Impact Wrestling
Date: December 20, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Todd Keneley, Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s Championship Thursday, meaning we’ve got three title matches in a single night. The Knockouts Title, the TV Title and the World Title are all on the line tonight, because this monthly show is on par with a $40 PPV they just had. Other than that we’re likely to get more of the Hogans arguing over Bully Ray because that’s the focus of Impact anymore. WWE turned it up this week so TNA needs to follow suit. Let’s get to it.

We open with the standard recap of last week’s show. The hosts talk about the show tonight also.

TV Title: Kurt Angle vs. D-Von

D-Von is defending and Angle has a bad ankle due to an attack last week/a legit groin injury. Angle brings out his own guys to counter Aces and 8’s in the form of Garrett, Wes and Joe. Angle gets behind D-Von to start but can’t snap off the suplex. Instead it’s a clothesline to take the champion down as Angle can’t move very well right now. D-Von is sent to the floor and the backup guys get in a big brawl while Angle waits on him to come back. All of the guys on the floor are ejected, but in the melee D-Von chop blocks Angle.

We take a break and come back with D-Von holding a basic leg lock on Angle but Kurt grabs the rope. D-Von cannonballs down on the leg ala Flair for two. That’s not old school enough for him though as it’s a Funk spinning toe hold now. Another chop block keeps Angle in trouble as Todd talks about the power struggle. What power? Aces and 8’s have the lowest title on the roster and that’s it.

Angle hits a middle rope missile dropkick to put both guys down, followed by some clotheslines. The overhead belly to belly gets two but D-Von escapes the Angle Slam and hits a really lame spinebuster for two. Angle starts rolling Germans and puts on the ankle lock, but here are Aces and 8’s again. Kurt’s three guys come out to counter them and in the distraction, the big masked man hits Angle in the back with a pipe so D-Von can retain the title at 11:08.

Rating: D+. Angle was hobbled here and that left D-Von to carry the match. That doesn’t make for an entertaining match as D-Von just isn’t good enough to hang with Kurt, even if he’s injured. On top of that, this still does nothing for Aces and 8’s. At the end of the day, it’s still D-Von. That doesn’t make anyone care at all.

Time for the Knockouts deliberation which is an excuse to have Brooke on TV more. ODB is thrown out because she has an injured husband.

Kenny King says he won last week and that’s all that matters. They’ll make good partners tonight though.

Joey Ryan/Matt Morgan vs. Rob Van Dam/Kenny King

Does Morgan plan to do anything with that robe or is it just there for now? Van Dam and Joey start things off with the champion (Van Dam) kicking Joey down. The standing moonsault gets two and it’s off to King. Morgan comes in and kicks King’s head off before it’s back to Ryan for his non-existent offense. Matt smacks King in the back of the head before it’s back to Ryan. King sunset flips him out of the corner and there’s the hot tag to RVD. King and Van Dam dropkick Morgan down and kick Ryan as well, but Kenny bails when confronted by Morgan. Matt kicks Rob’s head off to give Ryan the pin at 4:55.

Rating: C-. Not terrible here for the most part, but Ryan would be the outlier. He’s so useless and is only there for the occasional sight gag on a commercial. He’s another indy guy that has done nothing of note once he’s gotten to the main stage. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that he owned the only company he did well in too.

We recap AJ’s speech last week.

Kazarian doesn’t care about AJ but likes that we’re five days from Christmas. He has a surprise for the fans.

Here’s Hulk for his weekly chat. He can’t believe how awesome this company is anymore and talks about how there’s going to be voting for the Impact Wrestler of the Year with Jeff Hardy being announced on January 3. Oh wait I mean the winner, which only could be Jeff Hardy. It’s not like he’s going to destroy everyone else in voting or anything. Anyway here’s Aces and 8’s to protest. D-Von says that this was Aces and 8’s year and says that next year will be as well. The bikers start to get in the ring but Bully Ray runs out for the save with his chain. D-Von says Ray is next. Hogan still won’t shake Ray’s hand.

Hardy is ready for Aries. Thankfully he says this instead of thinking it.

Tessmacher gets eliminated in another stupid Knockouts segment.

Here’s Kaz with some presents for Daniels. There’s a Christmas Tree in the ring with a picture of Daniels and Kaz on top. “That tree has TWO stars on it!” Daniels is brought out with an appletini and a scarf to sit on a throne. Kaz brings out Santa who is rather slim here. They give Santa some Zumbz pants in a funny bit. Santa asks Daniels if he’s been a good boy this year. Daniels says he got rid of the biggest loser in TNA and wants to use his Christmas wish on Styles’ kids, because their dad is so worthless.

Cue Storm who says he doesn’t like hearing these guys run down Christmas. Kaz says put him on the naughty list, which draws Daniels into the ring. Santa says hold it and Storm doesn’t think he’s the real Kris Kringle. If he’s the real Santa, why didn’t Storm get a real Red Ryder BB gun when he was six. Santa: “I’m the real Santa.” Storm: “Shut up.” Storm wants to know what he asked for last Christmas and Santa comes up with a Travis Tritt CD. Actually he wanted a case of beer, so here’s a superkick for Santa. Storm throws DVDs to the fans.

Aries asks if you could hear it. Apparently no one can hear his thoughts, but tonight he’ll prove he’s the best in the universe.

1-3-13 is Sting. Ok then.

Aces and 8’s gets yelled at by their boss for letting Bully Ray keep Hogan from getting his beating. D-Von says he has someone that can fix this and says they can be here next week. A vote says ok do it.

Mickie gets the shot.

Knockouts Title: Mickie James vs. Tara

Mickie grabs a bunch of quick rollups for two each but Jesse trips her up to give Tara control. A hair beal gets two and Tara pounds away a bit. She pulls on Mickie’s face and whips her into the corner with authority. Whose authority that is I’m not sure but she certainly had it. The spinning side slam is countered into a headscissors but the referee is with Jesse. A powerslam gets two for the champion but Mickie slams her down to get a breather.

They slug it out from their knees and Mickie hits a sloppy jumping DDT for two. Jesse and Tara try to leave, so Mickie dives on Jesse off the top. Jesse interferes AGAIN, allowing Tara to hit something like an atomic drop which bends Mickie’s knee back for the pin to retain at 7:00. Oh ok it was a facebuster.

Rating: D+. This started ok and then fell apart at the end. I had a hard time keeping up with what was going on in the ring, and in a match this simple that should never be the case. Nothing to see here as this match literally happened less than two weeks ago. Why would I want to see it again?

Joseph Park is still training in OVW and he’s still really bad at it. Joseph: “THAT HURT!” Danny Davis: “Do you know why that hurt? BECAUSE YOU’RE STUPID!” He sees blood coming out of his mouth though and turns into Abyss, killing his training partner with a Black Hole Slam.

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries

Hardy is defending. Feeling out process to start with Jeff taking it into the corner. Aries slams him down but the slingshot hilo hits knees. Jeff pounds away in the corner and the challenger chills on the floor. Back in and Aries hits a running elbow to the face for two but Aries’ brainbuster is blocked. We head back to the floor where Hardy misses a dive into the barricade.

We take a break and come back with Aries getting two off a slingshot hilo. Aries pounds away for a bit more until Hardy gets a boot up. The champ dives into a boot though and we’re right back where we started. A front suplex puts Austin down but Aries comes back with a forearm and a running dropkick in the corner for two. The brainbuster is escaped again so Hardy hits a backwards facebuster out of a powerbomb for two. In other words imagine a powerbomb lift but Hardy keeps rotating Aries backwards so that his face slams into the mat.

Hardy hits the Twisting Stunner but can’t cover fast enough. Aries gets an elbow up in the corner and tells the referee he sucks. He jumps into an atomic drop but manages to kick Jeff into the referee. A low blow stops Hardy and Aries FINALLY hits the brainbuster. In a cool ending, Aries covers Hardy but Roode pulls the referee out. Bobby counts two and as Aries turns around, he gets a big spinebuster from Roode. The Twist of Fate sets up the Swanton to retain at 18:05.

Rating: B-. These two have chemistry together and it sets up the three way match even more, or at least Roode vs. Aries. It would seem like Roode is turning, but I think he’s going to be much more of a tweener than an actual face, which is the right move for him. Good match here and a nice ending to a bad show.

Hogan says he’s going to fix the title picture and says Aces and 8’s is the real distraction. He says not to worry about Brooke and Bully, but sees the two of them kissing to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This show didn’t really do much for me. These Championship Thursday shows are never anything of note because NOTHING EVER CHANGES. It’s just a title match but when you never see a title CHANGE, it doesn’t mean anything anymore. It’s pretty clear we’re headed for a three way at Genesis, which is ok but it doesn’t really do much for me. The idea of someone new in Aces and 8’s next week might help a bit, but it needs to be someone who is actually able to challenge the big names. As usual, nothing has changed as of ten PM on a Thursday night, which is getting old.

Results

D-Von b. Kurt Angle – Pin after a masked man hit Angle with a pipe

Joey Ryan/Matt Morgan b. Kenny King/Rob Van Dam – Carbon Footprint to Van Dam

Tara b. Mickie James – Facebuster

Jeff Hardy b. Austin Aries – Swanton Bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: December 13, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz, Todd Keneley

It’s after Final Resolution now and we’re heading towards Genesis in January. After one of the least interesting PPVs I can remember in years on Sunday, hopefully things pick up a bit this week. If my math is correct, we’re probably coming up on another gimmick show in a few weeks because where would we be without those? Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the major plot points from Sunday.

Here’s Bobby Roode to open the show and he’s ticked off. He says that he made a business investment with Aces and 8’s but he got ripped off. Roode wants answers and he wants them NOW. Here are the bikers and D-Von says they were offered a better deal. Roode demands to know who outbid him and it’s…..not going to be revealed right now. D-Von says you might find out later tonight.

Cue Hardy and Storm who want to fight right now. They storm (no pun intended) the ring and clear out the unmasked bikers and for some reason, the armed bikers who have a numbers advantage bail.

Velvet talks about being in Championship Thursday next week.

Mickie is upset about losing last week.

Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky

We’ve got Madison in the always hot blue camo and Velvet in a black catsuit. I’m happy. Velvet takes over to start and hits some kicks to the back as we hear about Aces and 8’s vs. Storm/Hardy in the main event tonight. Great, ANOTHER match the bikers get to lose. Madison comes back with a shot to the chest and stands on Velvet’s hair a bit. There’s that pelvic thrust thing that Madison does which I think is supposed to be sexy in some way. Velvet makes a comeback and hits an X Factor for the pin at 3:12.

Rating: D+. The only thing keeping this from being a failure is how good the girls look. This was as dull as almost any match I can remember in months, with absolutely nothing standing out at all. I get that Velvet is back and all, but it’s not like she’s some kind of savior or anything like that.

Garrett, Wes and Kurt do a 5 Hour Energy commercial.

Kaz and Daniels brag a bit.

We recap the eight man tag from Sunday, which much like everything else on Sunday, was nothing.

Robbie E/Robbie T vs. Wes Brisco/Garrett Bischoff

Angle is with the small guys. The Robs attack from behind to start and T starts with Wes. Big Rob pounds away and works over Wes’ back before it’s off to E. Hot tag brings in Garrett and the fans just dno’t care. House is cleaned and everything breaks down. A jawbreaker staggers T and Wes hits a top rope cross body for the pin at 3:30.

Rating: D. I do not care about Brisco and Bischoff and that’s all there is to it. They’re just not interesting in the ring or on the mic or in any way whatsoever. They have jobs because of who their fathers are and that’s not something that interests me in the slightest. If TNA thinks we’re going to care about them if/when they join Aces and 8’s, TNA is crazier than I thought.

Post match a member of Aces and 8’s hits Kurt in the knee with a pipe, injuring him before his match next week against D-Von.

Angle’s knee is messed up in the back. Word on the street (as in Angle’s Twitter) is that Kurt has a groin injury so I guess this is their out.

Joseph Park (driving a Beetle) goes to OVW to train. He meets Danny Davis, the OVW owner, and says he’ll start training right now. Park runs laps around the ring and does situps while Davis yells at him. He also vomits in a trashcan. More on this later I’m assuming.

Tara and Jesse come in to annoy Brooke. Apparently it’s Jesse vs. Ray tonight and Brooke has very little to say. She’s another person I can’t stand for the most part.

1-3-13 video again.

Kenny King is ready for RVD again tonight.

