Impact Wrestling
Date: August 9, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s the go home show for hardcore Justice and most of the card is set. Last week we had three fatal fourways added which is a pretty quick way of stacking the card. Other than that we’ll get more of a build to Roode vs. Aries, but more interestingly we’ll get more on Aces and 8’s. Another interesting thing is that there’s a chance D-Von won’t be re-signing with the company, so the TV Title may be in danger. Let’s get to it.

Recap to start in the overly dramatic fashion.

Here’s Bully Ray to open the show. He has his Twitter machine but wants to talk about Joseph Park. If there’s enough evidence against someone, they must be guilty. All of the evidence points to James Storm being guilty about being behind Aces and 8’s. Tonight Ray is going to beat up Storm and then he’ll do it again on Sunday in the tables match.

Cue Storm in street clothes. Storm says he’s sick and tired of a lot of things, but the top one of them is that he’s tired of being sick and tired. He says again that he had nothing to do with the attacks because he wants to win the BFG Series and winning back the world title. Storm draws a line in the ring and says Ray has a count of three before Storm punches his way across that line. Ray turns his hat around and says start counting. At three Ray backs off and bails. Storm says anyone can cross the line and fight him tonight.

Cue Aces and 8’s on the screen. Their voices are distorted and it’s hard to understand them. The one that talks says that Sting has invited them here tonight but they’re going to do it on their own terms. The guy talking had the word “prospect” on his jacket. Ray says I TOLD YOU SO and we abruptly cut to commercial.

Pope says he’ll win on Sunday.

Bound For Glory Series Leaderboard:

James Storm 66

Samoa Joe 53

Kurt Angle 41

Mr. Anderson 40

Jeff Hardy 35

Christopher Daniels 33

Rob Van Dam 28

Magnus 21

Bully Ray 21

AJ Styles 16

D’Angelo Dinero 7

Robbie E 5

Bound For Glory Series: Rob Van Dam vs. Magnus

This should be good. Magnus takes over to start and knocks Van Dam to the floor. Back inside and Van Dam gets in a kick to take Magnus down. More kicks take the Brit down again and the Five Star gets the clean pin at 3:22.

Rating: C. My goodness there wasn’t much in this. Still though it’s nice to see a clean win like this for a change as compared to all of the screwy ones you usually get on wrestling TV. Magnus has a great look but he can’t quite get a push rolling. Giving him matches against these eleven guys isn’t a bad thing at all though and will only help him.

Roode says the contract signing tonight might not happen because of some language in the paperwork.

Time for the Clair portion of our show this evening. Ok maybe just a recap.

Tag Titles: D-Von/Garrett Bischoff vs. Kazarian/Christopher Daniels

D-Von and Kaz start things off and the (tag) champ is taken down by a back elbow. Off to Garrett who hiptosses Daniels down and hits a clothesline for two. Back to the TV champ who uses his usual stuff to take over. Soon all is right with the world again as Garrett gets beaten down by both guys, including a sweet standing stomp to the chest off the top by Daniels. Hot tag brings in D-Von who cleans house. Rock Bottom gets two on Kaz and there’s the spinebuster to Daniels, but he isn’t legal. While the referee is putting him out, Kaz hits D-Von with a belt for the pin at 4:08.

Rating: C. Garrett Bischoff is still not a champion, meaning there is still hope for the world. This was just a quick match for the champs which is fine. They’ve had the titles for like a month now and I don’t remember them defending the things. A quick defense like this is fine as it keeps them looking a bit more legit. Also Garrett being attacked is always a good thing.

We recap Brooke being threatened last week.

Sting is in the back and calls out Aces and 8’s again. Brooke isn’t here tonight apparently.

People in the four ways talk about how they need to win.

Robbie E gets promo time. Ok then. He says he’s got five points at the moment and then he’s going to get 20 more on Sunday. Robbie plans to put Jeff Hardy through the table to get the extra points because that’s who he got the five from in the first place. We get a clip of that win which was by countout. Rob lists off five reasons why he’s better than Hardy but only gets through the first one (he wears pink sweaters) before Jeff cuts him off. Jeff cleans house but Robbie T makes the save and powerbombs Jeff through the table.

AJ says he doesn’t remember having sex with Clair, nor does he drink, so he doesn’t know what’s going on.

Joe comes out to commentary and rants about how he’ll win on Sunday.

Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle

AJ goes behind him to start but gets elbowed in the face. We get the signature drop down/kick sequence from AJ to send Kurt to the floor followed by a big slingshot dive onto Angle. We take a break and come back with AJ getting rammed into the corner before getting his boot up to the face of a charging Angle. Kurt will have none of that and snaps off an overhead belly to belly to take over again.

Kurt hooks a chinlock followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to a charging AJ, getting two. Back to yon chinlock while Clair is cheering for Styles. She never was a stable person for the most part. AJ gets back up and they clothesline each other down. Apparently AJ has only been in five matches in the Series so far which is why he doesn’t have that many points.

AJ starts a comeback and he hits the FU into a backbreaker for two. Styles tries a springboard but misses and it’s time to roll some Germans. The big one at the end gets two and Angle is frustrated. The Pele out of nowhere gets two as does the Angle Slam. The ankle lock is quickly countered and AJ tries some Germans, only to be quickly countered into the ankle lock again.

That gets broken again and there’s the springboard foearm for two. AJ hits the Clash….for two. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that kicked out of before. Styles goes up but Kurt runs the ropes and hits the belly to belly off the top. THAT gets two so Kurt goes up for the moonsault. Say it with me: it misses. AJ busts out the springboard 450 but it hits knees. Another Angle Slam finally gets the pin at 12:45.

Rating: B. This is another of those pairings that falls under the category of almost impossible to screw up. I don’t ever recall these two not tearing the house down and they did it again here. With guys like these there’s no point in using basic stuff so just having them bust out signature move after signature move is fine. Good stuff here.

As AJ is leaving Clair shouts encouragement to him. He looks at her and he keeps walking.

Aces and 8’s says a lot of people have gotten the Dead Man’s Hand and the next target is revealed tonight.

Anderson goes up to Storm in the back and says he thinks Storm is behind Aces and 8’s. Storm says it’s not him and Anderson says if Storm is lying and Anderson gets attacked, he’ll be coming for the Cowboy.

Austin Aries says the contract will work out tonight.

Gail Kim vs. Miss Tessmacher

Gail tries to jump Tessmacher during the entrance but the champ (this is non-title) avoids the charge. Back inside Gail kicks Tessmacher down and hits a gutbuster for two. After more of the beating it’s off to a bodyscissors by Kim. Tessmacher makes her comeback with some clotheslines and a dropkick followed by another clothesline out of the corner. There’s a Stinkface followed by the belly to back mat slam for the pin for Tessmacher at 3:42.

Rating: C. This wasn’t bad and for the Knockouts this was one of their best matches in a long time. At the end of the day, Gail may be good in the ring but I don’t think anyone cares about her at all. Apparently Tessmacher’s move is call the Tess Shot. That’s certainly better than whatever name I can come up with most of the time.

Post match here’s Madison who kisses Earl Hebner, freaking Tessmacher out.

Joseph Part talks about contract signings.

Video on Kenny King.

Here’s Sting to address Aces and 8’s. Actually he’s here for the Roode and Aries signing but he says Aces and 8’s can come out if they’d like. We get the champ and the challenger Roode doesn’t like the contract because it says that if he loses on Sunday, he doesn’t get another shot while Aries has the belt. Roode goes on a rant against Sting, saying that Sting has had it in for Roode since he won the title.

Aries cuts him off and says enough whining. He says that for someone so convinced that Aries’ win was a fluke, Roode is awfully worried about a rematch clause. Aries says he has Roode’s number and if there’s a clause that’s holding him back, forget the contract. Aries says that if Roode wins on Sunday, he’ll give up his rematch clause, so it’s winner take all and no rematches period. Roode finally shakes on it and we have a deal. They get rady to brawl but Roode sticks his hand out again. Aries shakes it but gets water thrown in his face. Roode bails before the champ can kill him.

Chavo/Hernandez/Gunner/Kash talk about the tag match on Sunday.

We run down the PPV card.

Bound For Glory Series: Bully Ray vs. James Storm

Ray says he isn’t going to let anyone jump him so he hides in the ropes a lot. They fight over arm control before Ray sends him to the floor. We take a break and come back with Ray missing an elbow drop. Ray works on the leg a bit but goes back to punches to the face instead. Why try to be fancy I guess. A splash misses though and Storm starts his comeback. He gets sent to the apron and hits an enziguri to Ray’s head but walks into a Rock Bottom for two back in the ring.

Storm elbows him in the face and hits a top rope cross body for two. Storm goes up again and knocks off a Ray superplex attempt but a top rope elbow misses. Bubba Bomb gets two but the backsplash off the middle rope misses for Ray. Codebreaker (didn’t Storm have a name for that?) looks to set up the Last Call but Ray avoids it. Instead Storm rolls him up for two but walks into the Cutter for the pin at 10:49.

Rating: C+. Now that’s a bit of a surprise. At the end of the day though, you have to have Storm lose once in awhile because he’s way ahead in the standings so it’s not like it matters that much anyway. Ray picking up a clean win like that is a good thing too as he doesn’t get that many of them and needs to be kept strong. Decent main event here.

Ray screams WHERE ARE THEY and gets his chain but no one comes out for the second week in a row. Instead Aces and 8’s pop up on screen and say Ray is going to see a lot more of them on Sunday. Ray panics to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. I really liked tonight’s show. Everything seemed like it had a point and we got some solid wrestling on top of that. The Aces and 8’s stuff and the Clair story are likely going to die in the desert at BFG which is ok, but I wouldn’t mind if they had some more interesting stuff to carry us out there. Hardcore Justice is all set up and I really like the idea of the three fourway matches on Sunday each having a different gimmick as four straight matches would get dull. This was a really good show and I was digging it the whole time.

