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

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

We open with the usual recaps from last week.

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

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

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

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

Kurt Angle vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Christopher Daniels

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tara vs. ODB

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

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

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

Gut Check is next.

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

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

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

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

TV Title: Mr. Anderson vs. Samoa Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Tara b. ODB – Small Package

Samoa Joe b. Mr. Anderson – Koquina Clutch

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

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Lockdown 2006
Date: April 23, 2006
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 900
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

It’s all in the cage this time and the main events are about the same as they would be the next month. We have Lethal Lockdown with Sting’s Warriors vs. Jarrett’s Army as well as Abyss vs. Christian for Christian’s world title. This is one of those shows where I’m not sure how great the idea is as a lot of these matches don’t belong inside a cage, thereby overdoing the gimmick and making it a lot weaker by the end of the match. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about how viewer discretion is advised. It comes off like a movie trailer which is a unique idea for a video at least. Wrestlemania 21 was about parodies rather than a trailer for the show for those of you about to complain that I’ve forgotten about that show.

Remember that every match is in the Six Sides of Steel tonight.

Black Tiger/Hiroki Goto/Minoru Tanaka vs. Sonjay Dutt/Jay Lethal/Alex Shelley

This is a World X Cup preview match, meaning it has no bearing on the standings or anything like that. This is Team USA vs. Team Japan of course. Shelley hands So Cal Val the camera to film the match. Everyone has to tag here. It’s Shelley vs. Tanaka to start things off. Shelley takes him down quickly and hits a dropkick to the side of the head to take over. Minoru rolls forward into a dropkick to take Shelley right back down.

Off to Black Tiger as Tenay talks about Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger, which is a very interesting idea actually. In essence, they’re rivals and they keep the character alive by changing the people portraying each. Eddie Guerrero was Black Tiger at one point. Off to Goto vs. Lethal. It’s a feeling out process to start with Lethal taking him down a few times and hitting a basement dropkick. Off to Black Tiger and Shelley again, followed by a triple team attack by Team USA.

Black Tiger gets worked over by Dutt and then Alex. Jay comes in as the Americans are flying in and out very quickly. Dutt finally stays in for awhile but gets caught by a dropkick in the corner. Team Japan triple teams him as Team Mexico is watching from the stage. A triple dropkick gets two and it’s off to Tiger Mask to continue the beating. Dutt finally rolls free and tags in Lethal.

Jay speeds things up and gets some offense in but charges into a back elbow. Back to Goto who hist a fast suplex for two. The Americans hit triple running strikes in the corner followed by a frog splash that gets two for Shelley. Goto gets superkicked into a German for two. Standing shooting star gets two for Dutt as this breaks down. Minoru grabs a cross armbreaker out of nowhere on Lethal but it’s broken up pretty quickly. Lethal and Tiger are legal now but it breaks down again. Everyone hits everyone and Shelley accidentally hits Dutt. Black Tiger hits a tiger suplex on Lethal for the pin.

Rating: B-. This is the right choice for an opener. The whole idea of the X Cup was to send out country vs. country in a big tournament which wound up being pretty entertaining, although mostly worthless at the end of the day. This was a solid match though as both teams were flying all over the place out there. Again though, the cage meant nothing at all for the most part as this could have been held in a regular match just as easily.

We run down the card.

Team 3D says they’ll win the Anthem Match later against Team Canada. Ray says this is about pride tonight and how he’d rather work in WWE than hear the Canadian National Anthem again. D-Von: “You’re kidding right?” Ray: “Yeah I was just ribbing you guys.” Team 3D leaves and Larry wants to know what the major announcement is tonight but JB doesn’t know.

Christopher Daniels vs. Senshi

Senshi seems to be a surprise opponent. Daniels isn’t sure what to do so Senshi fires off rapid fire strikes to send Daniels into the corner. Senshi keeps escaping whatever Daniels tries but a kick to the face finally puts him down. A flying knee in the corner misses and Senshi hits a flapjack to put the Fallen Angel back down. Senshi does his signature kick to the back for two and it’s off to a modified camel clutch.

A suplex gets two for Senshi as the fans are split. They chop it out with Daniels taking a small advantage. Senshi hits a double chop to send Daniels down to his knee but gets caught in a sunset flip attempt. Senshi hits a quick Warrior’s Way for two and Daniels is in trouble. Daniels gets caught in a rear waist lock but he elbows out of it. Christopher hits a kind of suplex into the cage wall followed by a running STO for two. Blue Thunder Bomb gets the same.

Senshi kicks him down HARD for two. He’s getting frustrated which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Daniels hits a Death Valley Driver out of nowhere followed by the BME but it only gets two. He puts Senshi on the top but his superplex is blocked by punches to the ribs. Daniels responds by ramming Senshi’s head into the cage. Well when all else fails, go with the simplest method. Angel’s Wings off the top is countered but the Warrior’s Way off the top misses as well. Angel’s Wings is countered again with Senshi flipping forward and putting his feet on the ropes for the pin.

Rating: B-. Another good match here as I continue to like Daniels more and more when he’s not facing AJ Styles. Senshi is a very acquired taste for me and I still don’t care for him most of the time. Here though he was using something other than kicks which is the key to him being more interesting. He wouldn’t be around for weeks after this though as they wanted to give him a stronger introduction or something like that.

The James Gang and Bullet Bob Armstrong talk about the arm wrestling match between 66 year old Bullet Bob and Konnan, with the winning team getting to give the losers (Konnan and LAX) ten lashes.

We recap LAX vs. the James Gang, which is set to a rap song. It’s about Konnan saying that Armstrong is old and the James Gang taking exception. I think this is still fallout from the 3 Live Kru breaking up.

This is just like every arm wrestling match you’ve ever seen: Konnan doesn’t want to start, then he has an early advantage, then Konnan is in trouble, then he comes back, then Armstrong comes back, then Armstrong wins. The whipping takes WAY too long.

Jarrett’s Army is told they have the advantage in Lethal Lockdown. Larry Z comes in and wants to know if they know the announcement. Jarrett tells him to get lost. AMW says they’ll set the table for Steiner at the end of the match. Steiner says he’s ready to snap.

Elix Skipper vs. Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin vs. Chase Stevens vs. Puma vs. Shark Boy

This is an Xscape match, meaning pin/submission until there are two left, when it becomes escape only rules. Thankfully there are tags required in this. Shark Boy and Petey get us going with Shark Boy chopping away in the corner. Apparently Simon Diamond and Coach D’Amore have formed an alliance with their men in the match. Either way the Dead Sea Drop is blocked by Petey and it’s off to Puma vs. Sharky. For you ROH fans, Puma is TJ Perkins.

Puma goes up but gets crotched and ranaed down by Shark Boy. A missile dropkick puts Puma down again and it’s off to Skipper vs. Shark Boy. Skipper tries a wheelbarrow suplex but Shark Boy climbs the cage with a bulldog for two. Elix goes up the corner again but this time jumps into a kick from Shark Boy to put both guys down. Skipper tags in to Williams and a quick Destroyer eliminates Sharky Boy.

Sabin comes in next and pounds away on the head of Williams. Petey hits a tornado DDT while climbing the cage which gets two. Off to a chinlock which is quickly broken and Sabin tags in Stevens. Chase cleans house and counters the Destroyer into an Alabama Slam. Sabin and Skipper take people down and everyone is on the mat. Stevens goes up top and waits forever for everyone to get in position for a HUGE shooting star dive to take everyone out.

Chase covers Williams and Skipper but gets caught in what we would call White Noise for a pin. We’re down to four now and everyone goes after Sabin. Williams turns on Skipper all of a sudden and sunset flips him out. D’Amore and Diamond are about to brawl but Skipper gets kicked out of the cage and onto the coaches.

Cradle Shock puts Puma out so it’s down to Sabin and Williams in escape rules. Sabin goes up but winds up getting pulled down. Back down and Sabin puts him in the Tree of Woe for the hesitation dropkick. He goes up and over but D’Amore blocks his exit until Williams catches up. Petey lands on D’Amore but his feet don’t touch so Sabin drops down and wins it.

Rating: C+. This was another good match that was only in the cage for the ending. This was yet another preview for the World X Cup with the final two competitors being the captains for their respective countries. The match was nothing great but it was fun to kill about twelve minutes with, and that’s all you need to do at times.

Mitchell says he isn’t worried about waking the monster in Christian. Christian may be the best wrestler in the world, but he’s not a champion. Would a real champion go to Toronto to make movies or leave his wife home alone or be attacked in his own home? Christian did all that, but that’s how he rolls right?

We recap Joe vs. Sabu. The idea is that Joe is extreme so here’s Sabu to challenge that aspect of his personality.

X-Division Title: Samoa Joe vs. Sabu

Sabu immediately puts on the camel clutch but Joe quickly escapes. Sabu has a broken left arm apparently. He throws the chair at Joe’s head for two. Joe comes back with a running forearm and hooks a front facelock in the corner. Sabu gets thrown into the cage to bust him open, which is one of the first uses of the cage all night. Sabu comes back with a chair shot and hits the Arabian Facebuster for no cover.

A spinning legdrop using the chair as a springboard point hits but he still doesn’t cover. Sabu is busted way open now as he pulls out his signature spike. Joe grabs the arm and puts on a cross armbreaker but Sabu blocks the pressure. The champ stays on the arm which is about as logical as you can possibly get. They both go to the top rope but Joe rams the bad arm into the cage and slams him off the top for two. Sabu gets back up and tries the Triple Jump Moonsault but Joe pelts the chair at him and hits the MuscleBuster to retain.

Rating: C-. Not much here but the idea here was more about giving Joe a win over a big name which is fine. Sabu was good at something like this as it was kept short and he didn’t have the room or the time to mess anything up. This was kind of an old school idea of bringing in someone for a one off appearance to challenge a big name, which is something cool to see for a change.

Team Canada makes fun of the Dudleys and D’Amore says the Dudleys have never beaten the Canadians or held the NWA World Tag Team Titles like they have. Larry Z comes in and wants to know about the announcement again. D’Amore rips into him.

We recap Team 3D vs. Team Canada which is your usual patriotism feud. Team Canada laid them out and put the Canadian flag over them, which ticked off Ray.

Team 3D vs. Team Canada

This is a six man so we have Runt in there also. It’s Roode, Young and A-1 for the Canadians. This is a capture the flag match and the winners get their anthem played. The Dudleys have war paint on. Runt and Eric stand on the top ropes as guards for their flags. That’s a smart idea actually. There aren’t any tags for the other guys which makes this even better. Team 3D does a little doe-see-doe to take out the Canadians but Young jumps down and takes both of them down. Spike does the same and then the goalies go back to their respective places. Young gets pulled down and Spike goes for the flag but can’t quite get to it. Roode goes for it also but gets caught.

Ray and Roode go to the top rope and they chop it out before Ray hits a Bubba Bomb off the top. D-Von makes a save of his own with a Russian Leg Sweep off the top to A-1. Runt and Young fight on the top with Young going down and taking a double stomp. Roode goes after Spike but Ray makes the save. Not that it matters that much as the spinebuster kills Runt dead. Team 3D double teams Roode down but A-1 comes in again.

That also goes badly for the Canadians as Ray chops him down. It’s almost all Dudleys so far. The referee gets crushed and Roode takes the 3D. Double flapjack puts A-1 down and What’s Up Eric? Ray goes up and gets the flag but there’s no referee to declare him the winner. The music plays prematurely and D’Amore has a steel chair. Spike keeps playing goalie but the Canadians triple team him.

Eric puts the American flag back up and D’Amore has knocked the gatekeeper out. He opens the cage and puts a table inside but Young drives himself through it by mistake. Acid Drop takes A-1 down and it’s another 3D for Roode. With the referee up this time, Runt goes and retrieves the flag for the win.

Rating: C+. This was ok but the overbooking got annoying. The good thing though was that the same team won the match in the end so it wasn’t that big of a deal. The cage played a role in the match again here so the match didn’t seem as pointless as it had been earlier. Decent match and it blew off the feud which is the right idea.

D’Amore takes a 3D but the Star Spangled Banner never plays after an anthem match. The fans are singing it as Tenay and West talk though so I guess that counts. That’s pretty rude of the announcers though.

Christy Hemme debuts as the newest Knockout. She hands Tenay a letter which has the announcement. Everyone in the front office will now be held accountable and a new face of TNA management will debut soon. The first act of this new person: Larry Zbyzsko is now on probation. You know Larry isn’t going to miss an opportunity to come out and complain. Tenay and Larry argue a bit and Tenay says that Raven is reinstated. Bird Boy comes out and chases Larry into the cage until security takes him away.

Christian has nothing to say.

We recap the world title match. Abyss and Mitchell say that Christian stole Abyss’ show (which is true) but Christian wouldn’t give him a match. Abyss attacked Christian and went to his home to terrorize him a bit more. He also stalked Christian’s wife so tonight it’s about personal revenge.

NWA World Title: Abyss vs. Christian Cage

Christian is defending of course and this is a regular pin/submission match. Abyss tries to meet him on the ramp but Christian tackles him down easily. Christian rams him into the barricade but Abyss throws him over and into the crowd. They’re all the way to the back of the arena and Christian has to fight to keep from being thrown over and down onto whatever is behind the stands.

They go over to that wall that they always go to during main event brawls. Back to ringside and Christian is still in trouble. He gets rammed into the steps as we’re still waiting to get into the cage for the first time. Cage grabs the cage door and rams it into Abyss’ arm but stops to chase Mitchell around, allowing Abyss to ram the cage door into the champ’s face. We get dueling chants and they finally get into the cage. There’s the bell so that was all pre-match stuff.

Abyss is in control and kind of dances into the corner for a splash. He sends Christian’s face into the cage for two and stops a comeback attempt dead. Unprettier is easily countered and Abyss hits a kind of flapjack for two. A few idiot fans sound like they want blood so Abyss crushes Christian’s face up against the cage. He hits the dancing splash into the champ against the cage again and Christian is in trouble.

Shock Treatment is countered but the Canadian can’t hit the German on the American. Abyss powerbombs Christian into his namesake and the champ is in trouble. Abyss takes forever to do anything, allowing Christian to come back with some chops. He avoids a splash against the cage and has to save the referee from getting crushed. The second time he isn’t so lucky though and down goes Andrew Thomas. Christian climbs the cage and comes off with a tornado DDT but there’s no referee to count.

Mitchell throws in the cane and the belt through the hole in the cage but Abyss’ belt shot misses. Unprettier hits but it only gets two. Christian goes all the way to the top of the cage and drops a frog splash on Abyss…..for two. Ok I would have bet on that being the finish and it probably should have been. Another Unprettier is reversed into Shock Treatment for no cover.

Instead Abyss pulls out the bag of tacks which of course takes forever to set up. I’ve seen this in at least one of the two TNA PPVs I’ve watched lately before this so this really doesn’t seem as impressive anymore. Christian breaks the cane over Abyss and goes up top again. Abyss picks up the referee and throws him into the cage to make Christian slip.

Christian is caught in a chokeslam position but escapes and hits a sunset powerbomb into the tacks (same spot as AJ hit on Abyss last year at this show). Slick Johnson comes in but that only gets two. Christian gets the title but walks into a Black Hole Slam for two. Abyss pours out MORE tacks and takes the Unprettier onto them for the pin so Christian can retain.

Rating: B. This was MUCH better than the Full Metal Mayhem match they would have the next month, but the match probably should have ended with one of the other big spots, like the top rope splash. Still though this wasn’t bad and it was a match that actually got violent with Christian looking like he wanted revenge, which was the whole idea behind the match in the first place.

Christian goes to leave but goes back inside to beat up Mitchell. Abyss hits him in the head with the chain, busting him open. Abyss throws him out of the cage and hangs him with the chain. Mitchell puts the title on Abyss’ shoulder and they leave.

Sting’s Warriors say they’re ready for Lethal Lockdown.

We recap the main event. Sting came back and said he wanted to get rid of Jarrett, so let’s have Lethal Lockdown.

Quick recap of the rules: the two starters go for five minutes, then Jarrett’s team gets a one man advantage. After two minutes Sting’s team sends in a man to tie it up for two minutes. They alternate every two minutes until all eight are in, when the roof comes down with weapons attached. Then it’s first fall wins.

Lethal Lockdown: Sting’s Warriors vs. Jarrett’s Army

Sting, Ron Killings, AJ Styles, Rhyno

Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, America’s Most Wanted

It’s Harris vs. Styles to get us going. Harris pounds him down and the fans chant Pussy Cat. Styles blocks being rammed into the cage but the dropdown dropkick misses. The second attempt at the dropkick hits and AJ takes over. Harris comes back quickly and rams Styles’ back into the cage twice. The third time is countered and AJ hits a knee to the back of Harris’ head. Things are going pretty slowly here but that’s to be expected in a match like this.

Both guys go to the top rope and slug it out with Styles knocking him back to the mat. Harris gets rammed into the cage a few times but Styles jumps into the Catatonic. AJ shrugs that off and hits the Clash as Storm comes in for the two minute advantage. AJ dropkicks the door into Gail’s head by mistake (I think) but Storm gets a beer spit into Styles’ face and slams the door on his head. Eye of the Storm puts Styles down and AJ is busted open from something, as is Harris.

The beating continues until Rhyno comes out to tie things up. He fights off both world tag team champions and sends Storm into the cage. Harris takes a spinebuster as AJ is starting to recover. The Gore misses and Harris takes AJ’s head off with a clothesline. AMW is in total control here but Rhyno comes back with right hands as Jarrett comes out to make it 3-2. Rhyno gets out of the cage somehow and goes to meet Jarrett in the aisle. AJ does as well with AMW still stuck in the cage. Rhyno is busted too.

Back into the ring and Jarrett’s team takes over on both guys with Styles getting suplexed into the cage. Here’s Killings to tie things up and get the momentary offensive flurry in. He does the backflip into the splits into the side kick to Harris. Suplex into a Stunner puts Storm down and AJ goes to the top of the cage for some reason. That doesn’t go well for him as it’s a six man Tower of Doom.

Steiner is in to complete Jarrett’s Army and it’s belly to bellies all around. Angle Slams off the top put everyone down again as we’re just waiting for Sting to make the big save. Harris rams Rhyno’s cut head into the cage and shouts GORE which makes me laugh for some reason. Here’s Sting to clean house, including stacking every opponent in the corner and hitting a huge Stinger Splash on all four at once, followed by a second one.

Here comes the roof stocked with weapons and the Warriors continue their advantage. AJ and Storm go up top for my yearly heart attack moment. Gail tries to climb up as well but Jackie rips Kim’s skirt off and pulls her down. The match in the ring more or less grinds to a halt as Storm sets up a table on the roof. Sting and Jarrett both get guitars but Sting drops his for a ball bat instead.

The guitar is shattered by the bat but Steiner saves Jeff with a low blow. AJ sets up a ladder on the roof above Storm who is on the table. He grabs the light structure and drops onto Storm with a splash. That always terrifies me. Truth takes a Stroke onto a chair but gets Gored down. Steiner puts Rhyno in the Recliner but Sting Death Drops him. Harris hits Sting with the handcuffs and puts Sting in the Scorpion. Sting counters into a Scorpion of his own and Harris taps to end the match.

Rating: B. That’s usually the base score for a Lethal Lockdown match and this was about the run of the mill version of one. The problem with these matches is that once the weapons drop, the match more or less completely restarts and nothing that happens before then matters at all. Still though, it’s always a fun concept and a solid main event for Lockdown every year.

Overall Rating: C+. This show is more or less the same thing every year and it’s the world title match that determines how the whole show goes. As usual the problem comes down to most of the matches not needing to be inside of a cage, but the final two matches usually do, which is what makes the whole show work. Good show overall and a solid entry in the series.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Imapct Wrestling
Date: September 20, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s Open Fight Night again and based on the history that this concept has, not a lot is going to happen. We’re on the road to Bound For Glory and with four shows left, the main story is who is the mole in TNA that is helping Aces and 8’s. We might get some answers to that tonight as Joseph Park has promised to give us a major piece of evidence tonight in his investigation of the case. Let’s get to it.

After the usual intro, we open with Hulk and Shaquille O’Neal in the back. Shaq says he’s got Hulk’s back tonight. He’s leaving now but he’ll be back later.

We open with Angle and Styles in the ring. Angle talks about the history he and AJ have with the tag champs and how they earned a tag title shot last week. However, Hernandez and Chavo got one as well. Since it’s Open Fight Night, let’s see which contenders are better. Angle sounded like he was slurring his speech here a bit.

Hernandez/Chavo Guerrero vs. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle

AJ and Chavo get things going and they immediately take it to the mat with AJ getting only a tiny advantage before they get back to their feet. Off to Angle vs. SuperMex with Hernandez easily taking Angle into the corner. He slams Kurt down and it’s off to Chavo to speed things up. Chavo takes it to the mat for some reason and hooks a headlock. Angle easily suplexes him down to take over followed by a release overhead belly to belly. The tag champs are on the stage as we take a break.

Back with AJ holding Chavo in a chinlock on the mat. Apparently AJ hit the drop down/kick during the break to take over. Chavo fights up and brings in Hernandez again to start throwing around people like small villagers. Angle saves AJ from the Border Toss but Chavo takes out both his opponents with a single dropkick off the top. Chavo can’t suplex AJ so Styles kicks him in the face and brings in Angle for a bunch of suplexes. Hernandez breaks up the ankle lock on Chavo but AJ kicks Hernandez’s head off.

There’s the ankle lock on Chavo again but he kicks Angle off. AJ comes in with the springboard forearm but Hernandez comes in with a kind of over the shoulder slam. Angle Slam takes Hernandez out but Chavo hits Three Amigos on Angle. AJ breaks up the third but takes three suplexes from Chavo instead. Chavo loads up the Frog Splash but Angle breaks it up. Hernandez breaks up the breaking up and the Frog Splash misses AJ. Pele takes Chavo down but the tag champs run in for the DQ to break up the Styles Clash at 12:22.

Rating: B. That was the only possible ending to this match as well as the only one that makes sense. When it’s clear they’re heading towards a triple threat at BFG, the right move is to not have one of the challenging teams go over the other. Good stuff here and the triple threat is going to tear the roof off the place.

Hogan comes out (quoting Jay Z of all people) and makes the triple threat for the PPV.

Al Snow talks about the Gut Check guy tonight but doesn’t says he didn’t cross the line with Joey Ryan.

Hogan is on the phone with somebody who is apparently Joseph Park. Park is five cars back but will be here with the evidence tonight.

Samoa Joe talks about BFG 08 and diving out of the sky box onto Sting.

Evan Markopolis (screw trying to spell that one right) talks about wrestling since he was 13.

Dixie yells at Bruce Pritchard about Aces and 8’s being in the place they want to be. Al Snow comes in and Dixie changes the subject. Ok then.

Gut Check: Evan Markopolis vs. Douglas Williams

The fans are behind Evan even though he’s taken down almost immediately. Apparently there are going to be Gut Checks at live events. Sure why not. Williams controls with ease and makes Markopolis look like he has no idea what he’s doing. Evan tries a sunset flip but Williams knees him in the face. When all else fails, HIT HIM IN THE FACE! Evan hits a quick dropkick and crossbody but Williams doesn’t even let him get a one count. A delayed vertical suplex puts Evan down and Doug gets ticked off. He throws Evan down and puts on an arm trap headlock for the tap out at 4:04.

Rating: D. What is the point of these things anymore? They’re just squashes with guys who would be jobbers any other day of the week getting their name on TV and getting mauled by some former champion. What does this prove? These guys never get close to winning and they all have the same backstory, so why would I want to see it?

We recap the latest issues with Roode vs. Storm, these being from No Surrender.

Here’s Storm to the ring to call out Bobby Roode. Storm says this is going to be a fight instead of a match and he wants the coward to come out right now. Here’s Roode in a suit. Roode says that he’s overdressed for a fight tonight, but it doesn’t matter because Roode isn’t fighting. Storm is never going to be a world champion again and Roode walks away, saying Storm can fight somebody else.

Roode goes to the back and runs into Hogan. Hogan yells about Roode bailing and says that if Roode doesn’t go fight in three minutes, he’s sitting home for the rest of the year.

Post break (three minutes and forty three seconds later. Hulk Hogan is a liar) Storm calls Roode out again and Bobby comes out very slowly. Storm charges up the ramp and beats on Roode with a shoe. He also chokes with a shirt as there’s a referee here for some reason. They head up to the stage with Roode being rammed into the set. Storm jumps off the stage but Roode catches him with a punch to the ribs.

They head to the ring and we actually get a bell.

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm

Roode is almost immediately clotheslined to the floor but he comes back with a shot to the head. Storm sends him into the steps but Roode sends Storm into the barricade. Roode finds a beer but Storm blocks the shot to the head. They’ve been in the ring for about eight seconds in total so far. Roode sends him into the post but misses a chair shot. Storm sends him (you may be noticing a pattern emerging) into the boot of a fan but Roode sends him into the barricade. They’re actually rolling into the ring to break counts. Storm rams him into various steel objects but has a suplex reversed onto the floor.

They FINALLY get in the ring for more than a few seconds with Roode hitting a big clothesline to take over. He shoves the referee and throws Storm right back to the floor. Storm shoves the referee away again and that’s enough to throw it out at 6:24. I’m not even going to bother rating this as it wasn’t anything resembling a match.

They keep fighting up to the set again and then into the back. Storm rams him into various objects and they head out the door.

Hogan talks to some guy who was sent to find Joseph Park but it hasn’t worked. Hogan gets a phone call from Aces and 8’s who apparently have a corporate lawyer now. Hogan says they’ll play tonight and hangs up. He says he knows where Park is.

Aries goes to see Jeff Hardy about Bound For Glory. Hardy has had a Hall of Fame career and Aries wants that. He wants a bunch of sheep to follow him and he gets that by winning at BFG. Tonight, Aries is going to prove that anything Hardy can do, Aries can do better. I’d guess that means Aries vs. Ray tonight.

Here’s Tara to explain why she did what she did last week. She says Tessmacher used her to get on TV and make her own career. Tara’s new boyfriend, some Hollywood star who she doesn’t name, opened her eyes. Tara calls out Christy for some reason. Christy very slowly gets in and Tara accuses her of babying Tessmacher. Tara demands that Christy say who her favorite Knockout is. Christy says Tessmacher, which gets her a beating until Tessmacher makes the save.

Brooke Hogan promises consequences for Tara next week.

RVD talks about his BFG matches against Jerry Lynn and Abyss at BFG.

The TV Title is decided next week. No word on who is in the match.

Here’s Hogan…..again. He doesn’t like hearing about Aces and 8’s kidnapping Park but apparently has given up something in exchange for him. Apparently Hogan will go to Aces and 8’s clubhouse or whatever that is. The boss pops up on screen and says that next week it’s Clubhouse Rules. They have Park’s computer and break it because he figured it out. Park is in a cage and says he has the information in his head. They hit him in the head with a hammer and Hogan’s jaw is shaking as we cut to a break.

Video on Hardy and how much BFG means to him.

Here’s the world champ who says he’s the hunter rather than the hunted at BFG. He calls out Ray to prove he can beat Ray better than Hardy did last week. Ray comes out and runs his mouth as per usual, including yelling at a fan. If the fan touches Ray again, Ray is going to hit him in the face. Aries says he’ll hit the fan also, which is a pretty heelish thing to say. Ray says his catchphrase but Aries dives over the top to take him out.

Austin Aries vs. Bully Ray

After some punching on the floor by the champ, we head into the ring with Aries in control. Ray kicks Aries off the apron and into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Ray pulling on Aries’ face followed by a splash for two. Ray keeps pounding away with the big and hard shots to Aries while yelling at Earl Hebner at the same time. Earl argues back as you would expect him to and Aries gets in some offense to come back.

They keep slugging it out with Aries going down every time, only to make his comeback every single time. Ray rakes the eyes to finally stop him for a bit, only to run into a discus forearm. Aries guillotines him on the top rope and hits a missile dropkick for two. Aries can’t hit the brainbuster but Ray misses his drop down attempt. Ray whips him into the referee and Aries puts on the Last Chancery for the tap but there’s no one to see it. Ray loads up the chain and KO’s Aries with it in the corner for the pin at 12:21.

Rating: C+. This was their usual good match and I’m really hoping it sets up a threeway at the PPV (yes I just said that) as Ray has more than earned a major match at the biggest show of the year. The ending wasn’t clean and there’s nothing wrong with that. Ray’s reaction to winning the match makes this even better.

Post match Ray hugs Hebner in a funny bit. Ray holds up the title and goes to clock Aries with it but Hardy makes the save. Hardy holds up the title, causing Aries to freak out on him to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I wasn’t that wild on this show. There was WAY too much Hogan on here and the Gut Check thing continues to be stupid. The focus was of course on Aces and 8’s again and we’ve reached the point where it’s almost impossible to buy this anymore. The group has been around for months now and NO ONE CAN FIND THE ROOM THEY’RE IN???

Now we’ve got another big deal set up with the Clubhouse thing, but again it focuses on Hogan. The problem is that it’s dragged on for so long now and they’re running out of places to go with it. We need a reveal of some sort soon and they’re running out of time before BFG. Not a great show tonight at all.

Results

AJ Styles/Kurt Angle vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez went to a no contest when Daniels and Kazarian interfered

Douglas Williams b. Evan Markopolis – Arm Trap Headlock

James Storm vs. Bobby Roode went to a no contest

Bully Ray b. Austin Aries – Pin after a shot with a chain

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Impact Wrestling
Date: September 13, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

Well we’re past No Surrender and it looks like we have two of our three main matches for the biggest show of the year. Hardy won the BFG Series in what can only be called a surprise given that he did almost nothing until the last few weeks. I mean, the guy lost to Robbie E. Also it looks like we’re having Roode vs. Storm in the likely blowoff to their nearly year long feud. That just leaves the Aces and 8’s match which will probably be Lethal Lockdown. We’re headed to Phoenix now so let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the PPV with the voiceover guy.

Here’s the champ to open things up. He holds up the title and talks about how important it is, and how it makes the company go around. It’s also why Aces and 8’s have been all over him. On Sunday he didn’t unmask anyone but he got a piece of one of them. That brings us to Bound For Glory and his opponent at Bound For Glory: Jeff Hardy. The champ asks Hardy to come out here so here’s the painted one.

Aries congratulates Hardy for winning the Series, especially given how much he went through on Sunday. Hardy is a man of few words, but the fans love him. The fans cheer for Aries as well, and at Bound For Glory, it seems like Aries has something Hardy wants. Aries sees it as Hardy has something Aries wants.

Before he can elaborate on that, here’s Bully Ray to tell both of them that they’re lucky. Aries is lucky that Ray isn’t getting the shot and Hardy is lucky that Ray felt badly for him for one second when Aces and 8’s took out Hardy’s shoulder. Ray goes on a rant about how many times he’s beaten Hardy and now he screwed it up. Aries cuts Ray off and says maybe Ray and Hardy should fight again. Apparently it’s on for later.

X-Division Title: Zema Ion vs. Sonjay Dutt

Didn’t we see this match on Sunday? Dutt immediately takes him to the floor and hits a moonsault and headscissors to take the champion down. Back in the ring and a rana gets two. Ion tries to hit a charge in the corner but gets caught with a pendulum kick. Another rana takes Ion down but Dutt misses a standing moonsault and Ion hooks a Rings of Saturn. Dutt escapes and slams Ion down for the moonsault double stomp. That move is still insane. Dutt goes up again but gets crotched and rolled up for the pin by Ion to retain at 3:30.

Rating: C-. Ion had ONE offensive move the whole match and that’s the rollup. I’m not a fan of the idea of the champ getting beaten down until he pulls off a miracle win at the end. Dutt continues to look awesome here and is probably the best X-Division guy to never be X-Division Champion.

Post match Ion cranks Dutt’s arm back.

Hogan walks in on Daniels and Kaz imitating him in a funny bit. We get an overly complicated deal for later: Daniels is going to face either Chavo or Hernandez while Kaz is going to face either AJ or Angle. If both of them win, they don’t have to defend against either team again. If either of them lose, they have to face the member of the team that beat them. Assuming both guys lose, they have to face both teams.

Angle and Styles talk about who gets to face Kaz. Apparently it’ll be AJ. Styles leaves to get ready when Wes Brisco comes up and says nothing of note to Angle.

We recap Roode and Storm from Sunday.

Here’s Roode to the ring. He says he’s back and talks about getting screwed against Aries at Hardcore Justice. He can’t get another rematch with Aries during this reign so he left. So then he shifted his views to James Storm, who made a living off Roode for years. Roode made sure Storm wasn’t getting the world title shot either…..and here’s the Cowboy.

It’s on immediately and Storm takes him down to the floor and up the aisle. Storm rams him into the stage and puts a dent in the thing. They head to the back and some equipment is knocked over and we go to a break.

We get a clip from BFG 09 where AJ beat Sting to retain the title. The tagline of Memories Are Waiting is great.

Kazarian vs. AJ Styles

AJ snaps off some armdrags to start and a big right hand takes Kaz to the floor. The drop down/kick takes Kaz down and Kaz heads to the floor where he gets pounded on even more. We take a break and come back with AJ hitting a backbreaker to stop Kaz’s momentum. AJ heads to the apron and blocks a suplex back in before DDTing (kind of) Kaz on the apron. AJ tries to go after Kaz but gets caught in a monkey flip on the floor. Back in and Kaz gets three quick two’s but AJ pops up and tries the Clash. That doesn’t work so he settles for the springboard forearm for two. Kaz gets a rollup with feet on the ropes for two but he walks into the Pele and the Clash for the clean pin at 10:10.

Rating: C+. This was somewhat sloppy but the match worked well enough. At the end of the day you can’t mess up Styles in a match when he can fly around the ring. Decent match here and a good way to set up at least one set of challengers for the tag champions. I sense a triple threat for BFG though, because what would a PPV be without one of those?

Hogan is in the back with Brooke and says he doesn’t want her going anywhere around here without two bodyguards. Joseph Park comes in and after some legalese, he says that his key piece of evidence is coming next week. Hogan tells Park to guard Brooke until further notice. Hulk leaves and Park givers her his legal pitch which goes nowhere.

Ray yells at Hardy in the back and asks for tonight’s match to be for the title shot at BFG. Hardy doesn’t say anything but eventually he opens his eyes and says sure.

After a quick package from Sunday about Aces and 8’s, here’s Hogan to the ring. He praises all 12 guys in the BFG Series but Hardy came out on top. Hardy is from another solar system and it’s cool with Hulk if the title is on the line tonight. Hogan talks about how Sunday at No Surrender was a game changer with the lockdown and all that. The Impact Zone is going to be locked down forever.

This brings Aces and 8’s to the monitor. The leader says that it’s not that they’re locked out. It’s that they’re locked in. From this moment on, Hogan will never have any idea who is working against him. Hogan looks scared. Well he might be hungry. With his acting abilities you never can tell.

Christopher Daniels vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Feeling out process to start with Guerrero hooking a headlock and an over the shoulder backbreaker for two. Daniels heads to the floor and avoids a kick but gets taken out by a running flip attack off the apron. Back in and Daniels takes over and works on the ribs of Chavo a bit. A backbreaker puts Chavo down but he pops back up and starts his comeback. Daniels gets hiptossed to the floor and grabs his belt but the swing with it misses. Chavo rolls some suplexes and the Frog Splash gets the pin at 6:30.

Rating: C. This wasn’t as good as the first match but it was fine. Chavo is fine in the role he’s in but I really can’t see him moving up at all. The triple threat match should be fine and I could see the newest team pull off a surprise win with the other two canceling each other out. This was fine.

Aaron Markopoulis is the next Gut Check guy.

Storm wants more of Roode and he’s getting it next week at Open Fight Night.

Gail Kim talks about winning the first Knockouts Title.

Here’s Tara for a chat. She asks Tessmacher to come out here and says that on Sunday, the student beat the teacher. Tara asks to put the belt on Tessmacher (a rare sight with that belt) and after awhile there’s the obvious heel turn. Widow’s Peak leaves the champ laying.

Another video from Sunday and the main event.

Dixie yells at the people in charge of TNA (agents/Hogans) about Aces and 8’s so Hogan talks about how this is war. Dixie is worried about everyone because there must be someone inside. They’re going to look Aces and 8’s in the eye instead of running.

Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy

Winner gets the shot at BFG. Ray jumps Hardy during his posing on the ropes to get us on fast. Hardy sends him to the floor and hits a plancha as we take a break. Back with Ray dropping an elbow for two and backdropping Hardy. A splash gets two as well but Jeff tries the Twist. Bully shoves him shoulder first into the post and Jeff is in trouble. Hardy rolls in to break the count but it ticks Ray off even more and he drops a forearm on the back from the apron.

Back in and Ray goes for the chops in the corner. Dang those are loud considering Jeff has a top on. A corner splash from Ray hits but Jeff counters the second and hits Whisper in the Wind. They slug it out from their knees with Jeff taking over with an atomic drop and the legdrop between the legs to set up the basement dropkick for two. Twist of Fate is countered into a Bubba Bomb for two

An attempt at a second Bomb is countered into a DDT for two and Jeff is going up. Ray dives to crotch him and there’s a superplex for two. A Vader bomb misses but the Swanton does as well. Another Bubba Bomb hits for two and we’ve got like 30 seconds left of air time. The Twisting Stunner sets up the Twist of Fate which sets up the Swanton to cement Hardy in the title shot at BFG at 14:35.

Rating: C+. I liked this one more than the main event on Sunday as the fans were more into it and things didn’t get ridiculous with the kicking out of finishers. If you do it over and over again, the kickouts stop meaning anything at all. Here they only did it like twice and you got a better match out of it. Good stuff.

Overall Rating: B-. For the first of the last five shows before Bound for Glory, this was perfectly acceptable. The main event hopefully is set in stone now and the whole mole idea is interesting for the eventual Aces and 8’s match. Other than that we’ve got a blood feud with Roode vs. Storm where the blowoff is going to rock. I’m a lot more excited for this show than I am for anything WWE has coming up and that’s a good sign.

Results

Zema Ion b. Sonjay Dutt – Rollup

AJ Styles b. Kazarian – Styles Clash

Chavo Guerrero b. Christopher Daniels – Frog Splash

Jeff Hardy b. Bully Ray – Swanton Bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

TNA Weekly PPV #7
Date: July 31, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Ed Ferrara, Don West

Back with another week here after last week’s just decent show. For anyone unclear on this, for the next few weeks of this series I’ll be grading them a lot easier overall due to how new this promotion still was at the time. You can’t expect perfection right out of the blocks, even though some TNA fans are still saying they need more time ten years after opening. Anyway, there’s nothing major announced, but of course Jarrett has been suspended for sixty days and there’s NO WAY he’s here tonight, or in the main event or anything like that. Let’s get to it.

X-Division Title: Elix Skipper vs. AJ Styles

AJ is defending here of course. Skipper jumps the champ as he comes in as Jerry Lynn sits in on commentary. A spinwheel kick takes Skipper down as does a discus lariat. They trade standing switches and Styles chops away in the corner. A running dropkick and clothesline in the corner put Skipper down for two and then two more. Neither guy can hit a German suplex so Elix settles for a dragon suplex to take over.

Skipper pounds away in the corner but charges into a superkick to the face. AJ strikes away but a belly to back suplex takes him down. This is a different style from AJ and I’m not sure how well I like it. He’s leaning heel here and I’m not sure Skipper is a face so it doesn’t balance out that well. Styles tries a kick to the ribs but gets shoved back to the mat as Skipper keeps control.

Out to the floor with AJ being rammed back first into the apron. Skipper hooks a butterfly suplex, floats over onto AJ and pulls back on the arms in a kind of reverse Cattle Mutilation. Styles’ rana is blocked into a powerbomb from Skipper as Elix has dominated almost all of this match. Skipper keeps up the different kind of offense by hooking a sunset flip but shifts to the side and cranks on AJ’s head in a neck hold.

AJ counters a northern lights suplex into a seated guillotine followed by the moonsault into the reverse DDT. A guillotine legdrop misses for AJ but he hurricanranas Skipper to the floor as things slow down a bit. That doesn’t last long as AJ misses an Asai Moonsault as Skipper slides in immediately and hits a big corkscrew plancha. Back in AJ counters the Play of the Day into the Styles Clash which is countered into a sunset flip. Elix goes to the rope but gets knocked off, letting AJ hit Spiral Tap to retain.

Rating: C+. This was like a lawn mower that you keep pulling the cord on and you get the engine started a little bit but then it dies down again. These two kept trying to get something going but it never got to the point they were supposed to get to. AJ doesn’t quite work that well as a striker but once he ditched that and started flipping and jumping all over the place, it worked much better. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen very often and the match was only pretty good.

Tenay and company say that boss Ricky Steamboat isn’t here tonight. Nice job on the bait and switch people. However, Steamboat has ordered Malice to return the belt he stole last week and wouldn’t you know it, Jarrett isn’t suspended anymore and he’s facing Hall in the main event tonight.

As Skipper is leaving, Monty Brown pops up and beats the tar out of him, hitting the Alpha Bomb and leaving him laying.

Here’s Jarrett to the ring immediately after that with a body bag. He says that since Shamrock, Behrens and Steamboat were all gone, he’s going to amuse himself. Jarrett pulls a midget wrestler out of the bag and beats the tar out of him before issuing an open challenge. It’s answered by that annoying midget Puppet who, I kid you know, PULLS A GUN ON JARRETT. Then, because he’s pretty freaking stupid, he turns around and gets blasted with a chair shot from Jarrett.

Now Steamboat pops up on the stage which makes me wonder why they said he wasn’t here when he’s here three minutes later. Anyway, Steamboat says Jarrett is done tonight, but Jarrett wants to fight Steamboat. Jeff suggests that if he wins he gets a title shot but if he loses, he’ll take the suspension. Steamboat seems cool with it but as he’s comign to the ring, Scott Hall sneaks in and jumps Jarrett. He pulls out a stretcher from under the ring and we’ve got a gimmick main event.

Sonny Siaki says he doesn’t need backup and that he’s better than his partners Estrada and Yang. He also accuses Goldilocks of checking him out. This guy is growing on me.

Slash vs. Sonny Siaki

Slash immediately pounds Siaki down into the corner and pounds away. James Mitchell has a box which is called the Ark of the New Church which contains the blood of the Audad, whatever that is. Slash tries a sunset bomb to the floor but Siaki counters into a rana to take over. Slash is sent into the barricade and backdropped on the floor and we head back inside.

Siaki takes too long to attack and gets caught in an Eye of the Hurricane for two. Keeping up with that theme, the move we would call the Eye of the Storm gets two and a bicycle kick “hits” for two. Mitchell gets off commentary as Slash puts on a cobra clutch. As Siaki starts to fight back, Slash leg sweeps him down for two. Sikai starts a comeback but misses a top rope backsplash. Slash puts a bag over Siaki’s face, hits a neckbreaker, takes the bag off, and gets the pin.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but it wasn’t great either. I like Siaki but this heel vs. heel thing didn’t work all that well. Also, they’ve been building him up for weeks now and then they just stop doing it for the sake of giving Slash a win. This is what jobbers are for, and I assure you there are people that would love to be able to do jobs on PPV.

Post match Mitchell puts the blood of Audad on Siaki’s face until Don Harris (bald guy, in a bunch of biker teams with his twin brother) runs in for the save. Malice comes out and has a staredown with Harris.

Steamboat says he’s in charge and anyone that has issues with it can get over it. Oh and don’t compare him to Bill Behrens. He leaves and one of the Rainbow Express follows him.

Here’s Truth to talk to one of the cage dancers. He talks to her about how she’s in a cage like an animal against her own free will. Truth calls this a freak show and says the company is exploiting her. He makes fun of the idea of her being a performer and calls her a ho. She slaps Truth so he gets his belt, only to have Monty Brown jump him and knock Truth into the audience. Truth finds a 2×4 from somewhere and cracks it over Brown’s back.

As Brown is helped to the back, here’s Ricky Steamboat. He calls Truth Ron and says that Truth has his attention. Truth comes out and slaps the mic away from the Dragon. Steamboat grabs Truth’s mic and says that if this is about race, he’s here to listen to Truth talk. Truth says Steamboat means the same thing to the fans as he (Truth) does. Let’s talk about Steamboat’s WWF career, starting with Savage vs. Steamboat.

After that great match, why didn’t Steamboat get a WWF Title shot? It’s because the Intercontinental Title was just for second class citizens. Truth says that now he’s getting the same treatment, Steamboat AGREES and gives Truth a title shot next week. This would make a lot more sense if Steamboat hadn’t won the EXACT SAME TITLE Truth is getting a shot at just under two years after the Savage match.

Malice vs. Apolo

Apparently Apolo was supposed to be the #1 contender to Shamrock, which is news to me. Both guys pound away on each other in the corner with Apolo taking over. A powerslam sends Malice to the floor and there’s a big dive to take out Malice on the floor. Malice posts him as the announcers are talking about Truth’s title shot next week. Both guys are sent into the barricade and Apolo is busted open.

Back in and Malice puts on a Claw hold followed by a slam. He kicks on the cut on the head as Ferrara talks about liking Malice’s blood lust. Apolo grabs a quick rollup for two but gets forearmed in the face to take him back down. A DDT out of nowhere puts Malice down and a superkick gets the pin on Malice.

Rating: C+. Decent brawl here as Malice continues to fall further and further down the ladder. Apolo is a guy I liked back in the day and it’s a shame that he was gone like a week later. This was a short but hard hitting brawl and that was a pretty sweet superkick for the pin. When all else fails, kick the guy in the face.

Malice chokeslams the referee and as he sets to chokeslam Apolo, Don Harris runs out for the save again until Slash comes out and does the hooded neckbreaker on Harris. Mitchell tells Harris that he chose the wrong path and he gets the blood put on his face as well.

Don West gets in the ring to interview Miss TNA, Taylor Vaughn, who gets NO reaction. She isn’t even that good looking. Bruce comes out (no pun intended) and asks for a title match. Vaughn gets on her knees instead (remember that Bruce is gay) but hits him low to start the match.

Miss TNA: Bruce vs. Taylor Vaughn

Vaughn slams him, he clotheslines her, Bruce misses a legdrop but hits a tilt-a-whirl powerslam for the pin and the crowd. This was nothing and NO ONE cared.

Low Ki will do his talking in the ring.

Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn

AJ is on commentary and talks about how the tag champions will work together. Jerry takes it to the mat to start and cranks on a headscissors until Low Ki kicks him in the head. Ki takes him to the mat instead and tries an armbar but Lynn sits out to escape. AJ won’t answer why he walked out on Lynn last week as Ki takes Lynn down with a leg lock. Jerry counters into an arm hold as we get some chain wrestling.

Lynn finally says screw this and hits an enziguri to take over. Low Ki tries some more kicks but gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to take him down again. The idea of selling continues to not be something Low Ki favors as he shrugs it off and chops/kicks Lynn down some more. Low Ki stays on the back and hooks a modified Tarantula with kind of a rear naked choke instead of a Boston Crab.

Lynn comes back with an elbow and a knee drop for two. There’s a Gory Special from Jerry as AJ praises his partner. It’s amazing how much better AJ sounds now than he did here. Cradle Piledriver is countered into an armbar and Low Ki starts firing off his strikes. A jackknife cover gets two and it’s time for a strike off. A big springboard spin kick from Low Ki puts Jerry down for no cover.

Ki tries his cartwheel kick in the corner but gets caught in a helicopter bomb for two. A small package for Low Ki sets up the Dragon Sleeper but Jerry escapes into a tornado DDT for another very close two. The cradle piledriver is countered into a kick to the face and AJ gets off commentary. He gets on the apron and tries a kick to the head, but it hits Lynn, possibly by mistake. That’s a DQ…..or make that a no contest.

Rating: B-. How in the world is that a no contest? Lynn got kicked in the head and Low Ki never got touched. How is that an equal ending for both guys and not a DQ win for Jerry? Anyway, the match started a bit slow before it finally cranked up at the end. The crowd was rightfully losing it on those near falls and it made things a lot better.

AJ yells at Lynn post match but Low Ki kicks Styles in the head.

Don Harris wants a first blood match with Malice next week.

It’s time for Jive Talking with Glenn Gilbertti. The sign says Disco’s Jive Talking so maybe he can use the old name. He implies he’s replacing Oprah and talks about how there isn’t enough T&A on this show. Disco promises to bring out someone who will expose her breasts and brings out Goldilocks. Goldi is a musician so we talk about that for awhile with her saying she’s been called a female Kid Rock.

This goes on and isn’t really funny or interesting which I think is the point. Disco tells her to take her top off and another argument ensues. He implies her only talent involves kneepads so she knees him in the balls. Cue some big chick from the first season of Tough Enough to choke Goldilocks out. This went on way too long and wasn’t even funny at all.

The announcers hype the show for next week and West shouts a lot.

Scott Hall vs. Jeff Jarrett

Stretcher match. Hall jumps Jarrett on the stage and the beating is on fast. Jeff gets slammed into the steps and onto the announce table. They head into the ring and Hall hits the fallaway slam to send him right back to the floor. They head into the back and Jerry Lynn gets shoved. Hall gets hit with a stool from the previous segment and Jarrett tries to run away.

The fight goes into the crowd and Hall hits a big chair shot. We finally get into the ring and Hall brings in the stretcher (it’s the cloth kind with poles in it) but Jarrett hits a baseball slide to his ribs. Jeff hits Hall in the back with the stretcher and whips him into the stretcher in the corner a few times. Hall does the same thing right back to Jarrett and crotches him onto the poles.

A few shots to Jarrett’s back with the stretcher are followed by Snake Eyes onto it and Jeff is in trouble. There’s the Razor’s Edge but Truth comes out and pulls the referee to the floor. An ax kick puts Hall down but it only gets two. Monty Brown goes after Truth and they fight into the crowd. Now Jerry Lynn runs in to splash Jarrett in retaliation for earlier. AJ pops in and blasts Lynn before going up for Spiral Tap.

Now Don Harris comes out to crotch him but Malice and Slash take out Harris. Hall and Jarrett (remember them?) collide in the ring and they’re both down. Hall gets up and pounds Jarrett down but a stretcher shot hits the referee. Jarrett gets a chair but has to swing at Steamboat. The shot misses the Dragon and it hits the rope before bouncing back into Jarrett’s face. Hall gets the chair but Steamboat blocks it, allowing Jarrett to Stroke him onto the chair for the pin.

Rating: D+. Not only was the match WAY overbooked, but what the heck was the point of the stretcher? Hall got placed on it post match, but is that supposed to mean something? This didn’t do anything at all as Hall was just not interesting as he didn’t really have a character or anything like that. He’s just kind of there and that’s not very interesting.

Overall Rating: C-. This didn’t work that well for me. It feels like a long stretch of segments that happen to be happening on the same show rather than a single show if that makes sense. Everything seems like it’s thrown together and Hall and Shamrock, the two top faces, are just kind of floating around aimlessly. That’ll change next week which is a good thing, but it didn’t do much to help this show.

 Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

TNA Weekly PPV #6
Date: July 24, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West, Ed Ferrara

Back to Tennessee for another pair of shows. The main event tonight is Sabu challenging Shamrock in a ladder/submission match which is a new one on me. On top of that we have Styles/Lynn defending the titles against the Flying Elvises which was set up last week I believe. These shows are finally getting some traction and they’re starting to fill in a lot of their flaws. Let’s get to it.

We open with Jarrett in the ring and he beats up some security guards with a chair. He isn’t leaving until Shamrock gets out here with Jarrett’s title. In the back we see Shamrock destroying security as well. Shamrock locks all of the security in a room and has a massive British dude guard the door. Shamrock heads to the ring but some suit comes out to talk to Jarrett first. Apparently this is the NWA VP and he’s suspending Jarrett for 60 days. This would be his second suspension in about three weeks. Oh the suit is Bill Behrens.

He threatens Jarrett with security, which is locked in a room. Jarrett cracks Behrens with the chair and beats him with it a bit more. Shamrock FINALLY comes out and destroys Jarrett until Monty Brown and Apolo pull Ken off. Jarrett uses the distraction to bash Shamrock with a chair. Brian Lawler and K-Krush come out to stop Jarrett. I smell a six man.

Amazing Red vs. Low Ki

Tenay talks about how important this is for the rankings. Didn’t we already establish the rankings a few weeks back? We head to the floor almost immediately with Red hitting a sweet rana to take over. Back in and Low Ki looks a bit insane before hitting a Liger Kick to take over. An elbow drop gets two and it’s off to a cravate. A springboard enziguri to the face gets two and HOKEY SMOKE LOW KI USED A SUPLEX!!! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him use one before.

Red gets put in the Tree of Woe and a baseball slide gets two for Ki. Red fires off some kicks in the corner but Low Ki blocks the next few and kicks Red’s hat off. A leg sweep from Red takes Low Ki down and a standing shooting star gets two. A swinging sunset flip gets the same and they’re both back to their feet. Red’s tornado DDT is countered but he avoids some stomps from Low Ki. It’s time for some gymnastics and an enziguri from Red takes Ki down. A big corkscrew moonsault misses for Red and the Ki Krusher 99 (sitout fisherman’s brainbuster) gets the pin for Low Ki.

Rating: C+. I’m not a fan of Low Ki but he was WAY over in early TNA. Red was a great flipper and that’s all you need to be to secure an occasional spot on a card like this one. This was fine for an opener here and the match was fine all things considered. Low Ki would become the first ROH World Champion three days later.

Jarrett goes up to the big British guy and backs down.

Hot Shots vs. Chris Harris/James Storm

Hot Shots are Cassidy O’Reilley and Chase Stevens. No name yet for the future AMW. Earlier today we hear from AMW that it was the Hot Shots that attacked them a few weeks back. Storm is WAY over the top with his cowboy stuff here, to the point where he’s not funny anymore. Storm has fake guns on his hips and Harris yells about how stupid this gimmick is. It’s hilarious that Storm would become world champion while Harris is nowhere to be seen.

Storm and O’Reilley start with the Cowboy taking over early. Harris gets a blind tag and spears Riley down before it’s off to Stevens who is suplexed down for two. Back to Storm who is sent to the floor and sent into the barricade before being sent back in for two from Stevens. The Hot Shots hit a double dropkick with one kick hitting both sides of Storm’s head for two.

Cassidy gets a few not very near falls as it’s clear the Hot Shots don’t have much of an offense. Stevens was supposed to miss a moonsault but Storm rolls too slow and gets hit on the back. Hot tag brings in Harris and everything breaks down. A spinning reverse DDT from Storm takes O’Reilley out and Harris counters a tornado DDT into a northern lights suplex for the pin on Stevens.

Rating: D+. To say this was a weak feud buildup is an understatement. The Hot Shots just weren’t that good and AMW needed way better competition. It was clear they were one of if not the best teams in the company already, but it would take a few months before they were treated as such.

The Hot Shots beat up AMW post match.

Shamrock shoves a doctor away and wants Jarrett.

Apolo vs. Brian Lawler

Brian gets chants of Jerry’s Kid which are a bit shaking as this is being written the day after Lawler had a heart attack on Raw. Both guys toss each other around a bit with Lawler freaking out both times. Apolo pounds away in the corner as the announcers talk about who should be #1 contender. Lawler chokes away with a necklace in the corner and gets two knees up to block an Apolo splash. A middle rope dropkick puts Apolo down but Lawler stops to laugh at the crowd.

Off to a chinlock as that’s about the extent of Lawler’s Memphis offense. Apolo fights up (by fights I mean stands up) and makes a comeback with some Hogan style offense including a slam and legdrop. A not-Hoganesque superkick sets up a TKO attempt which is countered by Lawler into a reverse DDT for no cover. Lawler dances around a lot and is rolled up for the pin out of nowhere.

Rating: D. Lawler is really dull as a heel. I get that he was good in Memphis and the USWA as a heel, but this isn’t Memphis or the USWA. It’s post-Too Cool for him and based on that, this character just isn’t working. We know he wants to form his own career without being known as Jerry’s kid, and his method for doing this is constantly talking about Jerry Lawler. The problem with this (aside from the fact that he already did this by being Grandmaster Sexay) is that there is no chance Jerry Lawler is coming here for a payoff to the angle. Without that, it makes a story feel like it has no conclusion, and that makes it pointless.

Lawler snaps and beats up Don West post match. Tenay keeps telling us there’s no security tonight, which makes me ask: what was the point in Shamrock locking them away? To get at Jarrett? I guess so but it’s kind of a weak way to get to the show long angle they’re going with.

Here’s K-Krush and we get a recap of him choking Norman Smiley and others last week. Krush says his name is no longer K-Krush but now The Truth. He isn’t going to do what they tell him to do anymore and it’s all about the Truth. This is getting a big face reaction. He talks about Allen Iverson (nicknamed The Truth) a lot and calls him a criminal. He calls Iverson the best basketball player ever and Tyson the best boxer ever. People think Tyson is an animal but he’s just great. More athletes are listed, including O.J. Simpson, until he gets interrupted by Monty Brown.

Brown (coming out to Abyss’ music) makes fun of Truth for complaining and says don’t go where Truth is leading. He’s talking about racism if that doesn’t come over clearly. Brown talks about being a football player and walking away from it before coming to the NWA. “They” are making this a possibility for him and maybe Truth just doesn’t have what it takes. Truth says no to a fight before calling Brown an Uncle Tom and jumping Brown. Monty tosses him away with ease and hits the Alpha Bomb.

We recap Lynn and Styles’ tag title reign and the problems they’ve been having.

We get a sitdown interview from earlier with the tag champions. AJ talks about being young and hungry but says he respects Lynn. Lynn is a veteran and he says AJ has to earn everything he gets, which AJ realizes as well.

Tag Titles: Flying Elvises vs. Jerry Lynn/AJ Styles

It’s Estrada and Yang for the Elvises with Siaki on commentary. Lynn and Estrada start things off and Jorge is sent into the corner very quickly via an armdrag. Estrada comes back with a side slam but misses a Lionsault. A spinning Gory Special by Lynn doesn’t seem to do much and they trade headscissors. Off to AJ who hits a sweet spin kick for two but then gets sent into the middle buckle via a headscissors.

Yang comes in and maybe he’ll actually sell something. Styles nips up into another headscissors and takes Yang down with a belly to back suplex for two. Back to Lynn as the champions stay on offense. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two for Jerry and it’s back to Styles. Yang tries a tombstone but Styles counters with, you guessed it, a headscissors. Yang finally gets his knees up to stop a cross body and the Elvises take over.

Everything goes to the floor and Siaki interferes with a clothesline to give the challengers their first real advantage. Yang hooks a modified Koji Clutch before bringing Estrada back in. The Elvises tag in and out rapidly and hit suplexes and flip attacks for two after two. AJ hooks a small package for two but gets clotheslined down by Estrada again. A spinebuster gets two for Estrada and Yang hits a slingshot hilo for two.

Yang hooks an abdominal stretch on AJ which doesn’t last long either. The moonsault into the DDT puts Yang down but Estrada breaks up the tag to Lynn. AJ gets beaten on even more before FINALLY hitting a kick to the face of Yang to break free and tag in Lynn. Lynn speeds things way up and dropkicks Yang to the floor, followed by a big plancha. Estrada dives on them both and here’s AJ for the big dive, but Siaki pulls the challengers out and Styles hits Lynn, busting Lynn open on the barricade.

The Elvises hit a top rope splash/legdrop and SWEET GOODNESS is Lynn bleeding bad! I mean his face is COVERED. Lynn can’t stand up but he manages a quick shot to Estrada for the pin while Styles is ready for the Spiral Tap on Yang, meaning Lynn stole a pin just like AJ did recently.

Rating: B-. This was pure formula, but the good thing is that the standard tag formula works very well. Lynn vs. Styles works very well and it’s being played out very well. For a new company, this is the perfect midcard feud and it’s working incredibly well. Good stuff again here which is all you would expect from these guys.

Styles storms off immediately and leaves Lynn laying.

Disco Inferno now gets a talk show. He’s going by his real name of Glenn Gilbertti here and takes credit for Goldberg’s first loss and retiring Jumping Joey Maggs. He rambles on a bit about a bikini contest and says there’s nothing else for him to do in wrestling. Gilberti says he’s going to teach Shamrock what personality is and how to make Lynn look young. Starting next week he’s going to unlock the door to logic. This is the most rambling I’ve heard this side of a drunk Piper promo. I think he’s supposed to be a motivational speaker or something.

Shamrock is still looking for Jarrett.

Simon Diamond/Johnny Swinger vs. Elix Skipper/Monty Brown

Simon and Swinger were a regular tag team in the last days of ECW. Skipper and Simon start things off with Skipper getting a bunch of fast two counts. Brown comes in for a double dropkick and Skipper starts pounding away again, only to get caught in a double dropkick. That’s fair play if nothing else. Swinger hits a neckbreaker for two and it’s back to Simon for some suplexes for two of his own.

We get some heel miscommunication and Skipper hits a pair of superkicks to take them down. Off to Brown with no heat to the tag and he cleans house. Everything breaks down and an MNM Snapshot takes Skipper down but he isn’t legal. Brown hits a quick Alpha Bomb (it starts off like a slam but he throws the guy up into a powerbomb) for the pin on Diamond.

Rating: D+. Nothing special here at all but Brown was getting a decent push to open his run in the company. Simon and Swinger didn’t last long at all but they were somewhat known names and could fill in some spots on the roster I guess. Just a basic match here though and not much worth seeing.

Post match Truth comes out and hangs Brown as Elix just walks out. It was a setup 30 minutes in the making!

The Dupps continue to not be funny. Bo challenges the big British guy. To call this stupid would be an insult to the people stupid people call stupid.

Bo Dupp vs. Ian Harrison

That’s the big guy’s name. Harrison used to be Mr. Universe and therefore is a McMahon wet dream waiting to happen. The hick fans chant for Bo but this is basically a squash. Harrison is clearly there for his look but he’s not the worst muscle head I’ve ever seen. Bo gets in some offense but walks into a powerslam for two. Stan Dupp runs in for the DQ a second later. This went nowhere at all.

Shamrock and Jarrett have a pull apart brawl as security is finally out of the locker room.

NWA World Title: Sabu vs. Ken Shamrock

This a ladder/submission match, which is exactly what it sounds like. After a LONG recap of last week’s ladder match with Sabu vs. Malice, we’re ready to go. The fans seem to be completely behind Sabu here. Shamrock controls to start and goes for a leg hold but Sabu makes the rope. Sabu gets a quick rollup for two so the rules are basically thrown out the window so far. Apparently security has walked out of the building. Not like it makes a difference or anything.

Shamrock grabs an armbar but Sabu gets out before it can go on full. Sabu actually tries a leg lock but Shamrock is like boy please and counters into a leg bar. The springboard leg lariat takes Shamrock down and the slingshot legdrop looks to set up an armbar. I don’t think the pins count anymore. Apparently Ricky Steamboat is in charge next week.

Sabu gets knocked to the floor and we get the first ladder brought in with like four minutes left. The ladder gets kicked into Sabu’s face before it gets into the ring. Sabu and Shamrock brawl up the ramp with Sabu being through into one of the mini cages near the stage. Sabu is busted open but he manages to send Shamrock into the barricade.

It’s table time but the springboard flip dive by Sabu misses Shamrock, sending Sabu through the table on the ramp. Cool looking dive though. FINALLY a ladder is brought in but as Shamrock goes up, Malice runs in and chokeslams him down. Malice gets the belt itself and leaves to end the show.

Rating: D. Other than a few spots from Sabu, this was really boring. They had a no contest in a ladder match. That’s hard to do but they managed to do it here. Shamrock is a really boring champion but thankfully he’ll only have the title for a few more weeks. This is the last match Sabu would have with the company for almost a year and it’s a shame he couldn’t go out on the one he had last week which was way better.

Overall Rating: C+. You have to remember that this company isn’t even two months old yet. Factoring in that, this is a pretty remarkable performance as they’ve gotten rid of about 80% of the dumb stuff (the Dupps still are insanely annoying) and have some solid stories going on. It’s going to take a LONG time before they get anything significant going on, but these early days aren’t terrible by any stretch.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

No Surrender 2012
Date: September 9, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

We’re back in Orlando for a PPV and it’s a month before the biggest show of the year in Phoenix with Bound for Glory. Since we’re a month away from it we need a main event. That’s where tonight comes in as the BFG Series ends tonight with the final four being Joe, Hardy, Bully Ray and Storm. It really could be any of those four which is what makes this a fun show. The rest of the card doesn’t really matter other than Aries vs. a member of Aces and 8’s. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is exactly what you would expect: all about the BFG Series. I think the song is that Taproot one they’ve been playing on Impact every week.

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy

The points are no longer a factor as this is winner advances and loser is done. Jeff grabs a headlock to start but Joe shrugs him off with ease. Hardy is sent to the floor and holds his arm as things slow down almost immediately. Back in and Jeff hits a quick headscissors to send Joe to the floor but the fat man is just getting mad now. Hardy hits a running attack on the floor but back inside the fat power man offense runs over Hardy with the backsplash getting two.

Joe puts on a nerve hold and an elbow to take Hardy down when Jeff tries a comeback. As always, Hardy looks like he’s dead. Off to a chinlock followed by the snap powerslam for no cover by Joe. Hardy is sent to the floor and taken out by a suicide elbow as Joe continues to dominate. Back in and Hardy gets punched in the corner a few times before starting his comeback. The legdrop between the legs sets up a clothesline to put both guys down.

The low dropkick gets two for Hardy but the Twist of Fate is countered. Whisper in the Wind gets two but Joe gets up first. Joe is still having issues with his arm from Thursday so he can’t hit the MuscleBuster. Hardy grabs a Twist of Fate out of nowhere but Joe crotches him before the Swanton can be launched. A sunset flip gets two for Hardy and it’s back to the armbar that he won the match with on Thursday. Joe counters into a rollup but Jeff counters into a crucifix for the pin at 12:45.

Rating: B-. Good opener here with a pretty good ending. Joe trying to counter the submission into a pin which was against his nature and being countered was a nice idea, but the arm stuff didn’t quite get brought in until the end. This was a surprise though and it was a better match than they had three days ago so no complaints here.

Storm says he’ll right the wrong of last year and beat Bully Ray.

Bound For Glory Series: Bully Ray vs. James Storm

Ray stalls to start and heads to the floor to beat up a sign. After two minutes of stalling, Ray slaps Storm in the chest and gets slapped in the face for his efforts. Storm goes after him and Ray heads to the floor again, tripping a bit on his way down. We’re four minutes into this so far and they’ve barely touched each other. Back in and Ray takes it to the corner but Storm has had enough and pounds the Bully repeatedly in the head.

Storm pounds away some more but the Last Call misses and Ray hits him in the leg to take over. Ray throws on a bearhug which is quickly broken but a big boot takes Storm’s head off for two. Ray gets in Hebner’s face but is shoved away in the signature Earl bit. Instead, Bully splashes Storm in the corner and pounds him down some more from the middle rope. Storm crotches him and a powerbomb gets two.

They slug it out from their knees and Ray misses a charge in the corner. A top rope cross body gets two for Storm as does a sidewalk slam for Ray. Storm charges into the referee and walks into the Bubba Bomb for two from a new referee. Ray misses the middle rope backsplash (duh) and Storm fires a forearm, taking out referee #2. Last Call hits but there’s no referee. Bobby Roode comes out with a beer bottle to Storm’s head and Ray gets the pin to advance at 14:08.

Rating: C+. This was a different kind of a match and not everyone is going to like it. This was based on entertainment rather than wrestling with Ray hiding every chance he could get. The problem with matches like this one is there’s limited action and a lot of standing around. It’s entertaining but not necessarily good if that makes sense.

Tessmacher says exactly what you would expect her to say.

Knockouts Title: Tara vs. Miss Tessmacher

Tara is her mentor and beat the champ on Impact a few weeks ago and that’s it. They fight over the arm to start with Tara controlling with a top wristlock. Tara keeps taking over with power and outmaneuvering Tessmacher. A backslide gets two for the challenger but Tessmacher tries a rolling cradle, only to get tangled in the ropes. As they come back in Tara gets two off a rollup and the champ grabs the arm to take over.

Tara finally slaps her to start the brawl with Tessmacher taking over. A cradle sends Tara into the mat and things speed up. Tara’s spinning side slam gets two as does the floatover suplex that got Tara the pin on Impact a few weeks back. Widow’s Peak is countered into a rollup for the pin by Tessmacher to retain at 6:39.

Rating: C-. For a Knockouts match this wasn’t bad but man alive no one cared at all. Granted there was a one night build to this match so it’s not like anyone had any reason to care. Tessmacher hit a wall with the Earl Hebner storyline and losing the title for a few days. It didn’t help anyone and it stopped Tess’ momentum cold.

Hogan tells Roode that he’s arrested when Storm comes up and beats Roode up. Storm is thrown out too.

We recap Aces and 8’s vs. Aries and the breaking of the world champion’s arm. Tonight it’s the first real match for the group as Aries gets to fight the armbreaker. There was a torture session involved as well.

Austin Aries vs. Arm Breaker

This is non-title of course and Aries is in workout clothes instead of trunks. Before the match, Aries talks about this being a war which is fine with him, because Aries is the God of War. Aries calls out the big man but he won’t let the masked man in. He does the HBK laying on the top rope to sucker the Arm Breaker in. The champ pounds the guy down and hits the suicide dive.

Back inside Aries pounds away some more but gets crotched to give the Arm Breaker the advantage. The Arm Breaker keeps pounding away and takes over even more on the champ. This isn’t a match mind you as there’s no referee and the bell never rang. A clothesline spins Aries around and the Arm Breaker loads up a powerbomb but Aries throws powder in his face. A dropkick sends the Arm Breaker to the floor and Aries dives out onto him.

The Arm Breaker gets in a shot and grabs a chair, but back in the ring Aries hits him with a roll of coins and the brainbuster. Aries goes for the mask but here comes the gang. The locker room empties out and it’s a big brawl. In case you care, the fight ran just under ten minutes or so.

Aces and 8’s get run off and Hogan comes out. He gets in the ring with the ball bat and Hardy is down on the floor for some reason. Apparently he’s hurt his shoulder. Hogan tells the security to lock the place down as Hardy is taken to the back. Ray seemed to come out a bit later than everyone else so maybe he’s the lead suspect now. We get a clip from the brawl of Hardy having his shoulder rammed into the post by a masked guy.

They actually try to give us a package on Dutt vs. Ion. That’s just amusing. In short, there is no story as this match was added on to fill in time on the card.

X-Division Title: Sonjay Dutt vs. Zema Ion

Ion is defending. Feeling out process to start with Sonjay taking over. Taz praises him and they head to the floor with Sonjay hitting a slick roll across the apron into a rana on the floor. Back in and Ion takes over with some basic stuff and puts on a chinlock. We cut to the back where cops are coming to lock down the building. Sonjay makes his comeback with a headscissors and then another. He goes up but gets stopped by Zema, only for the champ to get release suplexed out to the floor.

A middle rope moonsault to the outside puts the champ down and back inside Sonjay gets two. Ion counters a rana into a powerbomb on the bad arm Sonjay came in with and it’s Rings of Saturn time. Dutt makes the rope and takes the champ down again, only to miss the moonsault into the double stomp. We get a pinfall reversal sequence resulting in a backslide into a Gory Bomb from Ion to retain at 11:38.

Rating: C. The match was fine but it was dead on arrival all around after the segment before it. Having the match thrown onto the card did it no favors either as there was no story to it at all and no reason to believe the champ was ever in any danger. This just didn’t do anything for me at all but the match was fine technically.

BFG video.

Hogan talks to the cops about the lockdown.

Hardy is getting his shoulder looked at. Magnus pops up and says Hardy is suffering from a lack of common sense.

Rob Van Dam vs. Magnus

Another thrown on match but at least this has a story behind it: Magnus got in RVD’s business at a promo on Impact and the match was made as a result. Simple but it works I guess. Magnus plays the cowardly heel to start and they go to the mat with Van Dam sitting out on Magnus to frustrate him again. Some kicks knock Magnus to the floor The spinning kick to the back while Magnus is on the barricade misses and the knee hits the steel.

Back in and Magnus takes over by stomping away like a British heel. A Texas Cloverleaf keeps RVD down even longer as Magnus stays on the leg. A sleeper is quickly broken by Rob and a spinwheel kick puts Magnus down. Van Dam speeds things up and goes after Magnus’ knee before hitting Rolling Thunder for two. Magnus gets in a shot to take over but spends too much time on top, allowing Van Dam to take over again. Rob tries the monkey flip out of the corner but Magnus kills him dead with a clothesline for two. Not that it really matters as Van Dan kicks him down and hits the Five Star for the pin at 10:05.

Rating: C. The match was ok but why in the world does Rob need to win here? The guy is a legit main eventer and it looked like Magnus was going to become a big deal. Instead he’s jobbing here in about ten minutes on PPV. What’s the point in the mini push like that then when a guy like RVD gets the win he doesn’t need?

Kaz and Daniels say they should have called the cops because of the injustice they’ve gone through.

We get a recap of the whole Daniels/Kaz vs. Angle/Styles. This is just the last few weeks because the whole thing would be longer than the whole PPV tonight.

Tag Titles: Kurt Angle/AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels/Kazarian

Angle is legit hurt so we’re looking at more of a handicap match here. Daniels (one of the champions) starts with Angle so maybe he’s not that badly hurt. Daniels pounds him into the corner and the announcers talk about how Angle is hurt. Angle and AJ ping pong Daniels between the two of them and it’s off to Styles. That goes nowhere so Angle comes back in and helps launch Kaz into the air before Kurt comes in legally.

Kurt goes after Daniels and tags AJ back in before the champs take over for the first time in the match so far. Since this is a TNA PPV, we get Daniels vs. AJ for awhile with the former in control. Kaz puts on a double arm chinlock but AJ comes back with right hands. A clothesline gets two for Kaz and it’s back to Daniels for a chinlock.

AJ fights out and makes the hot tag to Angle who cleans house as only he can. Well ok so a lot of people probably could but he does it quite well. It’s suplexes all around, including the Rolling Germans to Kaz. Kurt turns his attention to Daniels and after suplexing him down, Angle turns around into a slingshot DDT from Kaz to give the champions control. A slingshot elbow from Daniels and a slingshot legdrop from Kaz get two and it’s cravate time from Kaz.

Kaz goes up but Angle runs the ropes and hits a freaky kind of Olympic Slam off the top to put both guys down. Hot tag #2 brings in AJ who beats on Daniels after the champions tag as well. The moonsault into the reverse DDT gets two but Kaz hits a big dropkick to send AJ into the corner. Angle tags himself in again and hits a top rope splash to Daniels for two. It’s Angle Slams for both guys but the cover on Daniels only gets two. Ankle lock to Daniels is broken up by an enziguri from Kaz and AJ tags himself in again.

The springboard forearm takes Daniels down and a Pele gets two on Kaz. Now this is cranking up again. The springboard 450 gets a VERY close two on Kaz so AJ goes up. Kaz follows him up for a top rope C4 (backflip Rock Bottom) for another close two. Angle and Daniels go to the floor with Angle grabbing his injured areas. AJ loads up the Clash but Daniels throws the appletini in his face so Kaz can roll him up for the pin to retain at 19:37.

Rating: B+. Yep this was great again. This wasn’t quite as good as the Slammiversary match because it took awhile to get going, but it was still excellent stuff. I don’t think anyone thought the titles were changing here and that really didn’t mean a thing at all. These four just work together and you can’t argue that at all.

We recap the events of the main event stuff earlier tonight.

Hogan gives the cops another lecture.

There’s no update on Hardy.

Ray says he would have beaten Hardy anyway so this doesn’t mean much. You have to respect him and he’s reinvented himself. Jeff is on the tracks and Ray is the locomotive. Everyone may be bound for glory, but he’s destined for greatness. Great promo here.

Cops surround the ring.

Bound For Glory Series Finals: Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy

Hardy’s music hits and Hogan comes out instead. Hogan implies Ray is behind Aces and 8’s but Ray denies it. Ray says if Hardy can’t go, what option is there other than for Ray to win by forefit? Hogan says that the ball is in the GM’s court and asks for four more days for this match to happen on Impact, drawing more booing than in his entire time in Immortal. Ray isn’t cool with that but here’s Hardy anyway so it doesn’t matter. Predictable, but that’s fine in this case as it is in a lot of cases but that’s an argument for another time.

Hardy has one arm so he’s wrestling very tentatively. He tries as well as he can to drive Ray into the corner but Jeff gets knocked to the floor where he holds the arm even more. As he comes back in, Ray pounds away on the bad arm and Jeff bails to the floor again. Ray slams Hardy down and puts on an armbar as Hardy is reeling. Jeff can barely defend himself here. Ray misses a splash and Jeff hits the mule kick. Twisting Stunner sets up the Swanton but it only gets two. That might be Jeff’s one chance.

Ray hits Jeff in the shoulder and the Bubba Bomb gets two. Whisper in the Wind out of nowhere gets two and both guys are down. Another Whisper attempt misses and the Bubba Cutter….only gets two. Another Twisting Stunner hits but the Swanton misses. The second Bubba Cutter only gets two again and the crowd isn’t popping for these kickouts now. Twisting Stunner #3 and #4 hit back to back but he gets crotched going up. Scratch that as he knocks Ray off and hits the Swanton for the pin and the BFG main event spot at 12:42.

Rating: B-. The last five minutes of this were pretty absurd with the repeating finishers and the fans didn’t get into it for the most part. I also hate the ending as Ray has done some of the best stuff of his life tonight but Jeff gets the win anyway. I’m not wild on this and the match wasn’t all that good. Anyway, Hardy vs. Aries will be pretty awesome, but I was hoping Ray won here as he’s earned it this past year.

No Aces and 8’s.

Overall Rating: B. The show here comes down to the idea that the good stuff was good but the dull stuff was dull. Nothing was really bad here but the middle part of the show was painfully boring for the most part. The BFG Series stuff was great here and tonight may be seen as the night where Ray rose to the next level in his career….until they had Hardy win the main event. Aces and 8’s is clearly going to be blown off at the next PPV which is fine, but I’m not sure how. Still though, this was a good show overall but not a masterpiece, about what everyone expected.

Results

Jeff Hardy b. Samoa Joe – Crucifix

Bully Ray b. James Storm – Pin after Bobby Roode hit Storm with a beer bottle

Miss Tessmacher b. Tara – Sunset flip

Zema Ion b. Sonjay Dutt – Gory Bomb

Rob Van Dam b. Magnus – Five Star Frog Splash

Christopher Daniels/Kazarian b. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle – Kazarian pinned Styles after Daniels threw a drink in Styles’ face

Jeff Hardy b. Bully Ray – Swanton

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

I don’t even remember last year’s show so hopefully this one has a bit of a bigger….ahem….Impact on me.Getting the unimportant ones out of the way, I’ll take Zema and Tessmacher to retain.

Magnus winning over Van Dam is all that makes sense so we’ll go with that.  I’m actually giving TNA a chance with logic here.  Don’t screw me over.

Tag titles will stay on Daniels and Kaz.  Angle is legit injured so expect AJ to do most of the work, which is fine.

Aries will take out the Aces and 8’s guy.  That should be obvious.

Now for the real meat of the show: the BFG Series matches.

I think it comes down to Storm vs. Joe with Joe taking it.  There’s really no wrong answer here but Joe vs. Aries has been talked about as the main event of BFG.  Ray is a possibility with the new deal that may or may not have been signed, but I can’t see it happening.  Hardy is the guy you have to have in there but who doesn’t seem very likely to me at all.

Overall, this show is one that won’t need to be seen but should be a decent show anyway.  Nothing really happens here as it’s a build up to BFG which is fine, but it does make for less drama outside of the final three BFG Series matches.  The show should be fun though, which is what TNA is doing best right now.

Thoughts/predictions?

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

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

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

Bound For Glory Series Leaderboard

James Storm 73

Samoa Joe 68

Rob Van Dam 55

Bully Ray 55

AJ Styles 50

Jeff Hardy 49

Kurt Angle 48

Mr. Anderson 47

Christopher Daniels 33

Magnus 33

Robbie E 12

D’Angelo Dinero 7 (injured)

Bound For Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy

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

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

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

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

We recap Aces and 8’s attacking Aries lately.

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

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

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

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

Gail Kim vs. Tara

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results
Jeff Hardy b. Samoa Joe – Arm trap headlock

Tara b. Gail Kim – Widow’s Peak

Bully Ray b. Rob Van Dam – Bubba Cutter

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

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

This is one of the reasons why NXT is possibly the best wrestling show today.Dusty Rhodes is the GM of NXT and he’s been on the show maybe three times.  He makes matches but he doesn’t do so on screen.  What might happen is two guys will have an altercation in the back and then when they have the match, Regal might say something like “this match was set up by NXT GM Dusty Rhodes.”  No TV time wasted, no theme songs being pounded into our heads, no holding the hand of the viewers, just matches being made when they make sense.

Why can’t Raw or Smackdown get this?