Due to an abdominal injury, according to his Twitter.

You know, it’s almost like TNA knew this was a possibility and booked him into a tag title match anyway.  Now some people would call that short sighted and stupid.  I’m sure the response to that would be “give TNA more time” or “WWE does stupid stuff too!”

To be fair though it’s not like TNA is doing anything of note with Storm anyway.

Impact Wrestling
Date: April 11, 2013
Location: American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Todd Keneley, Tazz

We’re live again tonight and in the new location of Corpus Christi, Texas. This is the big live show that is more or less the PPV special of the month, featuring the Full Metal Mayhem (TLC) match between Hardy and Ray for the title, AJ vs. Storm and a few other major matches. This show was hyped up very well over the last few weeks and it should be awesome. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of AJ’s dilemma of which side he should pick in the war between TNA and Aces and 8’s. We also look at the other matches tonight, including Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell and Aries/Roode vs. Guerrero/Hernandez for the tag titles.

Hogan greets hardy.

We get an intro sequence which looks like opening credits.

Tag Titles: Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. Bobby Roode/Austin Aries

Roode and Aries are defending and if they win, Chavo and Hernandez can never team again. This is also 2/3 falls. The challengers have a boxing legend whose name I couldn’t catch here with them, carrying a Texas flag. The champions jump the challengers as they get the boxer a seat and the brawl is on fast. Roode sends Aries into the corner to dropkick Chavo, who stumbles into a a Roode spinebuster for the first fall at 35 seconds.

Aries immediately tries a Frog Splash on Chavo but only hits mat, letting Chavo hit a quick rollup to tie things up at 1:38. Aries pounds away on Chavo but it’s Roode hitting a big slam for two. A slingshot hilo by Aries keeps Chavo in trouble and a Ted DiBiase fist drop gets two. Back to Roode who escapes a tornado DDT but gets caught by a Chavo dropkick. Hernandez is nowhere to be seen though as he was sent into the steps in the pre-match attack.

Actually scratch that as he’s back up and gets the tag to clean house. A gorilla press puts Aries down and there’s the big running charge down the ramp to jump back into the ring for a double clothesline to take the champions down. We take a break and come back with Aries diving off the top onto Hernandez for two. We get a long shot of the Spanish announcers as Roode hooks a quick chinlock followed by a necksnap, setting up a middle rope elbow to the back of Hernandez’s neck by Aries.

Hernandez finally comes back with a double clothesline to put the champions down and there’s the hot tag to Chavo. He comes in with a slingshot hilo to Roode and a headscissors sends Bobby to the outside. Chavo hits a big dive onto Aries and Roode for a near fall back inside. There are two Amigos to Aries and three of them for Roode. Aries breaks up the Frog Splash and Roode gets a rollup for two. Off to the Crossface on Chavo but Hernandez breaks it up. Hernandez tries another dive but takes out Chavo by mistake.

Roode only gets two from the mistake but there’s a HARD dropkick in the corner from Aries. The spinebuster is countered into a DDT but Austin makes another save at two. Aries loads up a superplex but Hernandez pulls him off into Border Toss position. The champions have a double suplex countered and Chavo hits the Frog Splash onto Roode for the pin and the titles at 15:13.

Rating: B. As is the case with every match the new champions have, it was entertaining but it does nothing for me because they’re so ridiculously uninteresting. I was hoping for the titles to stay on Roode/Aries here, but we have to appease the Texas crowd right, because Texas is AWESOME.

Brooke Hogan shrugs off some sexual harassment from Joey Ryan and tells him he has a match tonight.

Aces and 8’s arrive and they’re actually on motorcycles for once.

Here’s Joseph Park to discuss some business. He has issues with Aces and 8’s and Bully Ray in particular. What Aces and 8’s have been doing to TNA is nothing short of felonious and just mean, so it’s time for justice to be served by Jeff Hardy tonight. Once Hardy wins the title though, it’s not over. Park is a divorce lawyer and he has drawn up a writ of annulment for Brooke and Bully which will be filed soon.