Results

Rob Van Dam b. Magnus – Five Star Frog Splash

Kazarian/Christopher Daniels b. D-Von/Garrett Bischoff – Kazarian pinned D-Von after hitting him with a title belt

Kurt Angle b. AJ Styles – Angle Slam

Miss Tessmacher b. Gail Kim – Tess Shot

Bully Ray b. James Storm – Bully Cutter

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 2, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

Another trip to Orlando tonight as we’re approaching Hardcore Justice in a week and a half. Tonight we have a big tag match as well as Storm vs. Angle in a BFG Series match. We’re sure to have more from Aces and 8’s as Brooke Hogan is going to say something about her dad, which I’m sure will be riveting. Let’s get to it.

Zema Ion/Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries/Kenny King

This is a big brawl that was going on when the show started. Roode and Aries were fighting at the top of the stage before coming to the ring to join the other guys. Aries hits a huge dive onto Roode on the floor to take over. There’s the bell and we’re officially going. A double airplane spin puts Ion down and King hits a springboard legdrop for two. King sends Ion into the corner and fires off shoulders to the ribs. Off to Aries for a slingshot corkscrew dive for two. Back to King who gets hit in the back by Roode.

King is sent to the floor and Ion hits a big flip dive to finally give his team the advantage. Roode comes in legally and goes after the leg and ankle of King which was injured somewhere in the match. A knee drop gets two for Roode and it’s back to the X Champion. We take a break and come back with Roode sending King off the topr rope and to the floor with a crash.

King is still in trouble, this time in the corner as Roode stomps away some more. Back to Ion who works on the arm a bit, only to walk into a high cradle suplex to put him down. Aries gets the tag but Roode stepped in for a distraction. Roode, being the heel that he is, comes in without a tag for more stomping. Bobby doesn’t stay in long though as it’s back to Ion again. King punches them both down and everything breaks down. Aries hits a missile dropkick to send Roode to the floor followed by the suicide dive. King hits the reverse F5 on Ion for the pin at 14:48.

Rating: B-. Good fast paced opener here and a good way to get the crowd’s attention to open things up. It’s always cool to see them mix up the played out formula for a change and having King out there isn’t bad either. Ion still does nothing for me and I’m hoping he doesn’t keep the belt until Sorensen is back.

We get the traditional recap from last week.

Sting says he wants to hear it straight from Storm’s mouth.

Here’s Sting who wants Storm out here to say he’s not involved with Aces and 8’s. Cue the Cowboy who wants an explanation. Sting shows him a clip of last week where Aces and 8’s came out but didn’t touch Storm. Storm says he has nothing to do with it and didn’t need them to help him beat Angle a few weeks ago.

Cue Angle who says he’s seen Storm all over the place but he doesn’t get Storm’s motivation. He talks about Aces and 8’s beating up everyone other than Storm. Why would eight grown men run away from one guy? Angle wants Storm to come to his match later, and Sting says he’ll be there for it too because he hopes Aces and 8’s show up. Angle says he’ll make Storm tap out.

AJ Styles was in Australia this week.

We recap the Clair story which has gone on forever it seems.

Daniels and Kaz make fun of AJ while holding their drinks. They’re going to throw Clair a baby shower.

There are going to be three hardcore four ways at Hardcore Justice in the BFG Series, all of which for 20 points:

Daniels vs. Angle vs. Styles vs. Joe in a ladder match

Anderson vs. RVD vs. Dinero vs. Magnus in a last man standing match

Hardy vs. Story vs. Ray vs. Robbie E in a tables match

BFG Leaderboard:

Samoa Joe 47

James Storm 45

Kurt Angle 41

Mr. Anderson 40

Jeff Hardy 28

Rob Van Dam 28

Christopher Daniels 26

Magnus 21

AJ Styles 16

Bully Ray 14

D’Angelo Dinero 7

Robbie E 5

Bound For Glory Series: Bully Ray vs. Robbie E

Ray says he doesn’t trust Storm before the match. Big Rob hits Ray with the list before we get going. Robbie pounds Ray down but some big chops set up a quick Bubba Cutter and we’re done at 90 seconds.

Earl Hebner gives Madison Rayne gifts. She says she cares about him when Gail Kim comes up to complain. Earl leaves and Madison says he’ll call the match right down the middle tonight.

Tara vs. Mickie James vs. Gail Kim vs. Madison Rayne

Winner get Tessmacher at some point in the future. Tessmacher is on commentary here. Tara immediately tries a Tarantula on Gail but gets backdropped to the floor. Mickie is knocked to the floor and it’s heel vs. heel for a bit. Tara comes back in to prevent that from happening, only to get caught in a bad knee to the face from Madison. A neckbreaker puts Tara down and they take turns pounding away. Mickie pulls Gail to the floor but gets sent into the steps for her troubles. The spinning side slam gets two on Madison as Gail breaks it up. Madison chokes Tara and Gail sends Mickie to the floor.

Gail misses a charge in the corner and Mickie is back. Tara heads outside and it’s Mickie vs. Rayne at the moment. Madison is taken down by a neckbreaker but Gail makes the save. Everything breaks down if that’s possible in a fourway. Tara takes over and loads up a moonsault, only to get crotched by Madison. Mickie pulls Madison off the top but Rayne kicks Mickie in the head. Gail superplexes Tara down and everyone is down.

Gail covers Tara but Earl is with Madison. Tessmacher says a superplex like that can only happen with the Knockouts. Bob Orton might want to have a word with you about that. Mickie sends Gail to the floor and fires off clotheslines on Rayne. A flapjack takes Madison down again but Gail sneaks in and sends her to the floor. Widow’s Peak takes Gail down but Madison goes after Tara. Tara rolls her up and gets the pin at 7:30, but, say it with me, Earl gives the win to Madison despite Tara’s shoulder being nowhere near the mat.

Rating: D+. How many times can we have a fourway Knockouts match for the #1 contenders spot? Seriously, I can’t remember how many of these we’ve had recently. The match was just ok and the ending was about as obvious as you could have asked one to be. Madison will likely get the title and few people will care, which is a shame as Tessmacher is a pretty interesting champion.

Roode says Storm is behind it. Aries says he might as well be at ringside too since Roode will be.

Sting is talking to Brooke who says she doesn’t like seeing her dad in pain. She doesn’t know why Aces and 8’s are picking on them. That came off as a really stupid line to me. A messenger comes in with a package for Brooke which has playing cards on it. She bails and Sting is annoyed.

ODB and Eric have a “comedy” segment about how they haven’t defended the titles in months. Apparently it’s not good that Eric is a man. He has a fishing show debuting on Sunday and he thinks that if the belts are always apart, they can’t be stripped of them. Why do these titles exist again?

Chavo Guerrero vs. Kid Kash

Hernandez and Gunner are here to second the respective guys. As if the ending of this wasn’t clear enough already, Grandmama Guerrero is here. Chavo speeds things up quickly and throws on an armbar. Kash escapes and pounds away but gets pulled off by the referee. Kash throws him into the air so Chavo crashes down, followed by a backbreaker for two. A moonsault hits knees and it’s comeback time. Chavo hurricanranas him down and a dropkick gets two. Both seconds get on the apron and Kash hits Chavo in the head. Dead Level is countered and it’s time to roll some suplexes. The Frog Splash pins Kash at 4:41.

Rating: C. This was fine for a debut from Chavo even though it was exactly what you would have expected it to be. Chavo is fine for midcard stuff like this and if he doesn’t rise much higher than this I won’t have many complaints. Nothing much to see here but a decent match that eats up five minutes isn’t a bad thing.

Dixie says it’s time for AJ to step up and set the record straight.

Angle talks to someone’s kid who says that he wants to be a wrestler. It’s Wes Brisco, son of Gerald Brisco. He asks Angle to put in a good word for him and Angle doesn’t seem to be opposed to the idea. Before he can say yes though D-Von and Garrett come in to offer their services to Angle tonight. He says cool.

It’s time for the baby shower. Kaz: “AJ Styles isn’t here tonight. He’s in Australia, promoting Impact Wrestling and possibly impregnating somebody.” Daniels and Kaz invite Clair into the ring and give her a necklace. Daniels talks about how important being pregnant is and says they’ll do what AJ won’t do. The first gift: diapers. The next: a bunch of Impact gear such as toys and t-shirts. The piece de resistance (Daniels: “That means prize piece you idiots. Stay in school.”) is an AJ baby doll. Clair looks into the camera and shouts at AJ to do the right thing.

Joseph Park says he’s been retained by some Impact wrestlers for his legal services. He offers Sting said services but Sting says he’s covered. One thing Sting would like to know though: where did Park learn how to do a Black Hole Slam like that? Park doesn’t have an answer.

Bound For Glory Series: James Storm vs. Kurt Angle

Wes Brisco is at ringside. Weren’t Roode, Sting and Aries supposed to be here too? Feeling out process to start as no one can get an extended advantage. Storm works over the arm which seems to work as well as anything else does for him. Here’s Sting to ringside as well. D-Von and Garrett come out quickly thereafter as Storm hits a facebuster on Angle. Storm is almost sent to the floor but he skins the cat and hits a Thesz Press to pound on Angle some more.

The Last Call is ducked and Angle suplexes him down. Bully Ray is here too. We take a break and come back with Storm hitting an Orton Elevated DDT to put Angle down. Roode and Aries come out as well as Storm hits a hot shot and running forearm. Angle catches him in the corner and hits the Rolling Germans to put Sting down. Angle Slam is countered but Angle kicks Storm in the face for two.

Ankle lock is countered and Storm hits the Angle Slam on Angle for two. Angle takes him into the corner and now the ankle lock goes on. Storm can’t roll through but he won’t tap. Taz is telling Storm to tap out because it isn’t worth it. The hold has been on for a minute or so now. The fans cheer for the Cowboy and he finally rolls onto his back and kicks Angle in the head. Last Call hits out of nowhere for the pin at 13:32.

Rating: B-. This started slow but it got better until the end. For the life of me I don’t get why TNA keeps having these quick endings. The superkick came out of nowhere and it seemed like the perfect time for a kickout. Still though, this was a good match and felt like a big one, which is a good thing for a TV show.

Everyone looks around for Aces and 8’s but Storm grabs the mic. He calls out Aces and 8’s, saying that with everyone here why don’t they come out now. No one comes out so Roode says this is odd isn’t it James? He says Storm doesn’t need them and that’s why they’re not here. Roode says he told everyone and Ray sneaks up on Storm, causing a brawl. Aries and Roode brawl too as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a pretty in the middle show but there was enough good stuff to hold me in for two hours. The Aces and 8’s stuff is starting to roll again, as is the Clair stuff. Both stories have potential to blow up in either a good or bad way at any time, but for the moment they’re both solid enough. There are a lot of questions still, but that’s good enough to bring us back for more. Good show here but nothing great.

Results

Kenny King/Austin Aries b. Bobby Roode/Zema Ion – Reverse F5 to Ion

Bully Ray b. Robbie E – Bubba Cutter

Madison Rayne b. Tara, Mickie James and Gail Kim – Rollup to Tara

Chavo Guerrero b. Kid Kash – Frog Splash

James Storm b. Kurt Angle – Last Call

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 26, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

After last week’s Aces and 8’s show, it should be interesting to see what the retaliation is tonight. We’ll have a ton of BFG Series matches I’m sure, plus some other stuff if they have time. That’s the one issue with the Series: it takes up SO much time on every show that there isn’t much room for anything else. The good thing is that the matches aren’t bad so it’s not like it’s torture. Let’s get to it.

We open with the usual recap from last week.

Tonight it’s Storm vs. Styles and Ray vs. Angle. Also Chavo debuts.

Here’s Sting to open things up. Dixie has named him the interim GM until Hogan is back, so his first act is to call out Aces and 8’s, even though he’s alone. Instead he gets Aries, who says if Aces and 8’s jumps anyone, he’ll jump on them. Here’s Angle who was beaten down last week by Aces and 8’s as well. He says they tried to cost him a world title shot so he wants them too.

Now cue Roode who says he isn’t here with them but he’s here announce that he knows who is behind Aces and 8’s. The mic goes out so Angle gives Roode his own mic. It’s someone who has been in the world title picture for a year and is jealous of both Roode and Angle: the Cowboy James Storm. Storm charges out and jumps Roode. Tehy brawl into the ring while the other three guys let it go. Angle finally breaks it up and Roode leaves. Roode says the truth hurts and we go to a break.

People talk about Chavo debuting tonight.

Post break Roode yells about it being Storm. He takes his bags and leaves as Jason Hervey is apparently the interviewer.

Madison Rayne/Gail Kim vs. Mickie James/Tara

It’s been too long since Mickie has been on my TV. Next week these four are in a fourway for the #1 contender shot. Tara and Gail start with a fight over arm control. Off to Mickie for a low dropkick that gets two. There’s the Thesz Press to Gail and it’s off to Madison who looks GREAT in that blue number.

Madison does little of note and it’s off to Tara to clean house. She hits the spinning side slam for two and it’s off to Mickie. The good chicks hit a cool double rolling mat slam into a double half crab. Gail tries a double dropkick and gets caught in the same hold. Madison is with Earl Hebner though and Mickie rolls Madison up for the pin at 3:51. But Madison gets the win instead. Yep this is the angle they’re giving the Knockouts now. They made a point to show that Mickie’s shoulder was off the mat.

Rating: D+. The ending makes me hate this division all over again. Why in the world would we want to see Earl Hebner get a storyline? BECAUSE IT’S WACKY!!! These four have a fourway next week and I’d bet the ending is going to be the same thing. For the life of me I don’t get who thinks this is a good idea.

Sting tells Aries to make some cuts to the X-Division. You know, right after they were introduced a few weeks ago.

Sam Shaw says he loves this business.

More people talk about Chavo. Ray: “Didn’t I tell you never to bother me when I’m on my Twitter machine?”

Gut Check: Sam Shaw vs. Douglas Williams

Shaw is a smaller guy and a high flier. There are people with signs that say 87, which means Joey Ryan. Shaw controls the early stuff here but there’s a camera on the crowd so you know something is coming. Shaw hits an Orton backbreaker and goes up top. Some people come out as Shaw is slammed off the top rope. Here’s Ryan who hits security and runs. Apparently he hit Snow. Williams kills Shaw with a clothesline and pounds away before hitting Rolling Chaos for the pin at 2:38. Ryan was the bigger focus here but Shaw looked better than any Gut Check guy so far as far as almost winning. The judging is tonight.

Aries is with the X guys and they all do the reality show stuff, saying they should get the X Title shot. Ion comes in and brags a bit before leaving. Aries cuts Rashad Cameron. I think this is just about who gets the title match and that these guys aren’t fired or anything like that. We have King, Darsow and Dutt left as contenders.

More Chavo stuff. This is some of the biggest hype I’ve seen in a long time.

Here’s Chavo in a suit. He says he’s humbled to be here because the Guerrero Family has conquered everything. They’ve been champions everywhere they’ve been except for here in TNA. He says timing is everything and people need to remember this time and date. It’s Guerrero Time. Good debut speech.

Chavo wraps it up but Kid Kash and Gunner come out. Kash lists off all of Chavo’s family members who have been wrestlers. He wants to know where Chavo’s uncle Hector is and suggests that Hector is too drunk. Chavo jumps them and gets beaten down until Hernandez makes the save.

Angle asks Storm if he’s involved with Aces and 8’s. Storm says he doesn’t because if he had a problem with someone, he’d take it up with them. Storm says he has their backs tonight if Aces and 8’s attack. Angle leaves and Storm has a look on his face that says…nothing of note actually.

The Gut Check judges talk in the back and Snow is ticked off about Ryan.

We get a recap of last week’s AJ/Clair/Daniels drama.

Bound For Glory Series Standings:

Samoa Joe 47

James Storm 43

Mr. Anderson 30

Jeff Hardy 28

Kurt Angle 27

Christopher Daniels 26

Rob Van Dam 21

Magnus 14

AJ Styles 14

D’Angel Dinero 7

Bully Ray 7

Robbie E 5

Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. James Storm

Feeling out process to start as Clair is watching from the crowd. Storm gets control with the form of a chinlock and a kind of mat slam for one. A backdrop sets up another chinlock but AJ pops up again. The drop down/kick gets two and AJ sends Storm face first into the buckle. A suplex puts Storm down and it’s back to the chinlock. Storm makes his comeback with some clotheslines and a forearm for two. Another suplex gets two for Storm.

AJ sends him into the corner but misses a splash/forearm. Storm puts him on the top rope with AJ’s back to the ring. Styles tries to escape but gets caught in the Eye of the Storm for two. Storm goes to the middle rope but his tornado DDT is countered into a release northern lights suplex into the corner for two. Springboard forearm gets two. Styles Clash is countered into an Alabama Slam for two. Storm rams Styles’ face into the apron for another two. AJ kicks him in the head out of nowhere and hits the Pele….and here are Aces and 8’s for the beatdown at about 11:00. They didn’t touch Storm.

Rating: B-. This was getting good at the end and I’m assuming it was a DQ win for Styles as he was the one that they hit first. At the end of the day, sometimes the best idea is just to have two guys that are talented go out there for awhile and do big moves and near falls to each other. This worked well as you were wondering who was going to get the win, and above all else: CLAIR DIDN’T DO ANYTHING.

Gut Check time. Shaw says he’s got what it takes, Snow says he didn’t get to see what Shaw did tonight but he wants to stick it to Ryan and say yes, but he has to say no due to a lack of evidence. Pritchard says yes. Shaw cuts a promo and sucks up to Taz because he wants to work with the best. Taz says yes, meaning we won’t be seeing Shaw for a few months if the pattern holds.

Back to Aries and the X guys. Aries: “Dutt: Himalayan American, King: African American. Darsow: Wasn’t your dad Russian?” Darsow: “Just a sympathizer.” Darsow says he’s flashy but Aries says he’s cut because Darsow isn’t ready. Aries: “Tell your dad hello and that his repo business is doing great.”

X-Division Title: Zema Ion vs. Kenny King

Dutt doesn’t get it because of his shoulder. Ion pauses for some hairspray and things speed up. King dropkicks him down and hits a flying shoulder attack in the corner. Springboard crossbody gets two and it’s time for some punches. Ion sends him to the floor and hits a flip dive to take over. A missile dropkick puts King down and hooks a crossface chickenwing. Ion has a busted lip or mouth. A sunset flip out of the corner gets two for King but he walks into a modified backbreaker for two for Ion.

King clotheslines him down again and hits an atomic drop followed by a spin kick to the head for two. Overhead high cradle suplex puts Ion down but he keeps coming for some reason. Ion kicks him to the floor and hits a corkscrew plancha to take Ion down again. King loads up a springboard…and Bobby Roode trips him up and posts him, allowing Ion to hit a moonsault for the pin to retain at 6:14.

Rating: C. This was a very strange ending but it’s certainly intriguing. King looked good here and if he’s going to be getting programmed with Roode (even though Roode has a world title match at the PPV) there’s nothing bad about that at all. Ion is going to hold the belt for awhile, but I’d be surprised if there isn’t at least one title change before Sorensen comes back.

My guess is that Roode did that because Aries picked King. Aries runs out and jumps Roode.

Ray says he respects Angle but he’s beating him tonight.

Ion/Roode vs. Aries/King next week.

Bound For Glory Series: Bully Ray vs. Kurt Angle

Feeling out process to start with the Angle Slam and Big Boot both missing. Ray tries to use power but gets caught in the ankle lock as a result. He makes the rope and it’s off to the arm for Kurt. Ray hits a SICK piledriver for two as we take a break. Back with Ray working on the neck some more, only for Angle to come back and hit a belly to belly for two. Ray hits the Bully Bomb for two of his own and it’s time for Rolling Germans.

There’s the ankle lock but Ray rolls through to escape. They slug it out and Ray hits a Rock Bottom for two. Ray misses a big boot and the Angle Slam gets two. Moonsault misses but Angle breaks up the Bubba Cutter. Big boot gets two and Ray is frustrated. Ray misses a charge and the Angle Slam gets the pin at 11:54.

Rating: B. I was digging this as it was Angle 101, which means it works very well. Good match here as you had two guys beating on each other for about twelve minutes and seeing who was going to be able to get the pin finally. Angle winning makes the most sense but it looked great to see Ray getting that close.

Post match here are Aces and 8’s on Angle but AJ, Aries, Sting and eventually Storm come out to clear the ring. Angle still thinks Storm was behind it. Next week: Angle vs. Storm.

Overall Rating: C+. I liked this show better than I have the last few episodes. Aces and 8’s were a factor here but they didn’t dominate the show like they did last week. King being brought up a bit is also a good thing and it gives Roode and Aries something to do before the PPV. They had a good balance going tonight and that’s what the show has been lacking in recent weeks. Better show this week by far.

Results

Gail Kim/Madison Rayne b. Mickie James/Tara – Rollup to James

Douglas Williams b. Sam Shaw – Rolling Chaos Theory

AJ Styles vs. James Storm went to a no contest when Aces and 8’s interfered

Zema Ion b. Kenny King – Moonsault

Kurt Angle b. Bully Ray – Angle Slam

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 19, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s Open Fight Night again and Roode is calling out Aries tonight. Why he would do this when he has a world title match at the next PPV is a bit of a mystery but that’s wrestling for you. We also might get an update on the Aces and 8’s faction which is a pretty cool idea. We haven’t had masked me in awhile so that’s kind of a cool thing. Let’s get to it.

After the standard opening recap, we have another recap of the Aces and 8’s beatdown last week.

Hogan is shown in the hospital, which is due to a legit back surgery.

Theme song hits. Get your reinforcements.

Bound For Glory Series standings:

James Storm 43

Samoa Joe 37

Kurt Angle 27

Jeff Hardy 21

Mr. Anderson 16

Rob Van Dam 14

Magnus 14

Christopher Daniels 12

AJ Styles 7

D’Angelo Dinero 7

Bully Ray 0

Robbie E 0

Tonight the high scorers get to do the callouts.

Here’s Storm to talk about Aries being the new champion and wanting the title shot no matter who it’s against. He hasn’t forgotten about Roode either, because the title is just business while Roode is personal. As for Aces and 8’s, if this was the wild west, he’d be the sheriff because he’s the Cowboy. While he doesn’t have a star on his chest, he has a set of balls. Hogan gets a shoutout but Storm wants Angle tonight.

Bound For Glory Series: James Storm vs. Kurt Angle

And there’s no Kurt. The music plays again and it’s Aces and 8’s in the back destroying Angle. We go to a break with Angle out cold and Tenay wondering if the guy in an American flag t-shirt with no hair that looks exactly like Angle is in fact Angle.

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. D’Angelo Dinero

I’m not going to bother listing the quick callouts that happen unless anything significant is said in them. Dinero tries to knock Joe into the corner but Joe pounds him with elbows and an enziguri to take over. Joe pops him in the face but gets sent into the corner and out to the floor. Back in and Pope hits a powerslam for two and it’s off to the Rings of Saturn. Pope starts pounding away and gets caught in a cross armbreaker for the tap at 3:20.

Rating: C. See how easy it is to push Joe as a submissions master? It goes this fast and Joe continues to dominate the Series. Pope is still floundering and it’s still pretty dull to see him out there as he’s nothing more than a jobber at this point. Still though, they need people like that in the Series to keep things interesting. This wasn’t bad though and Pope looked good.

Roode denies having any connection to Aces and 8’s despite being the last guy seen with Hogan before the attack. He’ll prove Destination X was a fluke later too.

Bound For Glory Series; Jeff Hardy vs. Robbie E

Jeff says he has someone in mind to call out but Robbie E interrupts. T jumps Hardy to take over but Hardy realizes he’s Jeff Hardy and takes over with his usual stuff. T interferes again to send Jeff out to the floor. That gets two for E but Jeff comes back again and hits the Whisper in the Wind for two. A plancha to the floor misses as T shoved E out of the way. Jeff fights T up the aisle and E wins by countout at 2:49.

ODB and Eric Young are in the back and Eric is back. It turns into a plug for his fish show.

We recap Clair/Daniels/Kaz with Clair saying that AJ is her baby’s papa.

Daniels rants a lot as does Kaz, saying that AJ is a coward.

Smoe guy named Sam Shaw comes out for Gut Check and while he’s talking, here are Aces and 8’s. There are six of them this time. The beating continues as they go to a break.

Post break Shaw is helped up.

Bound For Glory Series: Mr. Anderson vs. AJ Styles

Anderson works over the arm and hits a hiptoss to take over. He hooks an armbar but AJ counters into a headscissors. They stay on the mat for a bit until a stalemate takes us to a break. Back with Anderson holding a headlock but AJ comes back with the drop down/kick sequence. AJ grabs the arm but gets elbowed in the face and a neckbreaker puts Styles down for two. Anderson hooks a cravate for a submission attempt but Styles rams him into the buckle to escape. Springboard forearm gets two for AJ.

Mic Check and Clash are countered as we’re getting close to fifteen minutes here. Regal Roll gets two for Anderson but the Mic Check is countered again. AJ goes up but Mr. snaps off a superplex with AJ landing on his arm. That only gets two for both guys as we have less than two minutes left. Pele out of nowhere (missed by the announcers) sets up the Clash but Anderson counters and they hit the mat with Anderson getting a pin out of nowhere at 13:38.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t really hitting on all cylinders but it worked well enough all things considered. Anderson needs some points and having him get a clean pin over Styles isn’t going to hurt anything at all. Besides AJ has bigger things to worry about right now, and here she comes to continue the soap opera portion of your show.

Clair comes over the rail and yells about the night that AJ came to the hotel but AJ doesn’t remember it. She says Styles was drinking that night too but Styles says this was all in her head. Clair has pictures of them in bed together with AJ looking very drugged/drunk.

Back and we look at the pictures again with AJ looking stunned in the back.

Bound For Glory Series: Rob Van Dam vs. Christopher Daniels

Some MMA guy is on commentary here because when you watch wrestling, you think MMA. Van Dam fires off some kicks but Daniels comes back with an elbow to the face. Daniels gets caught in an abdominal stretch, only for Daniels to fall backwards into the ropes. Back in after a quick run to the floor and Daniels hits the slingshot elbow for two. The MMA guy at least is interested here and sounds like a wrestling fan.

Daniels drops a knee to the back and puts on a chinlock with a knee in the back. Van Dam escapes and superkicks Daniels down, followed by a monkey flip. Five Star misses so RVD hits the walk over kick to take Daniels down. Rolling Thunder misses and Daniels rolls Van Dam up with feet on the ropes for the pin at 4:13.

Rating: C. Not bad again here and the announcer wasn’t that annoying for the most part. Daniels is doing a great job at being completely evil and that’s the right thing for him to do. RVD is fine for a warm body in the Series, which means that he’ll wind up in the middle of the standings and will get some wins here and there. This was fine.

Austin Aries says he can trump anything Roode can do. He finds playing cards on the floor and says he can trump Aces and 8’s too.

It’s Brooke Hogan time! She does a phone interview to talk about her dad’s injuries and how her dad doesn’t know what he’s in for. Nothing of note is said here.

Joseph Park offers his legal services to Garrett Bischoff as a way to talk about what happened last week when Park snapped. Park says that was all him.

Bound For Glory Series: Magnus vs. Bully Ray

Ray jumps Magnus in the aisle but Magnus fights back. Magnus sends him into the barricade and heads into the ring for the bell. Ray kicks him in the chest to take over but I think he was aiming for the face. Ray chops him in the corner and slams him down, but the splash misses. Magnus makes his comeback and throws on a Texas Cloverleaf but Ray makes the rope. Falcon’s Arrow gets two for Magnus. He misses a middle rope elbow though and it’s the Bully Cutter for the pin at 4:45.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but Ray finally gets some points. Magnus has everything you need to be something good but for some reason he’s never risen above the level of a jobber. Unfortunately we didn’t get any Joseph Park stuff here but this got the job done well enough I guess.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. debuts next week.

Here’s Roode to call out Aries. That’ll be after a break though.

Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode

Non-title of course, because why would you think of asking for a title match in a match where you have to accept said challenge? Aries snaps off an armdrag followed by Roode getting sent into the corner. The fans sound like they say they want t-shirts. Roode sends him to the apron but Aries counters and hits a slingshot hilo for two. Roode goes face first into the apron so Aries dives on him on the outside as we take a break.

Back with Aries in trouble as Roode hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. A spinebuster gets the same and it’s time for a chinlock. Aries fights up but walks into an elbow to the face to put him right back down. Aries gets up again and they slug it out but the spinning forearm gets caught in an armbar. Last Chancery goes on but Roode breaks out and hits the spear for two.

Roode loads up a superplex but Aries knees him in the head to escape. A missile dropkick puts Roode down but the brainbuster is countered into the Crossface. Aries hits the discus forearm and clotheslines Roode to the floor, followed by the suicide dive. And here are Aces and 8’s for the DQ at 13:42.

Rating: C+. This was pretty good and I guess this is supposed to prove that Roode is behind this, but that would make no sense as they appeared before he lost the title. Aries getting beaten down is a nice touch as it shows that it’s a company wide problem, but it doesn’t answer any questions. This was the only ending they could go with though, as if Roode won then Aries is a fluke but if Aries won, why watch the PPV match?

Roode gets beaten up too and it’s a big beatdown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show has really slowed down a lot in the last few weeks, but there was still some good stuff tonight. Aces and 8’s is still an interesting idea but with these random attacks, they’re not really going anywhere yet. That’ll change when Hogan and Sting get back or when someone mounts an attack against them. As usual though, the problem with Open Fight Night is that nothing of note happens from it. These matches could happen on any show and the calling out means nothing at all. Not a horrible show but it was nothing great at all.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews