Neither of these are really surprising.  Brown was an agent and Pritchard was head of talent relations.  This shouldn’t mean much in the short term.

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 14, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the first show post Destination X and most importantly it’s the Midsummer Nightmare. The main event is Sting vs. Anderson for the title in Anderson’s first match I believe. He’s also in Immortal now and since they have all the power, I’d bet a lot on Sting getting the title back since that’s what almost always happens: one side gets all the power including the title and then they lose it on the next show. Let’s get to it.

We open with a Bully Ray narrated video about the whole Sting vs. Anderson feud and title match tonight. Hogan comes out in a tuxedo along with Immortal. There are various women with them too. Even Abyss is in most of a tuxedo. Everyone is in a tux here. No Anderson though. There’s a card table in the ring and Bischoff sends the girls away. Eric says they’re here to gamble with some people’s careers, because they can according to Hulk.

Bischoff talks about the party that Anderson threw for himself a few weeks back that no one came to. Tonight Immortal is making up for it though because Anderson is part of the family now. The party tonight is in celebration of Anderson as the world champion. Here comes the champ in a camouflage tuxedo. When I woke up today, I really didn’t think I’d see one of those but I guess you never know what you’re going to see.

Hogan says he and Anderson haven’t seen things eye to eye forever for the most part. However there’s always been the constant of them both wanting to be the best they could possibly be. Hulk calls him champ and formally welcomes him into Immortal. Anderson says this is a gamble to join Immortal but as long as Bischoff and Hogan live up to their promise of him being the top card in the deck, it’s a gamble he’s willing to take.

The lights go out and Sting is at the card table. He says he heard someone say gamble and wanted to join in. Eric accused Sting of being the cancer and that tonight Anderson gets rid of it. Sting asks if Eric wants to bet on that because they have a poker table here. Sting sees himself becoming champion tonight and kicking off his crusade of bringing the company back to Dixie Carter. Didn’t he start that months ago?

Hogan threatens Sting with attacking him and says that Sting is leaving on a stretcher. Sting freaks out and says no a lot. Even Sting is starting to worry about himself. Sting says Hogan is wrong about that because he has a lot of aces in the whole, such as the Network Ace. He recalls that the Network told Hogan and Bischoff that they’re on a short leash with little room for error. Apparently any shenanigans will bring about someone with a bigger bite than Sting’s.

Sting says he has a lot of magic bullet aces. They’re magic because they’ll just appear. He points to the rafters and there are four clowns up there. Eric: “You’re a freak!” Sting: “Why thank you Eric!” Sting says he’s all in tonight (hasn’t he said that before?) and turns over the poker table before leaving. We go to a break with Immortal being confused.

Bound For Glory Series Standings with 8 weeks to go:

Crimson 31

Gunner 21

Devon 21

Matt Morgan 14

AJ Styles 14

James Storm 14

Rob Van Dam 14

Bully Ray 14

Scott Steiner 7

D’Angelo Dinero 0

Bobby Roode 0

Samoa Joe 0

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

No entrances other than the very ending of Joe’s music. Joe jumps Roode to start us off and hammers him down in the corner. Pope heads to the floor and Roode gets crushed in the corner. Pope stays on the floor as Roode makes a comeback with the spinebuster. His arm gives out though and Pope comes back in, hitting an STO for two. With Joe down Pope takes over on Roode, working over the arm.

The fans are behind Bobby here. Pope gets a DDT for two but Hebner looked like he counted REALLY slow on the three. Middle rope fist gets two for Pope. Joe finally starts getting back in but Pope knocks him right back. DDE misses and Roode fires off some clotheslines. Russian legsweep puts Pope down and Joe is knocked back to the floor again. Blockbuster hits for a close two.

We finally get everyone in the ring at once and Roode gets a Perfectplex on Joe for two. Joe gets the Clutch but we get the Austin vs. Hart at Survivor Series 96 ending as Roode climbs the ropes and goes backwards onto Joe for the pin at 5:55. Roode was tapping just after the three. Joe freaks out on the referee post match.

Rating: C+. Not bad here and the idea of keeping Joe out worked well enough I guess. Not much of a match otherwise but for a six minute TV triple threat it was fine. They didn’t go fully into the standard procedure for one of these matches which is a perk and it’s good to see one of them getting somewhere in this series. Also you can probably expect Joe to just start ending people with submissions soon.

The Jarretts are here.

Hogan wants Sting eliminated tonight. He’s talking to all of Immortal rather than just Anderson. Eric implies staging an accident which Abyss kind of volunteers for. Eric blasts Abyss for losing the X Title and says get this done someone. Abyss leaves and the Jarretts are here. They have presents for everyone but Hogan gets the AAA World Title. No mention of the company name that I could hear.

Pope is with D-Von’s kids and D-Von says stay away from them. The kids leave and D-Von yells at Pope. Pope says they look up to him and D-Von calls him a con man. D-Von calls Pope stupid for giving up the seven points. Pope says if the kids turn their backs on D-Von, that’s not his fault and he leaves.

Highlight package from Destination X with highlights from every match.

Austin Aries vs. Shannon Moore

Shannon gets some arm drags very fast to start us off. Apparently the X-Division has their own locker room. Basic X-Division style match here which is fast paced with some nice speed stuff. Aries can’t get control or deal with Moore’s speed but finally gets a forearm to the back. Brainbuster is blocked and Aries mostly skins the cat back in through the top and middle ropes.

He gets dropkicked to the floor though and Moore hits a dive to take him down. Something similar to a Whisper in the Wind gets two. Aries grabs the Book of Dilligaf but gets it taken away. He keeps the chain though and after knocking Moore out, a slingshot spinning splash ends this at 3:42. Shelley runs out to yell at Aries post match.

Rating: C. Not bad and just a basic debut for Aries who needed a win to establish himself on the roster. Things got a bit sloppy here but they fit in a lot of stuff in a short amount of time so it’s hard to complain. Aries will likely get a lot more time soon and that’ll help him a lot, even though he’s rather skilled already.

Abyss wants his title back tonight. He turns to leave and one of the clowns from earlier blasts him with a bat.

Shelley and Moore complain about Aries cheating.

Aries says he’s the best and that he doesn’t think he can be beaten.

Recap of Tara vs. Madison and their feud that has barely meant anything in like a month. Both chicks talk about their match tonight and Tara has a gift for Madison but it’s for after the match.

The match is after a break.

Ad for Bound For Glory which will be in Philadelphia.

Steiner shows off for one of the girls from earlier and gets jumped by a clown as well.

Madison Rayne vs. Tara

Tara has the gift for Madison but it’s for after the match remember. Madison wants Tara to lay down like before. Tara takes over to start and hits her standing moonsault. There’s the spinning side slam and this is looking like a squash. No cover though and the Widow’s Peak is countered. Tara gets sent to the apron and dropped face first onto it. So much for the squash. Tara is sent into the steps and Madison goes for the present. And it’s a spider. Madison screams at it and the distraction allows Tara to get up and hit the Widow’s Peak for the pin at 4:00.

Rating: D. Seriously, who cares? This feud started what, last year? Who in the world cares at this point about these two and whatever issue they have? The Knockout Division is dying for capable wrestlers at this point and all we can get is Angelina Love being all creepy and these two talking about a spider? Such a shame. Nothing match here too which was all about setting up the spider thing.

Tara chases her off with the spider post match.

Angle is coming to the ring.

The Brits are mad at Mexican America. Tonight they fight for the #1 contender spot. About time Beer Money defended the belts.

Here’s Kurt, who says he has his title shot at Hardcore Justice. He’d prefer to face Anderson due to their history together. He remembers the cage match and thought there was some respect there, until Anderson joined Immortal. Title match or not, Angle is coming for Anderson. As for Sting, they have history also in the form of the Main Event Mafia and the empty arena match. Angle has never beaten Sting before (yes he has) and that doesn’t sit well with him. He’s leaving Hardcore Justice as the champion, and it’s real.

The Jarretts try to leave and a clown jumps Jeff in the car and takes him away with the bat to Jeff’s throat.

Mexican America vs. British Invasion

This is for the #1 contendership. I wouldn’t have guessed this but Beer Money’s current reign is the longest reign in the history of the TNA tag titles. The Mexicans say their usual stuff pre-match. The Brits storm the ring and we’re ready to go. Williams dives out of the ring onto Hernandez and it’s Magnus vs. Anarquia to start us off. Off to Williams who gets caught by Hernandez off a blind tag.

Shoulder block sets up a backbreaker submission into a regular backbreaker for two. Mexican America takes over as we talk about the clowns taking Immortal out. More double teaming keeps Williams down but he manages to get a middle rope European uppercut to bring in Magnus. Williams is bleeding a bit from his head. Magnus takes over and beats up both guys. Anarquia gets double teamed and a top rope elbow gets two for Magnus. Their top rope European uppercut hits but Rosita comes out for the distraction, allowing Hernandez to drill Magnus and let Anarquia pin him at 6:43.

Rating: C. Just a tag match here and thankfully we finally have some challengers for Beer Money. The girl coming out at the end worked fine as it was what the Brits were worried about in the first place. Not bad, but just a tag match for the most part here. Also it gives the Mexicans something to do.

Eric says it’s up to Gunner and Ray to take Sting down. Gunner wants to go find the clowns and Sting instead of just waiting around. Ray stays behind though.

Video of Kendrick winning the title on Sunday.

Kendrick defends next week. Also Mickie defends against Velvet and there will be a four way ladder match in the BFG series.

Main event is next.

Gunner has a pipe and is looking for the clowns and here they come, pounding their bats on the ground like a revival of West Side Story. They surround him and take him down with a shot to the knee. The clowns beat him down and he’s outmatches. They take their masks off band it’s Fourtune. They say Ray is already taken care of.

TNA World Title: Mr. Anderson vs. Sting

Anderson has the mic in hand but doesn’t say anything this week. Pretty slow start as they’re feeling each other out. Sting gets a solid dropkick to send Anderson to the floor. Back in Anderson can’t get a sunset flip so Sting punches him in the face. Stinger Splash hits but a second one misses as Anderson dropkicks the knee. Anderson works on the knee and tries the Scorpion on him.

That doesn’t last long and Anderson works on the leg a bit more. There’s a half crab which is more like a half Liontamer. Sting kicks him off and does a good job of selling the knee. He manages to hit the Mic Check for a close two. There’s your required ref bump and Sting gets the Scorpion which looks awful here. Anderson taps but there’s no ref. Here’s Bully Ray who Fourtune said was taken care of.

He hammers Sting and pulls out a chain. The lights go out and there’s another clown in the ring. He takes out Ray and looks at Anderson but the lights go out again. When they come back Anderson is alone in the ring and the clown is on the ramp. Sting pops up and the Death Drop gives Sting the title back at 9:11.

Rating: C+. I liked this actually. It’s probably their best match ever which isn’t saying much given their pretty weak efforts a lot of the time. The ending with the clown was kind of overbooked but they tried and made a decent effort out there. Not sure what the point was in giving Anderson the title for a month but it’s whatever I guess.

Angle was the clown. The reveal ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Well it was a bit down from previous weeks but this certainly was better than I was expecting. I’m not a fan of a lot of the stories they have going on, but there was a nice pacing to the show and the stories make sense for the most part. Nice to see Fourtune back into things as a unit again so it’s not Sting vs. the whole Immortal team. Not a great show but it’s definitely not bad. I’d call this a nice surprise.

Results

Bobby Roode b. Samoa Joe and D’Angelo Dinero – Roode pinned Joe while in the Koquina Clutch

Austin Aries b. Shannon Moore – Slingshot spinning splash

Tara b. Madison Rayne – Widow’s Peak

Mexican America b. British Invasion – Anarquia pinned Magnus after a forearm from Hernandez

Sting b. Mr. Anderson – Scorpion Death Drop

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 11, 2013
Location: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the go home show for Destination X so tonight is going to be all about Sabin vs. Ray next week, which is going to be a decent match but will also have issues drawing in an audience. Other than that we’ve got the Aces and 8’s feuding with the Mafia and potentially having a fight tonight. Other than that it’s going to be all about next week. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s events with the focus on Sabin winning the title back.

Bully Ray rants about Brooke’s real life engagement, saying he isn’t ready for her to move on yet.

Here are the bikers to open the show. Ray’s first order of business is Chris Sabin, who now has the right to face him next week at Destination X. Later tonight Hogan is going to come out here and ask Sabin to hand over his title. Sabin needs to keep the title he has now because he wants no part of Bully Ray. As for the club business, the Aces and 8’s get to vote in a new vice president. Ray takes a thinly veiled jab at WWE’s fan polls by saying the fans have nothing to do with the pick. As for the Mafia’s challenge to a fight next week, absolutely not because the bikers fight on their own terms.

This brings out the Main Event Mafia with Sting and Angle in suits and the rest in wrestling gear. Angle says their challenge was specifically for that date because the Mafia could kill two birds with one stone. Next week they’re going to take out every member of the Aces and 8’s, leaving Bully alone to face Chris Sabin. Sting promises yet another new member of the Mafia tonight and that he’s a heavy hitter.

As for the BFG Series, tonight there are going to be three Joker’s Wild tag team matches with the six winners going on to a gauntlet where the winner receives 25 points.

Jeff Hardy/Joseph Park vs. AJ Styles/Samoa Joe

Park and Styles get things going with AJ easily taking him down. It’s quickly off to Hardy who hits the sitout front suplex for two and it’s off to Joe with a running elbow to Jeff’s face. The corner enziguri puts Jeff down and it’s back to AJ who puts on the Calf Killer, only to have Hardy make the save. Park gets to face Joe and the lawyer cleans house. It doesn’t last long though as Joe shoves him into the springboard forearm which knocks Park into the Koquina Clutch for the submission at 4:34.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere which is a shame given the talent in this one. Styles and Joe could have been a dream team if given the time together but they would have likely wound up feuding sooner than later. Park continues to just kind of float around at the moment as his development has stalled.

Mr. Anderson/Magnus vs. Jay Bradley/Hernandez

Anderson offers to start against Hernandez but he immediately tags out to Magnus. Bradley comes in as well and hits a nice jumping knee to the chest. Off to Hernandez who gets caught in a wristlock but Anderson won’t tag back in. Hernandez takes over on Magnus with a splash in the corner and the slingshot shoulder for two. Back to Bradley who charges into an elbow in the corner and gets taken down by a boot. Anderson still won’t tag but Bradley accidentally trips Hernandez, allowing Magnus to roll him up for the pin at 3:53.

Rating: D. Well this match happened. Bradley continues to be a screwup with potential while Hernandez continues to be a waste of oxygen. Magnus and Anderson having their issues was a logical story and it’s cool to see Magnus’ push to the stars continue. I’m just not sure where he’ll land in the whole thing.

Aries is annoyed that Roode didn’t help him last week. Roode wants to focus on the BFG Series when Bad Influence comes in. They’re the final four men for the Joker’s Wild stuff and they’re sure the teams will be as expected. Many jokes are cracked.

Christopher Daniels/Austin Aries vs. Kazarian/Bobby Roode

Aries starts with Kaz who go to a quick stalemate. Off to Daniels vs. Roode but Chris quickly brings in Aries for a showdown of partners. Roode sends Aries out to the floor as we take a quick break. Back with Kaz holding Aries in a cross arm choke followed by a clothesline to take Austin down.

The Fade to Black is escaped with a forearm and it’s a double tag to bring in Roode vs. Daniels. Aries tags himself in to break up the BME and lays out Roode with a missile dropkick, only to miss the corner dropkick. Kaz comes in with the slingshot DDT for two on Aries but Daniels makes the save. Kazarian has his eyes raked and rolls up Daniels for the blind pin at 10:00.

Rating: C+. This was a fun tag match but I’m not wild on the dissent between Bad Influence. We need a feud between these teams before the inevitable splits for the comedy of the promos alone. Still though, good match here with the ending being a creative way around screwing over your partner.

The Aces and 8’s are voting for the new VP.

Hulk comes in to see Brooke but Brooke doesn’t want to talk about Bully. She’s more interested in the Knockouts ladder match tonight. Hulk says take care of all your business tonight.

Doc and Anderson are the candidates for VP and Bully abstains from voting. They both vote for themselves, Brisco votes for Anderson, D-Von for Doc, Taz for Doc, Bischoff for Anderson, so it’s up to Knux for the deciding vote. He picks Anderson to give him the position. Doc isn’t pleased with Knux and glares a lot.

Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell

This is a ladder match with the winner getting a title shot at some point in the future. Taryn throws her out to the ramp to start and spears her through the ropes for good measure. The first ladder is brought in and rammed into Gail’s ribs in the corner. Taryn dropkicks the top of the ladder to drive it further into the ribs as Taz is back on commentary. Gail’s cross body is kicked out of the air and the ladder is set up in the middle of the ring. Gail sends her into the side of the ladder to take over but can’t hook the figure four around the post.

Back from a break with both girls climbing and slugging it out on top. They both fall down and land on the ropes with the ladder nearly crushing Gail’s skull in the process. Taryn shoves the ladder face first into a charging Gail but her leg is tied up in the ladder. Taryn has to find a replacement but Gail gets up and climbs, only to be pulled back down by Terrell. The other ladder is bridged between the ropes and the standing ladder but Gail gets off before Taryn can crush her against the bridge.

Gail puts the figure four on Taryn inside the ladder but both of them climb up anyway. Taryn chokes Gail off the ladder and shoves her to the mat, but the knee won’t let her stand high enough. Instead Terrell dives off the ladder with a cross body and both girls are down again. They both climb onto the bridged ladder with Taryn being thrown to the mat again in a big thud. Terrell is up first and hooks a dragon sleeper, but Gail TIES TARYN’S HAIR AROUND THE ROPES. Gail climbs the ladder to get the shot at 15:10.

Rating: B+. Solid match here with a creative ending. The match was so good that it makes me get over Gail getting ANOTHER title shot which I don’t think anyone wants to see. Taryn is showing good promise in the ring which goes along with her looks. I liked the last man standing match better but this was certainly good stuff.

Sting and Angle recap the BFG Series stuff from tonight and the fifth member calls.

Bound For Glory Series Gauntlet Match

AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, Kazarian, Samoa Joe, Magnus, Mr. Anderson

The winner gets 25 points. AJ starts with Magnus and we have two minutes before the next entrant. You can be eliminated over the top until we’re down to the final two where it’s pinfall/submission only. Feeling out process to start with both guys cranking on the arm. AJ hits a hard elbow to stun Magnus as Kaz is in at #3. A snap suplex by AJ sends Kaz into the middle rope but Styles can’t eliminate him. Joe is in at #4 as Taz complains about the Mafia having the fix in. Magnus and Joe double team Kaz before they split off to work on both guys. Kaz sends AJ to the apron but gets backdropped out at 5:27 and we take a break.

Back with Anderson already in and Bobby Roode coming in at #6 to complete the field. Magnus is sent to the apron but slides back in with ease. Roode powerslams AJ down and goes for the elimination but it’s Anderson with a running clothesline to eliminate Styles at 11:50. Magnus throws Roode to the apron but Bobby slides back in. Anderson and Joe eliminate each other at 12:50, leaving us with Roode vs. Magnus for the 25 points.

A jumping knee to the face puts Roode down but Magnus walks into the spinebuster for a close two. Roode hooks the Crossface but Magnus rolls over into a cradle for two. Magnus hooks the Cloverleaf on Roode but Bobby gets into the ropes. Roode loads up a superplex but gets shoved off, only to have Magnus miss the top rope elbow. Roode tries an O’Connor roll but Roode kicks him off and cradles the shoulders for the pin at 16:51.

Rating: C. The one on one part was good but the battle royal part was very uninteresting for the twelve minutes was had to sit through. Magnus’ Superman push is continuing but I can’t imagine him getting the world title shot at the biggest show of the year. Crimson was on fire like this last year and I don’t think he even wrestled at the PPV.

Here’s Hulk to accept Sabin’s title for the shot next week. Sabin talks about being a kid and watching Hogan dominate the world over the years. He heard a lot of people saying he couldn’t do this but now he’s proven them wrong. Sabin goes to hand the title to Hulk but is cut off by the world champ.

Ray says he and his wife has unfinished business, but it’s time to focus on Sabin. He says Sabin shouldn’t hand over the title because Ray is a bad person. There’s no way he could ever beat a man like Bully Ray and the beating next week will be one for the ages. Sabin says Ray should shut up because Sabin has pinned Ray before. It was him that pinned Ray in Team 3D’s retirement match and the only man to kick out of the 3D (in TNA that is).

Most of the time a guy like Ray is going to win but all Sabin has to do is win one time and that’s what he’s going to do next week. Next week it’ll be Sabin asking if people know who he is, and he’ll be the world champion. Sabin hands over the X title to make it official so Ray calls in the bikers. This brings out the Mafia and Sting reveals the newest member: Rampage Jackson. Ray is STUNNED to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was all about the future but it was still entertaining for the most part. Magnus was the star of the show and looked great in the process so points to TNA for trying someone new. The Sabin stuff was a nice push towards next week and the match should be fun. Couple all that with a very good ladder match and it’s hard not to like this show. TNA continues to be on a roll right now and this was another good episode.

Results

AJ Styles/Samoa Joe b. Joseph Park/Jeff Hardy – Koquina Clutch to Park

Magnus/Mr. Anderson b. Jay Bradley/Hernandez – Rollup to Hernandez

Kazarian/Bobby Roode b. Austin Aries/Christopher Daniels – Small Package to Daniels

Gail Kim b. Taryn Terrell – Kim pulled down the contract

Magnus won a gauntlet match last eliminating Bobby Roode

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 4, 2013
Location: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

We’re in Sin City tonight for a taped Independence Day show. The main story is Austin Aries stole the X Division Title last week and as of this moment gets to challenge Bully Ray two weeks from tonight at Destination X. Other than that we’ll have a lot more buildup towards Bound For Glory in the BFG Series as points continue to be accumulated. Let’s get to it.

We open with the usual recap of last week’s show.

Here’s Austin Aries to open things up. A lot of people like him, a lot of people boo him, but now everyone has to respect him. He’s the man who initiated Option C last year and this year he’s the man who is going to cash in the X Title for another shot at the world title. Aries demands Hogan get out here right now to make the cash in official.

Cue Hogan who says that Aries is the man who initiated Option C and then won the world title (where have I heard this before?). He brought the division to new highs but last week he brought it to new lows. Aries committed the greatest sin of all: gimmick infringement. Therefore, tonight Austin has to defend the title against Chris Sabin and TJ Perkins, now known as Manic. Manic is in the same attire as Suicide, but without the word Suicide on his chest.

Kazarian says he’ll beat either version of AJ Styles he faces tonight.

Bound For Glory Series: Kazarian vs. AJ Styles

Kaz and Daniels come out dressed as Sigfried and Roy, with Kaz promising to make the world title appear around his waist in October. Styles knocks Kaz to the floor at the bell and hits a baseball slide to take him down again. Back in and AJ misses a forearm in the corner so Kaz can pound away on the mat. AJ comes back with a hard clothesline as Daniels is holding a stuffed tiger and wearing a blonde wig while playing cheerleader. The springboard forearm gets two on Kaz but Kaz dropkicks AJ down to get himself a breather. Not that it matters though as the Calf Killer makes Kaz tap to give AJ ten points at 4:02.

Rating: C. This was a nice little match as AJ continues to hone in his new character. The Calf Killer looked great and AJ can still fly as well as anyone else in the company. This is a pairing that has worked for years but I’m not exactly looking forward to Daniels vs. Styles #845 when they’re paired together in the Series.

Chavo gives Hernandez another pep talk.

Mickie James is in the ring with a ladder. She talks about having to climb the ladder to success and brags about being a country singer and being pursued for commercials. So Taryn and Gail can go out and break a leg and everything else, because they’ll never be as great as she is. Mickie is going to be Knockouts Champion of the century and will destroy whomever she faces for the title.

The Gut Check judges debate Ryan Howe vs. Big O. Howe gets to face the judgment.

The Main Event Mafia says the fourth member is revealed tonight.

Bound For Glory Series: Jay Bradley vs. Hernandez

Bradley takes over with a headlock and sends Hernandez to the ramp. SuperMex shoulders him in the ribs and hits the big dive over the top to take over. The over the top backbreaker gets two but Bradley comes back with a backbreaker of his own. Chavo tries to get in and the distraction lets Hernandez hit the big shoulder for the pin at 3:13.

Rating: D. This was barely anything at all with Bradley just being a warm body out there. I don’t know why TNA thinks fans care about Hernandez and Chavo as the fans go nearly silent during their interactions. They’re not interesting and the eventual match between the two isn’t going to draw any interest. Not much to see here.

Aces and 8’s talk about the X Title match tonight and Ray suggests no one should win it.

Bro Mans vs. Gunner/James Storm

Non-title here. Robbie and Jesse jump Gunner to start and take over for a bit, only to have Gunner clothesline Robbie down. Hot tag brings in Storm to clean house and backdrop Jesse onto Robbie’s crotch. Gunner tries a sunset flip attempt on Jesse but Robbie breaks it up, only to eat the Last Call. A Rock Bottom backbreaker (Irish Curse) puts Jesse down again but it’s a powerslam/neckbreaker combo from the champs to get the pin for Storm at 2:59. Basically just a squash but it was something of a mess.

Jeff Hardy is ready for Joseph Park tonight and hopes he doesn’t have too much Abyss in him.

Here’s the Main Event Mafia with something to say. They’re here to destroy aces and 8’s and to ensure that Bully Ray loses the World Title. Sting brings out Samoa Joe to be the force of change in the new Mafia. Joe says that with Angle and Sting at his back, he’s going to run through the BFG Series and earn his shot at Bully Ray for the world title. Angle says he put Joe in the Mafia because of the grueling matches they’ve had over the years. As for the fourth member, he’s another man who is rising up the charts in TNA: Magnus.

Magnus, also rocking a suit, comes out to a solid reaction. He praises the other Mafia members and Joe in particular for putting him on the map last year. It’s not just about the Mafia, but about the Mafia’s mission: putting an end to Aces and 8’s. Sting challenges Aces and 8’s to a fight at Destination X and guarantees a winner in the X Title match tonight.

Bound For Glory Series: Jeff Hardy vs. Joseph Park

Jeff grabs a headlock to start but bounces off Park in a shoulder block attempt. A dropkick works a bit better and Hardy takes Park down with a headscissors out of the corner. The Twisting Stunner looks to set up the Swanton but Park rolls away at the last second. Park isn’t sure what to do so he slowly whips Jeff from corner to corner and crushes him with a splash.

Off to a chinlock for a few moments until Jeff fights up and hits his usual stuff. A low dropkick gets two but the Twist of Fate is countered into a Samoan drop. The middle rope splash connects for two but Jeff comes back with the Twist of Fate to put both guys down. Hardy’s leg hitting Park’s face busted his lip open though, meaning it’s a Black Hole Slam for the referee, earning a DQ at 8:07.

Rating: C. This was better than I was expecting but the Park character has pretty much hit its limit. It’s been the same idea for months now and there aren’t many other places you can go with it without incorporating more Abyss into it. Thankfully they’re not treating him as anything special in the Series.

It’s time for Gut Check with Ryan Howe. Al Snow says no so Howe gets to Kick Out in thirty seconds, but the fans won’t stop booing him. Danny Davis says the booing has changed his mind because Howe didn’t stop what he was saying, so it’s a yes. Bruce Pritchard says Howe got a reaction from the audience, but it’s a no.

Doc and Anderson argue over who is the next VP of the club. The vote is next week but Ray yells at them for wasting time.

Video on Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell in a ladder match next week.

Next week there will be three Joker’s Wild tag team matches in the BFG Series.

X-Division Title: Austin Aries vs. Chris Sabin vs. Manik

Aces and 8’s are watching in the crowd. Aries is put in the Tree of Woe to start and Sabin nails a delayed dropkick to his face. A sunset flip gets two on Manik but Aries is back on his feet, only to be thrown out to the floor. Manik hooks an Octopus Hold on Sabin but Aries comes back in for the save. The masked man hangs onto the ropes and avoids a charging Sabin to send Chris out to the floor. Aries sends Manik to the floor as well and gets two off a middle rope dropkick to Sabin’s back.

A forearm to the back of Sabin’s neck puts him down on the ramp but Sabin blocks the brainbuster into a front suplex. Aces and 8’s come to ringside and try to pull Manik to the floor. The masked man dives on Doc and gets powerbombed down onto the floor for his efforts. Cue the Mafia to get rid of the bikers as we take a break.

Back with Manik being taken out on a stretcher as Aries hits a belly to back suplex on Sabin on the apron. Aries rolls Sabin up three or four times in a row for two each but Sabin comes back with rapid fire chops to the chest and a choke in the corner. A running boot to the chest gets two for Sabin but Aries drives him back into the corner. The running dropkick is countered by a boot to the chest, but Sabin misses another kick in the corner, banging up his knee in the process.

Aries goes after the knee and hits the running dropkick in the corner, but the brainbuster is countered into a small package for two. The brainbuster is only good for two so Aries hooks the Last Chancery, but Sabin grabs the rope to escape again. Aries can’t hit the 450 so Sabin connects with Hail Sabin but THAT just gets two. Another Hail Sabin is countered into a victory roll for two but Sabin pops back up with a discus forearm to put both guys down. Aries sends him into the corner for another running dropkick, but Sabin catches him going up and hits Hail Sabin from the middle rope for the pin and the title at 16:11.

Rating: B+. The stuff with Manik was just kind of there but things got WAY better after it got down to a one on one match. Imagine that: a showdown between two guys is better than a spot fest between three guys. Who would have guessed that? Anyway, this was a tremendous match and that finish looked excellent.

Sabin says he’s the next world champion to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event was awesome but it was the only thing on this show that was above average. Everything else on the show just wasn’t all that good, as it was a bunch of filler stuff before we can get to Louisville for Destination X. That being said, the main event was one of the best matches we’ve seen in a LONG time int his company, which makes the rest of the show worth it.

Results

AJ Styles b. Kazarian – Calf Killer

Hernandez b. Jay Bradley – Shoulder Block

Gunner/James Storm b. Bro Mans – Powerslam/neckbreaker combo to Godderz

Jeff Hardy b. Joseph Park via DQ when Park gave the referee a Black Hole Slam

Chris Sabin b. Austin Aries and Manik – Hail Sabin from the middle rope to Aries

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 27, 2013
Location: Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

We’re still in Illinois here with a show that TNA spoiled on their website already. The main story here is we’re three weeks away from Destination X and the chance at a world title shot against Bully Ray. Other than that we have more from Sting’s Main Event Mafia which right now is just him and Kurt Angle plus more in the BFG Series. Let’s get to it.

After the usual voiceover gets things going, here’s Sting to open the show. He says that after Slammiversary he needed to go back to the roots of the Main Event Mafia so he picked Kurt Angle. Angle says that he and Sting are Mafia Originals from about four years ago. The concept of the Mafia was that everyone had to be a former world champion and they did anything they wanted.

Now, the only people who could stop them are Aces and 8’s. They’ve kept Sting from ever challenging for the world title again and kept Kurt out of the BFG Series. Angle says he and Sting are the new Main Event Mafia and are both Hall of Famers, but that means nothing until Aces and 8’s are destroyed and Bully loses the world title. Kurt says tonight there’s going to be a third member of the Family to go to war against the bikers.

Video on Sabin winning the X Title at Slammiversary.

Aces and 8’s jump Sabin in the back but don’t beat him down. Anderson and Doc hold him so Ray can lecture Chris about not overstepping his bounds and coming into the big boys’ league.

We meet the first Gut Check contestant: the Big O from Z: True Long Island Story.

X-Division Title: Chris Sabin vs. Kenny King vs. Suicide

King dives into a double dropkick to start so it’s Sabin vs. Suicide early on. King comes back with a running dropkick of his own to take both guys down. Suicide is knocked to the floor as Sabin is slammed down, only to have the masked guy come in with a missile dropkick to put King down. Everyone heads to the floor with Sabin diving onto both guys as we take a break.

Back with Sabin putting King on the top rope with his back to the ring, only to have Suicide miss a charge and get caught sitting in the corner. Sabin dropkicks King’s body into Suicide for two and your new three way spot of the match. Suicide hits a kind of Diamond Cutter into the middle buckle for two on Chris but King crotches him as the masked dude goes up.

We get the Tower of Doom with Sabin getting the worst of it, allowing King to get some near falls. Sabin comes back with a baseball slide to send Suicide to the floor and the Hail Sabin for two on King. Suicide sends the champ to the floor and gets two off a rollup on King. The Royal Flush is countered into a rollup by Suicide (with a grab of the rope) for the pin at 10:12.

Rating: C-. I’m over the three way rule and have been for months now. Having literally the same gimmick every single time makes the title nothing more than a worthless gimmick. Suicide winning is something interesting as Sabin wasn’t going to be bought as a threat to the world title no matter what.

Post match Hogan comes out with a limping guy named TJ Perkins. Hogan says this is the real Suicide and the guy in the ring jumped him and stole the suit. Suicide leaves through the crowd with the title.

Hogan says that Suicide has until the end of the show to unmask.

Ryan Howe is the other Gut Check guy. You might remember him from the last season of Tough Enough. His gimmick here seems to be a musician.

Gut Check: Ryan Howe vs. Adam O’Reiner

O’Reiner gets two off a powerslam to start before pounding Howe on the mat. Adam misses a charge in the corner and Howe puts him down with a jumping back elbow. Howe pounds away but charges into a powerslam for the pin at 2:50. This was junk.

Ray comes in to see TJ Perkins. He’s a fan of TJ’s work but wants to know if Angle and Sting put TJ up to this tonight. Perkins says no so Ray gets in his face and asks again. TJ says tonight was the opportunity of a lifetime and it was taken away from him but he doesn’t know who did it.

We recap Velvet’s knee injury and Mickie attacking her to delay the rematch over and over.

Knockouts Title: Velvet Sky vs. Mickie James

Mickie says Velvet is above this despite being a three dollar w****. Sky spears her down to start and fires off shoulders in the corner to take over. A slam to the mat gets two and Mickie heads to the outside for a breather. Mickie takes over back inside and takes it to the mat before firing off shoulders of her own in the corner. She goes after the bad knee but Velvet comes back with a bulldog for two and the champion heads outside again.

Velvet hooks a headscissors to put Mickie down before pounding away at Mickie’s face. Back in and Mickie kicks the bad knee before getting two off a bad DDT. Velvet comes back again but gets hit in the knee one more time, allowing Mickie to hook a freaky deathlock for the tap out at 6:37.

Rating: D+. The story was fine but the execution didn’t work at all. Velvet just isn’t that good in the ring but to be fair she’s there because of how she looked in her little outfits. Mickie is playing the heel very well and the idea of just going after an injury is a fine way to get heel heat.

Velvet cries about losing.

We recap the events of the night so far.

Bobby Roode walks past Sting and Angle in the back. The Mafia smiles.

Hogan asks a referee who he thinks Suicide is but can’t get any information. The referee is told to tell Suicide either unmask or get fired.

Bound For Glory Series: Magnus vs. Bobby Roode

They fight for arm control to start with neither guy being able to gain the advantage. Magnus gets two off a jumping knee to the face and Roode bails to the outside. Back in and Roode goes after the neck by sending Magnus throat first into the middle rope. A neckbreaker gets two and it’s off to a chinlock. Magnus comes back with a backdrop and a clothesline followed by a release suplex. A top rope elbow gets two on Roode but he catches Magnus in the spinebuster. The fisherman’s suplex is countered into a falcon’s arrow for the pin on Roode at 6:42.

Rating: C+. This started slow but got a lot better by the end. Magnus has so much potential it’s unreal, but it’s taken way too long to actually push the guy. That was the biggest singles win of his career and Roode isn’t going to lose anything as a result. This is called a rub, and surprisingly enough this works better than Hogan calling Magnus his main man one time backstage.

Aces and 8’s go into a locker room and ask if anyone is Suicide or if they’ve spoken to the Mafia. They all deny it but Ray threatens them anyway. Oh and Godderz should lay off the carbs.

Here are James Storm and Gunner with something to say. Storm says tag team wrestling is a science and while they may not be scientists, he’s been known as a chemist with his alcohol. You may not get along with your partner, but if you win in the ring you’re good to go. That’s why he picked Gunner and it’s why they’re champions.

This brings out Robbie E and Jesse Godderz to say they’re the future of tag team wrestling and called the team the Bromance. James: “So are you guys like a thing now?” Robbie: “I DIDN’T SAY THAT!” The name is Bro Mans apparently and Jesse says he has a hot girlfriend so they’re clearly into chicks. James calls Tara a butterface so Gunner knocks a charging Jesse out.

Sting and Angle want to go find Suicide.

Bound For Glory Series: Mr. Anderson vs. Samoa Joe

Anderson takes him into the corner but Joe pounds him down with strikes. A running big boot in the corner gets two for Joe as Tenay and Taz bicker again. We head to the floor with Anderson ramming him back first into the apron for two back inside. Anderson gets two off a swinging neckbreaker but Joe fights back into the corner again. Here are Doc and Knux for a distraction, allowing Anderson to get two off a DDT. Joe comes back with a powerslam as the Mafia hits the ring to take out the bikers. Back in the ring Joe blocks the Mic Check and gets caught in the Koquina for the tap out at 5:28.

Rating: C-. The match was a backdrop for the angle going on but it wasn’t bad. Joe could be a factor in the BFG Series as you could have him get a bunch of submissions to run up his score. He’s eternally over in TNA so the crowd will buy into him no matter what he’s doing at the moment. Also Anderson is so much better in this role than as a top guy.

Joe is the third member of the Mafia.

Here’s Hogan to demand who Suicide is tonight. Suicide gets a mic but Hogan has to list off his accomplishments first. Cue Bully Ray who says that he wants to find out who is under the mask as well. Ray claims that Suicide won the title because Sabin had the fear of Bully Ray in him. Bully is a bad person who does bad things so Suicide doesn’t want a piece of him. Hogan says take the mask off right now but Suicide says he felt the pain and we share the torment. Suicide says the question is do you know who he is…..and it’s Austin Aries, who is going to cash in again this year to win the title. Ray is shocked to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This was a hit and miss night for TNA. The good news is that they have some interesting stuff going on in the forms of Magnus and the Mafia, but stuff like Gut Check and the Suicide angle being rushed through in one night bring the show right back down. Also it gets annoying seeing Ray and Hogan trying to find out who Suicide is and wasting time on those segments when the reveal is later in the night. The show wasn’t bad but it felt bogged down which made it feel long.

Results

Suicide b. Chris Sabin and Kenny King – Rollup to King

Adam O’Reiner b. Ryan Howe – Powerslam

Mickie James b. Velvet Sky – Deathlock

Magnus b. Bobby Roode – Falcon’s Arrow

Samoa Joe b. Mr. Anderson – Koquina Clutch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Robbie challenges anyone in the BFG Series to a match.

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

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

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

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

Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Magnus

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

Taeler Hendrix vs. Tara

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

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

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. James Storm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Knockouts Title: Miss Tessmacher vs. Mickie James

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 20, 2013
Location: Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

Tonight is the start of the BFG Series which will run for the next three months heading into the biggest show of the year in October. Perhaps more interesting though is Sting reforming the Main Event Mafia tonight to aid him in his war against Aces and 8’s. It’s also the return of Open Fight Night as the summer begins for TNA. Let’s get to it.

Sting arrives to open the show, dressed to the nines in a suit and sunglasses sans paint.

We open in the arena with every BFG Series member other than Hardy and Roode. Hogan comes out to hype up Open Fight Night before calling out the two missing competitors. Everyone in the Series will get to have a match tonight and it’s Hardy who gets the first pick due to winning a fan vote. Before he can make his pick though, Austin Aries cuts him off.

Austin says he’d love to be the man that gets to face Hardy first but Jeff is too scared to do that. Christopher Daniels warns Hardy not to pick either he or Kazarian unless Jeffery wants to suffer the most demoralizing defeat of his career to start the Series. Hardy finally gets to talk and picks Bobby Roode in a not very surprising announcement. Jeff tells the Creatures to mount up and everyone brawls as we go to a break.

For clarity’s sake, every match in the Series tonight comes with a callout beforehand. I won’t bother recapping them as it’s just guys saying who they want to fight. The person listed first is the person who got to call the second person out.

Here’s how the scoring works for the Series:

10 – Submission
7 – Pinfall
5 – Countout
2 – DQ Victory
2 – Draw
-10 – DQ Loss

Also each match has a 15 minute time limit.

Bound For Glory Series: Mr. Anderson vs. Joseph Park

Anderson takes him to the mat with a headlock to start before slapping Park in the back of the head. He lets Park grab his own headlock, only to counter just as easily. A legsweep takes Park down and Anderson is making this look easy. Park grabs his own headlock out of nowhere and wrestles Anderson down before slapping him in the back of the head in a cute bit. Anderson is ticked off and kicks Park’s knee out before pounding him down in the corner. Park avoids a splash in the corner and gets two off a quick rollup as things pick up a bit.

A neckbreaker puts Park down and we hit the chinlock for a bit. Park’s comeback is cut short by a pull of the hair but Anderson misses a Swanton. Joseph makes a quick comeback but misses a splash in the corner, allowing Anderson to hit the rolling fireman’s carry slam. Park pulls Anderson’s legs out for a Boston crab but here’s Doc for a distraction to break it up. Park slams Anderson down but Doc shoves him off the middle rope while Anderson has the referee, allowing Anderson to hit the Mic Check for the pin and seven points at 5:06.

Rating: C-. This was fine and Park being the fall guy at first isn’t a bad idea. You can push him as getting more experience as the competition goes on and making a hard charge at the end, perhaps with some assistance from his brother. The match wasn’t anything great but Anderson winning could make for some interesting situations down the line.

Post break Anderson and Doc argue over who is going to be the next VP of the club. Ray says we’ll put it to a vote because tonight he has to deal with his wife Brooke.

Bound For Glory Series: Jay Bradley vs. Austin Aries

Aries takes it to the floor almost immediately and hits a big plancha off the top rope. Back in and Aries hits the slingshot elbow drop but can’t hook the Last Chancery. Austin goes up again and gets kicked down to the floor before a knee drop to the chest gets a near fall for Bradley. Some fast elbow drops get two for Jay but he misses a running boot into the corner, getting himself caught on the top rope.

Aries fires off kicks to the leg and gets two off a missile dropkick. Bradley kicks Aries out of the air as he tries the corner dropkick but Austin blocks the Boomstick with a discus forearm. Another Boomstick is ducked and Aries grabs a quick powerbomb followed by the corner dropkick. The brainbuster to Bradley is good for the pin and seven points at 3:39.

Rating: C. The more I see of Bradley the more I like him. He has a ring presence to him which is something you can’t teach anyone to have. He’s here to be the fall guy in the Series but I see some decent potential in him in years to come. Decent little match here with the exactly right result.

We look at Sting announcing the Main Event Mafia’s reformation last week.

Sting says the Mafia grows tonight.

Post break Sting asks someone if they’re in the Mafia. The unseen guy shakes his hand and apparently Sting has a deal.

Chavo gives Hernandez a pep talk for his match.

Bound For Glory Series: Hernandez vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels goes right at him to start but gets caught in the overhead belly to belly from Hernandez. Chris takes the eyes to take over but Hernandez powers out and slugs Daniels down. The running dive from the apron takes Daniels down as Hernandez is bleeding from the mouth. Daniels dives into what appeared to be an Alpha Bomb (slam into a powerbomb) but slips away and hits a low blow to put SuperMex down. The BME pins Hernandez at 2:19 to give Daniels seven points.

Bound For Glory Series: Kazarian vs. Magnus

Magnus knocks him to the floor to start but Kaz comes back in with a forearm to the face and a cravate. Kaz’s spinning crossbody is countered into a very modified powerslam/suplex for two as the crowd is into Magnus. The Brit no sells a missile dropkick (Kaz was supposed to miss but connected anyway), allowing Magnus to hook a Texas Cloverleaf for the submission at 2:54 for ten points. That’s a good move that someone needs to bring back.

Hulk is on the phone and saying things feel perfect when Bully Ray comes up to him holding a hammer. Hogan grabs him by the throat and wants to fight right now. Hulk says Ray and Brooke are done tonight but Ray asks him why Brooke stopped the shot to the head with the hammer a few weeks back.

Here’s Brooke Hogan for the state of the Knockouts division address. Eric Young and ODB have the KO Tag Title belts again. Dang it all. Mickie gets her own special entrance and thinks she’s the one giving the speech tonight. She brags about being so awesome and says it’s easier for her to carry the title on her shoulder than it is on Velvet’s bad knee.

Brooke cuts her off and wants to start with Eric Young. She reminds him of a chat they had a year and a half ago and Eric says that technically he isn’t a woman. He hands Brooke the KO tag belts and says that it’s National Kissing Day. Eric kisses ODB and they run off to the back. As for Velvet, she gets her rematch next week because her knee is fine. Gail Kim wants her own rematch which she’ll get in Las Vegas….against Taryn, in a ladder match.

After a quick talk from the announcers, Hulk sends Brooke home for the night due to fear of Ray.

Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

No callout here as these are the last two guys left (Tenay: “You can tell by process of elimination.” Or the graphic we saw before the break) but AJ has something to say. With all the lights dark, AJ says that this isn’t about Aces and 8’s, TNA, the fame, the glory or the money. It’s about not needing a hero because he’s tired of doing things for everyone else. Joe pounds him into the corner to start but AJ grabs a headlock to slow him down.

After a good while in the hold, Joe fights up but misses a running boot into the ropes. AJ pounds away in the corner and drops Joe with a clothesline. Joe misses a charge in the corner but catches AJ with the enziguri to put him on the floor. The Samoan tries a charge but has to land on his feet as AJ slides back in. AJ’s dive lands on the apron but Joe kicks his leg out to ram AJ face first into the apron as we take a break.

Back with Joe elbowing AJ in the face and pounding in some headbutts. AJ hits a quick dropkick to send Joe to the floor where a baseball slide puts Joe into the announce table. We’re told there are five minutes left which tells me TNA has a fast clock. Back in and AJ hits the springboard forearm but can’t suplex the plump Samoan. Instead AJ charges into a snap powerslam but he rolls out of a cross armbreaker attempt.

Joe looks for a superplex but AJ falls on top of him in a kind of crossbody for no cover instead. Back up and AJ pounds away but Joe punches him into the corner and fires off knee lifts. AJ rolls him into the Calf Killer but Joe sits up into the Koquina Clutch. AJ rolls out of that into a cradle for two as we have a minute left. They slug it out with thirty seconds left and head to the mat but the clock runs out at 13:40 for a time limit draw, good for two points each.

Rating: C+. These two are always worth seeing and this was no exception. You can’t have AJ tap out here as it would make him look pretty lame, but you also don’t want to have Joe lose this early in the Series. This was a solid TV match but as soon as you hear the time limit being announced you could smell the draw.

Ray is on the phone with Brooke and talks her into coming back tonight. He sends D-Von, Doc and Knux out to get her here safely.

Hulk talks to Sabin, Suicide and Kenny King about their match next week and how the winner can trade in the title for a shot at Ray in July.

Bound For Glory Series: Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode

The brawl starts on the ramp with Hardy taking over as they get to the ring. Roode takes him straight down into the Crossface but Jeff makes a rope before too much damage is done. Bobby catapults him throat first into the bottom rope before stomping away on the downed enigma. A vertical suplex sets up a knee drop for two and Roode keeps pounding on Jeff.

Hardy gets up a boot in the corner and hits a middle rope splash for two as momentum swings. An atomic drop sets up the low dropkick for two on Bobby but he grabs a quick spinebuster for two of his own. Jeff counters the fisherman’s suplex into the Twisting Stunner, but Roode rolls away from the Swanton. Bobby throws the Crossface back on but Hardy rolls through into a cradle for two. Another Twist hits for the pin on Roode and seven points at 6:15.

Rating: C+. This was the short version of the good match these two are capable of. You know Hardy is going to make a deep run in the Series so seeing him win early on isn’t a big surprise. Roode will do fine in this as well as you need a strong heel later on in the competition. Good start here for both guys.

Sting says we have some Family business to tend to tonight.

Here’s Ray to close the show. He talks to the three X Division guys who think they’re going to take the title from him in July. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep the title, but he has more important things to talk about tonight. Ray calls out Brooke but gets Sting with the Main Event Mafia music instead. Sting says he went back to his family because he can’t wrestle for the title again. That doesn’t mean he can’t get retribution on Ray tonight though.

Sting takes off his jacket and gets ready to fight before taking off his shirt. Ray calls out for the bikers but we see all of them down in the back. Sting goes after Ray and chases him up the ramp, only to have Kurt Angle, rocking a suit, take Ray down and put him in the ankle lock as the show ends.

Overall Rating: C+. The matches weren’t great tonight, but there was a clear direction here that we haven’t seen since Lockdown. The entire spring was spent building up to a filler show at Slammiversary, so having something to build up to with BFG is a very nice breath of fresh air. Sting and Angle as the Main Event Mafia is interesting but it’s something we’ve seen before: TNA’s old guys against the Aces and 8’s. It still should be entertaining though. Good show tonight.

Results

Mr. Anderson b. Joseph Park – Mic Check

Austin Aries b. Jay Bradley – Brainbuster

Christopher Daniels b. Hernandez – BME

Magnus b. Kazarian – Texas Cloverleaf

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe went to a time limit draw

Jeff Hardy b. Bobby Roode – Twist of Fate

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

So as you may have heard, Becca and I took in the TNA house show tonight in Lexington at the baseball stadium. More details to come, but the conclusion: I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun at a wrestling show and that includes going to a WWE pay per view.  Let’s get to it.

First of all, the stadium is less than 15 minutes from my house so driving was no issue. The tickets were $15 each and include a voucher each to any Lexington Legends baseball game this season. The seats were along the third base line with a view of the ring at home plate. For you non baseball fans, we had good seats and were looking down on the ring. The ring is clearly smaller than a WWE ring but it doesn’t look bad at all.

We got there at about 7:00 for a 7:30 show. At about 7:25, JB announced that you could purchase a VIP pass and meet James Storm, Gunner (tag champions as of this writing), AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Bully Ray (world champion) and D-Von at intermission plus get a photo in the ring with a TNA superstar to be named at the end of the show. All this was $50 for two people so we were down there cash in hand and got the first pass handed out. This was instantly more fun than the WWE house show we took in a few months ago. Can you imagine WWE offering a chance like that to its fans?

More on that later. On with the matches.

X-Division Title: Chris Sabin vs. Kenny King

The first interesting thing was the way the wrestlers came to the ring. They came out of the right field wall and rode golf carts to the ring. There’s something amusing about that and it made me chuckle every time. Also, you have to love TNA breaking its own rules as this was a one on one X Title match instead of a triple threat. The fans didn’t care about King but gave Sabin some polite applause. The champion (Sabin) stomped his foot to get the fans to clap. King tried the same thing and got silence in a funny bit.

The match was fine and about what you would expect from these two. Sabin worked on the arm to start but the most notable thing to start was how loud the ring was. Every time they hit the mat it sounded like cymbals crashing together. The ring mic was turned way down for the rest of the night and it was an improvement. King snapped Sabin’s neck across the top rope to take over and swung a bat like a home run. Kenny missed something off the top, Sabin hit some kicks, and Hail Sabin ended it in about 8:00. It was a good fast paced opener and the crowd was into Sabin.

Before the next match, Earl Hebner got his own entrance. He took off his regular referee shirt to reveal his YES I DID (screw Bret) shirt. He even pulled out some Bret glasses and did Hart’s poses in the ring.

Knockouts Title: Mickie James vs. Velvet Sky

Velvet limped to the ring to sell the knee injury from Impact. Mickie is fully heel, but you would have no idea that was the case tonight. Surprisingly enough, if you have a gorgeous brunette in Daisy Duke shorts and a sports bra with theme music talking about being a southern girl in Kentucky, the fans are going to cheer her a lot. This match didn’t do much for me although the view was very nice.

Mickie worked on the knee and took the tape off of it and the fans booed her. Yes, she attacked an injury and people booed without some complicated backstory, long winded story, or any heavy handed explanation. A heel did heelish things and the fans booed her. Mickie won with the MickieDT in about 5:30. Not much to see here.

AJ Styles vs. Garrett Bischoff

This was long and all about AJ Styles. Bischoff got no reaction from the crowd, but AJ got a standing ovation. There wasn’t much to see here but Garrett didn’t completely embarrass himself, meaning he’s improving. AJ worked on the arm and Garrett shouted OW in a funny bit. Garrett took over with a spear and beat on AJ for a long bit but AJ came back with a dive to the floor and the springboard forearm. They rolled out of the corner and AJ got the Calf Killer for the tap out at 11:45. It was a better match than expected but AJ completely carried it.

Tag Titles: James Storm/Gunner vs. Bobby Roode/Austin Aries

As you may have heard, Storm is wrestling hurt and it’s very clear if you watch him for a few seconds. Storm was introduced as the Cowboy instead of the Tennessee Cowboy to keep the Kentucky fans from booing him. Just before the bell the challengers (Aries/Roode) went to the pitcher’s mound with Aries pretending to pitch as Storm caught and Gunner took a batter’s stance in the ring. Storm got bored and picked up some cotton candy from a vendor to give to fans.

Roode and Aries wanted quiet from the crowd but Brian Hebner couldn’t get the fans to be quiet. It was a comedy match to start with the champions sending Roode into Aries’ groin. The challengers went to the floor with Roode shaking his head and Aries doing squats to stretch things out. Everything spilled onto the floor with Storm throwing a bunch of beers into Roode’s face while Gunner and Aries spent a good 45 seconds trying to suplex each other next to the pitcher’s mound (Gunner won with a front suplex).

They finally got back inside and Storm played Ricky Morton. It was clear that he was moving in slow motion and doing basic stuff while the other guys did the heavy lifting. Gunner finally got the hot tag and everything broke down. Roode got a beer but walked into Closing Time to spit the beer everywhere. Aries took the Last Call (more beer everywhere) followed by a torture rack from Gunner for the win at about 20:00. This was the best and by far the most entertaining match of the night. Aries was very impressive and Becca was very entertained by him.

Next was intermission and we got to go meet the previously mentioned wrestlers. Before we got to the wrestlers, Austin Aries popped up in street clothes and waved over some people he knew. I got a fist bump and said hi to him and got a polite hello. Aries is shorter than he looks on television but seemed to be a nice guy.

There were two sets of tables set up with Bully Ray and D-Von on one side and everyone else on the other. I told D-Von that I loved the TLC matches and he gave a quiet but distinct thank you and gave me a fist bump (no handshakes for him apparently). Ray signed his name with WHC underneath it and basically punched my fist when I reached it out to him for a fist bump. He’s either playing a great heel or a huge jerk in real life but it fit very well.

Next up was Jeff Hardy. A girl in front of me was one of the biggest Jeff fans in the world and was crying her eyes out from getting to meet him. Jeff took a quick picture with her despite the security guard asking us to take pictures as Jeff signed. His match was first up after the intermission so the rush is understandable. I told him I went nuts when he won the world title and he gave a very curt thank you and shook my hand. He was very quiet but not rude or anything.

James Storm and Gunner were next and both were very nice. I told Storm I had been a big fan of AMW and he smiled and thanked me. Gunner will almost crush your hand when he shakes it so the intensity thing really suits him. I said I enjoyed his match and he said he was really enjoying teaming with James. He sounded professional for lack of a better word, but it was an odd visual to see him still in his trunks and a t-shirt. As I was talking to him, a kid in a New Orleans Saints jersey was talking to Storm and Storm asked who the Saints QB and coach were. The kid said something I couldn’t hear and Gunner asked Storm what the kid said. Storm said he had no idea and didn’t know the answers either and laughed.

Last up was AJ Styles who was in a hat and looking down a bit. He signed my paper and I told him I had been a fan since TNA started. He looked up and gave a polite thank you and shook my hand. That Georgia accent comes through on every word he says just like it does on TV.

After this we literally ran back to catch Earl and Brian Hebner signing pictures and Hebner’s shirt for $20 total. Earl asked if we liked the VIP signing and was happy we enjoyed it. Becca is a huge Earl Hebner fan (I don’t get it either) and freaked out when he shook her hand. He asked if we had a camera so I got a quick picture of them. Earl was a nice guy and I got to ask him which referee was the evil one when Andre and DiBiase cheated Hogan out of the title in 1988 (Earl said he was the evil one, like always).

Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson

Hardy got a big pop once people realized it was his music playing. Jeff went around the front row and high fived fans while Anderson did what looked like a Nazi goose step and salute. I didn’t get a good view of it but he was definitely doing the high step. There wasn’t much to this at all but Anderson did Hardy’s dance in a funny moment. Anderson controlled most of the match but Hardy came back with his usual stuff. The Mic Check was countered into the Twist of Fate for the pin at about 7:30. I had never seen Jeff wrestle live so this was a bit of a treat. It looked like he had an ice pack on his elbow after the match but it didn’t look serious.

Bully Ray/D-Von vs. Sting/Kurt Angle

The world title belt is very shiny as you could see the reflection from across the field. Sting and Angle came out to Sting’s music and both were introduced as Hall of Famers. The fans were WAY into both guys so the star power was rolling here. Angle got beaten down to start and the Dudleys hit a kind of botched reverse 3D (the one where Bully does a belly to back suplex into a D-Von neckbreaker. For some reason D-Von was doing Bully’s part and then they seemed to realize they had it backwards).

Angle clotheslined D-Von down and D-Von did a Spinarooni to get back up. Sting got the hot tag and eveyrthing broke down with Angle and D-Von going outside. Sting hit Stinger Splashes on everyone but the referee was bumped just before Sting gave Ray the Death Drop. Ray hit Sting with the chain for two and the Angle Slam set up the Scorpion Deathlock for the tap out from Ray at about 7:00. The match was nothing special but I had never seen Sting or Angle wrestle live (Becca is a lifelong WWE fan and had never seen a Sting match period, which blew my mind).

After the main event JB talked about Angle being inducted in the Hall of Fame and Kurt was cheered to the back. JB told us that for $30 (or for free to those that bought the VIP pass) your entire group could get a picture with Sting with no limit on the amount of people. For a large group of people that’s a great deal. The line took a bit to get through but it was an amazing feeling to walk through the ropes and get inside a ring. The fact that Sting is one of my favorite wrestlers ever made it even better.

The mat is a lot softer than I expected and actually has some give to it. I was surprised at how hard a turnbuckle felt too. I got my picture taken with Sting and was surprised at how tall he was. I’m 6’0 tall and I was looking up at him. As I was leaving I told Sting I had been watching for 25 years and he was the first thing I remembered (Black Scorpion). He said wow that’s awesome and said thanks for being a fan.

We were given a copy of our photo as we left and a card telling us how we can get digital copies of them in a few days. That’s really efficient for such a short amount of time.

As we were leaving a guy from TNA asked us if we had a good time and seemed very pleased that we enjoyed ourselves. He jokingly asked us to tell people about it on the dirt sheets and smiled when I said I ran a wrestling website.

Overall, this was VERY fun and probably the most entertaining wrestling show I’ve been to, which covers a lot of ground. The show felt like it was very personal and focused on making sure the fans have a good time. The $80 combined for all the autographs, meeting the wrestlers and tickets was more than worth it as we were back home in just over four hours.

We were at a WWE Smackdown show a few months ago and it’s a very different feeling. WWE feels like a big spectacle and was certainly fun and affordable (tickets were the same price and about the same distance from the ring) but the star power was nothing compared to this show. The biggest stars I saw at the WWE show were Orton, Sheamus and Del Rio. Tonight I saw Angle, Sting and Jeff Hardy which pretty much crushes the WWE roster.

The other main difference is how accessible things were tonight. At the WWE show it felt like there was a huge divide between the fans and the wrestlers. Tonight they made us feel welcome (not to say WWE didn’t) and like we were in a much more intimate setting. The vibe is completely different here too. With WWE it felt like you were getting an entertainment show whereas tonight was about kicking back and enjoying two and a half hours of wrestling. There were no Twitter polls, promos to hype up matches, or pointless filler matches. Tonight was entertaining, fast paced, and above all else: FUN.

If you ever have the chance to go to a TNA show, make sure you take the opportunity and spring for the VIP package. The show feels so less polished (in a good way) than a WWE show and doesn’t walk you through everything. The WWE show had a better quality to the matches (Barrett vs. Del Rio and Sheamus/Orton vs Shield) but tonight was so basic (one heel wins in six matches) and focused on the fans that it was a blast.

If Impact was like this every week, WWE would be in trouble. It made Becca want to watch Impact for the first time in years which is the right idea for these shows. The difference between the live events and Impact (read as no Hogan and WAY less stupid stuff) is remarkable and the show was definitely worth the time and money. Check them out if you get the chance and want a completely different wrestling experience from a WWE show.

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 13, 2013
Location: Gwinett Center, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

We’re still in Atlanta and tonight we get to find out who will be the twelve men in the BFG Series. We’ve already found out three of them but tonight the field will be completely revealed. Other than that we’re likely to hear more about Brooke Hogan not letting her dad hit Bully with a hammer last week. Let’s get to it.

After a recap of the events of last week, here’s Hulk to open the show. He talks about how awesome it is to be in Atlanta before talking about nearly murdering Bully Ray last week. It was such a horrible moment last week that only an act of God kept him from doing something very bad. He’s even asked Brooke Hogan to stay home tonight because of how intense things have been.

As for tonight, it’s the BFG Series Selection Show. Three people (Joe, Jay Bradley and Hernandez) are already in and we’ll add the previous two winners (Hardy and Roode) to the field as well. Hogan brings out Jeff Hardy who says he’s so tired of hammers that he’s going to win the BFG Series and then beat Ray for the world title in San Diego.

This brings out Bobby Roode to talk about being the longest reigning champion in Impact Wrestling history and how he’s going to win his second BFG Series to win the world title back. Hogan says that next week is Open Fight Night and the fans get to vote for which of these two get to pick which of these two get to make the first call out. Roode says he’s going to call out Hardy next week but Hardy wants to go right now.

Instead here are Aces and 8’s with something to say. Ray wants to know why any of this matters, because no matter who goes on to Bound For Glory because they get to lose to him. Hogan wants to know why the bikers aren’t in the Series and Ray says that’s just fine. Ray sends in Bischoff and Brisco to fight Hardy and Roode which goes about as well as you would expect. Roode jumps Hardy from behind and bails before he catches a beating.

Bad Influence is ready for the tag team qualifying match tonight and make fun of Storm for having yet another partner. Daniels plays the piano and that’s about it.

Bound For Glory Series Qualifying Match: Gunner/James Storm vs. Bad Influence

Both members of the winning team qualify. Storm suplexes Daniels down to start and drops a knee for two. Off to Gunner vs. Kaz with the tattooed man throwing Kaz around with ease. Daniels finally starts cheating to take Gunner down, allowing Kaz to hit a springboard legdrop to the back of the head for two. Bad Influence hits a few kicks to the chest but Gunner runs them both over with a double clothesline.

Back to Storm who gets two on Kaz off an Alabama Slam as everything breaks down. Gunner is sent to the floor but Storm hits a Backstabber on Daniels and Closing Time on Kaz. With everything going nuts, Kaz distracts the referee so Daniels can blast Storm in the head with a title belt, giving Kazarian the pin at 4:26.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but it’s clear that the tag titles are going nowhere again. At least the tag team champions didn’t lose clean in under five minutes. The Series needs heels though so what better way to have these two get into the Series? Well they could have had them beat ANY other two faces but that wouldn’t be impressive I guess.

Crimson is back with a modified look. He won’t say what he’s doing here for the first time in 12 months.

Velvet has a present for Mickie James inside an envelope.

Here’s Crimson to talk about being undefeated for 470 days and then being gone for 12 months. Tonight he can get into the BFG Series and all he has to do is beat Joseph Park.

Bound For Glory Series Qualifying Match: Joseph Park vs. Crimson

Crimson runs Park over with some clotheslines for two before we hit the cravate. Some knees to Park’s face set up a neckbreaker for no cover as Crimson is bragging a bit too much. Park is sent into the corner but Crimson misses a charge, allowing Park to roll him up for the pin at 2:40.

Mickie is ready for Velvet.

Here’s velvet to clear the air with Mickie. She calls out the champion and hands her the contents of the envelope: medical clearance for the rematch. Mickie says that the release is dated yesterday but Velvet’s knee is hurt today, so Mickie attacks the knee and puts it in a leg lock until referees make the save.

Matt Morgan says he’ll win his match because Sting couldn’t beat him.

Bound For Glory Series Qualifying Match: Kenny King vs. Matt Morgan vs. Rob Terry vs. Magnus

One fall to a finish. Morgan and King start but King immediately tags out to Terry. King distracts Terry so Morgan can take over with the Nash choke in the corner. A big boot to the head puts Terry down but King tags himself in. King hits a springboard ax handle to Terry’s back but the big man launches King into the air and down to the mat. Off to Magnus who takes down the two big guys and drops King with a brainbuster. The top rope elbow gets two on King as Morgan makes the save and everything breaks down. Morgan kicks Terry in the face but Magnus hits a Michinoku Driver on King for the pin at 4:50.

Rating: C-. Magnus is a good choice to go into the Series as he is constantly pushed as the next big thing in TNA. The problem is Morgan has been in that role for years as well and never gets to go anywhere as a result. The winner was surprising though so at least it wasn’t a waste of time.

Eric Young is going to sneak into the BFG Series by beating Aries. His first step: using the rest room.

Video on Jackson’s arrival getting media coverage.

Here’s Sting for the first time since Slammiversary. He talks about the great deception by Bully Ray setting up Sting’s one title shot at Slammiversary. Sting failed there because he couldn’t survive the waves of Aces and 8’s that Ray threw at him. While Sting was fighting them off, no one came out to help him but that’s ok. Sting says Aces and 8’s are just like family. He repeats the word family and says that he has to go to a place that he never thought he’d have to go again. Sting has to create a family that he can trust: the new Main Event Mafia.

Video on Eric Young’s fishing show and a brief reunion with ODB.

Bound For Glory Series Qualifying Match: Austin Aries vs. Eric Young

Aries immediately takes Eric to the mat and rides him around before heading to the corner for some bragging. ODB comes in and is ridden to the mat by Eric before we get back to some actual wrestling. Aries rakes the eyes to take over and chokes on the ropes before hooking a quick chinlock.

They trade loud chops and Young pounds away before being sent to the apron for a Flair strut. Young slides back in and sends Aries to the apron as well, but Austin’s Flair strut is broken up by a forearm. A big dive to the floor takes Aries down but kissing ODB takes too long and Aries dropkicks Young in the corner. The brainbuster finishes Young at 6:15.

Rating: C-. There were some nice spots in this but I don’t think I could care less about Young if I tried. He’s done the same “goofy” schtick for so long that I never need to see it again at all. Aries winning is fine as he belongs in the Series but the match wasn’t entertaining due to Young.

Aces and 8’s tell Doc to chill about not getting the BFG Series spot.

Bound For Glory Series Qualifying Match: Battle Royal

It’s every member of Aces and 8’s but it’s a Fingerpoke of Doom match. Anderson “shoot” Brisco out, Hogan points Bischoff out, tricks Knux into looking away and actually fingerpokes him out, and tells D-Von to get the tables from the floor. Doc is the only one left but he will have none of the stepping aside. He goes after Anderson but eventually gets tossed out anyway at 4:00 so Anderson can win. No rating but it was storyline development instead of a match.

Rampage Jackson comes up to Angle in the back to ask what he meant last week. Angle said he just meant that Rampage can’t jump to the top overnight and everything seems cool.

Doc is yelled at in the back by the rest of the team until Ray yells at Anderson and Doc for screwing up the plan. Doc says he was just stepping up which Ray respects, but Doc broke the plan. Everything seems to be cool but Doc wants to make sure AJ Styles doesn’t make it into the BFG Series. Ray says get the job done.

Bound For Glory Series Qualifying Match: AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle

Angle takes it to the corner to start but AJ pops him in the jaw with a dropkick. A backbreaker and suplex put Angle down as we take a break. Back with AJ knocking Angle to the floor and hitting a baseball slide to send him into the announce table. AJ misses a big dive and gets caught in a sweet overhead belly to belly suplex to put him down on the floor. Back inside and AJ clotheslines him down but gets caught in a release German suplex. Angle can’t follow up and gets caught by a springboard forearm for two. Kurt comes right back with Rolling Germans, only to have AJ counter the Angle Slam into a DDT for two.

AJ misses a splash in the corner and gets caught in the Angle Slam for two. The ankle lock is countered into the Calf Killer which is countered into the ankle lock which is rolled through by AJ. Styles goes up for a moonsault but Angle runs the ropes for a belly to back superplex. AJ lands on his feet and hits a DDT into the corner to knock Angle silly. Cue Doc and Knux to go after AJ but it’s Angle who takes the shot. That and an Anderson distraction allows AJ to roll up Kurt for the pin at 15:37.

Rating: B. Did you expect anything else from Angle vs. Styles? The counters in there were getting more and more awesome every time with both guys finding a way to top themselves every time. The ending was fine even though they told us it was coming earlier in the night. Very solid main event here as you would have expected.

Aces and 8’s beat Angle down post match until Rampage Jackson makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was a few steps below last week’s show but it was still entertaining for the most part. The wrestling wasn’t all that great but tonight’s episode was about setting up future matches instead of giving us entertaining stuff tonight. Angle vs. Styles was good like you would expect it to have been and some of the other matches weren’t bad either. Also the drama was kept to a minimum tonight which makes for a much easier show to sit through. It wasn’t bad but it was behind last week’s show.

Results

Bad Influence b. James Storm/Gunner – Kazarian pinned Storm after a belt shot to the head

Joseph Park b. Crimson – Rollup

Magnus b. Kenny King, Rob Terry and Matt Morgan – Michinoku Driver to King

Austin Aries b. Eric Young – Brainbuster

Mr. Anderson won a battle royal last eliminating Doc

AJ Styles b. Kurt Angle – Rollup

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 6, 2013
Location: Gwinett Arena, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

We’re past Slammiversary now which means we have four and a half months before we get to Bound For Glory. The main story from Slammiversary is Ray retained the title with help from Aces and 8’s while Sting received no help at all. Tonight we’re likely to kick off the Bound for Glory Series which is a four month long competition to determine the #1 contender for the world title at the biggest show of the year. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the end of Slammiversary’s main event with Ray hitting Sting in the head with a hammer to retain.

Here’s the world champion to open things up. Ray gets in Tenay’s face to talk trash about Sting with Tenay whining back at him about all the cheating. Ray talks about the fans being happy to see him because he’s from New York City and he’s the guy who beat Sting at Slammiversary. Sting hasn’t had good luck at Slammiversary as he was jumped last year at the show after the PPV. Then on Sunday, Ray beat Sting single handedly, which means Sting might retire.

Ray talks about beating all of TNA’s heroes and leaving no one left standing, meaning he should be in the Hall of Fame. Instead of getting Dixie like he wanted, Ray gets Hogan instead. Hulk talks about Ray beating Sting with the help of the Aces, but now he heard Ray say there’s no competition left. Hogan thinks there’s competition left and we’ll find out who that might be next week on the BFG Series Selection Show.

After a cheap pop (Hogan’s words) for mentioning Atlanta, Hogan announces Ray vs. Jeff Hardy for later tonight. Ray protests so Hogan makes it a ladder match for good measure. There’s going to be a hammer hanging above the ring as well and whoever gets to it first can use it. I guess that means you win by pin?

Video on the BFG Series.

Chavo and Hernandez say they’re friends but it’s every man for himself in the BFG Series.

Bound for Glory Series Qualifying Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Hernandez

Hernandez runs him over to start so Chavo tries to go after the arm. Chavo dropkicks him down for two and stays on the arm, only to be slammed down with ease. Hernandez misses a splash so Chavo hooks another armbar, only to have Hernandez easily lift him up. SuperMex throws Chavo down with a suplex followed by the over the shoulder backbreaker to put the smaller guy in trouble. A corner splash misses and Chavo hits a pair of suplexes, only to have the frog splash hit knees. The Border Toss is countered into a sunset flip but Hernandez counters into a rollup for the pin at 4:56.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t bad but it showed us one thing: absolutely no one cares about Chavo Guerrero. Whoever is about to say “I care”, sit down and shut up because you’re a very confused person. Hernandez is nothing great, but the fans actually respond to him a bit. Chavo is a living human and that’s about it as far as the fans are concerned.

Rampage is here.

Here’s D-Von with something to say. He wants Abyss to come out here and give him back the stolen TV Title. Instead D-Von gets Joseph Park who claims that D-Von robbed him on Sunday. Park says he’s going to do what he should have done on Sunday and takes D-Von down to pound away. D-Von comes back with right hands and sends Park into the post. He loads up a chair shot but gets cut off by Abyss’ music. There’s no Abyss so D-Von says he’s coming to find him. Park gets up and sees blood coming from his mouth. Joseph goes into Abyss mode and breathes a lot as we go to a break.

Here’s Robbie E claiming to be the MVP of the last two BFG Series. Last year he beat Jeff Hardy and got five points bro. Robbie doesn’t care who his opponent will be for the qualifying match tonight.

Bound for Glory Series Qualifying Match: Samoa Joe vs. Robbie E

Joe runs him over to start and pounds Robbie down like he’s not even there. Robbie gets in a single shot but misses a cross body, setting up the Muscle Buster and the Koquina Clutch for the tap out at 1:40.

Mickie James comes up to Velvet in the back to schill the new Impact Wrestling scratch off lottery ticket. Mickie makes excuses for why she can’t defend the title against Velvet tonight, claiming she has to defend the title against someone Velvet overlooked as champion.

We get the Kurt Angle HOF video.

Here’s Rampage Jackson in the arena for his big debut. Jackson talks about being a wrestling fan growing up and saying he needs to beat the best in order to be the best. This brings out Kurt Angle to say that if Rampage wants to be the best, he’ll have to go through Angle. Short and sweet.

Ray and Anderson are in the back and wondering where D’Lo has been. Anderson mentions that the VP spot is now opens but Ray wants to talk about the ladder match tonight. He doesn’t know why he has to climb a ladder to blast Jeff Hardy in the head with a hammer again. Anderson thinks Hogan doesn’t like Jeff but Ray wants to know why the Aces aren’t in the BFG Series. Anderson asks if Ray wants help in the ladder match tonight. Ray says a good VP would know what call to make.

Austin Aries/Bobby Roode/Kenny King vs. Chris Sabin/Gunner/James Storm

Sabin starts with an armdrag to take King down before sending him into the champions’ corner. Everything breaks down in a hurry with Roode and company bailing to the floor. Sabin dives on all three of them at once to fire up the crowd. Back in and Roode suplexes Sabin down before getting two off a knee drop. Off to Storm for a Beer Money reunion with James cleaning house until Roode clotheslines him down to take over. Aries comes in with a slingshot splash for two.

King hits a slingshot legdrop for two of his own before it’s back to Roode for some double teaming. Storm sends Aries into Roode to get himself a breather and the hot tag off to the hometown boy Gunner. Everything breaks down and Roode hits the spinebuster on Gunner to take him down. Aries loads up the suicide dive but gets kicked in the head by Sabin. All Hail Sabin (the name for that piledriver kind of move Sabin has been using) pins King at 6:39.

Rating: C. This was your usual formula tag match but without enough time to really get anything going. Having all three new champions against their challengers is fine as you can combine both stories into a single match. This worked fine for what it was but hopefully they can do something new with the divisions instead of just doing the same stuff over and over again.

D-Von and Knux jump someone in the back, presumably Joseph Park.

Brooke Hogan congratulates Taryn on her win Sunday but won’t talk about her feelings for Bully.

Mickie James vs. Taeler Hendrix

Taeler takes her down with a wristdrag to start but Mickie seems amused. She even applauds Taeler before running her over. Taeler Matrixes away and dropkicks Mickie down for two. Hendrix kicks Mickie in the knee, sending Mickie begging to ODB for mercy. Of course she’s playing possum and kicks Taeler’s head off for the pin at 3:45.

Rating: D. This wasn’t much but Taeler didn’t look bad in more ways than one. The fans reacted to her which is the best thing that could happen to her at the moment so it was a good night for her. Mickie has slid right back into the heel role and is playing it perfectly which is nice to see for a change.

Someone attacks Knux in the back. It’s Abyss of course and D-Von is attacked as well.

We look at the card for next week and Angle vs. Jackson from earlier.

Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy

Non-title hammer above the ring ladder match here. Jeff dives on Ray during the champ’s entrance before taking him inside for some right hands in the corner. Back to the floor with Hardy diving off the apron to take the champ out before bringing out the ladder. We come back from a break with Ray splashing Jeff in the corner and posing a bit. Ray drops the ladder on Hardy before dropping an elbow for good measure.

A big boot stops a Hardy comeback attempt and the champ mocks Hogan. Jeff blocks the Bully Bomb and DDTs Ray down but can’t follow up. Back up and they slug it out with Jeff taking over. An atomic drop sets up the legdrop between the legs and the seated dropkick for good measure. Jeff goes up but jumps down before Ray can shove him off. Ray is sent into the corner where Jeff dropkicks the ladder into the champ’s crotch. Fans: “NO MORE BABIES!”

Jeff goes up but gets shoved into the top rope by the champ. Ray: “TAZ! MY BALLS!” Hardy comes back with a clothesline but gets shoved into the corner after he tries to climb again. The Whisper in the Wind puts Ray down but he gets up in time to pull the ladder out again, sending Hardy crashing to the mat.

Ray goes up and retrieves the ladder despite still feeling the effects of the low blow earlier. Jeff avoids the hammer shot and hits a Twisting Stunner to get the hammer for himself. Hardy misses a few swings of his own and Ray runs off to end the show. Jeff falls down on the ramp and is holding his hip or back. The match just ends at around 16:00.

Rating: B. No contest (and possible legit injury to Jeff aside) this was a pretty solid main event. Can you really ask for more than a Dudley against a Hardy in a ladder match on free TV? The crash landings here were scary stuff as Jeff’s bones are going to be like soup by the time he’s fifty. Good match though.

Hardy is helped out by a referee and is holding his hip.

Ray wants his belt in the back but Hulk is sneaking up on him with a hammer. Brooke shouts at him to stop and Ray escapes to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This wasn’t too bad coming off of Slammiversary although I wasn’t wild on throwing a ladder match with two top names out on free TV like this. Jackson vs. Angle should be AMAZING and will actually be a big time draw for TNA, unlike anything King Mo did (and by that I mean one thing). The BFG Series looks good so things are looking good for the future….in nearly five months.

Results

Hernandez b. Chavo Guerrero – Rollup

Samoa Joe b. Robbie E – Koquina Clutch

Chris Sabin/James Storm/Gunner b. Kenny King/Austin Aries/Bobby Roode – All Hail Sabin to King

Mickie James b. Taeler Hendrix – Spinning kick to the head

Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy went to a no contest

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