James Storm/Jeff Hardy vs. Aces and 8’s

It’s Doc and the big guy, which is Mike Knox. Storm and Doc start things off with James pounding away before bringing in Hardy. Hardy gets to pound on the big guy now, which is rather pitiful looking given how bad Jeff’s punches are. He knocks both guys to the floor and hits a dive as we take a break. Back with Hardy kicking Doc in the face but getting clotheslined by the big guy.

The bikers pound away on Jeff on the floor before taking turns unleashing their wide variety of punches and kicks. The big guy literally just lays on Jeff as this is already dull. The beating goes on for a good while with Doc using a long chinlock. Jeff fights up but can’t escape, resulting in him being sent out to the floor. Off to another chinlock which Hardy finally escapes and hits the Whisper in the Wind. Not that it leads to the hot tag or anything but at least was something different.

Hardy hits the mule kick and FINALLY brings in Storm. House is cleaned and a top rope cross body gets two on the big guy. Poetry in Motion hits the masked guy and the other bikers come in. D-Von drops the bat….and it doesn’t matter as Last Call takes out Doc and the Twist pins the masked guy at 14:42.

Rating: D+. FREAKING DO SOMETHING WITH ACES AND 8’S ALREADY!!!!! They had like six guys on two here and they STILL couldn’t win? The match was fine with Hardy selling like a master like only he could, but Aces and 8’s are just such a waste of space anymore. At the end of the day, Aces and 8’s can’t win when they have this big of an advantage. So why should I ever be intimidated by them?

D-Von reveals that it was Aries that paid them more money on Sunday. Not that Hardy and Storm were the ones asking but whatever.

Roode erupts on Hogan in the back about Aries when Aries calls Hulk. Hogan says get here soon and tells Roode to calm down.

We recap Daniels vs. AJ on Sunday with AJ finally losing to Daniels clean.

Here’s AJ to address what happened on Sunday. He’s upset about losing, so the fans tell him that he’s still got it. AJ says he’s not going anywhere but he’s tired of looking after everyone else all the time. It’s time to look after AJ Styles and it has nothing to do with the Impact Zone, Dixie Carter or Impact Wrestling. He’s tired of cleaning up every corporate mess and always doing the right thing. From now on, he’s going to do his own thing. Ok then. This didn’t come off like a heel turn.

Dixie gets AJ’s shirt thrown in her face.

Daniels and Kaz celebrate and Kaz has a surprise for Daniels.

Kenny King vs. Rob Van Dam

This is the non-title version of a match that wasn’t good when the title was on the line. They trade kicks and armdrags to start until RVD gets in a kick to take over. Kenny kicks a lackadaisical RVD to the floor and hits a corkscrew dive for two. Back in and King hits a floatover suplex and right hands as he’s playing the heel in the match. Kenny hits a kind of splash in the corner but a second attempt hits a kick from Van Dam.

A top rope legdrop hits King for two but he comes back with a springboard Blockbuster (kind of at least) for two. Van Dam avoids a charge in the corner but misses a split legged moonsault. The northern lights suplex gets two for Rob and he takes Kenny’s head off with a stepover kick. Van Dam goes up for a cross body but King rolls through and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin at 5:45.

Rating: C. This was easily the best match of the night so far and WAY better than the match on Sunday. King turning heel is a good fit for him as he has a lot of Shelton Benjamin in him: insanely athletic but needing a bit more of an attitude. Good stuff here and it’s a decent feud for RVD at least.

Bully Ray comes in to see Hogan and wants to know where Hogan stands on things. Hogan is all ticked off and wants to know why Ray is making his personal stuff Hogan’s business. He blames Bully for Brooke being in danger and says he hasn’t changed his stance on Ray at all. Ray GOES NUTS, and suggests he has nothing to do with Brooke and that it’s a one way street.

He says that Brooke was apologizing for Hulk, which Hogan somehow twists into Brooke and Ray should never be around each other again. Ray goes on a big rant about how he should be on Team Hogan (egads there’s a freaking Team Hogan now?) after everything he’s been through and Hulk needs to realize his daughter is a grown woman. Ray leaves and Hogan calls him weak. Good grief they have an interesting story like this and it’s all about Brooke Hogan. Is ANYBODY surprised by that?

Bully Ray vs. Jesse Godderz

Ray chases Jesse and Tara out of the ring and pounds on Jesse to start. This turns into a total squash with Ray just destroying Jesse and no selling any offense from him. Ray hits a chop in the corner that actually makes me cringe. The fans get another chop that they demand and Tara comes in. Thankfully it’s not a DQ as she only gets spanked once and leaves. Jesse jumps Bully from behind and takes over with some forearms. Godderz pounds away but Ray comes back with a single chop. Jesse actually clotheslines Ray down but Bully shrugs it all off and wins with the Bubba Cutter at 6:00.

Rating: C-. This was way better than I was expecting and the chops alone make the match worth seeing. Ray is getting more and more awesome every week, but unfortunately this is all being wasted on Brooke freaking Hogan, because being Hulk Hogan’s daughter isn’t enough publicity for her or something like that. Hopefully Ray can actually win an important match soon.

Aries gets here.

1-3-13 video again.

We recap the ending of the PPV and the announcement of Aries as the guy who gave the bigger offer to the bikers. Aries talks about how he was in the war with Aces and 8’s but he never got paid for helping against them or anything like that. He wants the title back, so here’s Hardy. Hardy says all Aries had to do was ask but Aries says he has to jump through hoops to get his match. Jeff offers Aries a title shot right here next week in the Impact Zone. Aries says he’ll do it on his time. Oh good grief. Hardy punches him and they fight with Hardy hitting the Twist. The show goes off the air at 9:58. Ok then.

Overall Rating: D+. The last forty five minutes weren’t horrible but the rest of the show was some pretty dull stuff. Ray continues to be awesome, but man alive the Brooke Hogan, Garrett Bischoff and Wes Brisco stuff drags down almost anything good they’ve got going on. Aries, Roode and Hardy isn’t bad, but it needs something more than these guys guys just going back and forth like they’re doing.

Results

Velvet Sky b. Madison Rayne – X Factor

Wes Brisco/Garrett Bischoff b. Robbie E/Robbie T – Top rope cross body to Robbie T

Jeff Hardy/James Storm b. Aces and 8’s – Twist of Fate to Masked Man

Bully Ray b. Jesse Godderz – Bubba Cutter

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: December 6, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Todd Kennely, Taz

It’s the final show before Final Resolution, which means we’re likely going to get a lot of build for the PPV. Also we’ve got D-Von challenging Joe for the TV Title which D-Von never lost. Other than that, there’s not much else for tonight’s show, other than maybe more Aces and 8’s stuff after they had a week off last week. We’ll likely get more of Hogan and Ray doing their thing. Let’s get to it.

The standard recap opens us up.

Here are Roode, Daniels and Kaz to open things up. Later tonight they face Hardy, Storm and AJ. Kaz mentions Fourtune and their history together before saying on Sunday, the three of them will experience victory. Roode guarantees victory on Sunday while Daniels guarantees one last match with Styles. Give me a break. Daniels calls out AJ and here’s the Phenomenal One.

AJ says that Daniels has always been jealous of him, even though AJ has earned everything he’s gotten here. Daniels couldn’t beat AJ if it was Daniels’ best day and Styles’ worst. Daniels says that AJ knows Daniels is right when AJ is called a loser. He talks about how AJ has lost so many big matches over the last few months and how that’s reality. AJ says this is reality and the fight is on. Hardy and Storm make the save.

We see the ending of Impact last week for the second time in eleven minutes.

Aries says he was pushing Hulk’s buttons last week to get the X Title back, which will get him the world title back. Then Bully Ray interfered, which is why Aries wants Ray on Sunday.

TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. D-Von

Joe is defending and takes over to start by running over D-Von. A knee drop keeps D-Von down for a bit but D-Von low bridges Joe to take him to the floor. A pair of splashes get two for D-Von but the middle rope headbutt misses. Joe comes back with a kick to the chest and a backsplash for two. A Rock Bottom out of the corner puts D-Von down again and there’s the Koquina Clutch. Some blonde chick gets on the apron, allowing Doc to hit Joe win the back with the hammer to give D-Von the title back at 3:55.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here at all but it was pretty clear that D-Von was getting the belt back here. At the end of the day, Aces and 8’s has to have SOMETHING right? They now have a title, albeit the lower midcard belt. This still does nothing to make me care about them at all, but there was no other option here.

Aces and 8’s celebrate with a bunch of scantily clad women.

Brooke is on the phone with someone and says a contract has been signed. Whoever she has signed is coming tonight.

Snow is back but doesn’t remember anything that happened to him. Apparently he went to dinner Wednesday night, then woke up in a hospital with his wallet and phone gone.

Here’s Mickie James in a nice dress. She says she feels good to be back and this Sunday she’s getting her title back. Cue Tara and Jesse so Tara can run her mouth for awhile. She talks about how great a year this has been for her……and here’s Velvet Sky. She still looks good but not as great as she used to. She has a shoulder tattoo now too. Velvet says she’s winning the title in 2013. Ok then.

The Robs do a Direct Auto car insurance commercial.

Someone is coming on January 3, 2013. Geez with the dates again.

Hernandez/Chavo Guerrero vs. Robbie E/Robbie T

Oh yeah Hernandez and Chavo exist. That’s about all I’ve got on them. E and Chavo start things off but it’s quickly off to Hernandez for a bearhug into a belly to belly suplex. T comes in and pounds away on Chavo in the corner before posing a lot. E comes back in for a chinlock but gets caught in a northern lights suplex. Hot tag brings in Hernandez again to throw around the small guy until T comes in for the save. Everything breaks down and Hernandez kills E with a shoulder. The Frog Splash gets the pin for Chavo at 3:58. Another short match.

Rating: D+. Well what were you expecting here? Chavo and Hernandez are defending the titles on Sunday so were they going to lose here? The Robs are nothing at all, but to be fair the champs aren’t much better. They’re all just there, as the tag division has fallen right back through the floor where it usually is.

Post match Joey Ryan starts talking until Morgan attacks the champs. Ryan talks about male organs.

The girls chill with Aces and 8’s. Apparently they have a financial backer now.

We recap Gut Check from last week.

Angle celebrates with Brisco in the back and Garrett Bischoff is there too of course.

The tag champs cut a promo on Ryan and Morgan.

Kurt Angle vs. Doc

Angle charges at him to stat and takes out Doc’s knee. Doc pounds back and clotheslines Kurt to the floor as this is still not an exciting match. Again, it’s Luke Gallows vs. Kurt Angle and that’s not a match that I’m going to be able to get into for the most part. Angle gets sent into the steps but as they get back in, Kurt hits a middle rope missile dropkick to take Doc down. There are three Germans but Doc escapes the Angle Slam.

A big boot gets two but Kurt grabs the ankle lock. That goes nowhere so Kurt tries more Germans. A low blow stops the series and Doc gets two off a clothesline. The chokeslam is countered into the ankle lock but Doc counters again. There’s the chokeslam for two and there goes any chance Doc had. The ankle lock goes on but here’s Aces and 8’s for the DQ at 5:30.

Rating: C. I’ve seen worse but as I said throughout the match: it’s Luke Gallows. Why in the world would I believe that he’s going to be able to beat Kurt Angle in a one on one match? The counters sequence wasn’t bad at all and the match was a higher quality than I was expecting, but it was still hard to get into because of who was in it.

Angle fights off Aces and 8’s until Garrett, Brisco and Joe come in. An 8 man tag match is made for Sunday.

Hogan is on the phone with Park and tells him to go to OVW. Ray comes in and demands a match with Aries on Sunday. Hogan isn’t sure, so Ray says it’ll be official by the end of the night.

Storm tells Hardy not to fall into Roode’s traps. Hardy has another inner monologue.

Kid Kash vs. Kenny King vs. Zema Ion

The winner gets the title shot at RVD on Sunday. Ion and King double team Kash to start, knocking him to the floor. King kicks Ion’s head off for two before knocking Ion off the apron. King loads up presumably a dive but Ion takes his head off with a clothesline for two. Everyone is back in now with King hitting a slingshot legdrop for two on Kash. Ion is on the floor so there’s a big slingshot rana by Kash.

King dives on them as well, so Ion dives on both of them. Back in and Kash hooks a Boston Crab on King, only to have Ion break it up. Kash ranas King to the floor and gets two off a clothesline to Ion. Ion shoves Kash off the top and out to the floor. King uses the chance to hit a springboard Blockbuster and the F5 into the Rock Bottom (the Royal Flush) for the pin at 5:47.

Rating: C+. This was your usual triple threat X Title match, but at the same time, why am I supposed to care about the X Division at this point? How many PPVs in a row are they going to have the X Title match thrown on at the last second? If it’s going to be treated like nothing, there’s no way I’m going to care about it either.

Ray is on the phone and saying he’s going to take over the show until he gets what he wants because Hogan is stubborn.

We recap the Ray/Aries/Hogan/Hogan stuff.

Here’s Ray who says he’s taking over the show until he gets what he and the fans want. Ray sits down in a chair and here’s Aries with a chair of his own. Aries says that Ray is fighting for the woman he loves. Aries says that he’ll sit in the ring with Ray. Hogan’s music hits (Aries: “OR I’LL SIT OVER HERE!”) and he says there’s no match on Sunday. If Ray doesn’t leave the ring, it’ll be a firing or a beating. This brings out Brooke who says Hogan is making it too personal. She calls him Mark, which is enough to get Hogan to make the match. The only good thing about this was how low cut Brooke’s top was.

We run down the card for the PPV.

Video on Roode vs. Hardy.

Bad Influence/Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy/AJ Styles/James Storm

Kaz and Daniels made a throwaway line earlier tonight about it being Throwback Thursday, so they come out in Zubaz Pants and fanny packs. WOW. Storm and Kaz start things off after some big match intros. James hits a Thesz Press to pound away on Frankie (throwback right?) before it’s off to Jeff for some kicks. AJ comes in so Daniels runs away. The good guys clean house and Poetry In Motion puts Kaz down as we take a break.

Back with Hardy getting beaten down by Kaz. AJ tries to come in to beat up Daniels but it only allows for more heel double and triple teaming. Bad Influence hits a Hart Attack on Jeff and Roode chinlocks him to block a tag. Kaz and Daniels take turns with the chinlocks until it’s back to Roode. Bobby goes up top but jumps into a Twist of Fate.

Hot tag brings in AJ and everything breaks down. Storm hits a Backstabber and Codebreaker on Daniels, followed by AJ hitting the reverse DDT/a regular DDT on Kaz and Roode respectively. AJ is loading up something on Daniels, but Kaz runs in to break it up. Hardy tags himself in and hits the Twist for the win at 15:05.

Rating: C+. Fun tag match here, mainly because Hardy is such a master at selling. I mean really, can ANYONE make you believe he’s dying in a ring better than Jeff Hardy? Fun match here with a nice long heat segment with Hardy getting beaten down. I still have no idea what Storm is supposed to be doing right now though.

Aces and 8’s come out to beat down Hardy post match, and Roode is smiling a lot. Storm makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Not a great show here but WAY better than last week. They cut down on the Hogan nonsense and let us have a wrestling show instead of wasting our time with the stupid drama. The main problem with tonight’s show though was that they seemingly added about half of the card for the PPV tonight, which says a lot about how much they care about Sunday’s show.

Results

D-Von b. Samoa Joe – D-Von pinned Joe after Doc hit Joe with a hammer

Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez b. Robbie E/Robbie T – Frog Splash to Robbie E

Kurt Angle b. Doc via DQ when Aces and 8’s interefered

Kenny King b. Zema Ion and Kid Kash – Royal Flush

James Storm/AJ Styles/Jeff Hardy b. Bad Influence/Bobby Roode – Twist of Fate to Kazarian

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: November 22, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Todd Keneley, Taz

It’s Thanksgiving and tonight is Open Fight Night. Since no one is watching tonight, the hook of the show is that the Gut Check guys are coming back to issue the challenges. In other words, tonight we’re basically going to have nothing but OVW guys fighting people from TNA. Why do I watch this every week again? Let’s get to it.

Gut Check: Wes Brisco vs. Garrett Bischoff

Oh come on man. This is what we’re opening with? Wes takes it to the mat very quickly but Brisco takes him down even faster. A legdrop misses and here’s Angle to watch Brisco who he’s kind of mentoring. Both guys try dropkicks at the same time and it’s a standoff. Garrett takes him to the mat again with a headlock takeover but Brisco comes back with a neckbreaker for two. Garrett hooks a chinlock and this is already dull. They trade some pinfall attempts and Garrett takes him down with a flapjack for two. Brisco comes back with Kofi’s SOS for the pin at 4:16. Ignore that Brisco’s shoulders were down too.

Rating: C-. This is one of those matches where everything was technically fine but it’s a guy in his first match against a guy that no one likes at all. Based on that, why am I supposed to care about something like this? Brisco winning doesn’t mean much as he beat a jobber, but that doesn’t guarantee him a contract right? Nothing to see here.

Al Snow pumps up the Gut Check guys in the back.

Angle congratulates both guys in the back.

Here’s Joey Ryan for a chat. He says that it’s Open Fight Night for the Gut Check winners, but he didn’t need to win Gut Check at all. Hogan thinks he can split up Morgan and Ryan to conquer them, but you can’t divide the tag champions which is what Ryan and Morgan will become.

Joey Ryan vs. Chavo Guerrero

Ryan jumps Chavo as he comes in but Chavo comes back with right hands very quickly. Joey misses a charge in the corner but decks Guerrero anyway to take over. A dropkick gets one and it’s chinlock time. That goes nowhere so Guerrero dropkicks Ryan down and wins a slugout. Chavo gets sent to the apron but elbows Ryan down and hits the slingshot hilo. The Three Amigos look to set up the Frog Splash but Morgan comes in and chokeslams Chavo down for the DQ at 3:50.

Rating: C. This was better than the opening match but it doesn’t make me want to see a tag title match between the two teams. It looks like Ryan is a guy that knows about two moves and who Chavo had beaten in less than four minutes. I really don’t get why Ryan and Morgan are together but they likely shouldn’t be.

Hernandez clears Morgan out of the ring.

Aries says he’s got someone special in mind to call out tonight and it’ll be a family affair.

Sam Shaw vs. Alex Silva

I’m not going to bother talking about the call outs unless there’s something significant because it looks like they’re going to be “I want to fight *insert name here*!” Silva, who has some VERY skinny legs, charges at Shaw and takes him down almost immediately. We hear about OVW and how it’s the developmental territory which is kind of strange to hear on a national TV show. Silva misses a legdrop but stays on offense anyway. Shaw snaps and hits a spear and a bunch of dropkicks followed by Orton’s backbreaker and a neckbreaker for no cover. A guillotine legdrop (called the Breaking Point for some reason) ends Silva at 4:00.

Rating: D+. What I saw here were two guys that have no character, no stories and no business being on national TV. There wasn’t anything terrible in it but there’s also no reason to care. Basically all that happened here was “Hey, remember these guys? They lost matches earlier this year and now they’re back!” Not really interesting, but again no one is watching tonight. Except me. I hate my life.

Eric Young and ODB have the turkey suit and go in to see Hogan. Turkey jokes are made and Hogan says ok but get out of here. Hogan: “When I grow up, I want to be him.” O……k?

Eric and ODB run into the Rob’s and apparently Big Rob was scarred for life because of being in the turkey suit last week. Jesse and Tara pop up and apparently there’s going to be a triple threat turkey match. Rob and Jesse have a tool off in a bizarrely intriguing moment.

We recap the Aces and 8’s hammer attacks. This leads to a video about Joseph Park’s story with the gang.

Aces and 8’s have a Thanksgiving feast and Doc is a fully patched member. Apparently some guy named VP gets to throw the next dart to decide who the target is.

Video on Christian York and his Gut Check experience.

Christian York vs. Jeff Hardy

See, THIS is the kind of call out that actually works. Feeling out process to start and Hardy elbows York into the corner. This is non-title of course. York comes back with some kicks to send Hardy into the corner again and we take a break at a standoff. Back with Hardy sending Christian into the corner but the Twist of Fate misses, giving York two.

York hits a half nelson suplex and puts on a kind of Octopus hold while on his back. That gets broken up but the Twist of Fate doesn’t work. York hits a Twist on Hardy for two but a swinging neckbreaker is countered into the sitout gordbuster. Jeff goes up but has to settle for a sunset bomb off the top instead of the Swanton. There’s the Twist and the Swanton gets the pin at 10:58.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here but I was so bored sitting through it. At the end of the day, York is a guy we’ve seen once and we’re supposed to buy him as having a chance against Jeff Hardy? York looked decent out there and got to show off a bit, but this night of no stories isn’t doing anything for me at all.

Post match Roode comes in and hits a spinebuster on York and a spear on Hardy for good measure.

We look at Taeler Hendrix’s Gut Check. At least she’s something to look at.

Brooke Hogan comes up to waste our time with Taeler Hendrix.

Taeler Hendrix vs. Tara

Non-title again. Tara throws her around, massages Jesse, and chokes Taeler a bit. Taeler hits something vaguely resembling a dropkick to send Tara into Jesse followed by a spinning suplex slam (think Cena’s finishing sequence) for two and a cross body for the same. A high kick gets two for Taeler but Tara hits ajawbreaker and a big right hand with some overselling by Hendrix. Widow’s Peak ends it at 4:20.

Rating: D. Again, why is this supposed to be interesting? We have a bit name chick and a no name chick and the big name chick beat up the no name chick. Why is that supposed to be interesting? Hendrix seems to be a nice girl but she’s not ready yet for something like this, which is the problem with modern wrestling: she needs experience but after you work the indies, you’re told you have to learn a mainstream style so there’s no point to going to the indies anymore, meaning you get a lot of inexperienced people on the main shows who are there because of potential. That’s not good for the future of wrestling.

Eric Young vs. Jesse Godderz vs. Robbie E

The loser has to wear a turkey suit. I think I smell a comedy match. Eric locks up with the referee to start and then clotheslines down the other two guys. The heels beat Eric down and then get in a fight of their own for no apparent reason other than that’s how triple threats work. Eric comes back as ODB and Tara get in a fight in the ring. They do the roll on the referee spot and Jesse is sent to the floor. The Rob’s have miscommunication and Eric throws E to the floor. The Stunner is broken up and an O’Connor Roll pins Jesse at 3:33.

Rating: D+. It was a comedy match and that’s it. Eric did his schtick and we get a comedy payoff with Jesse in a turkey suit. Again though, this is one of those matches that just don’t matter. Then again, this show doesn’t matter at all so it’s not like this means anything. It’s tradition I guess.

Jesse puts the suit on and hates it of course. The important thing though is here are Aces and 8’s to destroy Eric with the hammer. That’s likely his exit from the company and hopefully the end of the stupid Knockout Tag Titles.

Here are Daniels and Kaz with Daniels talking about the “final” battle with AJ coming up at Final Resolution. However tonight, it’s Kaz vs. Styles.

Kazarian vs. AJ Styles

I’m surprised they have to feel each other out given how many times they’ve fought. AJ hits the drop down/kick to send Kaz to the floor and a headscissors takes Kaz down back in the ring. Styles gets knocked down out of the corner and Kaz pounds away, hitting a gutwrench suplex for two. AJ makes a quick comeback but gets taken down by a DDT. A sunset flip out of the corner by Styles is countered into a cover but Kaz is caught holding the ropes. Earl Hebner shoves Kaz into a rollup for two but there’s the Pele for the pin at 5:27.

Rating: C. Not bad here but it’s too late to save this show. You can’t have a show be this boring to start things off before having some good stuff at the end and expect people to care about it still. AJ is fine in the ring and it’s good to see him have a story, but do we REALLY need to see him vs. Daniels again? There’s no one else he can fight? Really?

Here’s Aries to end the show. He’s in a suit so this isn’t likely going to be a match. Aries thinks the deck is stacked against him in the last few months and that’s because of Hogan. So he calls out…..Brooke Hogan. Well of course he does. He’s tired of hearing about the name Hogan all the time and knows Brooke is waiting to get married to get rid of that name. Maybe she could be Miss Brooke McMahon or Brooke Trump?

Apparently it’s going to be Miss Bully Ray because Aries has footage. WHAT IS WITH THE HIDDEN RELATIONSHIP THEME IN WRESTLING ANYMORE??? It’s the same clips we’ve seen of the two of them together the last two weeks. Aries says he’ll give her all the stuffing she wants, which brings out Hulk and Ray to chase Aries off. Brooke looks back and forth between Hulk and Bully while giving Hulk a look as if to say she’s sorry. Brooke runs off to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. Yes it was bad, but as I’ve said earlier, I know why it happened. The audience for this is likely to be weak so why bother wasting a big show on it? They just cooled their heels a bit here to waste some time which is understandable, but it doesn’t make the show easy to sit through. The Gut Check guys won’t be seen again for months and I can’t say I’m complaining at all. Back to normal next week I’m sure.

Results

Wes Brisco b. Garrett Bischoff – Side Cradle

Chavo Guerrero b. Joey Ryan via DQ when Matt Morgan interfered

Sam Shaw b. Alex Silva – Breaking Point

Jeff Hardy b. Christian York – Swanton Bomb

Tara b. Taeler Hendrix – Widow’s Peak

Eric Young b. Jesse Godderz and Robbie E – Rollup to Godderz

AJ Styles b. Kazarian – Pele

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: November 8, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz, Todd Keneley, Jeremy Borash

Last week’s big moment was the unmasking of Luke Gallows who doesn’t actually have a name at this point. Other than that we had Gut Check and the announcement of a three way for the #1 contendership. Odds are tonight is mostly about Aces and 8’s, but that’s pretty much all you can expect to get on Impact anymore. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the announcement of the triple threat. The guy who takes the fall can’t get a title shot until BFG next year, which is a nice idea actually. We also hear about Aries vs. Hardy being a ladder match. Aries: “IT WAS JUST A METAPHOR JEFF!” Those things are just about the world title match though, so now let’s focus on the important thing: ACES AND 8’s! And that guy who we don’t have a name for yet but is more famous as Luke Gallows!

Aces and 8’s are yelling at Gallows, who is now named Doc (Director of Chaos), because he lost his mask before he was even made a full fledged member of the team. Tonight it’s Doc/D-Von vs. Angle/Sting. This sums up the major problem with the reveals so far: how in the world am I supposed to buy D-Von and Luke Gallows as a legitimate threat to beat Sting and Angle, two of the best of all time?

AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode

Storm is on commentary. They fight for control of a wristlock to start before heading to the mat. Roode appears to have gotten a haircut. He blocks AJ’s drop down/kick sequence but AJ sends him to the floor with ease. Styles sends him into the steps and drops a knee back inside as Storm says he would pin Roode if he had to pick. There are ads on the mat now too, which is fine as it brings in some extra cash.

A big backdrop puts Roode down but Bobby gets in a shot to the back to take over. We take a break and come back with Roode hot shotting AJ on the top rope. A Blockbuster gets two for Roode as does an elbow drop. Storm says he’d work with Roode to beat AJ if necessary. I can see the “BEER MONEY REUNION???” posts already. Roode hooks a chinlock for a bit but AJ fights up and hits an enziguri to put both guys down.

We head to the corner with AJ pounding away but getting guillotined on the top rope to slow him down. The disadvantage lasts about eight seconds as AJ comes back with a top rope rana for two. The Clash is escaped and there’s the spinebuster from Roode for no cover. The spear misses though and AJ rolls him up into a Styles Clash position, but Roode kicks him in the head to escape. Pele misses and the fisherman’s suplex gets two for Bobby. Really good sequence there.

Bobby goes to the floor for a chair but Storm comes down to take it away from him. Styles hits a BIG springboard dive to take Roode out but stops to yell at Storm. Back in, AJ loads up another springboard but Roode knocks him off the ropes and gets a fast pin at 10:50 shown of 14:20.

Rating: B. Solid match here and for a TV match, this was great stuff. AJ and Roode have good chemistry together and when you can beat AJ Styles clean on TV, you’ve got something going for you. As for the PPV, you have to think Roode wins, but PLEASE don’t let Storm get pinned. There’s no reason to keep him out of the title scene for ANOTHER year as he never got a real run with the belt anyway which he’s more than capable of doing.

Aries runs into Hogan in the back. Aries complains about the ladder stipulation so Hulk says that if Aries doesn’t give the belt back by the end of the show, Aries loses his title shot.

We run down the remaining card for the show when the feed starts messing up. The screen says “An Ancient Evil Awakes”. Abyss maybe?

Angle is talking to Wes Brisco about timing when Sting comes up. Sting wants Brisco watching their back in the main event tonight. Are we really supposed to not get that Brisco is a member of the team? It’s obviously him given the hair, but are we supposed to not notice it?

Joseph Park is in the ring and after asking if it’s ok for him to talk, he says his body isn’t meant to go through tables and he loved the feeling of taking off Doc’s mask. His legal partners don’t want him to have a match with Aces and 8’s but he has to be a man. First though we have to make the pilgrimage to Mt. Hogan to beg for the match though, because if Hogan’s ego doesn’t get stroked every other segment, that’s just not cool brother.

Here’s Hogan who says that Park is a great guy but he got lucky last week instead of being good. Before Hogan can say no though, here’s Ray with an interruption. Ray says Park isn’t a fighter but he has a lot of guts and a lot to prove. The Bully believes in Joseph Park and so do the fans. Bully to Hulk: “Why say no when it feels so good to say yes?” It’s that mentality that led to the sex tape issue brother. Hogan says just this one time and shakes Park’s hand.

Tara hits on Jesse, who says that he used shooting star presses and a super double tiger driver last week. ODB comes in to yell at the two of them and wants a handicap match next. Jesse: “We’re going to need A LOT of hand sanitizer.”

AJ rants about Storm when the Cowboy comes in.

ODB vs. Tara/Jesse Godderz

Tara and Jesse actually skip down to the floor. They don’t have to tag here so ODB beats up both of them at once. Jesse gets rammed into ODB’s cleavage and there’s a double noggin knocker. A double elbow puts ODB down before Tara raves over the bicep a bit. ODB slams them both down and avoids a charging Jesse. Tara gets sent into his crotch and it’s a double bronco buster. ODB spears Tara down for the pin at 2:40. I smell a tag match Sunday.

ODB gets beaten down with a flask shot post match. Jesse pours the contents on her body.

Post break, ODB is on the phone with Eric’s voicemail and says the tag match is on.

Apparently on Thanksgiving, all of the Gut Check winners will be there. Oh joy.

The Gut Check judges have a chat. Taz thinks it’s a no brainer but doesn’t say which side he’s on. This goes on for awhile and Snow’s jacket gets made fun of.

Sting/Kurt Angle vs. Doc/D-Von

Before you ask, no I don’t be calling him DOC in all caps. Seriously, it makes zero difference so spare me the arguments that I’m saying it wrong. Tenay and Taz take over on commentary. The brawl starts on the floor with Angle destroying D-Von and Sting doing the same to Doc. Sting and Doc start in the corner and Sting hits a quick DDT for two. A D-Von distraction lets Doc hit a clothesline to take over as things get down to normal.

Off to D-Von who drops an elbow for two before bringing Doc back in. A suplex gets two and it’s off to the chinlock. That goes nowhere so D-Von drops a leg for two. Angle gets punched in the face to break up a tag and D-Von pounds Sting down in the corner. A Doc splash gets two as Angle makes the save. Back to D-Von for the spinning elbow for two as Aces and 8’s are using REALLY basic stuff so far.

Doc and Sting clothesline each other down and there’s the hot tag to Angle. House is cleaned and it’s a German for Doc and the Slam for D-Von. Everything breaks down but as Sting puts Doc in the Deathlock, D-Von hits Sting and Angle with the ball bat for the DQ at 5:41.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here as the match existed to get to the end. Like I said earlier, it’s really hard to buy these guys as threats to a team like Sting and Kurt Angle. The match wasn’t horrible or anything it was was absolutely nothing to get excited or interested about at all. If nothing else, Doc has a good look to him with the size and bald head.

Post match here’s Bully for the save and he loads up a table. D-Von runs as soon as he sees it so Sting comes back to beat up Doc. More members come in with a hammer to save Doc and Sting gets put through the table. Angle gets knocked to the floor and Doc “hits” Sting with the hammer, clearly missing his hand by a good space. Joe, Chavo and Hernandez make the save. You know, because you should be afraid when you have the high ground AND A HAMMER. Sting gets taken out by medics.

This has nothing to do with what just happened, but apparently that Ancient Evil Awakes is a Halo 4 ad. Silly me for thinking an ad during a wrestling show was about wrestling.

Time for Gut Check, because that transition is fine. Taz says yes without a doubt and Prichard says yes as well, giving York the contract. I can’t argue with that one.

Aries is in the back on the phone when he sees Brooke and Ray arguing over something. They see him coming and stop immediately because they don’t want him to hear. We’ve got intrigue!

We recap Hardy vs. Aries.

We run down the Turning Point card. Unless I’m missing it, does Ray not have a match?

Hogan is on the phone asking for updates on Sting when he runs into Joey Ryan. Ryan says Hulk can congratulate him on winning the X Title which he hasn’t gotten a shot at yet. Hogan tells Morgan that Matt isn’t allowed at ringside on Sunday. Morgan says Hulk has no idea who he’s messing with but he’ll find out. I still want Morgan as the Aces and 8’s boss. Morgan and Ryan leave and Hogan says he does know.

Samoa Joe/Chavo Guerrero Jr./Hernandez vs. Christopher Daniels/Kazarian/Magnus

It’s a big brawl to start with Chavo vs. Daniels finally getting things going. Daniels gets beaten around like a pinball before Chavo suplexes him down for two. Daiels hits a knee and tags Kaz but the beating continues very quickly. SuperMex comes in with a splash for two and it’s time for Magnus vs. Joe. The British guy who used to be a gladiator for some reason runs to the floor and upon reentry, the heels gets in a shot to Joe’s back to take over.

Everything breaks down again until it’s Joe hammering away on Daniels in the corner. Daniels drops a knee and brings in Chavo with a slingshot hilo for two. Hernandez hooks a bearhug into an overhead belly to belly before it’s back to Chavo who gets two off a dropkick. Some double teaming FINALLY slows Chavo down and the beatdown begins. A running jumping swinging neckbreaker gets two for Kaz and it’s off to Magnus again.

Daniels acts like he’s riding a horse for some reason before it’s off to Kaz for a bow and arrow hold. Chavo fights up and hooks a headscissors to take Kaz down and make the tag off to Hernandez. House is cleaned and Daniels gets launched with a shoulder block. The Border Toss is broken up but Daniels/Kaz’s double suplex is countered into a suplex on both of them by Hernandez. Off to Joe vs. Magnus with the Samoan taking over. Magnus charges into the Rock Bottom out of the corner.

The two of them head to the floor as does Daniels, so here’s a big dive by Hernandez to take them out. Chavo loads up the Frog Splash on Magnus but Kaz breaks it up. Joe loads up the MuscleBuster on Magnus but Daniels makes the save. There’s the Clutch on Daniels but it’s broken up by a jawbreaker. Daniels and Kaz go High/Low on Joe and a top rope elbow from Magnus gets the pin at 11:00.

Rating: B-. Solid six man tag here with the exactly right ending. This gives you a reason to believe Magnus can in fact win the title from Joe which wasn’t really something that was easy to buy into earlier. That’s basic booking and that’s all you need to do most of the time, yet most companies don’t get it.

Roode says his plan is coming together with AJ fighting Storm.

We recap the attack on Sting.

Here’s Aries to return the belt. There’s a ladder at ringside and another one in the ring. Aries says that Hardy says he’s the best wrestler on the planet. Well Aries is the best wrestler in the universe. Either this universe, or any universe. They’re going hard with the WWE jabs lately. Austin talks about how Hardy has lived and died by the ladder match. Hardy has fallen a lot, but on Sunday the fall is going to be worse than any he’s ever had. The fans keep chanting WHAT so Aries goes off on them a bit.

Aries says he’s going to use Hardy’s belt as a belt buckle, meaning Hardy’s face will be down by his crotch (his words, not mine). If Hardy wants this belt back, come and get it. Here’s Hardy who knocks Aries to the floor and takes the title before climbing up the ladder. He hangs both belts and poses but Aries shoves him off the ladder and stomps him down to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Good show overall here and pretty good hype for the PPV, but again, we’ve got a lawyer fighting a career enforcer and Kurt Angle vs. D-Von which we’re supposed to pay for. They need to reveal someone big soon or the interest they’ve got left in this story is going to die soon. That’s a problem because it’s ALL OVER the TV shows. The other stuff with the world title related matches is really good though and I’m looking forward to the show. Still though, where is Bully Ray?

Results

Bobby Roode b. AJ Styles – Pin after knocking Styles off the top rope

ODB b. Tara/Jesse Godderz – Spear to Tara

Sting/Kurt Angle b. D-Von/Doc via DQ when D-Von hit Angle with a baseball bat

Magnus/Kazarian/Christopher Daniels b. Samoa Joe/Chavo Guerrero Jr./Hernandez – Top Rope Elbow To Joe

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: November 1, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash, Todd Kennely

It’s Open Fight Night and the two fights announced so far are Bully Ray vs. D-Von and ODB calling out Jesse Godderz because for some reason TNA thinks we care about him. Other than that we’ve got one more show after this before Turning Point and a few more matches being announced would be nice. Also Angle got beaten down last week so we’ll probably hear something about that. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Joseph Park to open things up. He talks about how he was attacked and had his rights violated by Aces and 8’s and because of that, he wants a match with Aces and 8’s. Since he’s not allowed to do that though, he has to use Open Fight Night. He challenges any member but gets four instead. Angle and Sting make the saves and Sting promises to take a mask off someone in Aces and 8’s tonight.

Jesse is annoyed at having to fight ODB tonight but Tara says she has his back. Jesse makes her sterilize him. This guy is still annoying.

Magnus calls out Joe for a TV Title match. So do champions automatically have to defend their titles? If so, the entire roster is rather stupid. Magnus says Joe is the Howard Stern of wrestling: he has a radio face and isn’t the image we want.

TV Title: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe

Joe comes straight to the ring and beats Magnus down in the corner. I’m assuming this is for the title but I’m not sure. Magnus gets a boot up in the corner but charges into an atomic drop. Joe kicks him down and hits the backsplash for two. A jumping knee to the face puts Joe down and it’s off to a quick chinlock which Joe fights out of without much difficulty. Magnus charges into a Rock Bottom out of the corner to send him out to the floor. Joe rams Magnus’ back into the post but Magnus pulls something from underneath the ring. It’s a wrench and Magnus hits Joe in the head with it for the DQ at 3:44.

Rating: D. What was the point of this again? Magnus gets the match he wants and cheats to lose it? I’m not sure what they’re going for here as Magnus has potential but he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at all with this feud. Joe beat him clean at BFG, so why is this feud still going?

Angle wants D-Von tonight but Hogan says he has to wait until Turning Point. Angle has Garrett Bischoff and Wes Brisco to help in the fight tonight, so I’m guessing they’re ready to be revealed as members.

Post break Joe rants about wanting to fight Magnus with No DQ.

We recap Aries attacking Hardy after the title defense against Angle and stealing the belt.

Hardy is putting his paint on and we get those inner thoughts of his again.

Here are Daniels and Kaz with something to say. Kaz says that the real masked men around here are Hernandez and Chavo. Apparently what he and Daniels said last week has offended some people, so tonight they’re calling out the Spanish announcers Hector Guerrero and Willie Urbina.

Christopher Daniels/Kazarian vs. Willie Urbina/Hector Guerrero

Post break the announcers are still getting into the ring as the younger guys are making fun of them with very basic Spanish. Daniels shoves Willie so Hector punches him down, but Hector is quickly in trouble. The tag champs finally make the save and there’s no match of course.

We get the Christian York Gut Check video from last week.

ODB wants Eric here and wants her fried chicken. For the love of goodness GET ANOTHER JOKE.

Gut Check; Christian York vs. Zema Ion

York throws Ion’s hairspray away and things start fast. York works on the arm for a bit and flips out of the corner. To say York is more polished than the rest of the Gut Check guys so far is a huge understatement. With Ion down in the corner, York hits a rolling flip attack to put Ion in even more trouble. York goes up but Ion rolls to the apron and comes back in with a tornado DDT. A middle rope moonsault hits York’s knees and York hits Eve Torres’ rolling neckbreaker for two and we head to the floor. As they come back in, Ion kicks the ropes into York’s balls and hooks that arm hold (Submission Impossible) for the win at 4:20.

Rating: C-. York looked solid here and I have zero idea at all why Ion won this match. I mean….IT’S ZEMA ION. Do you REALLY need to protect a guy like this? York looked more than good enough to get a contract, especially after some of the people that have gotten one through this concept. It still doesn’t mean anything if they’re never on TV afterwards though.

Aries goes to see the Rob’s about something.

Garrett Bischoff says he’s got Ray’s back tonight. Someone comes up and says Aces and 8’s is outside right now. Ray and Bischoff find find Sting and Angle and see five members of the team not including D-Von. D-Von shows up and gets Bully to chase him. Aces and 8’s run off. Oh and Wes Brisco was there helping Sting and company but I didn’t see him at first.

Here’s ODB to call out Jessie Godderz because someone thinks that wrestling fans want to see some Big Brother alumnus. ODB makes fun of Jesse before calling him out

ODB vs. Jessie Godderz

This is your first hour main event for some reason. ODB chops Godderz to start until Jessie shoves her down and we get a lot of posing. ODB comes back with a bad wheelbarrow slam and does the face into the crotch stuff in the corner. A middle rope Thesz Press misses and Jessie slams ODB down. ODB spanks Jessie a bit and GOOD GRIEF END THIS ALREADY! Tara’s distraction lets Jessie pin ODB with a handful of I guess tights at about 4:00 (forgot to time it).

Rating: R. As in reality stars suck. Miz took forever to get going before he got good and I have no idea why someone thought this was a good idea. Terrible match and the ODB character has LONG lived out its usefulness now. Just end the Knockouts Tag Titles already and get rid of ODB while they’re at it.

Taz isn’t here tonight because of Hurricane Sandy so Tenay and JB do the second hour.

Here are the Rob’s and the smaller one is calling out Jeff Hardy as per Aries’ request.

Jeff Hardy vs. Robbie E

As expected, Hardy takes over quickly to start and hits a middle rope legdrop. We head to the floor where Hardy sends him into the steps and hits Poetry in Motion off the same steps to take Robbie down. We take a break and come back with Robbie in control off stuff that isn’t important enough to show us. Jeff comes back but can’t hit the Twist, allowing Robbie to hit the Twist for two. The second attempt at the Twist hits and it’s the Swanton for the pin at 4:15 shown of 7:45.

Rating: D. Of all the people Hardy could pick, he picks ROBBIE E to beat up Hardy? Why not like, I don’t know, THE BIG STRONG GUY THAT HANGS OUT WITH ROBBIE E??? Nothing match here as Hardy didn’t really have to break a sweat to beat Robbie. It was the world champion against a jobber to the stars. What were you expecting here?

Post match Aries comes out and says the difference between them is three seconds. Aries says he’s climbed the ladder of success in the time he’s been here. Hardy says let’s do it this way and pulls out a ladder. Aries: “You going to put some new shingles on a roof?” Austin says no to the ladder match and leaves.

We get a video of Hogan’s Beach Shop opening when Matt Morgan showed up and wanted an explanation of why he hasn’t gotten a chance at the top. Morgan takes one of Hogan’s old ropes which is apparently like 30 years old. He says he’ll make history with it.

Storm tells Hogan he’s ready for the world title. Hogan says he might have an idea for Storm. This is unlike last week when Hogan DID have an idea for him.

Here’s Bobby Roode, presumably with another challenge. Actually he says he’s here with a fact: he’s getting screwed once again. Roode says that he got screwed last week when he wasn’t included in the four guys who could have gotten a shot. This brings out AJ Styles who talks about how Roode got the longest world title reign ever while AJ had personal issues to deal with. AJ: “I got accused of something because I was in an elevator with a female, WHICH SEEMS TO BE THE NEW NORM IN WRESTLING IF YOUR NAME IS AJ!” BURN on WWE!

The brawl starts with no referee but here are Hogan and Storm. Hulk makes a three way at Turning Point with Roode, Storm and AJ and says the winner gets a shot, but the loser CAN’T get a shot until next Bound For Glory.

We run down the Turning Point card.

Here are Morgan and Ryan with Morgan talking about how he’s doing this to get Hogan’s attention. He’s also wearing the robe that he stole from Hogan’s shop. Morgan says he’s going to go through the whole roster until he owns the world title. Ryan says he usual avoids VD’s, but tonight he wants RVD so he can show us that the X Title can be X-Rated.

Joey Ryan vs. Rob Van Dam

Joey jumps him to start but Rob fights back with shoulders in the corner. Van Dam takes him down but Morgan pulls Ryan out of the way and Joey grabs a side roll and trunks for the pin a 1:37. The announcers and Tenay sounded surprised that happened so maybe it wasn’t as planned.

Morgan kicks RVD’s head off post match.

Here’s Ray for the callout of D-Von. First though he shouts out to the people in NYC who have been hurt by Hurricane Sandy. Nothing wrong with that. He wants D-Von RIGHT NOW and here we go.

D-Von vs. Bully Ray

We’ve only got about five minutes left so this won’t be much. D-Von immediately heads to the floor so Ray grabs a table. There’s been no bell yet unless I missed it. D-Von keeps up the stalling and here come the troops, including the one that looks to be Wes Brisco. Ray grabs his chain to fend them off but there are like eight guys not counting D-Von. A big army of guys come from the back to help in the fight but it’s quickly down to just Bully and D-Von.

Ray punches him down and the fans want the table. A big guy breaks up a powerbomb attempt by Ray but Joseph Park of all people comes in to face off with the big guy. Park gets punched in the ribs and the big guy pounds him down. Park comes back and gets the mask to reveal….Luke Gallows. Gallows chokeslams Park through the table to end the show. Naturally we don’t hear Gallows’ name because that’s copyrighted by WWE.

Overall Rating: D. This show didn’t do it for me at all. Look at the matches on here along with some of the segments and tell me what was good on this show. I like the three way they announced with the loser stipulation, but other than that I’m not sure what I’m supposed to care about on this episode. Just dull all around, like almost all wrestling is anymore at this point. Open Fight Night is totally worthless as a concept as it’s just not needed to make the matches we’re getting.

Results

Samoa Joe b. Magnus via DQ when Magnus hit Joe with a wrench

Zema Ion b. Christian York – Submission Impossible

Jeff Hardy b. Robbie E – Swanton

Joey Ryan b. Rob Van Dam – Side Roll

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 25, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jeremy Borash, Todd Kenely, Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s Championship Night or whatever the latest gimmick show these guys have going on is called. I’m not a big fan of having I think three title matches less than two weeks after BFG, but since the shows themselves aren’t worth watching, they need a gimmick to draw in fans. There’s a world title match tonight with an opponent for Hardy to be announced. Let’s get to it.

We open with Hogan and Hardy in the back. Hogan is picking Hardy’s first challenger tonight and Hardy is ready for anyone. Hardy leaves and we get a really stupid voiceover from Hardy, talking about all of his potential opponents. He doesn’t care who he faces here.

X-Division Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion

We’ve got split announcers tonight, with Kenely (not sure who he is) and JB doing the first hour and the usual boys doing the second. Ion tries a quick rollup for two but it’s a standoff. Rob gets a gorilla press of all thigns and a pair of moonsaults for two. Ion heads to the floor and Rob is sent into the barricade when he follows. Ion charges into a kick in the ring but Rob misses a dive to the floor. Zema hits a flip dive over the top to take the champ out. Back in and Ion misses a majorly flippy dive so Rob kicks him in the face and hits Rolling Thunder for no cover. The Five Star retains the title at 4:33.

Rating: C-. Van Dam is a good pick for the title because you’re going to get at least a watchable match out of him and a win over him will mean something. Thankfully this should get him past Ion who was champion because….I’m not sure why he was champion, but it might be because he’s still around when everyone else from the X-Division revival

As Van Dam celebrates, Matt Morgan takes his head off with the Carbon Footprint. Joey Ryan has the X Title and poses with it. Morgan says this is what Hogan wanted.

Austin Aries is listening to the people trying to get the title match. The options are Angle, Anderson, Storm and Ray. Aries gets a shot anyway so he doesn’t care. We get some good jabs at Hogan’s “acting” and Aries says he’s going to use these guys for his personal amusement once they’re eliminated.

Here are Daniels and Kaz who don’t like the lack of tricks they’ve been getting for all the tricks they’ve been through. Daniels was left alone last week because Hogan screwed with Kaz’s travel. Kaz thinks the new champions are here in this country illegally. Daniels takes the mic from him and says that it’s not really Championship Thursday is it Suburban Commando? It’s a crime that everyone else is getting a shot but not them.

Daniels accuses Dixie of pandering to a Latino audience and says they should wear sombreros and drink tequila. Maybe they should call themselves Dos Stereotipicos. Daniels has a petition to get another title match. Well that’s better than the auto rematch clause. Cue the champions who say they’ll help with the petition. Hernandez has his title wrapped a chain around his neck. The brawl is on and the champs clear the ring in about a second. I think we have a rematch made. Kaz: “GIVE ME THAT CLIPBOARD BACK! THAT’S AN EXPENSIVE PEN!”

Hogan eliminates Anderson for nothing having enough fire. Aries tries to interview him. “Was it not taking enough vitamins? Not saying enough BROTHERS?” Aries says Anderson would be an easy opponent than him and throws a drink in Anderson’s face. The fight is on and Aries is down off a WICKED PAPER POSTER SHOT TO THE HEAD! A match is made and Anderson laughs. Then, to further the stupidity, we hear the director yell CUT. I mean…..really?

D-Von is with Aces and 8’s. The President has said no masks can come off. There are some women here to entertain them apparently, but first they have to take someone out. A member throws a dart at a bunch of pictures of wrestlers but we don’t see who it hit.

TV Title: Robbie T vs. Samoa Joe

Geez enough with the Robs getting title shots! Joe pounds away in the corner to start but T comes back with a spin kick to take him down. Joe puts on the Clutch and after a meaningless Robbie E distraction, Joe puts the hold on again while jumping on T’s back. Terry falls back on him but in an AWESOME moment, Joe sits up and with an INSANE look on his face, puts the hold back on and gets the tap at 2:28. Look up that ending. It looked great.

We recap Tara taking the title from Tessmacher along with Jesse from Big Brother. Did I mention I can’t stand reality TV?

Back to Hogan’s office and Ray apparently isn’t focused enough. He’s going to find D-Von and take care of him, basically eliminating himself.

Anderson yells at a guy in a headset and apparently it’s Anderson vs. Aries next. I know this because the announcer said it’s Anderson vs. Aries next.

Mr. Anderson vs. Austin Aries

They start immediately and Anderson yells mean things at Austin. Anderson takes his shirt off as Aries chills on the floor. A fireman’s carry goes nowhere and things slow down. Aries puts brass knuckles in Anderson’s tights but the referee takes them away. That was kind of odd. The fans chant cheater and Anderson pounds him into the corner again. Anderson gets sent to the floor and there’s the suicide dive as we take a break.

Back with Aries still in control but the fans are cheering for the cheater now. Anderson tries to fight back with some elbows and a clothesline that spins Aries inside out. Anderson’s spinning neckbreaker takes Aries down but the Regal Roll is countered again. The double rotation kick sends Aries to the floor and Anderson adds a plancha.

The fireman’s carry is loaded up again but Aries takes out the referee. Aries steals the knuckles from Aries and Anderson gets them. The referee takes them away and Aries knocks him cold with another pair. Aries pulls Anderson on top of him to feign a pin attempt before putting on the Last Chancery for the pin at 11:49.

Rating: C-. This was an awkward match, likely because Anderson is so unorthodox in the ring. Not a horrible match but it was missing by a half beat. Aries is doing some cool stuff and I like him way better as a heel. I like Anderson way better off my TV, but I guess he’s better in this role than another, but it’s not like it’s a great improvement.

Brooke and Tara/Jesse do their usual stuff. Brooke tells Jesse that ODB has an eye on him. Isn’t ODB married?

Tenay and Taz take over in what is supposed to be a big deal I think. We recap the show up to this point.

Knockouts Title: Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara

Tara is defending and gets jumped before she can get in the ring. After more of a beating, a Jesse distraction lets Tara take over with some cheap shots. Tara slams Tessmacher’s face into the mat a few times but stops for a kiss. From Jesse unfortunately. More kissing occurs and Tara misses her slingshot somersault legdrop. Tessmacher comes back and hits her Stinkface before hitting an X Factor out of the corner. Tara grabs Terrell and Jesse lowbridges Tessmacher. Widow’s Peak retains the title at 3:57.

Rating: D+. Annoying non-celebrity aside, Tessmacher contines to do nothing at all for me. She’s just there and is exactly the same character she was a year ago. Also she’s just not that good in the ring, period. Her looks are great but mix up the outfits a bit already. Tara continues to be annoying with Jesse so it’s a success on that front. Hopefully this feud is done now.

Post match more making out occurs until Brooke comes out to shake her head. Apparently ODB is calling out Jesse next week on Open Fight Night.

Joseph Park goes in to talk to Hogan about fighting Aces and 8’s. Hogan says Park has had one match (he’s had two) and also he’s worried about Park’s liability. Park has a piece of paper. Hogan: “What’s that?” Park: “It’s a piece of paper.” He goes on to say it’s a letter of indemnification which means if he gets hurt fighting Aces and 8’s, it’s no one’s fault but Park’s and there’s no legal responsibility for anyone else.

Here’s Ray who again thanks Sting for letting him be his partner. Not much shocks Ray anymore, but the D-Von reveal did. Ray wants an explanation from D-Von but gets the whole group instead. They get in the ring and D-Von says they’re not friends or a team or anything anymore. D-Von says this has nothing to do with Ray anymore and it’s all about Hogan. Apparently this is because Hogan said that he wanted D-Von re-signed to the company, but Hogan and Dixie never called. In other words, if you don’t follow TNA online and follow Hogan on Twitter, this whole story makes VERY little sense.

D-Von says it’s over but Ray says it’s over when he says it’s over. Ray says D-Von is lying and he talks about the Guns coming back from 3D like two years ago and how they should have retired as champions. Years ago D-Von said they’re rich so screw the fans. D-Von says yeah he said it, so Ray wants to fight one on one right now. D-Von says it’s on his time but Ray says he’ll call him out next week on Open Fight Night.

Ryan says he wants the X Title and Morgan says Hogan started this.

It’s also Gut Check next week. The wrestler is Christian York. He wrestled on the first TNA show and in ECW.

Hogan says he’s got something big planned for Storm in the future but tonight Angle has the title shot.

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy

Jeff has two belts here: the vanity belt around his waist and the real one over his shoulder. We get some big match intros and we’re ready to go. Jeff takes him down with an armbar followed by the slingshot dropkick in the corner. Jeff goes to the corner but gets shoved out to the floor as we take a break. Back with Hardy escaping a chinlock and they clothesline each other.

Hardy starts speeding things up and kicks Angle to the floor. There’s a big clothesline off the apron and back inside for Whisper in the Wind for two. Angle comes back with Rolling Germans for two. The Slam is countered into the Twisting Stunner for no cover. Hardy goes up for the Swanton but Angle throws him off the top for two. Angle busts out a powerbomb for two and puts on a quick ankle lock, but Jeff kicks him off. The same kick puts Angle down but the Swanton misses.

The Angle Slam gets two so Jeff hits two straight Twists and the Swanton for just two. Jeff charges at Kurt and gets backdropped to the floor. Angle is spitting up blood. There go the straps as Hardy is thrown back in. Another Slam is countered into a rollup for the pin at 14:29 to keep the belt on Hardy.

Rating: B. When you need a solid match, call Kurt Angle. He’s great in spots like this where you need a main event and have no one else to throw in there. His resume is good enough to buy as a challenger no matter what he’s been doing lately. Either way, good stuff here and a very solid TV main event.

Post match Aries jumps Hardy and says the rematch is at Turning Point. Aries is so confident he’ll win that he takes the belt with him. The original, not the stupid one.

We cut to the back to see Angle getting destroyed by Aces and 8’s to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I liked the show, but man alive was it exhausting. There’s WAY too much stuff going on here between all of the title matches and the backstage stuff and the reality show stuff with Hogan and it’s all just too much. TNA is the opposite of WWE in that respect as while WWE has too much time on their hands, TNA doesn’t have enough and you get shows like this where there’s so much stuff going on that you can’t get a chance to breathe.

Still though, this was WAY better than last week and I feel better about where they’re going now. One more note: slow down on the gimmick shows. We’re going from Championship Thursday to Open Fight Night next week. Space them out or cut one. Back to back is too much, and there’s likely another gimmick that I can’t think of.

Results

Rob Van Dam b. Zema Ion – Five Star Frog Splash

Samoa Joe b. Robbie T – Koquina Clutch

Austin Aries b. Mr. Anderson – Last Chancery

Tara b. Miss Tessmacher – Widow’s Peak

Jeff Hardy b. Kurt Angle – Swanton Bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 11, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s the final show before BFG and I can’t say I’m chomping at the bit to see the show on Sunday. Bound For Glory is mainly focused on Sting/Ray vs. Aces and 8’s, whoever they are. The world title match is mixed in there somewhere but it’s way beneath the tag match as far as importance. As for tonight, I wouldn’t expect a lot of matches as the focus will likely be on building up what’s already there through a lot of promos. Hopefully there’s less King Mo tonight too. Let’s get to it.

After the recaps, we’re told that it’s Storm vs. Aries and Roode vs. Hardy. Those should be good.

James Storm vs. Austin Aries

We don’t have to wait long to see if they’re good I guess. Non-title here of course. Feeling out process to start and Storm armdrags Aries to the floor. Back in and Storm pounds away before he skins the cat. Aries tries to slide beneath the Cowboy as he pulls himself back in, but Storm dives at the champ. Aries slides back in and hits the suicide dive to take over in a sweet sequence.

After a quick chinlock from the champ, they chop it out in the corner. A dropkick from the middle rope to the back of a seated Storm gets two. James is all fired up now and he pounds away in the corner. Another ten punches hit Aries in the other corner but he comes back with five punches of his own. Storm shoves him off but the Eye of the Storm is escaped and Storm gets guillotined on the top rope.

The champ misses a missile dropkick but the Codebreaker is escaped. Brainbuster doesn’t work for Aries and they roll through an O’Connor Roll. Aries flips him over and they hit head to head. Roode runs out and posts Storm which I’m not sure Aries saw. The brainbuster finishes Storm at 7:20.

Rating: B. This was a fast paced opener and it worked really well. Storm has grown up so much in the last year it’s unreal. I really hope they haven’t screwed him up to the point where he can’t get near the world title again. This match could set up a post BFG feud if Aries retains, but if Hardy wins then it’s Bully Ray getting the first feud I’d assume. Still though, very good opener.

Wes Brisco asks Angle if he can go to Phoenix. Angle says ok and that can’t end well. AJ comes in and says Angle needs to get his head in the game and leaves.

Sting’s 4^th or so BFG Moment is the Hogan face turn from last year.

Here are Sting and Hogan to the arena. Hogan and Sting don’t like having to play by Aces and 8’s rules and Hulk says it feels like they made a deal with the devil. This brings out Daniels and Kaz, saying that they’re the angels that can fix this problem. Hogan made the wrong move by picking Ray, because instead of Sting/Ray, it should be the two of them fighting Aces and 8’s.

Kaz: “Listen Thunderlips…” Ok Kaz is awesome. Kaz tries to get out of the title match and suggests that Angle is put in Ray’s place in the tag match. Here’s Ray who says Angle is a great choice for a wrestling match, but this is going to be a fight. Ray says he doesn’t have to be Sting’s friend because he has a unified goal in getting rid of Aces and 8’s. Hogan isn’t convinced and makes the tag champs vs. Ray/Sting. The champs PANIC.

Hernandez vs. AJ Styles

AJ takes him down to start and escapes a choke hold with a Pele. Styles keeps yelling at Chavo instead of following it up, which allows SuperMex to avoid a charge in the corner. Off to a bearhug for a few moments before AJ escapes and speeds things up. The drop down/kick sets up another dropkick to send Hernandez to the floor. Styles yells at Chavo AGAIN and Hernandez gets up again. Back in and Hernandez hits something like a Monty Brown Pounce for the pin at 3:53.

Rating: C. This wasn’t great but they were telling a good story with AJ being distracted by the numbers game but without Angle out there to even the numbers, AJ lost in an upset. They’ve built up the title match very well and I’m really not sure who is going to win, which is the right idea for a match. It should be awesome too.

Aces and 8’s feed Joseph Park and imply that tonight they’ll determine if they’ve been locked out or if everyone else is locked in.

Here’s Zema Ion who complains about not having a title match on Sunday because he’s injured everyone in the division. This brings out…..Rob Van Dam? He says Hogan has told him he can fight anybody he wants at BFG, and instead of picking Aries and Hardy in the world title match, he picks Ion. Rob kicks Zema to the floor and that’s the match setup.

Ray comes in and asks Sting if he’s ready but Hogan isn’t pleased. Ray asks why Hogan doesn’t trust him and they get in an argument. Sting snaps and says Ray can be trusted. If there is anyone you want to trust the instincts of, it’s Sting.

Brooke and Teryn are talking when Tara comes up with a list of stuff she has to do once she’s champion. Brooke rips it up and says no green room for the boyfriend on Sunday.

Christopher Daniels/Kazarian vs. Sting/Bully Ray

Ray and Daniels start with Ray hitting a BIG chop in the corner. Another one has Daniels screaming and Kaz gets scared off the apron. Sting takes over on both champions and it’s off to Ray vs. Kaz. Ray gets two off a belly to back suplex and it’s off to Sting. Off to Ray for another suplex as Sting and Ray are tagging very fast. Sting hits the first splash in the corner but Daniels pulls Kaz away from the second one.

Sting gets crotched on the post and sent into the barricade as the champions take over. Ray chases Daniels off with a chair and it’s off to Kaz for a chinlock on Sting. Back to Daniels who pounds away some more but they clothesline each other, allowing for the double tag to bring in Ray and Kaz.

Bully cleans house and everything breaks down. Daniels tries to hit Sting with a belt but Ray kicks him down. Sting saves Ray from a top rope double ax from Kaz and the unlikely partners shake hands. Sting says Bully Get The Tables. Great way to stop the D-Von chants there guys. Ray powerbombs Daniels throug a table for the DQ at 10:09.

Rating: C. So the tag team champions just got slaughtered by a makeshift team that is likely going to split up due to Ray being himself on Sunday. That’s TNA logic for you, and if a team going into the third biggest match on the card has to be sacrificed along the way so be it. At least it wasn’t a pin.

Video on Aries vs. Hardy with Aries still being jealous of Jeff.

We get a video recapping Aces and 8’s.

Video recapping Snow vs. Ryan.

Joe and Magnus get in an argument in the back about the match on Sunday. Magnus says he’s a businessman and Joe hides behind politics. As Magnus is leaving he says “Bound For Glory….or at least I am.” Good line.

Gail Kim vs. Miss Tessmacher

Non-title of course. Tessmacher takes over to start but Gail avoids the Stinkface. Gail takes over with a guillotine on the top rope and starts choking away before hitting a backbreaker for two. Tessmacher comes back with a slingshot and some shots in the corner followed by that sitout legsweep of hers. Tessmacher goes up and gets crotched before countering a fireman’s carry into a sloppy rollup. Gail counters a rana into a powerbomb for two and Tessmacher hits a bad looking release mat slam which I can’t remember the name of for the pin at 5:31.

Rating: D. This was another uninteresting and pretty sloppy Knockouts match. The move is called the Tesshocker apparently. Good to know. Tessmacher is doing nothing for me as champion as she’s the exact same person she was months ago and that’s not a good sign. Tara is someone that can help her but the whole division is just there anymore.

Tara comes out for a beatdown but Tessmacher beats her down and hits the Tesshocker.

Roode is talking in the back when Storm comes in and says he knows it was Roode that attacked him earlier. Storm chokes Roode and a fight starts before King Mo, the real star of the match Sunday, breaks it up and says save it for Sunday.

Sting’s Hall of Fame video.

We run down the BFG card.

Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy

Roode jumps Hardy as Jeff is slapping hands at ringside. They head inside for the opening bell with Roode in full control. Hardy makes a brief comeback with his seated dropkick and they slug it out in the corner. A clothesline puts Roode on the floor and Hardy hits a big old plancha to take Roode out. Back in and Roode clotheslines him down and we head back to the floor. Hardy hits a suplex on the outside and we take a break.

Back with Roode holding Hardy in a front facelock and keeping control. Hardy fights up but gets put in a sleeper for his efforts. That gets two arm drops but Hardy finally breaks the hold. Hardy rams him into the buckle and hits Whisper in the Wind for no cover as he’s too far down. Hardy fires off right hands and hits a middle rope splash for two.

Roode comes back with a spinebuster for a near fall of his own and Jeff goes up, only to get caught in a superplex attempt. Hardy knocks him off but misses the Swanton. A spear puts Jeff down for two and the fisherman’s suplex is countered into a Twisting Stunner. Another Twist is loaded up but Roode this Hardy low for the DQ at 16:18.

Rating: C. Not bad here but it wasn’t ever going to hit an epic level given the ending they had to do. Hardy is likely going to win the title on Sunday but that doesn’t really make it a huge moment. The title match’s build is only so good at best and it doesn’t really make me care about it or the PPV as a whole. The match will be good but they’re approaching WM 18 area with the Aces and 8’s match as related to the world title. Gee and it’s Hogan again. Shocking.

Anyway post match Hardy runs Roode off and here’s Aries. Aries is tired of being told to the fans and it’s not true that he’s jealous of Hardy. He’s not jealous of the rap sheet Hardy has or of Hardy being so crippled he can barely play with his little girl. He’s tired of Hardy getting special treatment while he can’t even get the new music and the new entrance he wants. Aries says he does his best when it’s him against the world.

The only failure at BFG is Hardy because until Hardy beats Aries, he’s still a failure. Hardy is a lot taller than Aries. Jeff’s response: “Austin, my nuts hurt.” He says he’ll win on Sunday and Aries asks Jeff to leave so he can bask in the fans’ glory. Hardy goes to leave but Aries kicks him low and loads up the brainbuster which lays Hardy out. No Aces and 8’s tonight.

Overall Rating: C-. This didn’t do much for me, but the point of the show wasn’t to blow the doors off the place. The idea of this show was to set up the PPV and they did that for the most part. Adding RVD and the X Title to the card was a good idea as both should be on the biggest show of the year. This wasn’t a thrilling show but they have the PPV ready to go, although I’m not wild on where they’re going with it.

Results

Austin Aries b. James Storm – Brainbuster

Hernandez b. AJ Styles – Running Body Attack

Christopher Daniels/Kazarian b. Sting/Bully Ray via DQ when Ray powerbombed Daniels through a table

Miss Tessmacher b. Gail Kim – Tesshocker

Jeff Hardy b. Bobby Roode via DQ when Roode hit Hardy low

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: September 27, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s another pretty big show tonight in that we have Hogan going to Aces and 8’s clubhouse which hopefully means we can move to something of substance instead of teasing everything anymore. Other than that we’re going to have a new TV Champion tonight in the form of either Magnus, Samoa Joe, Mr. Anderson or Garrett freaking Bischoff. Let’s get to it.

We open with the usual recaps from last week.

Aries and Hardy are teaming up tonight against opponents to be named later.

Here’s Hogan to open the show. He talks about how tonight is a turning point for the company, but first and foremost he needs to address the TV Title. Tonight there are going to be four people trying to convince him that they deserve a shot at the title and there will be a new champion tonight. As for Storm and Roode, there’s going to be a street fight at Bound For Glory and there’s going to be a special enforcer in the form of King Mo, the MMA fighter who is coming to TNA for awhile and try to do both sports at once.

That brings us to Aces and 8’s. Tonight he’s going to their clubhouse and he explains the story so far in case you missed the opening five minutes ago. He’ll go alone if he has to, and this brings out Sting. Sting says he promised to have Hogan’s back and he’s backing that up tonight.

Anderson’s BFG moment is being in the main event of BFG 2012.

Kurt Angle vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Christopher Daniels

BFG preview here. Daniels immediately heads to the floor and tells the other guys to fight it out. That goes about as well as you would expect a diabolical plan to work, with Chavo and Angle taking over on him very easily. Angle gets sent shoulder first into the post so it’s time for Daniels to fight Chavo on his own. The referee checks on Angle for a while and Kaz trips up Chavo, leading to a fight between the face teams on the floor. All six get in the ring for a staredown as we take a break.

During the break the three non-wrestlers got ejected and we come back with Angle caught in a top wristlock from Daniels. Chavo is nowhere to be seen. Angle snaps off a German to Daniels and one to a charging Chavo. The Angle Slam is countered by Guerrero and he knocks Angle to the floor. Chavo starts speeding things up on Daniels but Angle comes back in to suplex him down very quickly.

A big German takes Daniels down but Chavo rolls Kurt up to break up the ankle lock. Chavo loads up the Three Amigos on Angle but has to settle for them on Daniels instead. Chavo goes up but Angle puts the ankle lock on Daniels, who counters and sends Angle into Chavo, crotching him. An STO out of nowhere on Chavo is enough to get the pin for Daniels at 9:06.

Rating: C+. This was the usual fast paced match that you would expect from these three. Angle is great at running three way matches and this worked like the rest of his matches with two opponents do. Daniels winning is a good way to keep the chances up that the champions could retain at the PPV, which is something they’ve been missing lately. Good match.

Time for the first round of voting from Hogan regarding the TV Title. He asks the four of them why they should get the shot. Garrett says he’s worked since day one and D-Von saw something in him, which is why he should be here. Magnus and Joe get in an argument and Anderson says he’s action and not talk. Joe says none of them deserve to be in the ring with him. Based on resumes, that’s mostly true. Magnus talks about how great he’s been all around the world and how he knows how TV works, which is what a TV Champion should do. Hogan throws Magnus out to keep Magnus and Joe apart.

Brooke Hogan goes to see Tara and Tara takes a call from her boyfriend. Make that two. Apparently she has to earn a title shot. Brooke takes the phone and leaves with it. She still isn’t interesting.

Tara vs. ODB

Winner gets the shot at Tessmacher at the PPV. Eric does his stupid schtick before the match starts. ODB pounds away to start and chases Tara around the ring for a few seconds. Eric gets on the apron like a tag partner and gets down before he does anything of note. ODB hits a splash in the corner followed by a Bronco Buster. Tara is sent to the floor and gets in an argument with Eric, allowing ODB to hit a baseball slide to keep control.

ODB hits her fallaway slam and knocks Tara out to the floor where she’s holding her knee. Tara seems to hit on Eric, who insists to his wife (yeah they’re married. Remember that?) that his pants are still up. Tara takes her knee brace off but she’s goldbricking and pins ODB with a small package at 4:44.

Rating: D. I don’t remember a less interesting or less surprising match in years. Gee, ODB and Eric do goofy stuff, Tara wins to set up the obvious title match at the PPV, and the match was nothing of note. The Knockouts have falled through the floor as of late and they’re not going to get better anytime soon it doesn’t seem. At least they look good. Well, other than ODB that is.

Gut Check is next.

Time for Gut Check and Snow is in trouble due to the Joey Ryan stuff. Now the judges talk about Markopoulous or however you spell that.

Bully Ray is on his Twitter Machine and won’t talk about who his partner is tonight against Hardy/Aries.

Joe is in the title match and Hogan has to pick between Anderson and Garrett. Garrett says he can hang with Joe. Thankfully Anderson gets picked because it’s not Joe’s time. Garrett stares down Hogan with a look that says something more is coming from him. Just what the world needs.

Roode goes in to see Aries and implies he’s going to be Ray’s partner tonight. Roode can’t stand the idea of Aries being champion because he can’t get a title shot while Aries is still champion. He tries to get into Aries’ head about Hardy, presumably to mess him up at the PPV.

TV Title: Mr. Anderson vs. Samoa Joe

Both guys try for their finishers very fast but neither can get them to work. Joe hits his back elbow and enziguri in the corner for two and he takes over. He stomps away a bit and hits a chop to the back but gets rolled up for two. A swinging neckbreaker gets two for Anderson as well and he pounds away. Anderson hits a jawbreaker and a Regal Roll but Joe rolls it through into a crucifix for two.

The Mic Check is countered but Joe counters a rollup into most of the Clutch but he doesn’t have the bodyscissors. Now the scissors is on and Joe gets the back too. He traps Anderson’s arm before Anderson can make the rope. This hold has been on for like 90 seconds now and Anderson is still conscious. Anderson passes out to give Joe the title and the Grand Slam at 5:21.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t much of a match for the TV Title if they were going for something special. The ending was pretty absurd with Anderson holding on in a choke for two minutes. Wouldn’t the guy be dead after that? Anyway, the match was dull as it pretty much just came and went, which isn’t what you want in a title match.

That wasn’t the red TV Title. It looked like the world title that was around before Jeff won the title for the first time.

Hogan and Sting are talking when a chick shows up saying there are documents that have to be signed. Before they can, the chick maces them and Aces and 8’s pop up and put hoods on Hogan and Sting’s heads before throwing them into a van which pops up out of nowhere.

Gut Check time. Taz thinks Evan has a ton of potential and says yes. Bruce says he’s too young. We go to the kickout and he talks about Snow trying to get into ECW and SMW when he was under 18. Snow says Evan is the epitome of what this is about and that he has all of the things that he needs. But he’s 18 so it’s a no.

We get a preview of TMNT’s new series. As a TMNT fan, this scares me to death.

We get a clip from the clubhouse and the big boss is on his way. Hogan looks….scared?

Douglas Williams won a tag title at BFG one year in a ladder match.

Back at the clubhouse Hogan and Sting are at the card table with presumably the big boss sitting across from them. He says his identity doesn’t matter and he has a business off for Hulk. Hulk wants to fight right now. The boss wants to be allowed to come and go from the Impact Zone. Joseph Park is brought out on a table. The boss offers a tag match at BFG and Hogan immediately says himself and Sting.

Boss: “Hulk, for the first time in your adult life, THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU.” The Boss says that at the PPV, if Aces and 8’s win, they get full access to the Impact Zone but if they lose, Aces and 8’s go away. It can’t be Hogan and Sting in the ring though. Parks (apparently he gained an s on his name somewhere) is held until after the match.

Storm is happy with having a street fight with Roode at BFG.

Bully Ray/Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy/Austin Aries

Hardy and Ray start things off with Hardy immediately speeding things up to send Ray into the corner. Off to Aries vs. Roode with Bobby looking a bit nervous. Hardy comes in sans tag and cleans house while Hardy clears the ring. We take a break and come back with Hardy getting knocked off the top to give Ray and Roode the advantage.

Ray is in so the fans of course have to chant about D-Von because THEY CAN’T SHUT UP AND ENJOY THE FREAKING MATCH FOR FIVE MINUTES. Off to Roode and Hardy grabs a Twist of Fate out of nowhere to take Roode down. Aries and Ray get tags but Roode distracts the champ and Ray knocks him to the floor. Aries gets sent into the steps and it’s off to a bearhug from Ray back in the ring.

The champ bites his way out of it but won’t tag in Hardy and it’s Ray running wild. Hardy gets kicked in the face and Aries has to fight off both guys by himself. Jeff seems content to just look up into the ring and let this happen. Aries hits the suicide dive on Roode and a missile dropkick takes Ray down. Aries talks trash to Hardy but hits the Brainbuster on Roode anyway. Hardy tags himself in and hits the Swanton for the pin on Roode at 14:00.

Rating: C. Standard main event tag match here to further the idea that the champ wants respect and admiration that Hardy has. It doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere with the idea of Ray being added to make it a threeway but to be fair that never really was mentioned on TV. The match was fine for what it was.

Hogan and Sting are returned to the Impact Zone. Sting is untied and doesn’t do anything because of a threat to Park. Aces and 8’s leave in their van and apparently Sting is going to be one half of the tag match.

Overall Rating: C. This didn’t do it for me for the most part. This show was mainly about Aces and 8’s and that story isn’t getting my interest up at all. It’s been dragging on WAY too long and it looks like the boss is going to be revealed at the PPV, which makes sense. The problem with that though is that it looks like we’re heading for a faction war, which is TNA’s bread and butter. That doesn’t do anything at all for me though and it seems like it’s going to dominate the show.

As for the rest of the show, nothing really happened other than Joe winning the TV Title which means nothing for the most part. Just nothing going on here outside of Hogan, which really fill me with confidence for the next two weeks. The tag title match is going to be fun, but the world title match is on the back burner and that’s the last place it needs to be.

Results

Christopher Daniels b. Chavo Guerrero and Kurt Angle – STO to Guerrero

Tara b. ODB – Small Package

Samoa Joe b. Mr. Anderson – Koquina Clutch

Austin Aries/Jeff Hardy b. Bobby Roode/Bully Ray – Swanton Bomb to Ray

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: September 6, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s the final night of the BFG Series and the final spots this Sunday are up for grabs. Other than that, not a ton matters. I’m sure we’ll hear more about the Aces and 8’s stuff from last week, but it’ll be minor to say the least. Also we’ll probably get more of the card set up for Sunday which is desperately needed at this point. Let’s get to it.

We get videos from everyone still in the running for the spots in the Series.

Bound For Glory Series Leaderboard

James Storm 73

Samoa Joe 68

Rob Van Dam 55

Bully Ray 55

AJ Styles 50

Jeff Hardy 49

Kurt Angle 48

Mr. Anderson 47

Christopher Daniels 33

Magnus 33

Robbie E 12

D’Angelo Dinero 7 (injured)

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy

I think Joe has clinched a spot already. Jeff tries to work on the arm to start but gets shoved to the floor with ease. Joe follows out and rams Jeff into the steps, but a charge misses and Jeff dives at him off the steps with Poetry In Motion as we take a break. Back with Joe in control again. Apparently Hardy has to win by pin or submission to make it to the PPV and Joe needs a pin or submission to get the #1 spot and to be able to pick his opponent.

Joe hits his corner enziguri and Jeff sells it like he’s dead as always. That gets two so Joe pounds him down again but still only gets two. The fat man is getting frustrated and here comes Jeff’s comeback. He fires off some clotheslines and the mule kick as Joe can’t keep up with the speed all of a sudden. Jeff hits the legdrop between Joe’s legs and a low dropkick for two.

A jawbreaker looks to set up the Swanton but Joe gets up before it’s launched. Twist of Fate is countered into the Clutch but Jeff rams him into the buckle. The Whisper in the Wind hits Joe’s arm and there’s the Twisting Stunner into an arm trap headlock which gets the tap out for Hardy at 12:00.

Rating: B-. Another good match in the Series here although the ending wasn’t great. I think they were going with the shoulder injury from last week with Joe but they barely mentioned it so it was hard to remember. Good stuff here though and they’re both at the PPV anyway so it’s not like it matters much. I’m digging the end of the Series for one reason: the matches matter. That makes it so much better.

We recap Aces and 8’s attacking Aries lately.

Aries runs into Hogan in the back and is told the small guy that attacked him last week is here tonight. Aries has permission to do whatever he needs to take him out which pleases the champ.

Joe has something to say post match but Magnus interrupts him. Magnus says that as a team they were good but it was Joe’s fault they broke up. Magnus forgives Joe for it though and wishes him the best. He walks away and then jumps Joe from behind.

The candidates to face Daniels/Kaz are in the back for the begging to Hogan portion of our show. We have the Rob’s, Chavo/Hernandez and Gunner/Kid Kash. This is your tag team division in TNA people. After they bicker, AJ comes in and says he deserves a shot. Well he deserves them more than Kash/Gunner who already got beat by Chavo/Hernandez. Hogan eliminates AJ immediately. Ok then.

Brooke Hogan makes Tara vs. Tessmacher for the PPV. Brooke still can’t act at all. Gail comes in to yell at Brooke and we get Tara vs. Gail later.

Gail Kim vs. Tara

Well that was quick. Gail takes over to start with her usual kicks and a running shoulder to the ribs in the corner for two. Tara gets a quick sunset flip for two but Gail kicks her down again. A powerslam puts Kim down for no cover but a floatover suplex gets two for Tara. Gail tries to go up but gets caught in the Widow’s Peak off the top for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: C-. It’s absolutely mind blowing how much better this was than anything the Divas have done in months if not over a year. These chicks know how to wrestle a coherent match without looking like they’re going through a memorized script. They look natural is what I mean, and that’s the most important thing they can do.

We recap Joey Ryan’s Gut Check and attack of Snow.

Here’s Al Snow to call out Joey Ryan. Ryan happens to be here and gets in the ring. Snow says give him a mic then tells Ryan to shut up. Ryan has to go through Gut Check again but without judges. Joey says he has nothing to prove as Snow take his jacket off. Ryan finally accepts it but he has to fight Snow to get his contract. Joey says no one wants to see Snow in spandex anymore. Snow slaps Ryan down and Joey bails.

Bully Ray goes to see Joseph Park to ask what Park has found out about Aces and 8’s. Park can’t say because Sting and Hogan are the ones that hired him. Ray says be careful and that’s it.

A security guard puts a guy in a chair and leaves. Aries comes in and I think this is the guy that hit Aries last week. Aries says the guy better talk soon or else.

Back to Hogan’s office and Gunner/Kash are eliminated. Thank goodness.

Bound For Glory Series: Rob Van Dam vs. Bully Ray

Basically it’s winner gets in and loser is out. Ray takes over to start but they’re going very slowly so as not to make any mistakes. Van Dam starts speeding things up and fires off some kicks for two. Ray heads to the floor so Rob hits a big flip dive to take both guys down. Back in and Rob goes up, only to get crotched. Ray tries to pull him down but Van Dam’s leg gets caught in the ropes. Ray pounds away on it for a bit and it’s off to a a leg lock.

The Bully and Hebner get in an argument, allowing Van Dam to hit a shot out of the corner to take over. He pounds Ray in the head and clotheslines him down a few times before hitting the step over spinwheel kick. Rolling Thunder hits for two and a monkey flip out of the corner puts Ray down. Van Dam tries a kick off the middle rope but Ray avoids it and kicks Rob’s head off for two. A Vader Bomb misses and now Van Dam hits the kick he missed a few seconds ago. Van Dam goes up but dives into the Bubba Cutter for the pin at 8:54. Why would Rob dive with Ray already on his feet?

Rating: C+. Pretty good match here as Ray continues to be solid in the ring most of the time. More than anything else, this was a clean win. Rob isn’t going to lose his reaction from the crowd and Ray isn’t going to be pushed into being a face because of it. He won a match clean and there’s nothing wrong with that. Pay attention WWE.

The four in the Series on Sunday are Storm, Joe, Hardy and Ray.

Back to the interrogation. The guy is named Mike and he’s a freelance grip from New York. Aries wants to know what the boss wants with Aries and the title. He pulls out a pair of pliers and threatens to take Mike’s teeth out but Hogan comes in to stop it. Hogan goes after the guy but gets a call, apparently from Aces and 8’s. They want Mike back but Hogan wants the arm breaker one on one with Austin in a trade later. Aries gets the arm breaker on Sunday in exchange for Mike.

Here’s Storm to announce who he faces at the PPV. Storm talks about how he lost at Lockdown and went home but his friends thought something was missing. Then he came back here and beat Crimson before entering the BFG Series. Now he’s on top of that and he has three potential opponents. He asks the three of them to come out and gets his wish all at once. Storm talks about Hardy and Joe before picking Ray. Ray comes to the ring and Storm says he’s getting even for last year when Ray eliminated him.

Rob is in the back with Christy when Magnus comes up and says he thinks Rob isn’t who he used to be. Rob pops him in the jaw and they brawl a bit.

Tag Titles: Christopher Daniels/Kazarian vs. ???/???

It’s Chavo/Hernandez of course. The champions are run out of the ring very quickly and the challengers take over to start. Hernandez and Daniels start and it’s quickly off to Chavo with a slingshot hilo ala Eddie. Back to Hernandez for a bearhug into a belly to belly suplex. Daniels gets in just enough offense on Chavo to tag in Kaz but a hip toss stops him as well. The challengers are tagging in and out very fast. Apparently their name is Tex Mex. Why not I guess.

Daniels comes back in for a few seconds and gets beaten up as well so it’s back to Kaz who gets caught in the over the shoulder backbreaker. Hernandez does the delayed vertical while Chavo hits the Three Amigos on Daniels at the same time. That was pretty awesome. The champs are reeling and we take a break. Back with Daniels beating on Chavo before tagging in Kaz again. A running flip neckbreaker puts Chavo down and it’s back to Daniels who throws him to the floor.

Kaz hooks a double chickenwing but Chavo fights out of it and rolls into the corner to tag Hernandez. There’s the slingshot shoulder and he runs over both champions with ax handles. He and Sheamus have a few similarities in the ring. Hernandez badly screws up an Alpha Bomb and heads up. Chavo hurricanranas his own partner onto Kaz for two as Daniels makes the save.

Chavo dives onto Kaz on the floor as Daniels hits a palm strike to Hernandez. Daniels heads to the floor and Hernandez hits a HUGE dive to take both of them out. Kaz gets splashed in the corner and Daniels brings in a title belt. Hernandez picks up Kaz for something but a belt shot to the ribs lets Kaz roll up SuperMex for the pin at 14:47.

Rating: B. Good stuff here for a match with all of 20 seconds of notice. Daniels and Kaz are better on the mic than they are in the ring which says a lot given how good they are in the ring. I wasn’t expecting much coming into this and they surprised me which is always something fun to see.

Hulk comes out immediately and makes the tag champs vs. Angle/Styles for Sunday.

We run down the card for the PPV. Ion defends against Dutt, RVD vs. Magnus, the Knockouts, the tag titles, the Knockouts and the BFG stuff.

Here’s Aries with Mike to make the deal. He talks about wanting to fight the guy who broke his arm on Sunday but gets impatient. Instead of making the deal, he’s just going to beat Mike until Mike talks. Mike says he’ll talk but a big guy from Aces and 8’s comes out to save him. The big guy knocks Mike out cold before he can talk and brawls with Aries to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Another good show here as they managed to build most of a card for Sunday while still building up angles at the same time. Getting Aces and 8’s in the ring on Sunday was the next step they had to take eventually and it not being for the title is fine. Given that there’s nothing on the line on Sunday in that match and I still want to see it is a good sign. I’m impressed by how well they did things tonight and that’s a good sign.

Results
Jeff Hardy b. Samoa Joe – Arm trap headlock

Tara b. Gail Kim – Widow’s Peak

Bully Ray b. Rob Van Dam – Bubba Cutter

Christopher Daniels/Kazarian b. Hernandez/Chavo Guerrero – Rollup after a belt shot to Hernandez

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews