s better than the ton of kicks we used to have. She could be something special given her looks, but getting the title off of Gail is what matters. She’s had the thing FOREVER now and the division is starting to suffer as a result.

Bully Ray is ready for the contract signing later.

We see the opening segment again.

Hulk yells at AJ on the phone.

Time for the contract signing. Ray says his usual stuff and here’s Park. Ray rips up the contract and says that was for a standard wrestling match. He pulls out a new one that has a whole harmless clause in it, meaning no matter what he does to Park, there’s no legal recourse. Ray signs but Park starts sweating. Park won’t sign because he’s not crazy, so Ray spits on him.

That makes him snap and he talks about how Abyss has given his life for the last ten years to make this happen, so he’ll sign. Abyss pops up on screen and yells at Chris to step away from the fire before he gets burned. Chris says he was doing it to help but Abyss says he doesn’t need help. As for Ray, he left Abyss for dead, but Abyss isn’t dead. They’re both going to find out how alive he is at Slammiversary. Ray jumps Chris as he’s looking at the monitor.

Garrett wants to have D-Von’s back in the TV Title match tonight.

Joey Ryan rants about Gut Check from last week. Al Snow comes up and tells him to drop it.

TV Title: Robbie E vs. D-Von

This is the FIFTH TV Title between these two. Garrett is seconding D-Von here. Madison comes out to watch this, so her guy is one of the four. Robbie jumps him to start and takes over with basic offense. D-Von spears him down and hits a clothesline and elbow to the face. A flying shoulder takes Robbie down. Rock Bottom is followed by a headbutt, but Robbie T interferes. The seconds get into it but the distraction allows Robbie T to switch a small package. He gets caught and Garrett switches it so D-Von retains at 2:50.

Post match the Rob’s get beaten to the floor.

Here’s Hulk to talk about Bobby Roode but Anderson interrupts him. After taking forever, he asks if he’s getting the title match next week. Hogan says to chill and Anderson says he wants the title match. Hogan says he wants to finish the announcement, but he calls out RVD. I think Hogan is losing his voice. Now he asks Jeff Hardy to come to the ring. Anderson says he deserves the title match and Hogan goes on a rant about how these three have been trying to get title shots. The required three way match is made for Sunday.

We run down the Slammiversary card, which only has five announced matches plus an open challenge.

Kazarian/Christopher Daniels/Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle/AJ Styles/Sting

And there’s no AJ. He and Dixie left earlier and he’s not back yet. The tag champs jump Sting and Angle to start but are immediately put in submission holds, drawing in Roode who doesn’t seem that interested in helping. Kaz and Daniels make the ropes and it’s time for a huddle on the floor. We take a break and come back with Daniels taking Sting down and posing.

Off to a chinlock and Sting is in trouble. Slingshot elbow from Daniels and a slingshot legdrop from Kaz combine for two. A spinwheel kick from Kaz gets the same and Sting can barely stand. Off to Roode who drops a knee and chokes with the boot. Roode misses a charge but Sting misses a splash and both guys are down.

Daniels comes in illegally to break up what would have been a hot tag and it’s a triple beatdown. There’s the Crossface and here’s AJ for the save. He cleans house and Angle is back in as well. Kurt suplexes Kaz to the floor and AJ beats on Daniels. Pele takes Daniels to the floor and AJ hits a BIG dive to take everyone out. Roode tries a belt shot but gets caught in the Scorpion for the tap at 10:13.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what AJ being gone added here but the match was ok. It was your standard main event tag match where a few feuds were combined, which is something that is always a good idea. Two feuds get advanced at the same time, which is all you need at times. Good stuff here but nothing great.

Sting holds up the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show started off REALLY slow and it picked up a bit halfway through. Having just four matches is annoying but it’s something you’ve come to expect from TNA anymore. The PPV only has five at the moment but I’m sure a few more, like Aries vs. Joe, will be added and that’s ok for the most part. This wasn’t a bad show, but it wasn’t great either. The good outweighed the bad though, so I’ll give it a break.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: May 31, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

This is a big night tonight as not only are we moving up to 8pm, but it’s also a live show. We’re opening with Roode vs. Sting because this is all about hot new acts like Sting. Other than that I don’t think there’s anything scheduled other than the Gut Check Challenge and the debut of Brooke Hogan. Oh joy. Let’s get to it.

We open with the lumberjacks at ringside and the champ is on first, along with Who.

Sting vs. Bobby Roode

This is non-title. Sting takes him down almost immediately and Roode is staggered. The champ pokes him in the eye but since this is Sting, it has no effect. Roode gets sent to the corner and kicked to the floor as the fans are into this for the most part. Sting kicks him back to the floor and again he gets thrown back in. The Splash misses and Sting is knocked to the floor where the heels get in some weak shots.

Back in and Sting comes back with a backdrop so Roode rolls back to the floor. Roode suckers him to the floor where the heels get in a better beatdown and the melee is about to begin. It doesn’t quite start yet as Roode is in control, taking Sting to the mat and dropping a knee for two. Another Stinger Splash is countered by a boot to the face. Roode sends him to the floor and Sting beats up some lumberjacks as we take a break.

Back with Roode in control and sending Sting to the floor again. Roode chops in the corner which fires Sting up as it has for 24 years. Stinger Splash hits and Roode bails to the floor. It looks to be a big brawl but Sting dives over the top and takes out most of the champ’s supporters. Back in the ring the Scorpion is countered into the Crossface but Sting is too close to the ropes. Fisherman’s Suplex is countered into the Death Drop and the Deathlock in the middle of the ring. Roode taps and Sting wins at 13:40. Apparently this was non-title like I thought.

Rating: C-. So uh….why in the world wouldn’t Hogan have made that a title match? He has every authority to, but for some reason he just didn’t. This gives Roode an opponent for the PPV I guess, and it’s Sting? Not Hardy, Angle or some group of people? I mean, didn’t we get Sting vs. Roode for the title like three months ago? Didn’t Roode beat him? Of course he did, so let’s do it again at the ten year anniversary show.

Hogan comes out post match and makes Sting vs. Roode for the title at Slammiversary.

Madison is straightening her sash in the back because she wants to look good for the guy that likes her. Oh and Brooke is going to be here later.

Here’s Bully Ray in the ring and he wants Joseph Park, who is in the crowd with a soda (label torn off) and popcorn. We get a clip from last week and Ray wants to fight Park right now in the ring. Park comes to the ring and stops. Ray calls all of Park’s family cowards, including Abyss, which draws Park over the railing. After Ray tells security to let him in, here’s Joseph to the ring.

Park kind of Hulks Up but backs off. He’s about to leave and Ray says he’s guilty of taking out Abyss. You know, the guy that popped up a few weeks ago and was fine. Park grabs Ray by the throat but Ray says he’ll sue. Park lets him go and says he’s better than this. Ray leaves and Park challenges him to a fight right now. Ray says at Slammiversary.

Video on Crimson’s undefeated streak. Crimson says he can’t be beaten.

X-Division Title: Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries

Aries is getting ready in the back when Joe comes up. Aries doesn’t see Joe and nothing is said, so I’m assuming that’ll be a major plot point later. Sabin is in trunks again. Aries takes him down with an armdrag but misses a seated dropkick. Sabin goes to the apron but Aries counters the sunset flip into the previously failed seated dropkick, getting two. A slingshot hilo and an elbow drop gets two.

La Majistral gets two for Sabin as he takes over. Aries sends him to the floor and hits the suicide dive. That gets him nowhere other than in the Tree of Woe, but the hesitation dropkick misses. Missile dropkick by Aries puts Sabin in the corner but his dropkick misses and Sabin baseball slides him to the floor. A springboard dive takes the champ out and Sabin hits a slingshot suplex into a neckbreaker for two. Cradle Shock and Brsinbuster are countered. Cradle Shock is countered again into a rollup for the pin at 3:55.

Rating: B-. Man they packed a lot into under four minutes. Sabin as a singles guy is something that could work very easily and using Aries for something like this every once in awhile is fine. That being said, they need to make him a full time non-X guy soon, while the chance is still there. Match was pretty good though.

We see Hogan and Tazz from earlier, and apparently Tazz is replacing Flair in Gut Check.

The Gut Check guys look over Joey Ryan’s match from last week. It’s kind of interesting to see Tazz be all humble here when he’s the biggest star of these three. They talk about how Ryan looks different but Tazz questions how seriously he took his opportunity. Pritchard says he wasn’t blown away. This is in the back and yesterday by the way.

The four possible challengers for D-Von (RVD, Anderson, Hardy and Robbie E) are in the back. The fans get to vote for who they want to see get the show.

Here’s Dixie Carter. She says that at Slammiversary, we’ll announce the first ever TNA Hall of Fame inductee. She talks about the Knockouts needing a new leader and here’s Brooke in a little black dress. Brooke says thanks and that’s it. No mention of the AJ thing at all.

We go to Kaz and Daniels in the back who criticize Dixie’s speech, saying there was nothing about the real issue with AJ in there at all.

Moment #5 is Christian debuting.

TV Title; D-Von vs. ???

To the shock of no one with a total of 4 brain cells or more, it’s Jeff Hardy. D-Von gets some quick rollups for two and it’s a standoff. Jeff shrugs off D-Von’s offense and hits a clothesline in the corner. A charge misses in the corner and D-Von neckbreakers him down for two. Off to a nerve hold which Jeff easily breaks. Twist of Fate looks to set up the Swanton and here are the Robs for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Not much here as it was pretty clear they were just filling time. Jeff’s star has fallen pretty far that he’s just in the TV Title picture, although I don’t think this is going to be a long term thing. That being said, Robbie vs. D-Von is more played than a slot machine in Vegas. The match wasn’t bad or anything, but dang I do not want to see either Rob vs. D-Von ever again.

We go to James Storm’s farm where he talks about being from a small town and how he wouldn’t want it any other way. He likes hanging out with his daughter. He’s made a decision about coming back or not but cuts the camera off before he says it.

We recap the way too long Daniels/Kaz/AJ saga.

Now it’s time for Gut Check. The judges are Bruce Pritchard, Al Snow and Taz. Here’s Joey Ryan in gear for some reason. Ryan says the judges should be honored to be in the ring with him and that he’s trending on Twitter. Pritchard says no, Snow says yes, and Ryan gets to cut a promo before Tazz’s vote. The fans are chanting for him and Ryan says to listen to the fans. Tazz says that if that’s the best Ryan can do, he’s out of his mind. He gets in Ryan’s face and yells at him, saying no. Tazz says go out and prove yourself then come back. Right now it’s no though.

We get a clip of Roode in London and cutting a promo in front of Big Ben. Not much to say here.

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

AJ is all ticked off here and rants a lot in between each move he hits. The dropkick puts Daniels down but he gets in a right hand to take over. AJ goes to the apron but Daniels’ suplex attempt back in is countered. He guillotines Styles and sends him into the barricade to put Styles in trouble. We take a break and come back with Daniels hitting a springboard moonsault for two.

AJ avoids a charge and takes Daniels down with some elbows. Flying forearm hits and both guys are down. Scratch that as AJ nips up and hits the moonsault into the DDT minus the DDT as Daniels counters. Daniels goes to the apron and gets Pele’d back inside. Kaz comes out and gets drilled, allowing AJ to hit the moonsault into the DDT for the pin at 10:33.

Rating: C. These two know each other so well that they could have a match in their sleep, which is more or less what they did here. Nothing special to it or anything and Kaz didn’t add much. I do however like the match ending with something other than a finisher, which is a lost art in wrestling. Decent match and nothing more.

Post match AJ gets double teamed until Angle makes the save. He puts Kaz in the ankle lock but Daniels comes back to take him down. Angle gets tied to the ropes and AJ gets drilled with a title belt. Daniels tells the fans that they’re welcome, and now we’re going to get to see more proof of AJ and Dixie. He says they have proof from the mouths of the two of them. It’s a phone call of them talking with Dixie talking about AJ coming somewhere and him wanting to find out when her husband will be there. Nothing specifically is said but Dixie runs out and says cut it off to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. If this is supposed to get me fired up about the rest of the summer, it didn’t do a very good job. The show was just ok at best with nothing of note really happening. Sting vs. Roode doesn’t blow my skirt up at all and for what is supposed to be a major PPV, that doesn’t do much. Brooke came off as completely unwanted, which means we’ll see her every week. Four matches, two of which combined to run about 8 minutes, didn’t help either. It wasn’t horrible, but for what was supposed to be a big deal, this fell very flat.

Results
Sting b. Bobby Roode – Scorpion Deathlock
Austin Aries b. Chris Sabin – Rollup
D-Von vs. Jeff Hardy went to a no contest when Robbie E and Robbie T interfered
AJ Styles b. Christopher Daniels – Reverse DDT

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 24, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s Open Fight Night II and the world title is going to be on the line tonight. There are four candidates and presumably we’ll have a fourway match to determine Roode’s opponent. Other than that, we have (I think) another Gut Check Challenge deal, which hopefully has a better outcome than last time. Let’s get to it.

We open with Hogan in his office with the four possible opponents for Roode. He shows them a copy of the script for tonight and says that according to what it says, he’s supposed to explain the concept of Open Fight Night. This devolves into a debate about what would happen if Roode becomes the longest reigning world champion. Hogan talks about the evolution of the company and how they need to change the way things are done.

They need to explain why they should get the title shot tonight. You know, instead of competing for it in the ring. Ray talks about how he’s the most legit because people fear him because of a possible shoot. Hulk asks Angle if that’s true and Angle says Ray doesn’t intimidate him. AJ says that he’s been around longer than anyone else including Roode.

Angle says that he beat AJ in their last match so he should get the shot (that makes sense). Kurt asks Jeff why he should get the shot. Is it because everyone loves him? Jeff: “Your son does.” Hogan says that Roode has to be stopped because he’s taking over the company. He thinks that AJ, Jeff and Angle can beat him but he knows Ray can beat him, so Ray is out of the running. Ray says Eric was right about Hogan and leaves, taking us to the opening sequence.

Here are Gail and Madison to open the show. Gail talks about how great she is. We look in the back to see mostly men and Angelina watching. ODB is there too but I wasn’t sure what category to put her in. Madison is checking her hair in this. Gail says she’s the most important woman in the company but there’s a blemish on her resume. She doesn’t like the Knockout Tag Titles being on a man and a thing though. So tonight, she and Madison are calling out ODB and Eric for the titles.

Eric Young/ODB vs. Gail Kim/Madison Rayne

This is non-title. Gail and Eric start and trade wristlocks. Eric picks her up and literally drops her before tagging in ODB who chest bumps Gail down. She knocks Madison to the floor and we take a break. Back with Gail working on ODB as Madison looks bored. Madison comes in for some covers and a lot of screaming. ODB spears her down and makes the tag. Time to strip and Eric slams both girls. ODB tells him to put his pants on and it’s back to her. Running powerslam gets two on Gail but the Bam is escaped. ODB loads up a fallaway slam but Madison trips her up and holds her feet for the pin at 9:46.

Rating: D+. You know, it’s AMAZING how much more bearable Young is when he’s not being all zany. Then he took his pants off and it was the same stuff we’ve seen a million times from him. The match wasn’t bad, but is there a reason it wasn’t for the titles? If you’re going to challenge a champion, challenge them for their belts.

Hogan is on the phone and someone says they’re coming.

Here’s RVD who has a small cut under his right eye. He has unfinished business so Gunner, get out here.

Gunner vs. Rob Van Dam

We get an explanation of why this match is happening: Gunner hurt Van Dam in JANUARY. On one hand, points for giving it some closure. On the other hand, did anyone really remember that? Gunner throws in a chair to start things but the referee kicks it into the corner. He takes Van Dam down but when he whips him into the corner, van Dam comes back with a spin kick. Van Dam hits one of the longest Five Stars I’ve EVER seen for the pin at 2:50. This was a step above a squash.

Here’s D-Von who says he’s a fighting champion. Joseph Park is watching in the crowd. D-Von credits Garrett Bischoff for eliminating him last week and offers him a TV Title match tonight.

TV Title: Garrett Bischoff vs. D-Von

D-Von takes him down with a headlock but misses a headbutt to give us a stalemate. And here are the Robs for the DQ at 1:50.

Garrett and D-Von clear the ring. Seriously, with the roster they have is there NO ONE but E and T that can fight D-Von?

Time for another elimination. Hulk talks about Angle having a game face and being Olympic crazy. Jeff has a lot of fans that love him. Angle says that if you want the athlete, pick AJ. If you want the popular one pick Hardy. If you want the best, pick him. That’s a good line. Somehow this results in Jeff’s elimination because his victories have been too close.

We get the same video from Sacrifice which is the news reel kind of deal about Abyss and Joseph Park.

Here’s Ray, who apparently sent a text to Tazz saying that he was livid. He’s tired of hearing about Joseph Park but he hears he’s here tonight. Park is in the crowd eating a box of popcorn. Ray calls him in for a fight but Joseph says that he’s not a fighter. Park says he’s never been in a fight and that he’s intimidated. The fans chant YES. Park talks about how he’s defended people that are guilty and not-guilty. The fans chant guilty and Chris talks about how in Article X of the US Constitution (which doesn’t exist) Ray is entitled to a trial by a jury of his peers. The fans can be the jury and they decide guilty, so Ray takes him out.

Joey Ryan, the Gut Check contestant tonight, talks about growing up a wrestling fan.

Austin Aries vs. Joey Ryan

Ryan looks like Ben Stiller trying to look like a 70s action star. His tights say Hollywood and he slaps Aries before heading to the floor. Aries dives on him and they head back in. I think Ryan is supposed to be a 70s actor or something. Aries takes him down with a spinning forearm but Ryan comes back with a pumphandle suplex for two. Aries hits the running dropkick in the corner followed by the brainbuster for the pin at 4:06.

Rating: C. Not bad but WAY better than Silva. Ryan has charisma but his ring work is only ok. Since apparently wrestling doesn’t matter as much as talking to Hogan anymore though he should be fine. Apparently he’s a bigger deal on the indy circuit so that’s probably why I’ve only heard his name in passing. Not bad but I’d like to see these Gut Check guys WIN. It might actually make me believe they belong.

Moment #6 is Sting beating Hogan at BFG and Hogan Hulking Up to save it.

It’s 10:20 and Roode is coming out for the main event. AJ and Angle come out first to determine who the #1 contender is. Hogan comes out and says it doesn’t matter who he picks because either is a great choice. Hogan picks AJ because he knows Roode better.

TNA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode

It’s 10:25 so this has the potential to be the longest Impact match in…..dang years probably. AJ sets for his drop down/dropkick spot but Roode avoids the kick. AJ sends him in again and this time it knocks Roode to the floor as we take a break. Back with AJ getting knocked to the floor and sent shoulder first into the post. Roode has apparently demanded a celebration if he wins tonight, because he’ll secure the longest reign in title history. I knew they weren’t giving this 35 minutes.

Roode works on the arm for a good while until AJ breaks the hold and sends him to the floor. There’s a HUGE chest extending dive to the floor as AJ is looking at……someone the camera doesn’t bother to show us. Roode uses the distraction to hiptoss Styles onto the steps which gets two in the ring. Hogan is watching in the back and we take another break. Back with Roode hitting a suplex and knee drop for two. Roode stays on the shoulders but AJ fights out of the hold with a right hand.

Styles tries a springboard move but Roode drops him onto the top rope throat first. Roode walks into a shoulder block and the springboard forearm gets two. Missile dropkick gets the same. The Clash is countered but AJ counters the catapult into a moonsault, but gets speared down for two. Crossface goes on but AJ rolls through for two. Bridging Indian Deathlock has Roode in trouble but he makes the rope. AJ tries to speed things up but gets caught in a spinebuster and fisherman’s suplex for two. Pele puts Roode down but AJ looks to the entrance again, making the 450 hit knees. Fisherman’s suplex pins Styles at 21:30.

Rating: B. Good stuff here and for awhile I was thinking there was a chance AJ could win. On a side note, it says a lot that I didn’t remember what Roode’s finisher was until about halfway through the match. I really would have liked to see a match determine who fought Roode but this is a talking company so it doesn’t really matter. This was very good though.

Daniels and Kaz were on the stage, but we didn’t see them until after the match.

Roode says it’s time to celebrate and wants his champagne. He wants another glass though and calls out Hogan. After a break we get confetti and Roode rolls around in it. Hogan comes out and drinks some champagne. He says he was proven wrong and Roode has done some impressive things. Hogan’s surprise guest is Sting, who is back after being gone again. Sting pops up behind Roode and beats him up. Starting next week the show is live and at 8pm. Next week, Roode can’t run away because at 8pm at the start of the show, it’s a lumberjack match with Roode vs. Sting.

Overall Rating: B-. It was certainly better than last month’s Open Fight Night, but the problem again here is nothing has actually happened in the first two shows. Yeah Sting is back, but that could have happened on any episode. Also is that where we’re going again? Sting vs. Roode? The main event was good and the Gut Check guy was ok, but they need to either have the Gut Check guy win once or have someone win a title on these specials, because otherwise they’re going to lose their appeal fast. Good show overall though.

Results
Gail Kim/Madison Rayne b. ODB/Eric Young – Kim pinned ODB while Rayne held her feet
Rob Van Dam b. Gunner – Five Star Frog Splash
D-Von vs. Garrett Bischoff went to a no contest when Robbie E and Robbie T interfered
Austin Aries b. Joey Ryan – Brainbuster
Bobby Roode b. AJ Styles – Fisherman’s Suplex

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 17, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the first show after Sacrifice and Roode is still champion, which isn’t something that should surprise you. Other than that, not a lot changed at the PPV. The only real change is that we have new tag team champions in the form of Daniels and Kazarian. We should begin building up for Slammiversary too. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Roode to open the show. Gee I wonder what he’s going to be saying. It’s the same promo you’ve always heard from him with him talking about how he’s the best and no one can stop him. Next week he’s going to have The It Factor’s Celebration Of Domination, which is a party of some kind. First of all though, he needs Hogan out here. Cue the guy who is somehow still the NEW GM, about six weeks after getting the job.

Roode has demands for Hogan for next week. He wants a redecorated dressing room and five bottles of chilled champagne plus only green M and M’s. Also he wants gold confetti flown in from Canada. Hogan takes the list and talks about some great champions. He talks about how Roode brought stability to the show, but he hasn’t broken the record yet. Next week is Open Fight Night, and the world title will be on the line.

Hogan talks about taking a poll in the back of people that might want a shot next week. The locker room empties out and apparently they all want a shot next week. Hogan says we need to get this down to four men, so tonight there will be four singles matches. The winners will advance to some kind of competition next week and the winner will get a title match later next week. The matches are Ray vs. RVD, Hardy vs. Anderson (nice job on screwing the PPV fans again guys), Angle vs. Joe, and a battle royal.

We get a clip of Abyss saying Joseph is getting too close to the fire.

Rob Van Dam vs. Bully Ray

Rob is very banged up from the ladder match and Ray goes after the bad arm. Van Dam kicks his way out of it as usual and Rolling Thunder gets two. Ray goes after the knee but Rob kicks away again. He goes up top and tries the top rope kick, but hurts his knee in the process. Bubba Cutter (called a 3D by Tenay) gets the pin at 3:22.

Rating: C-. This was a short match and it felt even shorter. That being said it wasn’t really that bad as the leg injury from the PPV played in here, which is a good thing. Ray moving on is a good thing as I find him more interesting than Rob, who is more or less just there because of his past work. Ray using the Cutter is a good thing.

Post break Bully Ray rants about……the Kardashians? Apparently they’re about anti-bullying now and he wants to fight them. Joseph Park comes in and apologizes for interfering on Sunday. He thinks Ray is the fire that Abyss was talking about. Ray says stay away.

We see a segment from MMA Uncensored of King Mo, an MMA fighter, announcing that he’s signing with TNA and fighting for Bellator at the same time. There’s some MMA analyst and Dixie Carter there too. Not much is said.

Gail rants to Madison about having to be in a triple threat match tonight. Madison says there’s no guy she likes, even though she admitted to there being one recently. Brooke and Velvet come up after Madison leaves to fix her hair. They make fun of Gail for cheating and say one of them will win the title.

Battle Royal

This is a qualifying match as well. Aries gets an entrance pre-break. After a break AJ, ODB and Eric Young get entrances as well. Also in there are guys like Magnus, D-Von, Crimson, Garrett Bischoff and others. ODB and Eric hit a double clothesline on Crimson and all three go out. The Rob’s and Gunner are in there too. I think that’s everyone. There are eight more I think. Magnus goes to the apron and Aries dropkicks him out. Madison is watching from the apron and is all smiley but we’re not sure at whom.

After a few minutes of nothing going on, Robbie E puts out Robbie T. T is annoyed but D-Von puts out E anyway. So it’s Gunner, Garrett, D-Von, AJ and Aries as we take a break. Back with all five still in. AJ and Aries work together on Gunner and D-Von kills Garrett with a shoulder. Garrett low bridges D-Von to eliminate him, probably getting a title match later.

AJ Peles the tar out of Garrett and eliminates him. Gunner gets dropkicked down (not eliminated) and it’s AJ vs. Aries in a showdown. Aries hits a spinning forearm and it’s time for counters. A Superman forearm staggers Aries and AJ goes to the apron, but Aries charges. That lets Gunner knock Aries to the floor but AJ dumps Gunner to advance at 10:56.

Rating: C+. Fun stuff here and AJ is the perfect placeholder or even a potential winner for next week’s fourway. The Garrett push is likely to continue with a TV Title shot next week. The stuff at the end was good too as they treated AJ vs. Aries as a big deal, which to be fair it kind of is. Aries still needs to drop the title soon though.

We recap the AJ/Dixie photos stuff from the last few weeks.

Back with AJ in the ring. He says he’ll win the title next week but now it’s time to discuss the pictures. Nothing happened and they’re just business partners. They’re both married but it’s not like that. Things aren’t as they seem, but here are Daniels and Kaz. They imply that AJ has slept his way to the top and have video to prove it. They pull out an iPad and show AJ and Dixie going into a hotel room together.

We get a video from Genesis 2006 and Joe’s first loss, which was to Angle.

Joe comes up to Angle and they talk about the past. Angle slaps Joe and it’s on in the back with Angle getting a beating. Other wrestlers break it up.

Anderson looks at a video and thinks Jeff kicked out.

Moment #7 in TNA history is the Unbreakable triple threat.

Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy

Slow feeling out process to start until Jeff sends him to the floor. Jeff tries a dive of some kind but Anderson grabs the feet and slams him into the mat. Jeff comes back with a slingshot clothesline for two. Anderson hits his neckbreaker for the same. Anderson tries a kick to the head but Jeff chop blocks him to slow things down. A rollup by Jeff is countered into one by Anderson for two. Whisper in the Wind gets two. Anderson hits the Regal Roll but Jeff rolls back on him for the pin at 6:04.

Rating: C-. Not a terrible match here but these two just aren’t interesting at all together. Anderson is possibly moving towards a heel turn but it’s still nothing that’s going to make me care about him. This was better than their PPV match, but the chemistry was still severely lacking.

Video on Joe winning the world title from Angle at Lockdown 08.

Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Brooke Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky

Gail keeps trying to escape but gets double teamed and sent to the floor. The good girls trade small packages and that’s about it. Gail comes back in for a Boston Crab on Brooke but Velvet hooks a dragon sleeper at the same time on Gail. Gail tries an Octopus hold on Brooke but Velvet rolls her up for two. Kim doesn’t let go and rolls Brooke up for two. A top rope missile dropkick by the champ puts all three girls down. In Yo Face to Brooke but Gail throws Velvet to the floor and pins Brooke with a rollup at 4:42.

Rating: C. They tried some new stuff here and for the most part it worked, but at the end of the day it’s still the same girls that are only ok in the ring and Gail is still boring as champion. This was entertaining enough though and that’s the whole point. And they’re still better than the Divas.

Slammiversary video.

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

Joe knocks him to the floor but Angle double legs him down easily. Joe speeds things up and hits his usual strikes and drops his knee for two. The Facewash keeps Angle down in the corner as Roode comes out to do commentary. We take a break and come back with Angle in control. He knocks Joe down for two and hooks a chinlock.

Joe comes back with the powerslam but walks into the Germans to give Kurt control again. The Slam is countered into the Clutch which is countered into the ankle lock which is countered by Joe sending Angle into the corner. Angle hits the Slam for two, which really shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point. There’s the ankle lock again but Joe sends him into the corner. They go to the corner and Angle headbutts him away. A sunset flip into a rollup off the top gets the pin for Angle at 12:26.

Rating: B-. Good match but not quite as good as most of their matches. By not quite, I mean not even close. Joe is a guy you can throw into a place like this and it’s good to see him getting wins and being in big spots again, but he’s still nothing compared to what he used to be. Still though, this was built up as a big match and it mostly delivered.

The four challengers surround Roode to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty good show here tonight but they’re using the single angle idea again here, which isn’t something I’m usually a fan of. In other words, this was almost all about next week and if that’s not your thing, too bad because this wasn’t a show for you. Still though the wrestling here worked and that’s all that matters for the most part. We have a big match set for next week’s Open Fight Night, which hopefully is better than the first. Good show.

Results
Bully Ray b. Rob Van Dam – Bully Cutter
AJ Styles won a battle royal last eliminating Gunner
Jeff Hardy b. Mr. Anderson – Crucifix
Gail Kim b. Brooke Tessmacher and Velvet Sky – Rollup to Tessmacher
Kurt Angle b. Samoa Joe – Rollup

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Source

This is one of the things that people have said that TNA needs for years now. I’m not sure if that’s going to make it better but it definitely makes it more interesting.

Thoughts on this?

Impact Wrestling
Date: May 10, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the go home show for Sacrifice and I don’t think much has been announced for the show. It’ll probably be more about RVD vs. Roode which hasn’t been built up all that well for the most part. I mean the material is there but it hasn’t really grabbed me yet. Either way the match is set for Sunday and it should be entertaining enough. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Roode to open the show and say his usual stuff. I’m sure you know this speech by now. He took out Anderson, Hardy and RVD last week because he’s the champion and that’s what he does. He’ll be the longest reigning champion in 14 days and no one can stop him, especially not RVD on Sunday.

Cue RVD for a brawl with Roode going to the floor. RVD holds up the belt and Anderson comes out to beat up Roode too. Hardy comes in and it’s a 3-1 beatdown. Hardy and Anderson get in a fight because that’s what they do. Cue Hogan who has an idea for a fatal fourway tonight with everyone in the brawl in it. If Anderson or Hardy win, they get the RVD’s title match. If Roode wins, he can pick which of the three he wants to face. If RVD wins, he gets to pick the stipulation. RVD says cool let’s do it. Well at least it plays up to the Sacrifice name. Too bad this is IMPACT and not Sacrifice.

Ray isn’t worried about the tiny man known as Austin Aries. He says he’s going to take care of Aries tonight so stay tuned.

Gail is panicking about her match with Brook while Madison gets ready. Madison wants to look perfect for some guy but won’t say who.

Velvet Sky vs. Brooke Tessmacher

Velvet sends her to the corner and shakes her hips. Brooke sends her to the corner and shakes her hips. Ok then. They do some basic stuff until Brooke knocks her into the corner and uses her hips to ram Velvet’s face. Velvet comes back and hits a basement dropkick but In Yo Face is countered. Brooke hits a drop toehold to send her into the buckle and that belly to back mat slam for the pin at 3:42.

Rating: D-. This was REALLY bad with both girls missing a lot of stuff. It looked like their stuff was missing too, which is what can usually be covered up by people with more talent than this. Also I get tired of the hip stuff quickly. We get it: you know how to shake your hips. Now do something else.

Gail comes out and Brook Eats Defeat.

AJ has no comment on the secret thing and is focused on Angle this Sunday.

Hardy is ready for the main event.

Matt Morgan vs. Crimson

Bully Ray jumps Morgan with the chain before Morgan can get into the ring. He adds in a chair shot to the head and says that’ll be Aries in a stoic voice. No match as Morgan is taken out on a stretcher.

Post break and Morgan is still being taken out. Crimson gets on the mic and says that week after week Morgan claims to be the man to break the streak. He makes the referee ring the bell and count to ten.

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Ten count, 39 seconds.

RVD talks about Greek mythology and choosing the life of the hero instead of the long peaceful one.

X-Division Title: Zema Ion vs. Austin Aries

Aries takes over to start with a seated dropkick and it’s out to the floor. Aries misses a double ax off the top rope and hits the barricade. Ion hits a big flip dive which gets two back in the ring. Backbreaker gets two. A middle rope moonsault gets knees so Aries clotheslines him to the floor. Suicide dive takes Ion out and back in, a Tajiri handspring leads to a back elbow on the mat for two. A pair of dropkicks sets up the brainbuster to retain at 4:16.

Rating: C. The match was fine but it was basically a squash. Aries has zero competition and hasn’t for months, which makes these matches pretty dull as there’s no drama at all. It’s good that he’s moving up to the regular midcard but they need to get the title off of him. It’s not that hard to do it either but for some reason they keep waiting on it.

Kaz is worried about revealing the secret but Daniels says it’s ok.

RVD is ready for the win tonight and he’ll win the title on Sunday.

Quick recap on the latest incarnation of Daniels vs. AJ.

Daniels and Kaz are in the ring and Daniels invites AJ out to set the record straight. Cue AJ who says that this is a mistake but Kaz cuts him off. Kaz says that he protected AJ and then saw what was in the envelope and he stopped realizing why he was protecting AJ. Kaz opens the envelope and it’s a photo of AJ and Dixie Carter holding hands. AJ says so what so we get another of AJ with his hands on her face. The third is of them kissing. Daniels drops the pictures and leaves AJ stunned.

TV Title: Robbie E vs. D-Von

D-Von clears the ring of Big Robbie to start and hits a Thesz Press with punches. Headbutt keeps E down but T pulls D-Von to the floor. That goes badly for the big guy and E gets clotheslined as he tries to jump D-Von. Spinebuster ends this in 1:13.

Robbie T powerslams D-Von post match to keep this feud going another week.

We go to Tennessee to hear from Storm about how he has no excuse to lose. He’s put a lot of work into everything on his farm and in wrestling and he’s never second guessed himself until now. He didn’t get the job done at Lockdown and it kills him.

If RVD wins, it’s a ladder match. Apparently this was revealed earlier.

Joseph Park needs help finding the ring.

D-Von challenges the Rob’s to a handicap match at Sacrifice.

We recap the Abyss Is Missing story and how Joseph is looking for him.

Here’s Joseph in the arena and he has issues getting in the ring. He says everyone here knows who he is and what he’s doing. Every lead he’s had has said find Bully Ray so he’s not going away. Joseph says that he might buy a ticket and come to Sacrifice on Sunday to watch the show. Why bother? You’ve walked into every show here for months now.

Ray comes out and yells, saying this isn’t a court room and that Joseph needs to get out. Joseph says that Ray lost to Abyss in Abyss’ last appearance, plus he lost to D-Von two weeks ago. Then last week a guy half of Ray’s size named Austin Aries beat Ray down. How is that bully thing working out for you Ray? Ray shoves Joseph down and leaves as Park smiles.

Anderson is looking forward to not having his match on Sunday.

We get a great moment in TNA history which is Hogan arriving and throwing The Band out.

Angle is ready for AJ.

We run down the Sacrifice card.

RVD is ready for Sacrifice.

Rob Van Dam vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson

If Rob wins, Roode vs. Van Dam is a ladder match. If Roode wins, he gets to pick his opponent on Sunday. If Hardy or Anderson win, they get RVD’s spot. Everyone jumps Roode to start but Anderson shoves Hardy off. They fight to the floor so it’s RVD vs. Roode with the champ hitting a suplex as we take a break.

Back with Roode getting two off another suplex. Anderson comes back in and gets his spinning neckbreaker for two on RVD. Van Dam comes back with the split legged moonsault for the same result. He loads up the Rolling Thunder but Roode catches him in the spinebuster for two in a nice counter. Rob superkicks Roode into the corner but his monkey flip to Jeff is countered. Whisper in the Wind gets two on RVD. Rolling Thunder hits Hardy but Roode throws Van Dam to the floor. Twist of Fate and Mic Check to Roode followed by Anderson spearing Hardy to the floor. Five Star pins Roode at 8:30.

Rating: C-. That’s the longest match of the night and it ran less than nine minutes, about four of which were spent in a commercial. I don’t think anyone thought anybody but Van Dam was going to win here which is ok, but they should have set up the stipulation way earlier than this instead of waiting for three days to go before the PPV.

Post match RVD puts up a ladder and here’s Abyss on the stage. He whispers to the camera and says Joseph is getting too close to the fire and to back off before he gets burned.

Overall Rating: D+. This show didn’t work for me for the most part. There was WAY too much talking and a lot of this felt like they were getting ready for TV later instead of the PPV on Sunday. That’s a major problem this company has: they book for TV instead of their major shows which doesn’t make much sense.

Why would anyone want to pay money (which is what TNA”s goal is: to make money) if the focus is on TV instead of the PPVs? Some of the matches got built somewhat ok, but adding a ladder stipulation to the title match three days early is a bad idea as you had a month you could have built that up with. Either way, not a good show heading into a filler PPV.

Results
Brooke Tessmacher b. Velvet Sky – Belly to Back Mat Slam
Crimson b. Matt Morgan via countout
Austin Aries b. Zema Ion – Brainbuster
D-Von b. Robbie E – Spinebuster
Rob Van Dam b. Jeff Hardy, Bobby Roode and Mr. Anderson – Five Star Frog Splash to Roode