Cue D-Von who takes the paper and rips it up. If Park has a problem with Ray, he has a problem with D-Von, so stay out of family business. D-Von goes to leave but sneaks up on Park and lays him out with a chain shot to the ribs.

We get a video package on Terrell vs. Kim.

Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim

ODB is guest referee. Taryn starts fast with a suplex for two and a monkey flip puts Gail down. Kim pulls her off the middle rope and stomps away before dropping Taryn with a forearm. Gail chokes awayo n the ropes but stops to get in ODB’s face. A rollup gets two for Gail but she gets caught holding the tights. During the argument between Gail and ODB, Taryn gets a rollup of her own for the pin at 2:30.

The Gut Check judges talk about the match last week.

Magno gets the shot in the ring.

We look at AJ’s issues and him walking out on TNA.

Hogan says he’s nervous about getting the world title back but first up, it’s AJ’s time on the clock.

AJ has nothing to say to a TNA cameraman. Anderson brings him another vest.

Video on Hardy vs. Ray tonight.

Here’s Hogan to call out AJ Styles for his decision. AJ comes out and Hulk gives him an ultimatum. Styles isn’t pleased and says he doesn’t react well to demands, but here’s Storm to interrupt. James says he isn’t here to deliver ultimatums or even to drink beer. Instead it’s for a fight and they lock eyes, but here’s Bad Influence. Kaz says they’re here to mend fences and not throw fists. They see through everything going on here because they’re both sexual and intellectual.

Thunderlips (Hogan) is trying to get AJ to join TNA, which is a good idea because Aces and 8’s are destroying his company. Aces and 8’s are smart to try to recruit TNA’s best soldier of the last eleven years. Daniels says it’s a bad idea for AJ to join either, because they’ll just chew AJ up and spit him out. Therefore, AJ should join up with Bad Influence.

Daniels brings up Hogan and Dixie turning their backs on AJ and brags about all the world titles “they” won together. AJ gets annoyed and shakes a bit, but Storm gets in his face. Styles leaves the ring and looks at Bad Influence before walking away. Hogan begs again and makes Styles vs. Storm next week.

Joey Ryan vs. Rob Terry

Joey is scared to death and is immediately run over with chops and shoulder blocks. Two boots in the corner from Joey are easily blocked and it’s a powerslam to plant him down. A fireman’s carry into a spinebuster ends Ryan at 2:30. Total squash.

Brooke tells Hulk she has to be at ringside for the main event. Matt Morgan pops up and says that it’s another Hogan mistake, like not making him #1 conteder at Lockdown. Morgan says that those mistakes will keep happening and then they’ll all come crashing down on him.

It’s time for Gut Check. Danny Davis isn’t sure but eventually says no. Magno cuts a promo that is barely understandable as English isn’t his first language. Pritchard says Magno isn’t ready yet so it’s no, which ends this.

Bully Ray makes Aces and 8’s promise not to interfere tonight.

TNA World Title: Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy

This is Full Metal Mayhem which is TNA’s version of TLC, as in you have to climb a ladder and pull the belt down. Brooke Hogan is at ringside as well. Ray yells at his wife before the bell and Brooke looks irritated. Hardy hits a Twisting Stunner and Poetry in Motion to start and Ray is in early trouble. The challenger brings in a chair and cracks Ray over the back with it before bringing in the first ladder of the match. Jeff makes an early try for the belt but Ray tips the ladder over.

A mule kick staggers Ray but Bully backdrops Jeff onto the ramp to take over. Ray whips him in the back with the chain but Hardy still pops up to slug it out on top of the ladder. Hardy gets suplexed down off the ladder as we take a break. Back with Hardy getting off a table and blasting Ray on the ropes with a chair. Hardy turns a ladder upside down but can’t superplex Ray onto it due to high levels of fat.

Instead Ray comes back with a front suplex to crush Hardy’s ribs against the steel. Some chair shots to the legs keep Hardy in trouble and Ray brings in another ladder. The table is still set up in the ring. Ray shouts about beating up Hardy and then keeping the title then slapping Brooke around, but the distraction lets Jeff get in some shots of his own. Ray takes Hardy back down but goes to the floor to yell at Brooke for a LONG time. Brooke finally slaps him and here comes Hardy.

Jeff slams Ray into the steps and puts him on a table….which immediately breaks. Hardy goes all the way to the entrance of the arena to get a table but a Twist of Fate keeps Ray down. Jeff puts Ray on the table for a BIG Swanton to the floor and both guys are down. Hardy goes up the ladder in the ring but Taz hands Ray a hammer. Ray goes up the ladder but hits Hardy with his fist instead of the hammer. Jeff gets his hand on the belt but a hammer to the head knocks him off and through the table. Ray retains the title at 17:10.

Rating: B. Solid match here and that Swanton was great. It wasn’t as great as most of the TLC matches but at the same time, we’ve seen these guys do this so often over the years that it’s kind of hard to get new stuff out there over and over again. That being said, it was entertaining which is exactly what it needed to be.

Aces and 8’s come in to celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This did indeed feel like a PPV quality show. It does drag in the middle and we didn’t get anything with AJ other than Bad Influence being interested in him, but other than that we got everything we were supposed to get. The main event delivered and it was still a hard hitting back and forth match with some close calls by Hardy. Good, solid show overall as TNA continues to do very well with the new style.

Results

Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez b. Bobby Roode/Austin Aries – Frog Splash to Roode

Taryn Terrell b. Gail Kim – Rollup

Rob Terry b. Joey Ryan – Fireman’s carry into a spinebuster

Bully Ray b. Jeff Hardy – Ray pulled down the title belt

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

Apparently RVD’s contract is up and therefore he’s a free agent, meaning he could sign with WWE if he wants, or he could go anywhere else he would like.  This would be another high profile TNA star that has had his contract expire in recent days and the first to actually be remembered on time.

I wouldn’t mind if he left TNA.  He hasn’t had anything of note to do in months as he spent five months as X Champion and spent the entire time fighting Kenny King and Zema Ion in throwaway matches.  Why stick around when you’re just there to fill in a spot on the card?

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/TNA/article10030226.shtml

So let me get this straight….Bobby Roode, one half of the reigning tag team champions and a guy whose run as the longest reigning world champion in company history ended less than a year and a a guy who had a world title shot on PPV THIS YEAR isn’t worthy of remembering to re-sign???  This is the kind of mistake WCW made back in 1990 with the Iron freaking Sheik.  Not only is his status for Lockdown up in the air, but it leaves an opening for WWE to sign him if they want to.  The lawsuit is over, so why not?  Maybe TNA can hire Bull Buchanan to replace him.

If nothing else, how could TNA let this happen when they stole another company’s tag team champion LAST FREAKING YEAR with Kenny King?

The jokes about them being amateur hour write themselves.

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 20, 2011
Location: Impact Wrestling Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the show after Bound For Glory and a few things have changed. First and foremost, Hogan is a face now, having turned after a year of being the top heel in the company. Also we have the same world champion in the form of Angle who was hurt going into the match and for some reason they didn’t put the title on Roode….uh….because he wasn’t ready or something? Clearly that’s their new policy on new champions and won’t be changed at all tonight right? Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the last year leading up to Hogan’s face turn at BFG.

Here’s Sting to open the show as we hear about how much of a betrayal it was for Bischoff’s son to turn on him. Sting is sane again. He talks about how this was about getting Hogan back instead of staying with what we had for the last year. He calls out Hogan because the fans want to see him and here’s the old bald dude himself, now in yellow and red.

Hogan and Sting hug because 15 years of feuding can be solved by one match or something. Hogan admits he’s been wrong and thanks the fans. He’s had a few rough years and he became a follower instead of a leader. He’s been following Bischoff’s lead instead of leading things and now he realizes how wrong Eric was. Hulk takes the blame himself and says it wasn’t Eric’s fault. Heaven forbid we have a heel come off looking evil I guess.

He talks about how he saw Immortal as a pack of wolves and saw the light to make the save. So he had a soul changing moment all of a sudden? Well that’s an explanation at least. Hogan calls Sting the true icon and shakes his hand a bunch before leaving. Sting says Hogan still has it and then calls out Dixie Carter, who still has her own theme song on standby.

After a break Dixie is in the ring to thank Sting. Sting says it’s a day to remember and to celebrate. He also mentions that Dixie wouldn’t listen to him 18 months ago and she got burned because of it. However, it’s all cool because he loves it here and Dixie is going to look out for the fans and this is her second chance. Dixie apologizes to Sting about Hogan and Bischoff. She says she doesn’t belong in the ring and needs to be at headquarters. Because of that, she’s giving Sting the day-to-day authority in Impact Wrestling. So Sting is the new GM? That could work. Sting accepts.

They hug in the ring but a 20 minute segment isn’t long enough. Here’s Kurt who somehow still has the title. For the life of me I don’t get this company at times. After another break Angle calls them superheroes and blames Dixie for his own heel turn. Angle says he’s still champion but Sting is always talking about Bobby Roode. At BFG he made Roode look like a loser and he’s the better man.

That brings out Roode who yells at Angle because of the shaky finish to the title match. He blames Kurt for cheating at the PPV and saying it was bull. That was Roode’s night and he messed it up. If you believe the internet, it was Hogan that messed it up but who’s counting? The fans chant rematch and Sting likes that idea. Sting makes the rematch but Angle plays the Lee Corso card with a not so fast my friend.

The contract says Angle had to face Roode once and only once so there’s no rematch tonight. Angle wants to know what Roode’s partner’s catchphrase is and that brings out James Storm. After break #3, Storm is in the ring and wants a title shot as well. Angle screwed the company, the fans and Roode at the PPV. That means Angle screwed Storm as well and that doesn’t work. Sting however can fix that. Since the fans want a title match tonight, maybe Storm should get one. Angle cuts him off, saying there are ten guys in front of him. That’s very true. Sting makes the match anyway because logic means nothing in TNA.

Time of that very long segment: 40 minutes.

We jump to the back and Eric and Immortal come up to Hogan. Eric calls back the dogs and says they want something to go down in the ring tonight. Eric wants to meet Hogan in the ring tonight, one on one.

During the break, something occurs to me: didn’t Sting say that the REAL Hogan was the one that wanted to take over TNA last summer? Now the REAL Hogan is the good guy? I don’t think we’re supposed to remember that.

Knockout Tag Titles: Winter/Angelina Love vs. Tara/Brooke Tessmacher

Winter and Angelina break up Tessmacher’s shirt tear and the double team is on. We officially start with Angelina vs. Tessmacher. Tessmacher is messed up because of the beatdown and the challengers both beat her down. After a few minutes of beating, Angelina misses a middle rope crossbody and it’s a double tag to Winter and Tara. Spinning side slam gets two. Everything breaks down and Tessmacher gets the pin on Winter with a top rope crossbody at 3:40.

Rating: C. This was fine, mainly due to large implants flying around and them keeping things short. Tessmacher still can’t do much in the ring but she’s improved a lot. She’d still be better at just being a sex object but most of the girls would be other than like two of them. This was nothing to see but for a quick Knockout tag, this wasn’t too bad.

Here are the Jarretts and Jeff calls out Hardy. For the sake of sanity, Jeff Jarrett will be called Jeff and Jeff Hardy will be called Hardy. Jeff talks about how Hardy has screwed up before and he’ll do it again. He says Hardy can leave tonight or he has to face Jeff. I’ll give Jeff this: he’s always ready to fight. Hardy says the fans want him here and it eats Jeff up. He’ll never light up a crowd like Hardy can and that brings about the brawl. They do the pull apart stuff like they did at the PPV. Agents come out and D’Lo Brown and Al Snow get into an argument for no apparent reason. Jeff gets in a low blow and Hardy is left laying.

Angle says he’ll keep the title tonight because he’s Kurt Angle.

We get some stills of Bischoff beating up his son on Sunday.

Eric Young wants to do a calendar photo shoot but Robbie E and Rob Terry come up. Has this been mentioned in months? Eric makes fun of Big Rob, calling him Conan the Barbarian. He calls himself a fighting champion and I begin to laugh. Eric says Robbie E can have a title shot and we’re told that Ronnie from Jersey Shore will be coming here. Oh good grief.

Abyss vs. Gunner

Gunner says that Immortal needs to prove they’re still on top so he’s fighting Abyss for Immortal tonight. Brawl to start and Gunner tries to run. Out to the floor and Gunner goes into the steps. They go back in and Gunner runs away for a countout at 1:50.

Velvet is going to thank the fans next.

Gunner says Immortal needs Abyss back and sounds scared of Abyss. Eric and company say they’re not worried. They’ll take care of Hogan first though.

We get a video about Velvet overcoming the odds because she was bullied as a kid. I don’t know what high school you went to, but girls that looked like her who were jocks weren’t bullied.

Velvet is in the ring now and holds up the belt, saying how awesome it is to finally be champion. She talks about the bullying thing again but says it was all worth it in the end. This brings out Karen and Traci and Karen yells a lot. She says she’s the Knockouts Boss and it would be boring if she just fired them both. Karen calls out security to get rid of Traci and it’s just the two of them left. She gets in Velvet’s face and threatens to strip her of the title but Jeff told her that wouldn’t be very fun. Karen wants the putting in her place to be physical.

She says she knows the perfect person to do it and says Velvet needs eyes in the back of her head. Since Velvet is a face and therefore an idiot, Madison Rayne comes out to the stage and Velvet looks at her as Gail Kim returns through the crowd and beats up Velvet. They both beat Velvet down and stand tall.

More clips from BFG.

Here’s Immortal and Bischoff will be doing the talking. He says that he’ll deal with his son later and calls out Hogan. Hogan’s music is playing before Bischoff is done talking. Eric says he’s got a lot to say so hopefully Hogan packed a lunch. He wants to know how Hogan can dare turn on these guys after they protected him for 18 months. We’ll ignore the storyline issues with that for the sake of sanity. Eric talks about how he’s the man that made Hogan who he is today. Well that’s true. Hogan is a much weaker star today than he was in the 80s.

The real problem though is that Hogan got in Bischoff’s son’s ear and stopped Eric’s son from becoming like his father. Hogan says that he’s learned a lot in the past few days and part of that is that Bischoff’s son is more of a man than Bischoff. Immortal is at ringside and Bischoff tries to hit Hogan. That fails so Hogan points at him. Here’s Immortal but they don’t attatck him. Sting slides in with a pair of ball bats and Immortal (all three of them) run.

Bischoff backs up the ramp but his son is behind him. He says how dare you Hogan but backs into his son. Eric yells at him and the son calls him a disgrace. He rips his son’s shirt open and reveals a Bischoff tattoo on his chest. Eric says his son doesn’t deserve that name anymore and gets drilled for it. He gives Hulk and Sting a thumbs up. So…what’s the payoff to this? I mean, how can this go anywhere since he’s not a wrestler and neither is his dad?

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. James Storm

The bell is ringing at 10:55 so this is going to be short. Angle pounds him down in the corner but brags too much. He walks into a superkick and Storm is champion at 1:20. Well they can’t make it much more definitive than that.

Roode comes out to celebrate and is quickly followed by the rest of Fourtune. Storm goes into the crowd to celebrate.

Storm comes back for the celebration and says this is great. He hands Roode the belt because it belongs to him. Roode takes it and wraps it around Storm’s waist. Fourtune stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t into this show. There was way too much talking, but I can understand wanting to focus on storylines a lot. That’s fine, but with a huge twist at the end the show felt like one big angle instead of a TV show. I can live with that once in awhile, but if it becomes the norm this show is in trouble. Anyway, things have certainly changed, although I have a lot of questions about a lot of things, and that’s not really a good thing. As for the title change, as usual with TNA: I think I like the end results but I’m not wild about how they got there.

Results
Tara/Brooke Tessmacher b. Angelina Love/Winter – Top rope crossbody to Winter
Abyss b. Gunner via countout
James Storm b. Kurt Angle – Superkick

Remember to like me on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/kbwrestlingreviewscom/117930294974885?sk=wall