Impact Wrestling
Date: September 1, 2011
Location: Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

No we’re NOT IN ORLANDO TONIGHT! This should be a nice change of pace and it’s always interesting to see the difference between a burned out crowd as the Orlando fans are as opposed to see a fresh group of people seeing it. We get some more building towards No Surrender and it might be the last night of the BFG Series. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Hogan to open the show and threaten to get in a fight with a fan in the front row. He talks about how the Network has approved Sting’s request for a match with Flair which will be in two weeks on the 15^th. If Sting wins, it’s Hogan vs. Sting (no date mentioned but Sting said BFG and I can’t imagine it would be any other date) but if Flair wins Sting has to retire. He says it’s time for the Network to start bowing to Hogan instead of the other way.

Here’s Kurt and Hogan apologizes for Dixie screwing him over. Carter can never run things again so tonight it’s Angle vs. Sting so that Angle can cut the cancer out of TNA once and for all. Angle says all of Hogan’s enemies are now his enemies. He promised to take out all of the young guys and would be glad to add a veteran to it.

This brings out Sting who does his usual insane stuff. He’s willing to fight Angle tonight because he wants to I guess. Sting is happy to face Angle so he can move onto Flair and then the big prize of Hogan. Once he beats Hogan, the evil will leave Hogan. Sting goes to leave but Hogan says cut the music. Hogan thinks there’s something going on so Hogan is the guest enforcer.

We get a clip of Crimson being beaten down by Joe and having his leg broken last week. He’s officially out of the BFG Series.

Ray talks about being in the Final Four of the BFG Series and says the title is next.

Roode talks about working his entire career to gethere.

Storm talks about wanting it more than anyone else.

Bound For Glory Series: Gunner vs. Rob Van Dam

For all intents and purposes, the winner is the fourth man. Everyone else is mathematically eliminated and I’m not going to bother listing off the points tonight. It almost has to be Rob going but that would make too much sense so I’m not sure. Joe comes out almost immediately and Morgan jumps up to stop him. Joe kicks him in the balls but security sends him out.

After that we’re back to the match at hand and there’s not much going on. Gunner gets a slingshot suplex but Rob almost rolls out of it. Rob fires off some kicks and hits the Rolling Thunder. Here’s Jerry Lynn but Rob sends him to the back which is probably smart. Rob actually shows some intelligence and doesn’t try to go for the Five Star after being on the floor for a bit.

They trade rollups and Rob falls off the top trying to hit the one footed kick. Rob goes up again but Lynn comes back and shoves him off the top, allowing Gunner to hit a running knee for the pin at 4:57. Lynn’s smile is pretty awesome. This also puts Gunner into the four way at No Surrender as the fourth man.

Rating: C. The match was so-so but the point of this is it sets up a few stories and potential matches. I’m hoping they save RVD vs. Lynn for Philadelphia because it’ll guarantee a huge response no matter what the match looks like. I’m not sure I get why Gunner is going to be in the four way but it’s better than some other choices. At least they seem to have a plan here, which is a big upgrade for them.

Angle vs. Sting is for the world title. I didn’t realize that.

All of the Knockouts are coming to the ring for the announcement about Knockout Law.

After a break here are Eric and Traci for the announcement. Eric praises the Knockouts but then says at the end of the day, they’re still women, meaning they can’t stay focused and are always whining. Traci came to him and offered to lead the Knockouts and more sex is implied. However, Traci isn’t in charge. Karen is and Traci is MAD. Karen has her own music which is an upbeat version of Jeff’s without lyrics.

Karen says the difference between her and the rest of them is she’s a lady. They have to respect her as well. First of all, ODB and Jackie have contracts. Dang it dang it DANG IT. Traci will still have a job, beneath Karen. You can form your own visuals on that one. She’ll be Karen’s assistant, meaning servant for the most part. Tessmacher looks at her bad and is threatened with being fired and sent back to the cabaret.

During the break Winter and Mickie had a staredown and Mickie shoved her, resulting in a catfight.

Jesse Sorensen/Brian Kendrick vs. Kid Kash/Austin Aries

Aries vs. Kendrick at the PPV. Kendrick vs. Kash to start with Kendrick moving way faster than Kash. Arm drag brings in Sorensen who hits a nice dropkick and grabs an armbar. Aries comes in for a bit and is out just as fast. The heels don’t seem to get along but they manage to keep Sorensen in trouble for a bit. He hits a foot to each of their chests and there’s the moderately hot tag to Kendrick.

He kicks both of them and it’s off to Sorensen who gets crotched and almost superplexed. Tower of Doom hits as we go old school X-Division. Sorensen looks dead but manages to send Kash to the floor. Aries hits a suicide dive on Jesse and celebrates a lot. Kendrick is like the chipmunk has pneumonia and takes Aries out. Back inside Kash hits a top rope clothesline and a release suplex to set up a powerbomb but Sorensen rolls him up for the pin at 5:10.

Rating: C+. They packed a lot of stuff in here but it was cool to see an old Cruiserweight style match. It advances both feuds but it’s still nothing I’m dying to see either way. It’s not great but for what it was supposed to be, which was just a five minute match to have Aries vs. Kendrick for a bit, this was fine.

We get a video on Winter and Angelina which was thankfully changed around a lot to keep it from getting way too creepy. Now they’re just vampires which is a lot better than what it could have been.

Winter talks to Angelina about having other lives again. Winter promises to suck the life out of Mickie and the two of them will feast on her bones.

Mickie is tired of the voodoo nonsense. She’s going to wrestle tonight, so Winter needs to bring her A-game.

Video on Jeff Hardy and we actually have the Victory Road incident referenced.

Angle is having coffee and Hogan comes in to yell. He wants Angle to come to New York and take care of the Network, specifically saying kill them. Angle isn’t happy. Hardy gets to have a live mic next week. Oh dear.

Knockouts Title: Winter vs. Mickie James

Mickie goes nuts on her to start and grabs a rollup for two. Angelina tries to throw the belt in and gets ejected. Mickie grabs a half crab and Tazz says it’s very hard to get out of. Less than 3 seconds later Winter grabs the rope and is out of it. Great analysis there Brooklyn dude. Mickie has dominated most of this. The jumping DDT is avoided and both grab the other by the hair and slam them into the mat.

Winter tries that spinning slam but Mickie gets some elbows in and a rollup gets two for each chick. A slow jumping DDT hits for Mickie but Winter gets her foot under the ropes. I’m really glad that wasn’t the ending as it would have looked bad. Enziguri puts Mickie down for two. Winter tries to choke Mickie with something but Hebner makes the save. Mickie kicks Winter upside her head and gets the title back at 6:00.

Rating: D+. This got sloppy in some places like Mickie intentionally having to cover Winter weird so she could get the foot on the ropes. I cannot stand stuff like that because it looks so fake and totally takes the drama out of a near fall. I also don’t get the point in putting the title right back on Mickie after Winter had it for just a few weeks but since this is TNA, I’m sure the answer is “GIVE IT MORE TIME.”

Video on Styles vs. Daniels which is basically Daniels wondering if it’s worth it anymore and wanting one more match to prove it to himself and the fans.

Here’s Morgan to rant about Joe. He says it’s one thing to go after everyone else but now he went suicidal by attacking the Blueprint. He wants a referee too. Joe comes out and beats up the referee and the fight is on. Morgan slugs away and Joe goes for his eyes. Morgan escapes that arm drop move Joe has been using and hammers away.

There are the elbows in the corner and a running Umaga shot in the corner. Joe bails to the floor but pulls the tall guy with him. Morgan loads up the Carbon Footprint but steps on the steps too much, letting Joe know he’s coming. Joe kicks him in the little blueprints and cracks Morgan with a chair to leave him laying. Morgan tries to get up and Joe cracks the arm with a chair against the post, trying to reinjure the torn pec.

Robbie E talks to Rob Terry again and is interrupted by Eric Young. They talk about working out and THE TV TITLE WILL BE DEFENDED NEXT WEEK!!!!! I need my medicine!

Styles and Daniels say it’s time for the last match. They talk about someone coming back again but don’t say who.

Hogan is mad about Hardy coming back and tells Immortal about it. Abyss is standing off in the back and isn’t happy it seems. Hogan talks about how the deck is stacked against Sting tonight and implies that he’ll be calling the rest of Immortal out to help Angle in the main event.

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Back and forth stuff to start as they know each other so well. Daniels works a headlock which gets him nowhere. A big knee drop gets one for AJ. They go to the floor for a bit and AJ gets a bridging inverted chinlock (that Benoit submission that needs a name) and a gutbuster/backbreaker combo for two. Running STO gets two for Daniels but AJ hits the springboard forearm for two.

This has been very back and forth which makes sense given their history. They strike it out and AJ hits a Pele to send Daniels flying. The backflip into the reverse DDT is blocked and Daniels tries a moonsault (not the BME) which gets knees. AJ tries a springboard something and falls, letting Daniels grab the pin at 7:20.

Rating: B-. The match was good but the ending was designed to look like a botch and Daniels stole the pin. That’s perfectly fine if it leads to Daniels turning which he needs to do badly. It came off like he won on a fluke, which is he celebrates as a legit win will be perfect. It kind of cut the match off out of nowhere, but that’s what needed to happen. This was pretty good overall and the psychology was on.

Post match Daniels won’t shake his hand and is all happy that he finally won. It’s about time he turned.

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Sting

Hogan is guest enforcer on the outside. Sting has blue on his singlet tonight. They speed things up to start and Sting controls, sending Angle to the floor for a breather. Back in Kurt takes over and grabs a sleeper which doesn’t last long as Sting gets a belly to back. Angle snaps off a German for two but Sting grabs the Death Drop for the same.

Kurt grabs the ankle lock but Sting is able to escape. Angle gets all ticked off but charges into a big boot. There’s the Scorpion with Kurt tapping and Hogan calls out the troops, distracting the referee. Gunner runs down with a chair but the referee takes it from him. Hogan uses the distraction to pop Sting in the chest with a chair and that does nothing. Sting Hulks Up but gets caught in an Angle Slam onto the chair for the pin at 6:35.

Rating: C. This was their usual stuff played at fast forward. The problem of the time not being there for the main event comes into play again as this main evented a PPV a few weeks ago and now there isn’t even seven minutes to give to them. Not anything of note here but I guess it advances Sting vs. Hogan a bit.

Post match Sting gets up again but all of Immortal comes out for the beatdown. Anderson runs out with a bat and cleans house.

Overall Rating: C-. It really is amazing how the crowd being fresh can make a difference. They felt alive tonight and the look of the arena was much better. It felt more professional rather than second rate like they usually do in Orlando. Not a horrible show but the wrestling left a bit to be desired, namely due to nothing having a chance to get going.

For regular TV matches that’s fine but for stuff like the main event which is a big match, it needs time to develop which it didn’t get, due to having to cram everything into the show and have segments that just didn’t need to be there, like Hogan being mad at Hardy and the Knockouts coming out for the Knockout Law thing. This wasn’t as bad as some of their shows but it still wasn’t anything excellent.

Results

Gunner b. Rob Van Dam – Running knee to the head

Brian Kendrick/Jesse Sorensen b. Kid Kash/Austin Aries – Sorensen pinned Kash with a sunset flip

Mickie James b. Winter – High kick

Christopher Daniels b. AJ Styles – Pin after Styles slipped off the top rope

Kurt Angle b. Sting – Angle Slam onto a chair

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews, and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 29, 2013
Location: Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

The news of the week is the BFG Series is wrapping up tonight before the September 12 No Surrender special. Apparently six weeks isn’t long enough to have 66 matches and amazingly enough, TNA didn’t catch on to that idea. Other than that we have Hogan for the first time in about a month tonight, though I don’t think a lot of people noticed he was gone. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are the Aces to get things going. Ray talks about how D-Von is no longer here with them after losing the fall last week. He wants some answers from the club about what happened last week. Bischoff doesn’t know but he’s just as mad as Ray is. Knux was on the floor fighting Magnus and Rampage which satisfies Ray. Brisco doesn’t know what happened. Anderson doesn’t know either but D-Von knew what the consequences were and it was a disappointment.

Ray goes on a rant against D-Von, saying he was always the sidekick and that Ray never needed him, either before or ever in the future. All Ray needs is Tito Ortiz and he’s going to give Tito his own cut tonight. Anderson FREAKS, saying that Ray doesn’t have the right to do this without putting it to a vote. Ray says get in line before Ray puts him in line and demands Brooke get out here now. Anderson keeps freaking out as Ray puts the cut on Ortiz. Ray pulls off the D-Von patch to really rub it in Anderson’s face. Bully yells at Hulk a bit and says this Brooke is the only one that ever mattered to him.

Jeff Hardy is ready to face Kazarian to get into the BFG Series finals.

Hulk Hogan arrives.

Here are the BFG Series standings coming into tonight.

1. Magnus – 39

2. Bobby Roode – 34

3. Christopher Daniels – 30

4. Austin Aries – 28

5. Samoa Joe – 26

6. Mr. Anderson – 24

6. Jeff Hardy – 24

8. AJ Styles – 22

8. Kazarian – 22

10. Joseph Park – 17

11. Hernandez – 7

11. Jay Bradley – 7

Remember only the top 4 advance.

Bound For Glory Series: Kazarian vs. Jeff Hardy

They trade quick near falls to start before Jeff sends him to the floor for a clothesline off the apron. Back in and Jeff can’t hit the Twist of Fate, getting crotched on the ropes out of the corner instead. Kaz does Hardy’s dance and stomps away before getting two off a leg lariat. Off to a chinlock on Hardy which makes sense here given the need for points.

A knee drop gets two on Hardy but he comes back with the sitout front suplex. Jeff hits the legdrop between the legs and there’s a bad looking figure four of all things. A rope is grabbed and Kaz gets a quick two each off a backslide and a bicycle kick to the face. Jeff comes right back with the Twist of Fate and the Swanton is good for the pin and seven points at 6:12.

Rating: C. Nice little match here as Kaz continues to be solid in the ring. Hardy is one of those guys you almost have to have in the main event scene due to his history and continued popularity. As usual, the solution to some not very interesting stories is having good wrestling like this.

That puts Hardy at 31 points and into third place.

Aces and 8’s are mad at Bully and are talking about impeachment.

Gail Kim vs. ODB

This is 2/3 falls and for a future shot at Mickie James. Gail jumps her to start but gets tossed into the corner for her efforts. A delayed vertical suplex gets two on Gail but ODB tries to jump over her in the corner, only to get dropped down onto the knee. Kim stays on the knee by ramming it into the steps. She hooks a cross between a Sharpshooter and a Texas Cloverleaf, good for the submission from ODB at 3:06.

The second fall starts after a break with Gail still on the leg. Gail is pulled away by the referee, allowing ODB to hook a small package for the second fall at 8:45 total. Kim stays on the leg but ODB clotheslines her down for two more. The knee gives out on a Bam attempt though and Gail wraps ODB’s leg around her own neck. Gail can’t hit Eat Defeat and gets caught in the same hold she won the first fall with for the submission and the win for ODB at 12:43 total.

Rating: D+. Total lack of psychology on the third fall aside, this did nothing for me. ODB is a one joke character who stopped being funny a LONG time ago. This division is dying for some new talent but they’re content to have four girls fight for months at a time with no one new coming in.

Velvet has a surprise for us. She was supposed to be at Hardcore Justice but had some personal issues to deal with. Velvet mentions that she and Sabin are together but won’t go further than that.

Daniels is freaking out that EGO is in trouble in the BFG Series. Roode says calm down because all they have to do is beat Aries and Styles tonight.

Aries says he’ll count on himself to get to the BFG Series finals. He doesn’t know why Styles did what he did last week but Daniels comes in to yell at him for not accepting EGO’s offer. Aries threatens to smack Daniels so hard he’ll start growing hair again.

Hulk doesn’t want to answer questions but he has a huge announcement.

We recap the ten man tag from last week.

Here’s the Mafia (minus the Visa issue having Magnus, which I believe has since been resolved) with something to say. Jackson wants to talk about Tito jumping him with a hammer two weeks ago. He isn’t waiting for their MMA fight (in Bellator on PPV November 2) because every chance he gets he’s going after Ortiz. Joe says they want to recognize AJ Styles for what he did last week and invite him to the ring.

Styles comes out to the slow theme before changing to Get Ready To Fly. AJ thanks them for their recognition but says he needs to do this himself. He says everyone has questions but he has answers. Last Thursday was a one time thing: he is NOT a member of the Mafia but he has no problem with them at all. AJ has developed some trust issues over the last year from being stabbed in the back and having people air his dirty laundry without his permission. Maybe that’s just how the business works though and maybe he can only trust Allen Jones (his real name).

He’s with no one and he’s changed because his perception of the business has changed. AJ says he’s better than the best in the world but this is just a job. People know what it’s like to have a job that sucks but why be the nicest guy in the world when you don’t love what you’re doing. He shouts at Mike Tenay and Dixie Carter that he deserves better. Why should he break his back when Dixie is always looking for the next big thing to come in and save the company? Over the last year he’s wanted to be fired so he could quit, but he’s stayed here and done his job because he has to take care of his family.

Instead he came to this ring and started making people tap out but something started to click in his head. He liked being Dixie’s go to guy who everyone depended on to steal the show. He can still be the best in the world and he can still be that go to guy. AJ says he’s going to Bound For Glory to become the new world heavyweight champion. Outstanding promo here with AJ summing up his entire story in just a few minutes.

Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode

AJ needs a submission to make the top four. They trade arm locks to start and AJ goes for a quick Calf Killer, only to send Roode to the floor. Back in and we get the drop down from AJ but Roode holds the ropes to avoid the dropkick. AJ sends him into the ropes again and now the dropkick sends Roode to the outside. Styles dives to the floor to take Roode out before hooking a reverse chinlock back inside. Roode comes back with a spinebuster and cranks on AJ’s arms for a lame submission attempt.

Styles drills him in the face and clotheslines Roode down before hitting a top rope Lionsault. AJ pulls up at one because he needs the submission and drops Roode with the Pele. The springboard forearm is countered into the Crossface but AJ gets his feet into the ropes. Roode puts it back on in the middle of the ring but AJ rolls out and puts on the Calf Killer, only to have Bobby make the rope. Roode kicks off a figure four but his fisherman’s suplex is countered into a small package for the pin at 7:12.

Rating: B. I was really liking this match with the psychology working very well. Styles won on instinct and looked dejected after pinning Roode. Roode can work well when he has a good opponent like Styles in there and this was no exception. Very good match here due to the solid psychology but the work made it even better.

Hogan is going to talk after the main event.

Bound For Glory Series: Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels takes him down to start but Aries jumps over him in the corner and rakes Daniels’ back. They hit the mat off an Aries armdrag followed by a hard dropkick to the face for two. Back up and Daniels sends him to the floor, only to miss a slingshot moonsault. Daniels blocks the suicide dive with a knee to the head and we take a break. Back with Daniels getting two off what appeared to be a moonsault and hooking a chinlock.

Aries escapes an abdominal stretch and they clothesline each other. Austin fires off left hands in the corner and brings back the pendulum elbow for two. Daniels is sent to the floor and now the suicide dive connects for Aries. Back in and Aries misses a dive off the top, allowing Daniels to hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Aries comes back with a missile dropkick and a running dropkick in the corner. Daniels counters the brainbuster in the Last Rites (Cross Rhodes) for two. Back up and they slug it out with Aries hitting a quick running dropkick and the brainbuster gets him seven points at 11:15.

Rating: B. Another very fun match here with Daniels hanging in there with Aries move for move. The win puts Aries into the final four which is probably the right idea, though I’m not sure where they’re going with AJ giving a big impassioned speech and then having him finish in the middle of the pack. Good match here though which is a nice theme tonight.

Here are the final standings:

1. Magnus – 39

2. Austin Aries – 35

3. Bobby Roode – 34

4. Jeff Hardy – 31

5. Christopher Daniels – 30

6. AJ Styles – 29

7. Samoa Joe – 26

8. Mr. Anderson – 24

9. Kazarian – 22

10. Joseph Park – 17

11. Hernandez – 7

11. Jay Bradley – 7

Ray says he needs Ortiz’s help with Hogan tonight.

Here’s Hogan for his latest HUGE announcement. He praises Cleveland before talking about the BFG Series. See, in his meetings with network executives, he decided there’s going to be a gauntlet match next week for 20 more points. Hogan has another piece of business to tend to but here are Ray and Brooke to interrupt. Hogan cuts them off and pulls out some divorce papers for Ray to sign.

Ray kicks them away and brags about using Brooke (Hogan) to get where he is today. Hogan asks Ray if he knows who he is. In two weeks at No Surrender, it’s going to be Ray defending against a member of Aces and 8’s. Ray says no but Hogan says yes he is. Hogan says Ray is defending this week (I guess he meant next week) as well against…..Sting. You know, the guy who lost at Slammiversary so he would NEVER get another title shot. Sting beats Ray down to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is what TNA is capable of when they cut out a lot of the stupid angles and focus on the in ring action instead of trying to out drama the WWE. You get a fun show that flew by and sets up future events. The impending implosion of the Aces and 8’s is a breath of fresh air around here as it’s been going on WAY too long already. Good, fun show this week, assuming you don’t mind rules being made up on the fly.

Results

Jeff Hardy b. Kazarian – Swanton Bomb

ODB b. Gail Kim – Texas Cloverleaf

AJ Styles b. Bobby Roode – Small Package

Austin Aries b. Christopher Daniels – Brainbuster

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews, and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 22, 2013
Location: Constant Center, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Tazz, Mike Tenay

We’re still in Virginia for the other main event from Hardcore Justice. Tonight’s main event is the Mafia vs. the Aces in a big ten man brawl with the person taking the fall being banished from Impact Wrestling forever. Other than that we’ve got another four way match for twenty points in the BFG Series. We’ve got about a month left in the entire Series so points are becoming more and more important. Let’s get to it.

We open with the Aces and 8’s in the back. Ray and Anderson get in an argument over whose corner Tito Ortiz will be in tonight. The world champion tells Anderson to worry about his own business.

Here are Roode, Daniels and Kaz to open us up in the arena. Roode congratulates Ray on becoming a two time world champion by screwing the system. Now it’s Ray with the target on his chest and it’s going to be one of them that will take the title from him. Roode talks about setting the tables for 20 points in the Series last week and Kaz says he did the same. Tonight Daniels will complete the sweep for the Extraordinary Gentlemen’s Organization because he’s the best street fighter in TNA.

Roode says they’re 25% of the BFG Series but they should be 1/3. They want to add Austin Aries to the group because it’s the best chance Aries has at becoming the world champion. Instead they get Storm and Gunner, who are tag champions in case you had forgotten. Storm doesn’t like hearing Roode talk about trust because it’s only a matter of time before Roode turns on Daniels and Kaz. James takes off his shirt and is ready to fight, with the tag champions clearing the ring. Apparently this is going to be a tag match.

James Storm/Gunner vs. Kazarian/Bobby Roode

Non-title. It’s a brawl to start with the champions in control as we go to an early break. Back with Roode sending Gunner into the corner and chopping away before Gunner comes back with forearms of his own. Kaz comes in with a spinwheel kick for two as Storm makes the save. Everyone is in jeans here to give it more of a street fight feel. Roode comes back in for some shots of his own before Kaz gets two off a legdrop.

Gunner no sells a kick to the chest and hits an Irish Curse to allow for the double tag. Off to Roode vs. Storm with James cleaning house. The corner enziguri drops Kaz and a top rope elbow gets two on Roode. Everything breaks down and Storm hits the Closing Time to put Roode down. Roode pulls the referee in the way of the Last Call, so Kaz takes the kick instead. A low blow from Bobby is enough for the pin on Storm at 9:45.

Rating: C. These four guys and Daniels have been stuck in midcard limbo for a good while now and it’s sad to see them not move up at all. Storm had so much going for him last year but it was all thrown away and has never come back. It’s a shame too as he could have been a huge deal for the company. The match was just ok and didn’t have time to go anywhere given the commercial.

Aries thinks he has a lot of offers on the table and has an idea.

Sonjay Dutt vs. Manik

Non-title. Sonjay tries to dive onto the champion during the entrance but Manik dives to safety. Manik hooks a quick Black Widow submission hold but Sonjay rolls out. They’ve moving very fast out there. Dutt misses a big kick to the head but hits a standing moonsault for two. Sonjay puts on a modified Octopus Hold before shifting to a double arm choke.

Back up and Manik does his land in the ropes spot and avoids a charging Dutt to send him to the floor. A slingshot dropkick gets two for Manik and he counters a Rocker Dropper into a sitout powerbomb for two. Manik charges into a boot in the corner and hits a running boot of his own, setting up a springboard splash for two. The moonsault double stomp doesn’t connect and Manik hits his wheelbarrow gutbuster for the pin at 4:26.

Rating: C. Standard flippy match here and if you’re into that style, you would have liked this. There was nothing special to see here as I’m not huge on Manik for the most part. He’s just another guy in the division and happens to be the flavor of the month with the title. Nothing to see here, as usual once Destination X is over.

Mr. Anderson gives the bikers a pep talk.

Sting and the Mafia huddle.

Bound For Glory Series: Hernandez vs. Joseph Park vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jay Bradley

This is a street fight for twenty points. It’s a big brawl to start with SuperMex clotheslining Bradley to the floor so Daniels can get two off a rollup. Eric Young is in Park’s corner because TNA loves their wacky pairings. Bradley breaks up a cover by Hernandez with a chair to the back before wrapping the chair around Hernandez’s neck to ram it into the corner. Park is back up and helps SuperMex double team the other guys while doing his “Who me?” schtick. Bradley and Daniels are both splashed in the corner and we take a break.

Back with Hernandez cracking Daniels in the back with a kendo stick but Daniels backdrops him on the stage. Back in the ring and park avoids a big boot from Bradley in the corner but Bradley gets in a shot to stop his momentum. Park takes Bradley down to avoid a chair shot but his Boston crab is broken up by a Roode/Kaz distraction. Eric Young tries to make the save but gets beaten down as well. Bradley is back up to beat on Daniels in the ring. A big boot sets up a chair shot to the back followed by a suplex onto the chair.

Kaz breaks up the Boom Stick as Hernandez hits the charge from the ramp over the ropes to take Daniels down. Daniels escapes the Border Toss and Austin Aries is here. His distraction allows Daniels to hit a running STO on Hernandez, but after high fiving Roode, Aries lays out Daniels with the brainbuster. Bradley knocks out Park with brass knuckles but they bust Park open, meaning it’s Abyss mode. The Black Hole Slam is good for the pin on Bradley at 12:20.

Rating: C. I know I’ve used that rating a lot tonight but that’s the case with almost everything tonight. It’s just ok with none of the matches standing out. That’s the case here again: Hernandez does his power stuff, EGO does their stuff, Bradley is in way over his head and Park is very cautious until he bleeds and then he snaps for the win. It’s not a bad or boring match but it’s like a ham sandwich: it’ll get you through the day but it’s nothing you’ll remember in about an hour.

We recap the far too long Brooke Hogan/Bully Ray saga.

Here’s the new world champion, flanked by Tito Ortiz, for his championship celebration. Ray asks how it feels to have the wool pulled over your eyes again. Do you know who he is? He’s Bully Ray, the world champion. Notice that he didn’t say the two time world champion, because he doesn’t count Sabin’s fluke win. This brings him to his new best friend: Tito Ortiz. Tito says he’ll knock Rampage out again on November 2^nd.

Ray says if you thought that was a surprise, there’s an even bigger shock. This one is about Ray and his woman. It’s time for the world to know about them. He tells Brooke to come out here but it’s Brooke Tessmacher instead of Hogan. They kiss in the ring and Ray says now he has the hot Brooke. Ray brags about being unstoppable and says there’s only one thing left to do. Brooke bites his ring off and spits it out, which I guess is writing Brooke Hogan off TV. I think this was supposed to be some big surprise but no one seemed to care.

ODB vs. Gail Kim

ODB shoves her around to start and rams Gail face first into the buckle. Gail heads to the floor for a breather as ODB rubs her own body in the ring. Back in and Gail takes her down by the arm and sends it into the buckle. ODB is put on the top rope and taken down by a shoulder breaker for two before Gail hooks a hammerlock.

Gail goes to snap the arm over the ropes but gets hit low to give ODB a breather. Back to the corner for ODB’s crotch rams (don’t ask if you don’t know) followed by the middle rope Thesz Press for two. A superplex puts Gail down but it hurts ODB’s shoulder again, meaning it’s only good for two. Gail pops back up with a crucifix for the pin at 6:42.

Rating: D. There was no heat to this match at all and it didn’t seem like the wrestlers cared either. ODB’s one joke has been played out for years now and for the life of me I don’t get why the fans cheer for her so much. This was a very dull match as the show continues to just fill in time until the main event.

Jeff Hardy talks about what winning the Bound For Glory Series means.

Austin Aries says he’s going to win the world title with his own skills alone.

Hulk Hogan will be back next week after meeting with lawyers.

Chris Sabin says it sucks that Aces and 8’s keep interfering. Rampage had his back and Sabin will get his revenge.

Aces and 8’s vs. Main Event Mafia

Aces and 8’s: Wes Brisco, Garrett Bischoff, Knux, D-Von, Mr. Anderson

Main Event Mafia: Sting, Samoa Joe, Rampage Jackson, Magnus

The loser of the fall is gone from TNA forever and the Mafia comes in down a man due to Angle going to rehab. Before the bell Anderson calls out Ray to sit on the stage and watch. Anderson goes on to say that the Mafia can pick someone to lay down without a fight. Sting says no way because they want to fight. There go the lights for some reason and here’s AJ Styles. He throws the hood back and the music changes to Get Ready To Fly, meaning the Phenomenal One is back and part of the Mafia tonight.

It’s a huge brawl to start until we finally get down to Magnus vs. Wes to start. Magnus throws him into the corner and brings in Joe to pound Brisco down. Joe hits the enziguri in the corner for two before it’s off to Garrett. AJ comes in for the fireman’s carry flip into a backbreaker as we take a break. Back with Magnus in trouble in the Aces corner. The bikers take turns on the Brit with everyone getting in shots.

Garrett gets two off a clothesline as the fans chant YES. Anderson comes in for a suplex before it’s back to D-Von for a neck crank. The fans tell him he sucks and Taz rants about Hogan a bit. The back elbow puts Magnus down again and D-Von Spinaroonis up. Back to Knux for some choking but Magnus scores with a quick DDT for a breather. There’s the hot tag to Sting and everything breaks down. Jackson starts cleaning house but Knux gets in a cheap shot.

Sting takes Knux down with the Death Drop and puts on the Deathlock but D-Von makes the save. Knux can only get two though and things settle down again. AJ gets the hot tag and hits the springboard forearm to D-Von. A backfist and a standing enziguri get two for Styles but everything breaks down again. Styles loads up the Clash on D-Von but has to hit the Pele on Anderson. D-Von spears Styles down but AJ comes right back with the Clash to get rid of D-Von at 16:16.

Rating: C+. The match was ok because it actually got some time. The fans were pleased for AJ’s return to form which has been needed for a long time. Getting rid of D-Von is fine as he doesn’t really do anything other than say TESTIFY. Hopefully it leads to the end of the Aces as they’re so far past their expiration date it’s unreal.

Taz is furious to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The main event was pretty good but it doesn’t safe a very dull show up to that point. I’m glad to see AJ back in his old form but I can’t stand it when a story is just dropped like that. The Aces stuff is beyond boring at this point but them losing a member is a good sign as hopefully they’re gone soon after Bound For Glory. Boring show but helped by a decent main event though.

Results

Kazarian/Bobby Roode b. James Storm/Gunner – Low Blow to Storm

Manik b. Sonjay Dutt – Wheelbarrow gutbuster

Joseph Park b. Jay Bradley, Christopher Daniels and Hernandez – Black Hole Slam to Bradley

Gail Kim b. ODB – Crucifix

Main Event Mafia b. Aces and 8’s – Styles Clash to D-Von

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 15, 2013
Location: Constant Center, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Tazz, Mike Tenay

This is another special episode with Hardcore Justice. The main event tonight is Bully Ray vs. Chris Sabin for Sabin’s world title inside a cage. We were also supposed to get the Main Event Mafia vs. Aces and 8’s in a loser (of the fall) leaves town match but it was postponed to next week due to “unforeseen circumstances”, whatever that may mean. The show should be fun tonight so let’s get to it.

Bound For Glory Series: Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kazarian vs. AJ Styles

This is for 20 points and it’s a ladder match. The clipboard hanging above the ring has a piece of paper with the number 20 on it. Keeping it simple I guess. Kaz goes to the floor to get the first ladder but the other three block him from coming back in. Aries and Kaz fight for the ladder on the ramp with Austin letting go of the ladder to send Kaz to the floor. A top rope ax handle puts Kaz down but AJ knocks Hardy to the floor as well. AJ dives onto Hardy to take him down again and leave Styles as the only man standing.

Kaz gets in a ladder shot to put AJ down before climbing the ladder. Aries comes back in and crotches Kaz against the ladder, leaving Austin vs. Jeff in the ring. Jeff sends him to the floor but AJ pulls the ladder away for a showdown. Hardy tries a quick Twist of Fate but gets shoved off and sent to the announce table on the floor. Kaz comes back in with a slingshot DDT to AJ but has to have a forearm duel with Aries. Styles dropkicks the ladder into the back of Kaz’s head but Aries backdrops AJ to the floor. The company is living up to its name for a change as this has been nonstop action since the bell.

Aries runs interference to stop Jeff and AJ from going up the ladder before sending Kaz head first into the post. Austin tries a climb but gets pulled down by Hardy and Jeff knocks down the other two as well. Jeff and Austin both go up but Kaz and AJ make the save, sending all four guys down as we take a break. Back with Aries going up but being pulled down by Kaz before he gets too far. AJ stops both of them and hits the springboard forearm to send Austin to the ramp. The ladder appears to be bent or broken.

Kaz brings in another ladder to clean house but can’t climb up fast enough. All four guys go up at the same time and AJ gets his fingers on the contract but Aries shakes everything up with a sunset bomb to Hardy. Kaz and AJ are left alone on the ladder and they fight over a suplex off the ladder. Kaz rakes AJ’s eyes to put him down but Styles shoves the ladder over, putting everyone down again.

Aries hits his running dropkick in the corner on Styles and goes up but Hardy makes another save. Styles pulls Aries off the ladder and loads up the Styles Clash but Kaz pulls in a downward spiral on AJ at the same time. Kaz goes up but it’s Jeff making another save. Aries comes out of the corner with a missile dropkick to take them both down and goes up as well, but here are Roode and Daniels for a distraction.

Styles plays Shelton Benjamin by springboarding up to the ladder but Hardy shoves the ladder over, sending both guys to the floor. Roode pulls Hardy down as Daniels distracts the referee but Jeff kicks him off. Daniels slips the appletini to Kaz and Jeff gets blinded, allowing Kaz to get the win at 17:35.

Rating: A-. This was the simple formula of take four guys and let them dive off stuff for fifteen minutes or so. I’m not big on another faction in TNA because they’re already on overload with them, but at least they’re not involved with the other two. The action here was great though and they couldn’t have picked a better opener.

Chris Sabin talks about enjoying watching Team 3D put people through tables. Tonight though, he’s going to be 3-0 against Bully Ray.

Dixie Carter is in the ring with the Main Event Mafia. She talks about Angle being in rehab and how he’ll be there for an indefinite amount of time. Here are the Aces minus Bully before she can get too far into things though. Anderson talks about how the team only has a week to find a replacement. He talks about how Magnus could be leaving and says Magnus used to be the future.

Magnus says they only have a week to find someone new but they might just pull someone out of the audience. Anderson says tonight is the start of a new era for Aces and 8’s and the brawl is on. The Aces beat the Mafia down with ease and stand tall. That’s rather impressive when you have guys like Brisco and Bischoff on one side and a former MMA world champion on another.

Tito Ortiz is here.

Mickie James vs. ODB vs. Gail Kim

This is a hardcore match and not for Mickie’s title. ODB runs them over to start and hits her chest grabbing splashes on both girls in the corner. Mickie pulls her out of the corner but Gail isn’t interested in an alliance. Gail pounds on ODB as Mickie wedges a chair into the corner. ODB is whipped into said chair and the other girls get a stereo two count. Mickie rolls up Gail for two and they slug it out with until Gail is sent to the floor. Kim sends ODB back inside and goes to look for a weapon but gets a knee from Mickie instead.

James finds a kendo stick from somewhere and cracks ODB over the back before choking Gail with it. ODB comes back in and pounds on them with the stick before pulling one of her two bras out of the top to choke both girls with it. Mickie gets in a shot and puts on the figure four around the post as Gail chokes away but they can’t get along again. ODB gets a shot from the flask and sprays Mickie in the face but Gail breaks up the Bam. Another stick shot misses and ODB hits the Bam on Gail on the chair for the pin at 6:48.

Rating: D+. Did you know ODB was uncouth and does stuff that isn’t proper or whatever you call it? Don’t worry if you don’t because TNA will beat it over your head until you get the idea. The match was nothing special and felt more like a WWE style street fight with the really basic weapons and little more.

Sting yells at the Mafia and suggests Aries as a replacement.

Sting pitches Aries a spot in the Mafia but doesn’t get an answer. Aries does seem intrigued though.

Roode says his plan is coming together.

Sting tells the Mafia that Aries said no. Rampage has an idea and will address it in the ring. Joe goes with him and Magnus has an idea for Sting.

We recap Ray vs. Sabin in a nice, comprehensive video. To be fair though there isn’t much to recap.

Ray is on the phone with someone he calls honey and says this hasn’t been a normal relationship. Tonight is about Ray but next week is about the two of them. “I love you too Brooke.”

Here are Jackson and Joe with something to say. Jackson talks about MMA fans calling him a sellout for coming to wrestling. However now that he’s in the Mafia, he feels like he’s in a family. He didn’t come here to get beaten up though, so now he needs to ask an old training partner for his help. Jackson calls out Tito Ortiz and plugs the Bellator PPV several times. Rampage offers Tito the spot on the Mafia team next week but Ray interrupts (to the wrong music) before we can get an answer. Ray says he’d come in there right now if he didn’t have a title match later tonight. Ray threatens them, Ortiz is held back, that’s about it.

Bound For Glory Series: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Bobby Roode

This is a tables match with the first person to drive someone else through a table getting 20 points. Magnus jumps Roode during his entrance and we start fast. They head inside as Joe and Anderson brawl on the floor with no tables brought in yet. Joe throws the first one in before taking Roode down with a powerslam. Anderson tries the rolling senton on Anderson but Magnus makes the save. The Mafia teams up to clean house but both of them try powerbombs through the table at the same time. Anderson and Roode fight out and turn the table over as we get a makeshift tag match.

Everyone heads to the floor and Joe rings the bell on top of Roode’s crotch. Anderson tries a Mic Check off the ramp through a table but Magnus counters into a failed powerbomb bid. A low blow puts the Brit down and Joe rings the bell again. The pairings switch off and Joe hits the Ole kick minus the Ole on Anderson. Back inside Magnus’ powerslam through the table is escaped and he walks into the Roode spinebuster. Everyone is back inside now and the Mafia is in trouble. Joe is whipped into Roode for a clothesline, sending Bobby to the outside.

Joe hits the suicide dive to take Roode out and Anderson gets caught in a bad looking Snow Plow. The table is set again but Anderson takes Magnus down with the Mic Check. Joe comes back in to chop Anderson and loads up the Muscle Buster but Roode moves the table. Roode sends Joe to the floor and puts Magnus on the table, only to get crotched on the top by the Samoan. Cue Kazarian to distract Joe, allowing Daniels to throw the appletini into Magnus’ face. Roode powerbombs Magnus through the table for the 20 points at 10:20.

Rating: C+. This was fun but ran a bit long. The ending being the same as the first one was fine but it didn’t really surprise anyone. I’m not a fan of the 20 points thing here because it sent Kaz and now Roode from the bottom to the top in one night, basically making whole months worthless.

Anderson and Ray get in an argument over Anderson costing Ray the title. Ray doesn’t know if he can win and Anderson says the club is here to help him. Anderson says he isn’t an enemy but Ray says he doesn’t seem like an ally.

Next week it’s Jay Bradley vs. Hernandez vs. Daniels vs. Joseph Park in a 20 point street fight.

TNA World Title: Bully Ray vs. Chris Sabin

In a cage with Sabin defending and if Ray loses, he never gets another shot at the gold. After the big match intros we’re ready to go. I think it’s pin/submission/escape here but the announcers don’t make it clear. Ray scores a quick slam but Sabin pops right back up. Another slam puts Sabin down even harder but he shoves Ray back. There’s a third hard slam but Sabin comes back with some armdrags and a dropkick to send Ray into the corner. Some forearms in the corner set up a delayed dropkick but Ray sends him onto the top rope. The champion comes off with a cross body for two and dropkicks Ray’s leg out.

Sabin goes up but gets crotched and LAUNCHED into the cage with authority. I’m guessing Bully’s authority but it isn’t really clear. Back from a break with Ray in full control and getting two off a big elbow drop. He shouts at Sabin to hit him in the face and the champion does just that, coming out of the corner with forearms to the face. Ray gets caught in a backslide for two but takes Sabin’s head off to regain control. Bully loads up a huge powerbomb but Sabin slips down into a sleeper, only to have Ray ram him into the cage for the break.

Sabin comes out of the corner with a nice tornado DDT but can’t immediately follow up. They slug it out and the champion gets all fired up by chopping Ray down. He actually hits a Death Valley Driver on the big man but doesn’t cover. Sabin takes Ray’s Aces cut off and whips Ray across the back with it, only to get kicked in the face for two. A Samoan drop gets two on Sabin but Ray gets caught while climbing. Sabin tries a rana out of the corner but drops Ray down on his shoulder, sending Ray across the mat, clutching his shoulder and screaming in pain.

Hail Sabin is countered into a suplex and Ray wants the door open. Sabin tries to slide past Ray but gets pulled back in. Ray misses a charge and sends the referee into the cage, knocking him out cold. Sabin hits a missile dropkick on Ray but there’s no referee to count the pin. Anderson slams the cage door against Sabin’s shoulder but Sabin pops right back up. Anderson: “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” Cue the Mafia for the save but Ortiz hits Rampage with the hammer, allowing Ray to kill Sabin with the powerbomb for the pin and the title at 18:08.

Rating: C+. Good cage match here but you knew the swerve was coming. Ortiz turning (was that a turn? I don’t think he was ever a face to begin with) isn’t really a surprise and it was pretty obvious that Ray was walking out with the gold. It’s a good cage match but the lack of any drama really didn’t help much.

Overall Rating: B. This was a really solid show and with the extra matches that are scheduled for next week it would have been even better. If only there was a way to have all the stuff you get on TV plus a bit more, say on a different night of the week to make it feel special…..nah that would never work. Anyway this was the usual good stuff from TNA when they try and have no Hogans dragging them to a grinding halt. The problem I see for TNA though is they pretty much have three stories going: Ray’s ongoing story, the Series and the Mafia vs. the Aces and 8’s. If you don’t like those, you’re out of luck. Good show tonight.

Results

Kazarian b. AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy and Austin Aries – Kazarian pulled down the clipboard

ODB b. Gail Kim and Mickie James – Bam on a chair to Kim

Bobby Roode b. Magnus, Samoa Joe and Mr. Anderson – Roode powerbombed Magnus through a table

Bully Ray b. Chris Sabin – Powerbomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling book as low as $4 at:

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 8, 2013
Location: Kay Yeager Center, Wichita, Texas
Commentators: Taz, Jeremy Borash

It’s the go home show for Hardcore Justice, which means tonight isn’t likely to be all that interesting. The main story is going to be the fallout from Tito Ortiz debuting last week, meaning expect to hear the word Bellator a lot tonight. I’m not interested in two MMA guys fighting, especially when they’re part of the Mafia vs. Aces feud which isn’t doing much for anyone. Let’s get to it.

Here are the Aces to open things up but it’s only Taz, Ray and Anderson. Taz and Anderson sit down on commentary and yell at JB. There’s no Tenay in sight so I guess JB is taking his place for awhile. Ray talks about how we all saw the August 1 warning last week and it was Tito Ortiz. No one does surprises like Ray, so don’t mess with him or Tito will get smacked. Tonight it’s Team 3D vs. Sabin/a member of the Mafia. It doesn’t matter who the partner is because next week, Sabin is locked inside of a cage with Bully Ray and the title is coming home.

Ray calls Sabin out for a contract signing for next week and says the belt looks horrible on Chris. Sabin says looks can be deceiving because earlier this year, Ray was walking around pretending to be the hero of TNA. A month ago no one would have said Sabin could have beaten Ray except one person: Sabin himself. He didn’t bring the hammer into the ring and next week there won’t be a hammer to swing. Ray tells Hogan to bring the contract out here but gets Brooke instead of Hulk.

Brooke says Hulk is in Dallas tonight researching contracts. She has an email from him which says if Ray loses next week, he never gets another title shot. Ray says he isn’t going to be bullied by a Hogan. Brooke comes to the ring and implies Ray is rather small. There’s an image I could have done without. Ray and Sabin both sign and this very stupid segment comes to an end.

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy

Jeff quickly gets to the ropes to escape a wristlock and sends Joe to the floor via a headscissors. A clothesline off the apron puts Joe down but he comes back in with a running charge in the corner followed by an enziguri. Jeff rolls to the floor and the elbow suicide puts him down as we take a break. Back with Joe hitting a spinebuster and dropping an elbow for two. We hit the chinlock on Hardy before Joe just punches him down in the corner.

Joe powerbombs Hardy down and goes to an STF into the Rings of Saturn into a crucifix for two. Nice sequence. Hardy fights up and hits some clotheslines followed by a basement dropkick for two. The Whisper in the Wind gets the same but Hardy charges into a release Rock Bottom for two. The Muscle Buster is countered into the Twist of Fate which is countered into the Koquina Clutch. Hardy gets out with a jawbreaker and rolls Joe up for the pin at 12:03. Apparently Anderson distracted Joe to let Jeff get out.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t bad but the ending didn’t work for the most part. Anderson could have at least gotten on the apron for a distraction but instead we just saw a closeup of his face. You would have expected these two to have better chemistry but instead it was just going through some good motions until the end.

Daniels doesn’t know why Kaz is being selfish about the Series. He’s the captain of Bad Influence and ahead in the Series, meaning it’s his time and not Kaz’s.

Bound For Glory Series: Magnus vs. Mr. Anderson

Anderson runs him over with a shoulder to start but runs into a big boot to the face. Magnus backdrops him out to the floor but Magnus is sent hard into the steps to put him down. Back in and Anderson drives his shoulder into Magnus’ shoulder before running him over with a shoulder block. Off to a top wristlock for a few moments before Magnus counters a suplex, only to be caught in a DDT on the arm for two.

Back up and Magnus scores with a clothesline followed by something resembling a Snow Plow for no cover. Magnus goes up top but has to fight off a superplex attempt. Instead he knocks Anderson down but TOTALLY misses the top rope elbow. Cue Bobby Roode with a chair to lay out Anderson, giving him the win via DQ at 7:30, meaning Magnus loses ten points.

Rating: D+. This was slow paced until the end and the arm work never went anywhere at all. Roode is likely trying to set up something later on which is fine but the Aces and 8’s are dragging the show down. We’re 50 minutes in and literally every segment has had the Aces involved. That’s WAY too much and it’s not good for the rest of the show.

Roode says he just changed the landscape and it’s just the beginning.

Magnus says he’ll get the ten points back.

Bromance says they kicked Tara to the curb because it’s Bro Mans before romance. Mickie comes in and says she’ll take care of ODB if they take care of Storm/Gunner.

Video on Tito Ortiz.

Sting and Angle come up to see Sabin in the back for no apparent reason other than for him to tell him about some plan. Ok then.

Here’s Tito Ortiz for his big talk but Kurt Angle interrupts him before anything can be said. Kurt says he respects what Tito has accomplished but he’s in Angle’s world now. Didn’t he say the same stuff to Jackson? Angle has earned the right to be called the greatest of all time. He’ll respect Ortiz’s space as long as Ortiz respects his. Tito says that’s loud and clear and here’s Ray AGAIN. Ray says he doesn’t respect either guy because he could take either guy out with ease. He introduces himself to Ortiz and threatens to slap Ortiz in the face if Tito gets in his way.

Bro Mans/Mickie James vs. Gunner/James Storm/ODB

Storm throws Robbie around to start and hits a running neckbreaker to take him down. Jesse gets in a cheap shot from the corner to take over before coming in legally to fire off shoulders in the corner. Robbie comes back in but gets caught in a Backstabber, allowing for the hot tag off to Gunner. An Irish Curse puts Robbie down and the girls come in for some brawling. Gunner’s torture rack is broken up by Jesse but Storm hits a GREAT superkick to Godderz, setting up the powerslam/neckbreaker combination to Robbie for the pin at 4:17.

Rating: D+. In other words, the team that was supposed to dominate did dominate and the ending was exactly what you would expect it to be. The tag division is somehow more dead than usual here as I can’t think of a fourth tag team at the moment other than these two and Bad Influence. The match was nothing and the girls never even got in.

Gail Kim comes out to brawl with ODB post match.

Kazarian says he’ll win tonight.

Team 3D is ready for the tag match tonight.

Bound For Glory Series: Kazarian vs. Christopher Daniels

Feeling out process with both guys grabbing arm holds to start. Kaz hooks a quick headlock and a rollup for two before it’s back to the headlock. They trade near falls until it breaks into a brief slugout…..and they walk to the ramp for a double countout at 4:03.

Rating: D. Please……let this show just end now. Next.

Post match Roode comes out with the chair but drops it on the ramp. He says everyone is talking about the Mafia and the Aces and the MMA guys. Everyone has been forgetting the three of them who comprise ¼ of the BFG Series. Roode calls the three of them a new force who will own the Series going forward. Yes, they’re actually having ANOTHER stable.

Tito Ortiz will have answers for us next week.

Next week it’s Hardy vs. Styles vs. Kaz vs. Aries in a ladder match for 20 points.

Video on next week’s ten man tag.

Team 3D vs. Chris Sabin/???

The partner is Sting, shocking no one at all. Actually scratch that as Angle sneaks in and becomes the partner instead, still not surprising anyone. It’s a brawl to start with Team 3D being rammed into each other. The fans chant USA, prompting Taz to say the only intelligent thing of the night: “New York City is in the USA.” Angle and D-Von get things going but it’s quickly off to Ray who is armdragged down.

Off to Sabin to stay on the arm for a bit before Angle comes back in. Ray takes him down by the leg and it’s off to D-Von who is taken down easily as well. Sabin comes back in but gets clipped in the knee, setting up What’s Up as we take our last break. Back with D-Von slamming Sabin down so Ray can shout that this is nothing compared to next week.

Ray goes after the knee but Sabin finally escapes and makes the hot tag to D-Von. Kurt cleans house and hits the Slam on Ray for two but D-Von breaks up whatever Angle had in mind. Angle charges into a Rock Bottom for two but reverses the Bully Bomb into an ankle lock. Ray kicks Kurt’s head off to put him down but Sabin tags himself in and hits a missile dropkick on Bully.

Sabin ducks a D-Von clothesline to send it into Ray as everything breaks down. Angle takes the 3D and Ray wants the tables. The table is set up in the corner but Ray’s charge misses, sending him through it himself. A high cross body from Sabin is good for the pin on Ray at 16:43.

Rating: C. I’m not going to lie to you: I was so bored by this show that I was barely paying attention to the main event. That NEVER happens and is a really bad sign when they have a big show coming up next week. Sabin is clearly a lame duck champion which is even worse when you consider the biggest show of the year is coming up, making the title change seem pointless. Standard main event tag match here.

Overall Rating: D-. Oh my goodness this was terrible. The first hour literally didn’t have an arena segment without the Aces and 8’s and then the last twenty minutes is an Aces tag match. On top of that there’s ANOTHER alliance formed which is the last thing people have been asking for. Next week should be better but they couldn’t telegraph a new champion harder than they are right now. This show was just boring with nothing of note going on for two hours and a gimmick show next month. There’s just WAY too much time between PPVs and it’s clear we’re just killing time until October. One of the worst shows in a LONG time.

Results

Jeff Hardy b. Samoa Joe – Jawbreaker

Mr. Anderson b. Magnus via DQ when Bobby Roode interfered

Gunner/James Storm/ODB b. Mickie James/Bro Mans – Powerslam/neckbreake combination to Robbie

Christopher Daniels vs. Kazarian went to a double countout

Chris Sabin/Kurt Angle b. Team 3D – High Cross Body to Ray

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $5 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books as low as $4 at:

It’s another DWI, his fourth alcohol related incident in six years.  Can TNA have ANY good news?

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 1, 2013
Location: Kay Yeager Coliseum, Wichita, Texas
Commentators: Jeremy Borash, Mike Tenay

It’s another live show tonight with two major stories. First of all we have champion vs. champion with Chris Sabin facing Manik in a non-title match. TNA is still in their annual “We love the X-Division! Seriously we do!” stage so Manik is still a focal point for awhile. The other big news tonight is the reveal of the August 1 mystery man who was announced about five days ago. That’s TNA for you: announce something after the TV show and rely on Twitter and Facebook to carry the story instead of, you know, your national television broadcast. Let’s get to it.

Security won’t let Taz in the arena so he’s making a phone call.

After the recap we get another video from the mystery man. He says he’ll inflict pain and we won’t know how. It’s going to shock us and we’ve been warned.

Here’s Austin Aries to open the show. He’s cut off by an appreciative chant from the crowd. Aries talks about how a lot of stuff is going on in TNA but it all revolves around the World Heavyweight Championship……and my screen froze. It comes back with Aries talking about winning the BFG Series and coming for Sabin’s title. Tonight the people get a treat (video goes out for a second) that they voted for: AJ Styles vs. Austin Aries. And now it’s frozen again.

Back with him listing off everyone in the company who wants to see that match. Aries says he’ll be leading Impact Wrestling into the future and if anyone takes issue with that, come see him right here. This brings out Bobby Roode who wants to talk about nightmares. He’s been living a nightmare since the day he lost the world title. It’s been a bad year for Bobby Roode because everyone has forgotten what he’s capable of doing in this ring. Bobby lists off his catchphrases and says tonight it pays to be Roode. Aries wants Roode to get his mojo back so he can beat him in the BFG Series finals.

Bound For Glory Series: Hernandez vs. Bobby Roode

Roode jumps Hernandez on the ramp and we take a quick break before the bell. Back from a break with Roode elbowing Hernandez down for two and the spinebuster gets the same. Roode sends him into the steps before going back inside for another near fall. A running clothesline puts Hernandez down in the corner but he backflips to the top for a missed top rope splash.

Roode hooks the Crossface but Hernandez pulls himself up and suplexes Roode down to escape. SuperMex throws Roode off and hits the shoulder block from the ramp. Roode escapes the Border Toss and lands on the referee, allowing for a low blow on Hernandez. That’s only good for two and Roode throws in some chairs which are thrown out pretty quickly. Roode uses the distraction to smash Hernandez in the head with a beer bottle for the pin at 5:48 shown.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do much for me but Roode’s story continues to be interesting. It would be nice to see a crazy do anything to win heel and it would give Roode some character for a change. The match wasn’t much to see though as Hernandez continues to be nothing special outside of a few moves.

The Mafia says they’re going to give Aces and 8’s an offer they can’t refuse.

ODB is back in the ring tonight but Eric Young can’t be there. He finds Joseph Park and explains the idea of Park losing his mind when he bleeds. Eric has a solution in a bag for him.

Sabin goes in to see Manik who has his mask off and his back to the camera. Manik says he’s turned the mask into the face of the division which is something Sabin can respect. Sabin wants him to bring his best tonight and Manik says absolutely.

A white Hummer arrives.

Bound For Glory Series: Jay Bradley vs. Joseph Park

Park is going to be wrestling in headgear like an amateur boxer. Bradley jumps him from behind but ramming him into the buckle has no effect. An elbow to the jaw puts Park down and a knee drop gets two as Eric Young plays cheerleader. Bradley takes him down again and wants to take the headgear off but Park comes back and knocks Bradley down a few times.

Park blocks a kick and puts on a Boston crab of all things but Jay makes the ropes. Park runs into another kick in the corner and a bad looking backbreaker puts him down again. Now the headgear is off but the Boomstick is countered into a Samoan drop to give Park seven points at 5:24.

Rating: D-. Well the headgear did nothing, the match was sloppy, and it gets Eric Young back on TV. What exactly was good about this match again? Park is fine in his role but it’s kind of hit a roadblock unless they’re going to go with the lawyer character full time, which seems to be the case.

Sting goes a little psycho about Bully Ray not being champion. They’re only halfway home though and someone might have to make a sacrifice to get rid of Aces and 8’s. Rampage wants to fight.

Manik vs. Chris Sabin

Non-title all around. Sabin takes him down to the mat in a test of strength grip and they flip around the ring a bit without breaking the hold. A headscissors sends Sabin into a cartwheel and we have a standoff. Back with Manik spinning Sabin around and driving him down into a quickly broken armbar. Sabin takes it to the floor and drops Manik face first onto the apron before going back inside.

Back in and Sabin drops him with a suplex and puts on a chinlock. Sabin’s surfboard is quickly broken and Manik snaps off a hurricanrana and a springboard kick to the side of the head. A springboard missile dropkick gets two and a sitout powerbomb gets the same. The masked man goes up and gets crotched followed by a delayed superplex from the world champion for two. They slug it out with Manik taking over but getting caught by a boot to the face. Hail Sabin is countered but Sabin gets an ugly rollup for two. A low superkick staggers Manik and Hail Sabin is good for the pin at 11:56.

Rating: C. This had some decent action but it felt like any given champion vs. champion match in the WWE. Thankfully that’s not something that’s been driven into the ground here in TNA but the match didn’t mean much given that they’ve had their titles for less than a month combined. Sabin still doesn’t feel like a world champion.

Post match here’s Bully Ray to beat up Sabin but as he turns his attention to Manik, Sabin comes back and beats Bully Ray out of the ring.

We look at the Hummer again but Taz comes into the camera shot and says he’s going to reveal August 1. He opens the door and says you’ve got to be kidding me in a sarcastic voice. The camera looks in to show another August 1 video.

Daniels and Kaz think it’s ridiculous for them to have a match in the BFG Series next week. Daniels mentions that Kaz is 0-3 and Kaz gets annoyed, saying don’t pity him and pouring out the appletini.

ODB vs. Gail Kim

ODB chases her around to start and splashes her against the ropes on the ramp. She puts Gail on the ropes for some Sheamus forearms to the chest for two. Gail avoids a charge in the corner and chokes away with a boot. A running dropkick gets two and the running cross body in the corner gets the same on ODB. Gail misses another charge in the corner and ODB hits some shoulder blocks to set up the fallaway slam. A powerslam gets two on Kim but she tries the figure four around the post. ODB sends her face first into the post to escape but Gail sends her into the steps and it’s a double countout at 6:14.

Rating: D. There are six minutes of my life I’ll never get back. ODB not being in the ring was kind of nice because I had forgotten how worthless she was. With such a small division they have to build up a single feud at a time and that’s not enough to sustain much of anything. I’m sure we’ll get a Hardcore Justice match out of this.

They brawl a lot after the bell.

AJ Styles says he’s tired of hearing about dream matches because there’s no room for dreams in this world, just like heroes.

Bully Ray rants to the Aces about taking care of the Mafia. Ray goes to leave and finds Brooke waiting on him. She messes with his vest and flicks his hat. Brooke has heard some things about the contract for the rematch with Sabin and if Ray wants to be happy, he needs to divorce her. Ok then.

Bound For Glory Series: Austin Aries vs. AJ Styles

Feeling out process to start with AJ grabbing a headlock before they botch a leapfrog spot by colliding. Aries bails to the floor to reset a bit before coming back in and escaping a wristlock. AJ can’t hook the Calf Killer as Aries counters into a rollup for two. Styles misses a baseball slide to the floor and Austin hits a top rope ax handle to take over. Aries goes up top but gets dropkicked back out to the floor and AJ hits a sweet slingshot dive as we take a break.

Back with AJ dropping a knee for two and sending Aries to the floor in a painful looking fall. Back in and Styles cranks on the head but Aries gets an elbow up in the corner to stop AJ’s momentum. A backslide gets two for Aries but AJ backdrops him to the apron. Austin hits a neckbreaker onto the middle rope to take over again and follows up with the corner dropkick.

AJ blocks a suplex and lands on top but Aries pounds away. A neckbreaker out of the corner gets two for AJ but the springboard 450 only hits canvas. Aries hooks the Last Chancery but Styles rakes the face to escape. There’s the Calf Killer but Aries goes to the eyes to escape as well. The brainbuster connects but AJ actually kicks out at two. Aries’ 450 hits knees and both guys are down.

They head to the ramp with Aries loading up a brainbuster but having AJ escape into a Styles Clash attempt. Aries backdrops him to the floor but misses a suicide dive. They tease the countout but get back in to slug it out yet again. Aries snaps off a quick suplex but AJ hits the Pele and collapses. Aries falls on top of him for the pin at 17:48.

Rating: B. Other than the clock going longer than it was supposed to and the badly screwed up ending (Aries was supposed to pop a shoulder up at the end but he was barely covered), this was an excellent match. They were letting it all hang out in there and the match looked great as a result. AJ’s character of “I’ll be awesome for money and money alone” is starting to click and Aries is getting more and more face like every day. Good stuff here.

Here’s the Mafia to make their offer to Aces and 8’s. Before they say anything here are the Aces to say they can fight just as dirty as the Mafia. Angle offers a five on five match at Hardcore Justice with the losing wrestler leaving TNA forever. That’s not a negotiation and the fight is on. The Mafia clears the ring with ease and Anderson says the match is on.

The lights go out and here’s MMA fighter Tito Ortiz as the big reveal to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked tonight’s show for the most part although there were some flaws. To begin with we had the reveal which doesn’t work for me as I don’t care for MMA for the most part, but if TNA would rather co-promote instead of build up their wrestlers who can barely get TV time so be it. Aries vs. Styles was great and the offer to the Aces was a fine idea. Good show here, flaws aside.

Results

Bobby Roode b. Hernandez – Beer bottle to the head

Joseph Park b. Jay Bradley – Samoan Drop

Chris Sabin b. Manik – Hail Sabin

ODB vs. Gail Kim went to a double countout

Austin Aries b. AJ Styles – Aries fell on Styles after a Pele Kick

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews for just $5 from Amazon at:

Also remember to check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books as low as $4 at:

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 25, 2013
Location: Broadbent Arena, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash

We’re still in Louisville and the main question tonight is where do we go from here. We’ve got Chris Sabin as the new world champion and we’ve got Bully Ray along with Aces and 8’s who are in a state of panic now. Other than that we have the Ultimate X match for the vacant X Division Title. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week with less of a focus on the world title than you would expect.

Here’s the Main Event Mafia to open things up. Sting calls last week the best night he’s ever had in wrestling because he got to see Ray lose the title. Angle says they’re here for a celebration instead of a fight, because they’ve accomplished one of their two goals. Angle introduces the new world champion who says he now has what everyone wants. Tonight there’s going to be an Ultimate X match for the vacant X Division Title and Sabin wants to face the winner next week.

This brings out Bully Ray with a man in a suit. Ray says this is his attorney and if Sabin doesn’t return the title to Bully Ray, the attorney is going to take TNA down. The attorney is played by OVW TV commentator Dean Hill. Sabin has until the end of the show to return the title to Bully or else.

Video on Greg Marisculo.

Hulk won’t comment on the threat of a lawsuit.

Video on Manik with his mask off.

X-Division Title: Manik vs. Greg Marasciulo vs. Sonjay Dutt

This is Ultimate X where you have to pull down the title to win. Manik backdrops Greg to the ramp and hits a quick dive to take him out but Sonjay takes Manik down a second later. Everyone heads to the floor and Manik is slammed onto the ramp but Greg has to go back in to stop Sonjay from climbing. Sonjay hits a combination Downward Spiral/DDT on both guys but can’t climb up because Manik is waiting on him. Greg takes both guys down but also has to take Manik down, allowing Manik to springboard into a wrist drag/headscissors combo to take everyone down.

Back from a break with Greg hitting the over the back piledriver on Manik on the ramp to knock him out, but possibly injuring his own knee in the process. Greg goes for the belt but Sonjay comes back in to make the save. They slug it out and kick each other in the face to put both guys down.

The referees are checking on Manik who is just starting to stir. Greg and Sonjay climb the structure and crawl on top to slug it out even more. They trade suplex attempts up there and Greg slips through so that his feet are on the wire. Manik uses the opportunity to go for the belt. Greg can’t make the save and Manik wins the title at 14:03.

Rating: C. Well that happened. Seriously that’s about all I’ve got to say here. Manik is a guy we’ve been introduced to in the last few weeks and now we’re supposed to get behind him as champion. The match was nothing special without any major high spots other than the tease on top of the structure. Not much to see here.

Ray (with a BIG bandage on his head) tells Anderson to go win the BFG Series.

Bound For Glory Series: Hernandez vs. Mr. Anderson

Anderson can’t run Hernandez over so he punches SuperMex in the head. A big shoulder puts Anderson down and a suplex gets two for Hernandez. Anderson comes back by slamming Hernandez off the top and works the arm a bit. Hernandez is sent to the apron but catches Anderson with a slingshot shoulder to take over again. A corner splash sets up the over the shoulder backbreaker for two but the ramp running dive misses, allowing Anderson to hit the Mic Check for the pin at 5:00.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but Anderson getting the clean win was the right call. Hernandez isn’t winning the Series and is just there to give heels victories over an intimidating face. Thankfully they kept this short as Hernandez has no business being near a long match at all.

Dixie has nothing to say about the lawsuit.

Eric Young shows Joseph Park a video of him going into Abyss mode during the Hardy match. Park has no memory of this but Young says he’ll investigate.

Here’s Velvet Sky to say her mistake was trusting Mickie James. She’s going to start playing things a lot closer to the vest and that starts with watching the match from ringside.

Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Mickie James

Feeling out process to start with Mickie kicking away in the corner but getting dropkicked down for two. The running cross body to the ribs in the corner has Mickie in trouble but she kicks Gail off the apron to get a breather. Gail tries to pull Mickie into the Figure Four around the post but Mickie kicks her away and hits the Thesz Press off the apron.

Back in and a flapjack puts Gail down but she still tries the spinning octopus hold. Neither girl can hook a leg lock and Gail http://onhealthy.net/product-category/blood-pressure/ gets caught trying to cheat on a rollup. Mickie is sent to the floor as Gail and ODB get in an argument in the ring. Gail slaps ODB and the distraction lets Mickie roll Kim up for the pin at 7:05.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here but I don’t think anyone expected Kim to be a real threat to the title. The ending sets up a non-title feud and I guess we’re getting Mickie vs. Velvet already again, because we only have six girls in the entire division, one of which is Tessmacher who hasn’t wrestled since like April.

Brooke Hogan comes out to make ODB vs. Gail, presumably for next week.

Dixie and Hogan debate the lawsuit.

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels

Tenay says Daniels has never beaten Joe one on one, which is true as far as I remember. Joe pounds him down to start and hits the Facewash in the corner but gets sent throat first into the ropes. A clothesline puts Joe down and Daniels hooks a headscissors to choke on the ropes. We hit the chinlock for a few seconds but Joe fights up and hits his big boot to the chest and the backsplash for two.

A powerslam gets two more but Daniels comes back with the palm thrusts. Daniels charges into the Rock Bottom out of the corner but Mr. Anderson of all people comes out for a distraction. Two straight BME’s (the first one was like a moonsault clothesline) are enough for the pin at 6:25.

Rating: C-. Not bad here and the ending was fine. Anderson wasn’t helping Daniels as much as he was screwing over Joe which the announcers emphasized a lot. Daniels doesn’t fit Aces and 8’s so thankfully we don’t have to deal with someone defecting over to the bikers. Also I’m glad the first moonsault didn’t get the win as it looked horrible.

Sting and Angle talk about the lawsuit and agree Ray needs to be kept isolated.

You can pick from three sets of BFG matches to see over the next two weeks. That’s a cool idea.

Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy

AJ hits a few shoulder blocks to start but Jeff takes it into the corner for the slingshot dropkick. Back with AJ kicking Hardy into the announce table before going back inside for a chinlock. Styles throws him back to the floor and slams him on the mat before putting the chinlock back on. Jeff fights up and hits a falling powerbomb to put both guys down. Back up and AJ hits his drop down/dropkick sequence for the first time in months.

Jeff comes back with a World’s Strongest Slam and a middle rope splash for two but walks into a release German suplex into the corner. The Whisper in the Wind gets two for Hardy but he walks into the Pele to fire up the crowd. AJ hooks the Calf Killer out of nowhere and Hardy taps (!) for the win at 13:15.

Rating: B-. This had the big match feel to it and a very surprising finish with Hardy tapping. I don’t remember that happening in years so the Calf Killer looks even more awesome now. AJ is still doing the middle of the road character which is interesting to a degree, but at the end of the day he’s AJ Styles and born to be the hero.

Post match AJ won’t shake hands.

Hulk has made a decision and Dixie agrees with him.

Here’s Bully Ray to plead his case. He says he’s been wronged because Sabin hit him in the head with a hammer last week (“Who would do such a thing?) and demands the title be returned to him right now. Sabin comes out and Ray says Chris must be here due to intimidation. Sabin says he wanted to see how big of a crybaby Ray is in person. He talks about having his knees destroyed and never crying once.

Instead he worked even harder and now he’s world heavyweight champion. Ray says he’ll get the title back by suing Sabin and demands Hogan get out here right now and hand over the title. Hogan comes out and says he has a counteroffer for Ray: Sabin remains the champion but Ray gets his rematch August 15 in a cage at Hardcore Justice.

Overall Rating: B-. The lawyer stuff drags this down but there was enough good on here to make the show good. Bringing the focus back to the BFG Series is a good idea and I have no problem with Ray likely getting the title back soon. The biggest problem with this show continues to be the Hogans. Their segments just suck the life out of the show and I find myself caring about them less and less every time they’re on screen. The rest of the show is solid but those two need to go.

Results

Manik b. Greg Marisculo and Sonjay Dutt – Manik pulled down the title

Mr. Anderson b. Hernandez – Mic Check

Mickie James b. Gail Kim – Rollup

Christopher Daniels b. Samoa Joe – BME

AJ Styles b. Jeff Hardy – Calf Killer

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at:

This has been the hottest topic in wrestling for the last week or so and I think it’s time for an overview of the whole thing.To recap, TNA has cut a lot of wrestlers, had a lot of turnover backstage, messed up a house show and people think TNA is on its last legs.  In short, I think they’re fine.

Here’s the thing to remember about TNA: they have two hours a week of TV as compared to the five that WWE has (excluding internet broadcasts).  WWE has more than twice the room to get talent on TV so it’s much easier for WWE to maintain a large roster.  Think back: before this batch of releases, can you think of ten people let go by TNA in the last four years?  Now can you think of twenty people hired in the last four years?  The numbers were catching up to them and the cuts had to come eventually.

As for cutting costs, every company does this at some point.  TNA recently lost tens of thousands of dollars a month by not having regular PPVs anymore.  Couple that with the additional cost of taking Impact on the road and it’s no wonder they need to cut some salaries.  Cutting guys from Gut Check and people who are never used isn’t a sign of going out of business.  It’s a sign of smart business.

The main thing to keep in mind though: Panda Energy is pouring money into TNA and will do so until they don’t feel like it anymore.  Spike is reportedly very happy with the ratings and it’s not costing them a fortune to keep TNA on the air, so TNA isn’t going anywhere anytime soon unless Panda pulls the plug.

In short, it’s an overblown (yet interesting) story.

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 18, 2013
Location: Broadbent Arena, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash

It’s Destination X 2013! This is the show that the company has been building towards for weeks and is more or less the PPV of the month. The focus will be on the X Division tonight with a main event of former X Division Champion Chris Sabin challenging Bully Ray for the world title after cashing in his title for the shot. We’re also likely to find out the future of the X Title and there’s a fight between the Aces and 8’s and the Main Event Mafia. Let’s get to it.

We open with a shot of the X Division on the stage before going to a video on Sabin’s career and knee injuries. Tonight is the culmination of his comeback.

Here’s the world champion to open the show from the entrance as opposed to the usual crowd entrance. Ray says enough is enough because he’s sick of hearing everyone talk about Chris Sabin. The fans chant for Sabin but Ray says there’s no way he has a chance to win the title. Now it’s a Daniel Bryan YES chant. Ray talks about how he’s the most hated man in wrestling and that’s how he wants it.

Right now though Ray wants to talk to his wife so get out here Brooke. She says that Mark (Ray’s real name) has tricked everyone and there’s nothing left for him to do. Brooke is ready to move on but doesn’t know why Ray isn’t. Ray gets all somber but says that Brooke moves on when he says they move on. This brings out Hulk himself to say he’s tired of Ray raping and pillaging (his words) this company and it’s time for a change. He takes Brooke away but Ray says he’ll never stop. The Mafia pops up on screen and says the title is coming from Ray tonight in a fair fight.

Bobby Roode calls Aries beating him last year a fluke. Tonight he starts his path back to Bound For Glory.

Bound For Glory Series: Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries

Aries has restyled his facial hair into a soul patch and mutton chops in a strange look. Roode starts with a headlock and puts Aries on the apron with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Aries blocks a splex back in with knees to the head and a backdrop sends Roode to the floor. A spinning fist to Roode’s head puts him down again but Roode dropkicks him out of the air back inside. Roode clotheslines him off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Roode getting two off the spinebuster but Aries blocks a superplex with some claps around Roode’s ears. The 450 connects for two as Aries continues to wrestle like a face in this match. Roode rolls to the floor for the suicide dive from Aries followed by a missile dropkick. The corner dropkick looks to set up the brainbuster but Roode counters into the Crossface.

They trade rollups for two and Roode DDTs Aries down to take over. Another corner dropkick is countered by a boot to Aries’ face but Austin counters the spear into a brainbuster attempt, only to have Roode escape and clothesline him down for two. The fisherman’s suplex is countered into a roaring elbow but the brainbuster is countered into a fireman’s carry which is countered into the brainbuster for the pin on Roode at 11:55.

Rating: B. Great match here with both guys looking incredibly crisp out there. Aries was so over with the crowd it’s unreal, which is the same reason he turned face last year. The fans are going to respond to talent and there’s no way a heel turn can get around that. Very good match here with a hot finish.

Post match Roode snaps and destroys a bunch of stuff at the announce table due to his losing streak.

Homicide and Hernandez reunite in the back but Chavo pokes his nose in for whatever reason.

Anderson talks to the Aces about Doc leaving over not winning the election. All of the guys know their assignments tonight.

Homicide vs. Petey Williams vs. Sonjay Dutt

This is the first of three qualifying matches for an Ultimate X title match next week. Homicide sends both guys to the floor for a big dive before Petey takes over back inside. The slingshot Codebreaker takes Homicide down and Dutt is put in a leg lock, only to have Homicide come off the top with a headbutt to break it up.

Homicide takes both guys down and gets two on Dutt but Petey is back in. Dutt is crotched on the top but neither Homicide nor Petey can hit their finisher. Dutt suplexes Williams out of the corner and into the Gringo Killer but Dutt hits his standing sliced bread on Homicide. The moonsault double stomp is enough for Dutt to pin Homicide at 4:10.

Rating: C+. This was fine but it continues the same trend of all these three ways: every time I watch one I feel like a five year old leaving the dentist: it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but it still wasn’t anything great. Homicide wouldn’t sell a thing other than the finisher, which is still awesome.

Kenny King vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Manik

Chavo is sent to the floor as King takes over on Manik. Manik hooks a quick Black Widow followed by an Indian Deathlock, only to have Chavo get caught in a northern lights suplex at the same time. Chavo hits dropkicks to both guys but Manik comes back in with springboards and cross bodies all around. Chavo launches Manik into a dropkick to King but gets rolled up for two. Guerrero hits Three Amigos on King but Manik breaks up the frog splash. King hits a running enziguri to knock Chavo off the top but Manik takes King down with a double chickenwing gutbuster for the pin at 4:36.

Rating: C. The action is decent in these matches but they feel so choreographed that it takes me out of them. Chavo is so thoroughly uninteresting and he kills the entire match he’s in every single time he’s out there. I don’t know why they changed Manik’s name to Suicide when they reference him as the guy who used to be called Suicide but the new name sucks. The match was decent though.

Angle and the Mafia are ready to start their plans tonight.

We get the same package on Sabin from earlier.

Hogan tells Sabin to make people remember him and to bring the title back home.

Here’s the Mafia to call out Aces and 8’s. The bikers pop up on screen and say they’re going to spend their energy on the celebration after the show instead of a fight right now. Anderson invites them back there so they head to the back where Anderson draws them into a hallway. Ray jumps Angle and sends him into a wall before throwing him in the back of a truck. The rest of the Mafia is locked in a room.

Rubix vs. Rockstar Spud vs. Greg Marasciulo

Greg is WWE’s Trent Barreta and has some great talent. He also has a Bill Murray knee pad and two Abraham Lincoln wristbands. Seriously. Spud is a tiny guy who barely stands 5’3. Greg sends everyone to the floor and dropkicks Spud into the barricade. Rubix can’t hook an O’Connor Roll but can hit a suicide dive onto Spud. A rollup gets two on Greg but Rubix slams Spud down. Greg’s running elbow in the corner puts Spud on the floor but Rubix takes Greg down with a bad looking top rope rana.

A German suplex gets two on Spud and Greg hits a sick missile dropkick to take him down. Spud is sent to the floor for a flip dive by Greg but Rubix crotches Greg coming back in. A Van Terminator gets two on Greg but Spud sends Rubix to the floor. Spud has a sunset flip countered into something like Kaz’s Fade to Black to give Greg the pin at 6:00.

Rating: C-. Greg (you think I’m going to type that name over and over again?) looked great, Rubix looked ok, and I want to punch Spud in the face. Signing Trent Barreta isn’t a bad idea at all and hopefully he’ll stick around, but Spud is going to get the push because of some reality show that most fans have never watched. Such is life in modern wrestling.

Ray is on the phone with the truck’s driver and says to take Angle to the spot they talked about. Also make Angle an offer he cant refuse.

The truck is back but Angle is driving it. It’s also light at 10:30 at night in Louisville.

Mickie James is in the arena to brag about a great moment from last week. We see a clip from a concert of hers in Nashville and Mickie brags a lot until Gail Kim cuts her off. The only thing people were talking about last week was her ladder match, but Mickie cuts her off because Gail is interrupting her oxygen space. Mickie says her performance last week was five starts but Gail ducks a slap. The brawl is on and Gail is in a very short dress. The title match is next week.

Austin Aries tells Sabin to be ready tonight. Sabin knows he can beat Aries and Aries can beat Bully Ray and Aries is pulling for him.

AJ Styles is ready for his test from Jeff Hardy and is going to take the points next week.

TNA World Title: Chris Sabin vs. Bully Ray

After the big match intros Ray gets right in Sabin’s face and talks trash but Sabin doesn’t blink. Ray goes to the corner but Sabin gets right in Ray’s face and says he’s going to win the title. Ray shoves him down and we’re ready to go. The champ grabs the leg to start as the fans are entirely behind Sabin. Chris fires off some kicks to the ribs and no sells a chop to the chest. Another chop sends Chris back but a third fires him up.

Ray offers him a fres kick to the ribs before chipping the tar off his skin. Sabin’s chest is BLOOD red but says bring it on. Now it’s Sabin firing off strikes to the face and chest before pounding away in the corner, only to have Ray go after the knee. Here are the Aces for backup as Sabin is laid out on the stage. Cue the Mafia who are somehow free as we take a break.

Back with Ray working over the leg and yelling at Rampage Jackson. It’s basically a lumberjack match now with the Mafia running interference when the Aces try to get involved. Ray hooks a leg lock and kicks at Sabin’s back while unhooking Sabin’s boot. A chop stops Sabin’s comeback bid and there goes the knee pad as well. Ray hits a Hennig neck snap on the leg and talks a lot of trash. Now he yells at the Mafia but stops to kick Sabin’s knee again.

Ray mocks Hogan’s hand to the ear which is always good for some heel heat. He pounds on the knee even more as the methodical offense continues. A chop to a downed Sabin makes him scream and Ray thinks he should take off the other knee brace. Ray whips him across the ring but Sabin collapses halfway there.

Instead he drills Sabin with a superplex for two but Chris fights back. He somehow gets up top for a missile dropkick but the referee goes gets bumped. Anderson tries to come in but the Mafia is there to stop the bikers. Ray got a hammer in there somehow but Sabin kicks him down. Everyone else is gone and Sabin blasts Ray in the head with the hammer for the pin and the title at 18:40.

Rating: B. This was all about the drama but the action was pretty solid as well. The ending really did surprise me which isn’t something that happens all that often anymore. There’s no way Sabin is going to be a long term champion due to his knee injuries but it’s still an awesome moment which is exactly what they were shooting for. It’s not like Ray was doing exceptional business or anything anyway. Ray being overconfident here was a fine story and it’s the perfect way to get the fans to go nuts. Well done stuff here.

Overall Rating: B+. They called this a PPV quality show and I can’t say I disagree with the statement. Things were hot all night long and the whole show worked quite well. The ending was a surprise but there’s no way Sabin survives that long with the title. All three of the triple threats were decent to ok but the Ultimate X should be fun next week. Very solid show all night here and it worked quite well.

Results

Austin Aries b. Bobby Roode – Brainbuster

Sonjay Dutt b. Petey Williams and Homicide – Moonsault double stomp to Homicide

Manik b. Kenny King and Chavo Guerrero – Double chickenwing gutbuster

Greg Marasciulo b. Rockstar Spud and Rubix – Over the shoulder piledriver to Spud

Chris Sabin b. Bully Ray – Hammer to the head

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at: