Rants

Impact Wrestling – January 30, 2014

By Scott Keith on 30th January 2014

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
January 30, 2014

Location:
Hydro Arena, Glasgow, Scotland

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

Now
stop me if you’ve heard this before, but tonight we find out who the
new power is in TNA to oppose the current power. The big question is
who will it be, with names such as MVP, Sting, AJ Styles and Billy
Corgan being thrown out as possible storyline investors in TNA.
Either way they seem to have the American Wolves as backup so they
can’t be all bad. Let’s get to it.

The
opening video recaps the investor storyline which has been going on
for a full two weeks now. We also look at Sting’s contract being
ripped up. Again note that it’s a contract and not a career.

They’re
in an arena tonight too which looks FAR better than the Impact Zone.

We
immediately go to the back with Magnus, Spud and Ethan Carter being
separated from Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe. This is Scotland so the
British champion is loathed. Magnus speaks extra slowly but says
that’s not going to be enough for the Scots. The heat on Magnus is
excellent here. People are upset that Sting has fallen to the Reign
of Magnus, just like Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles. He ended Sting just
as he promised he would and it was just business. Magnus refers to
what happened to Sting as the thinning of the herd because Dixie
agrees that they should rid TNA of the dinosaurs.

TNA
needs to clear the way for the Bro Mans, Zema Ion, Rockstar Spud and
Magnus of this business. Ethan doesn’t look pleased that his name
was omitted nor that Magnus says he got rid of AJ, Hardy and Sting b

y
himself. Before they can argue though, here are Angle and Joe to
clear the ring. Kurt says he’s here to avenge the screwing of the
herd. Angle talks about Magnus being a paper champion but Magnus
says it’s killing Angle that he became a bigger star than the Mafia.

Joe
says the only thing killing him is that Magnus is still breathing.
Magnus pitches a tag match but an Ethan chant starts up. The match
is on as long as Angle and Joe’s futures in TNA are on the line. Joe
wants one more stipulation: if either of them pin Magnus, they’re the
new #1 contender. The paper champion card is played again and Magnus
says yes but Dixie comes out to say no way. She says there’s too
much going on to have to worry about that as well but Magnus says the
match is on anyway.

A
car pulls up out back.

After
a break the Wolves get out of the car but block a camera from getting
in. Anyone that wants to talk to the investor has to go through
them.

Velvet
Sky/Madison Rayne vs. Gail Kim/Lei’D Tapa

We
get a Beautiful People reunion, complete with the near kiss entrance.
Gail and Tapa jump them before the bell and it’s Gail pounding on
Madison to start. Velvet avoids the running cross body in the corner
and makes the tag off to Velvet who cleans house. Things quickly
break down and Madison takes down Tapa, allowing Velvet to hit In Yo
Face on Gail for the pin at 1:50.

Post
match Chris Sabin comes out to yell at Velvet, saying she’s been
ignoring him all week. Maybe her hormones are messed up because it’s
that time or something, but she has one more chance to apologize and
things will be ok. Velvet breaks up with him to a big pop.

Joe
and Angle break into Bobby Roode’s locker room for a fight as we go
to another break.

Back
from a break with Joe pulling Angle off Roode. Angle says Roode cost
AJ and Sting their jobs and he’ll do it again tonight. Roode says he
would so Joe chokes Roode to a couch and threatens to kill him if he
interferes. Angle and Joe leave as Roode smiles.

Here’s
James Storm with something to say. He talks about Gunner making a
good partner but then something made them fall apart. Storm asks
Gunner to come out here so they can put an end to this right now.
Gunner says they were friends but once he got the briefcase they blew
up. He had to do these things for his son and family and Storm would
have done the same thing for his family.

Storm
isn’t sure with that but Gunner goes into a story about being in the
Marine Corps and fighting for the men that were beside him. We get a
USA chant in Scotland as Storm talks about Gunner needing to take
credit for how good he is. Storm loves to be a dad and drink beer at
night but his daughter told asked why he was mad at Gunner. Storm
couldn’t answer that, so he’s got Gunner’s back no matter what.

They
shake hands and seem to make things right when Bad Influence breaks
them up. Kaz says the only thing worse than a drunken dime store
cowboy is a drunken dime store cowboy. He knows the thing Storm
wants more than anything is that briefcase. Daniels suggests a tag
match with the briefcase on the line. He’ll do it if he trusts Storm
of course. The fight is on and we get a referee as we head to a
break.

Bad
Influence vs. James Storm/Gunner

We
come back from a break with Storm chopping Kaz in the corner before
bringing in Gunner for some shots to the head. Gunner gets double
teamed down and it’s Daniels taking over with right hands. An
enziguri looks to set up the Angel’s Wings but Gunner backdrops him
to escape.

Hot
tag brings in Storm who cleans house with a middle rope cross body to
Daniels but Kaz saves him from the Eye of the Storm. A missile
dropkick sends Storm into the corner for a tag to Gunner and the
former Marine cleans house. There’s a slingshot suplex to Kaz and a
Last Call to Daniels, setting up a top rope headbutt to Kaz for the
pin at 8:00.

Rating:
C-. Nothing to see here for the
most part but it wasn’t terrible. There really isn’t a big problem
with the match but it came and went so fast (remember that about half
of it was spent in a commercial) that it didn’t have time to go
anywhere. I can’t picture Gunner as a world title contender but I’m
sure there’s more coming to this story.

Video
on Samoa Joe’s TNA career.

Roode
comes in to see an irate Dixie and demands a title shot in the main
event of Lockdown. She tries to throw him out but he says no.
Instead Dixie gets her checkbook but that’s not what Roode wants
either. Dixie has a week to figure this out and until then, she gets
no more favors.

Eric
Young is thrilled that he and Abyss get a title shot tonight. ODB
isn’t thrilled because she’s worried about Abyss being a monster.
She leaves and Abyss walks up with a bag in his hand.

We
recap the opening segment.

Here’s
Spud to get answers about the investor. First off we insult the
crowd by calling them the British B-Team before Spud demands the
Wolves come to the ring right now. Spud gets right to the chase,
asking who the investor is and even pointing a flashlight in their
eyes. He goes on a rant about how awesome he is and says Dixie
called him a fierce lion and tiger so talk.

Spud
slaps Richards in the face and there go the jackets. Edwards throws
Spud in the air and Davey kicks him in the ribs before saying Dixie
will find out when everyone else finds out. The investor is also
very interested in the main event and if anyone interferes, they’re
fired. They’ve got me intrigued if nothing else.

We
recap Eric Young revealing that Joseph Park is Abyss.

Tag
Titles: Bro Mans vs. Abyss/Eric Young

Robbie
throws Eric to the apron to start and we get the Flair strut. Abyss
tries to grab Robbie from the apron but gets a stern lecture,
allowing Jesse to come in off the top. Abyss comes in for more
choking but Eric has to keep telling him to go back to the apron.
Eric gets double teamed again before Abyss tries to come in for the
third time in about two minutes.

The
Bro Mans get to double team Young a bit more and Jesse gets two off a
dropkick. Eric is launched into the corner for the tag to Abyss and
house is cleaned, including a choke to Zema Ion. The referee pulls
Abyss off and gets Shock Treatment for his efforts, drawing a DQ at
about 5:00.

Rating:
D. This storyline already feels
really old and it’s getting even worse. Eric Young’s act of being
insane and so crazy he’s brilliant has never appealed to me at all
but it’s been going on for years now. The match was boring as we
were just waiting for the ending with Abyss going nuts.

Eric
gets a chokeslam post match and Abyss walks away.  Young grabs
the mic and asks if this is how it ends.  There’s one experiment
left so he asks if Abyss wants to get crazy.  Next week:
Monster’s Ball.

Eddie
Edwards says the investor is coming soon.

Bully
Ray is pushing a casket in the back.

Sam
Shaw has some wine with Christy Hemme and Sam puts his hand in a
candle but doesn’t notice. They go off to see the rest of the palce
and we switch to security camera footage. Christy looks out the
window and Sam likes her hair down better. They go to another room
but Sam sends her to get more wine. He turns on a light and it’s a
shrine to Christy with pictures everywhere. Why do I have a feeling
that no one is going to, I don’t know, TELL CHRISTY ABOUT THIS?

Here’s
Ray with the casket to say Anderson has taken away Aces and 8’s and
Ray’s identity. Therefore, Ray wants one final match: a casket
match. Anderson comes out so Ray threatens to piledrive Anderson’s
wife and kids. The match is accepted and Anderson opens the casket
lid, ramming it into Ray’s face. Anderson throws Ray and a chair
inside before hitting Ray low. Some chair shots to the back send Ray
running and Anderson stands tall.

Video
on Angle, talking about him being a cyborg.

Dixie,
Ethan and Magnus are ready for the main event.

Samoa
Joe/Kurt Angle vs. Magnus/Ethan Carter III

Joe/Angle’s
careers vs. a title shot if Magnus loses the fall. Ethan goes behind
Angle to start and grabs a headlock. Angle takes him down with an
armbar and it’s off to Joe for some right hands in the corner. Back
to Angle as this dominance continues, only to have Kurt miss a charge
and go shoulder first into the post. We cut to the back and see the
Wolves getting out of the car and putting the camera on the ground as
a third person gets out of the car.

Back
from a break with Ethan holding Angle in a chinlock before it’s off
to the champ for the first time. That lasts all of fifteen seconds
before it’s back to Ethan who charges into a belly to belly suplex,
allowing for the hot tag to Joe. Magnus comes in as well and walks
into a powerslam and a bad looking cross armbreaker. Carter gets
suplexed on the floor again as Joe locks on the Koquina Clutch for
the submission at 9:55.

Rating:
D+. Not a match here but the
champion shouldn’t be tapping out clean in less than ten minutes. It
wasn’t a good match either but it does set up Magnus’ next challenger
which wasn’t clear. Also I like Joe getting back in the title scene
as he hadn’t been near it for a long time now.

Post
match Dixie comes out to yell at Magnus but Joe starts a YOU TAPPED
OUT chant. Angle says that he’s done it all here in TNA and now he’s
back. Kurt says he’ll take that Hall of Fame induction now and make
sure to invite the investor. Dixie demands the investor come out
right now and, after a delay, it’s……..MVP. This would have been
huge if it was four years ago but now it’s just not bad.

Overall
Rating: B-. This show had its
faults but it did one thing right: it had me wanting to know who the
investor was all the way up until the ending. The reveal wasn’t as
good as it could have been but there were several worse options out
there. I don’t care to see this storyline yet again but at least it
won’t be as miserable as it could have been. At the end of the day,
this is what you get with TNA so you have to learn to live with it.
Not a great show but it did what it was supposed to.

Results

Velvet
Sky/Madison Rayne b. Gail Kim/Lei’D Tapa – In Yo Face to Kim

James
Storm/Gunner b. Bad Influence – Top rope headbutt to Kazarian

Bro
Mans b. Abyss/Eric Young via DQ when Abyss attacked the referee

Kurt
Angle/Samoa Joe b. Magnus/Ethan Carter III – Koquina Clutch to
Magnus

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – January 23, 2014

By Scott Keith on 23rd January 2014

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
January 23, 2014

Location:
Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We’re
back with Genesis Week Two, featuring all of the matches that we
couldn’t get to last week because we needed a thirty minute opening
segment. Tonight we have Roode vs. Angle in a cage, Gunner vs. Storm
for the briefcase, Sabin vs. Aries for the X Title and Sting vs.
Magnus in a contract vs. title match, even though Sting was forbidden
from challenging for the title ever again just a year ago. Let’s get
to it.

The
opening video recaps Sting challenging Magnus from last week and the
Roode vs. Angle feud.

Dixie
and Spud are in the back with Dixie freaking out about Ethan not
being here. Magnus comes in and shakes hands with some lawyer whose
name sounded like Creed. Apparently there was a meeting with the
board of directors and someone is setting up a hostile takeover of
TNA.

The
attorney says he can deal with the new investor, even though it seems
to be something personal. Magnus says deal with it because he has a
title defense. Apparently the investor wants someone in Sting’s
corner so Magnus wants No DQ and No Countout. The lawyer and Magnus
almost get in a fight until Dixie defuses it. The editing in this
made it feel really unnatural.

Here
are Magnus, Spud and Ethan to the arena. Nice to see that the
“where’s Ethan” problem was settled inside of four minutes.
Magnus accuses Sting of playing politics and thought he was a bigger
man than that. This brings out Sting himself who accuses Magnus of
backing out of deals of his own. Magnus says this is about Sting and
wants to know how much he paid the new investor.

Either
way, Sting has to face Magnus on his own tonight and Sting just can’t
beat Magnus on his own. Sting says he’s watched their BFG match over
and over again and is ready. The fans chant Paper Champion at Magnus
so he slaps Sting, triggering a brawl. Sting is outnumbered but
Samoa Joe makes the save. Naturally Joe is the man in Sting’s corner
tonight.

Video
on Gunner vs. Storm, leading to their match for the briefcase
tonight.

Spud
freaks out about Joe so Dixie puts him in a match with the Samoan.
Spud panics even more. Dixie after Spud leaves: “Please don’t get
killed.”

James
Storm vs. Gunner

Of
course it’s a briefcase on a pole. The announcers emphasize that you
have to get full possession of the case. Feeling out process to
start with Storm skinning the cat but walking into a running
clothesline to put him back down. James comes back with a kick to
the head but gets caught in the corner and taken down by a fallaway
slam. A suplex puts Gunner down but he counters the Last Call into a
Rock Bottom.

Gunner
goes up but gets taken down by a hurricanrana of all things to put
both guys down again. Storm goes up and gets his hands on the case
but Gunner stops him, bringing the case down. That’s not full
possession though so it becomes a fight for the case. A headbutt
knocks Storm away and Gunner gets the case at 5:40.

Rating:
D+. This was every pole match
you’ve ever seen though there were some decent spots in there to fill
in some time. The ending didn’t add anything special and Gunner
still having the case doesn’t change the situation. I don’t buy
Gunner as a title contender but beating James Storm won’t hurt him.
Can we get Storm a story that doesn’t involve a tag team though?

Kurt
Angle says if he can’t beat Roode tonight, he doesn’t deserve the
Hall of Fame.

Earlier
today, Velvet Sky got a package from Chris Sabin and we get to see
her open it. The note says she needs to bring them to Impact this
week. There’s a teddy bear and a lead pipe, meaning Velvet isn’t
pleased.

X-Division
Title: Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries

Sabin
is defending and Velvet is in a small cage at ringside, complete with
a bag containing the gifts. Feeling out process to start until Aries
grabs a quick Last Chancery. Sabin is thrown to the floor but jumps
back onto the apron to crotch Aries in the corner. Aries gets caught
in the Tree of Woe for a baseball slide but avoids being thrown to
the floor.

He
comes back with elbows to the head and a Lionsault for two. A discus
forearm sets up the running dropkick in the corner but Sabin counters
the brainbuster. Sabin heads to the floor and gets the bag from
Velvet but it just has the bear. Aries gets in an ax handle from the
apron followed by a missile dropkick. The brainbuster gives Aries
the title at 5:10.

Rating:
C-. I’m having a really hard
time caring about these matches when I don’t think all three have
combined to go twenty minutes. These are all just meaningless title
changes and the belt hasn’t grown at all as a result. I believe this
puts Aries at four title reigns and it doesn’t make him a bigger star
at all.

We
get a strange promo from the Wolves with the camera going all over
the place. Richards says you’ve seen their matches on Youtube so why
would you make the wolves dance for their meal? They’re the start of
the new era and next week the investor will be revealed to the world.
Cool video.

We
recap Angle vs. Roode. Bobby has beaten him over and over but
tonight it’s in a cage and if Angle loses, he can never go into the
Hall of Fame.

Kurt
Angle vs. Bobby Roode

Roode
has a new sleeveless full body vest. It’s pin/submission/escape
here. There’s no bell after the break so we’ll say this is joined in
progress. Roode goes after Kurt to start but walks into a belly to
belly suplex to give Angle control. He stomps Bobby down in the
corner but his right hands are countered with a powerbomb into the
cage. A suplex gets two for
Roode and more choking ensues.

Angle
grabs the legs and catapults Roode into the cage, setting up the
Rolling Germans. The Angle Slam is countered and Angle is sent into
the cage. A spinebuster gets a fast two for Roode but a Roode Bomb
attempt is countered by Angle ramming Bobby into the cage. Now the
Slam connects for two and there go the straps. Ankle lock goes on
but Roode fights to his feet and takes Angle down with an enziguri.

We
go old school with Roode’s Northern Lariat (clothesline to the back
of the head) for two. Roode goe sup but Angle makes a save and rams
Roode into the cage over and over again until he falls down. Kurt is
still on the ropes and goes to escape before looking back at Roode.
Oh no. Angle busts out the moonsault but only hits mat in a HUGE
crash. Roode crawls out the door but Angle grabs the ankle to pull
him back in. Kurt is kicked away so they do the same thing again but
this time Kurt puts on the ankle lock, only to have Roode whip him
into the cage.

The
Roode Bomb gets two and Bobby climbs the cage, so Angle runs the
corner and hits the Angle Slam to put both guys down again. Kurt
crawls over for a slow two before making a very slow climb to the
corner. He gets a leg over but Roode pulls him back in onto the top
rope. They slug it out until Roode is crotched on the top, allowing
Angle to climb out for the win at 14:17, seconds before Roode makes
it out the door.

Rating:
B. Angle is going to die in a
wrestling ring at some point and there’s no way around it. This was
a good but not classic cage match and there’s nothing wrong with
that. Above all else, this match was given time to develop and it
worked much better as a result. I’d buy this as the ending of the
feud but there’s a chance they could get one more match out of them.

Ethan
gives Spud a pep talk and names him the British Dream.

Here
are the Bro Mans who say they’re on Team Dixie. Jesse says you only
Bro once and asks the fans to tweet something right now to remember
this moment. They say the word hashtag about 17 times and call out
Eric Young and Joseph Park but just get the smaller one. He charges
the ring and tries to fight everyone off but gets beaten down until
Abyss makes the save. The monster cleans house and the champions and
Zema run, leaving Eric to be grabbed by the throat but he talks Abyss
out of it.

Joe
is ready and wants a piece of Magnus afte Sting gets done with him.

Angle
is worried about what happens if TNA loses Sting.

Rockstar
Spud vs. Samoa Joe

This
is exactly what you would expect with Joe not being afraid of Spud at
all and hitting an early Facewash. Spud goes get in an eye rake and
some kicks to the leg, only to charge into the release Rock Bottom
out of the corner. The MuscleBuster and the Koquina Clutch are good
for the win for Joe at 2:20.

TNA
World Title: Magnus vs. Sting

No
DQ and No Countout with Sting’s contract (not career) on the line
against Magnus’ title. Joe is at ringside in Sting’s corner. Magnus
cranks on a headlock to start as the fans chant Paper Champion. Off
to a wristlock by the Brit but Sting flips him down onto the mat and
Magnus bails to the ropes. A double clothesline puts both guys down
and here’s Ethan to interfere but Joe blocks him on the ramp as we
take a break.

Back
with Sting putting on the Scorpion but Bad Influence comes out to
neutralize Joe, allowing Ethan to make the save. Everyone is in the
ring now so we’re already at four interferences. Joe and Sting fight
them off and Magnus takes the Death Drop but it’s Zema and the Bro
Mans for the save, getting us to seven interferences.

Bad
Influence gets back into things but Angle makes a save (8), allowing
Sting to superplex Magnus. A replacement referee comes out (9) and
counts two but the Stinger Splash takes him out as well. There’s the
Scorpion but Bobby Roode (10) breaks up the hold to save a tapping
Magnus. The champ gets up for a Michinoku Driver and it’s Dixie
bringing Earl Hebner (11 and 12) for the three count for the pin at
13:25. That one move put Sting out for about 45 seconds.

Rating:
T. For twelve people that came
out during the match. It’s hard to get that many people into a show
sometimes and they did it in a fourteen minute match. These things
are making it hard to care about any main event TNA promotes because
they’re bigger messes than the Attitude Era ever dreamed of airing.
This was more of a match than AJ vs. Magnus though.

Magnus
rips up Sting’s contract to end the show.

Overall
Rating: C-. For Impact, this
wasn’t bad but it keeps up one of TNA’s many problems: they always
seem to be building to something but we never actually get to that
point. It’s very much a company chasing its own tail and it has been
for years. For instance, we spent months building to BFG but BFG was
just a step towards Dixieland. Now Dixieland has bene just a step
towards the investor, which will be a step to something else.

I’m
sick of these power struggle stories and they keep TNA feeling like
they’re on life support. I’m mildly interested in the reveal next
week but my hopes are low enough that a mouse couldn’t get fit
underneath them. The cage match was good but the main event was
overdone, much like every other title match anymore.

Results

Gunner
b. James Storm – Gunner grabbed the briefcase

Austin
Aries b. Chris Sabin – Brainbuster

Kurt
Angle b. Bobby Roode – Angle escaped the cage

Samoa
Joe b. Rockstar Spud – Koquina Clutch

Magnus
b. Sting – Michinoku Driver

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Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – January 16, 2014

By Scott Keith on 16th January 2014

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
January 16, 2014

Location:
Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

Tonight
is the first night of a double week Genesis special. There are a lot
of matches set up for the next two weeks but it’s not clear which are
tonight. We’ll be getting some combination of Ethan Carter III vs.
Sting, Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode in a cage, James Storm vs. Gunner
for the Feast or Fired case and Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson. TNA
usually nails these Clash of the Champions style shows so let’s get
to it.

We
open with a very nice tribute to Mae Young with Tazz saying some kind
things about his time with her. Nothing wrong with that.

Recap
of the unification match from last week.

Spud
is in the ring to insult Alabama and introduce Dixie Carter, in case
you didn’t get enough of her last week. We get the usual don’t cross
the boss speech before Dixie gives us our second recap of last week’s
events. The fans want AJ but Dixie says tonight is about the new
champion. Magnus comes out to do the same speech you’ve heard a
dozen times about how this is a new era and calls it the Reign of
Magnus. He hands Dixie one of the titles because we wouldn’t be here
without her.

Dixie
says there are some others to thank and brings out the BroMans, Zema
Ion, Gail Kim, Lei’D Tapa, Bad Influence and Bobby Roode. Tonight is
the beginning of Dixie Carter’s TNA, but for that to happen, everyone
has to stand tall and united as one. The only amusing part of this:
as Dixie talks about winning tonight, Spud can barely hold the TNA
title belt because he’s so small. That guy continues to entertain
me. Dixie brings out Ethan Carter III in pink ring gear, making him
look like Rick Martel. Before Ethan can say anything, the lights go
out and Sting is in the crowd, pointing the bat down to the ring as
we take a break.

Back
with Sting in the same place, asking if this is the future that Dixie
is talking about. There are a lot of people in the back that can’t
be bought no matter what. They have a thing called honor which is
something Dixie can never have. Another amusing note: Sting is
standing in front of a No Standing sign. Sting talks about bringing
Magnus into the Main Event Mafia because he’s the future of
wrestling.

No
one thought he would sell out though, and that’s part of why this is
a house divided. Sting says “we” will fight back tonight but
Dixie says she only sees him. Samoa Joe, ODB, Eric Young, James
Storm and Joseph Park hit the ring for a fight, soon to be joined by
Gunner. Eventually the ring is cleared out except for Sting and
Carter with Sting holding the bat up to Carterh’s chest and blasting
him in the ribs as we take another break.

Back
with the good guys ruling the ring and the heels cowering on the
ramp. Joe says they’re here for a fight and not leaving until they
get into one. Spud, in pink pants no less, brings out Brian Hebner,
saying Joe might just get what they want. We’re getting a twelve man
tag RIGHT NOW.

Samoa
Joe/James Storm/Gunner/ODB/Eric Young/Joseph Park vs. Lei’D Tapa/Zema
Ion/Bro Mans/Bad Influence

Joe
pounds away on Zema Ion to start as everyone else fights on the
floor. We get the always cool sidestep from Joe to avoid a middle
rope cross body. ODB and Tapa get into the ring for a few moments
until Storm and Daniels come in instead. There have been no tags and
only now are a handful of people getting on the apron. Gunner throws
Kaz to the floor and now there’s no one in the ring.

Eric
and Robbie get into the ring as Joe is now on his third corner of the
match. Young and Park double elbow Jesse but Robbie breaks up Eric’s
top rope elbow. Zema sends Eric to the floor but turns around to see
ODB grabbing her chest. A fall away slam sends Ion flying but Tapa
runs ODB down, knocking her to the floor. Daniels comes in to work
over Young and gets two off a leg lariat.

Young
comes back with a belly to belly suplex and it’s off to Joe for some
fat man power. The backsplash gets two on Daniels with Kaz making
the save. Joe dives through the ropes to take out the Bro Mans as a
lot of things break down. Kaz breaks up an attempted Park dive but
busts Park’s lip open in the process. For the first time ever, Park
goes after his partners by taking down Gunner and Storm, leaving Joe
to put Daniels in the Clutch for the tap out at 7:32.

Rating:
D+. This was straight out of
the Russo playbook: throw everyone out there at once and hope the
fans are so impressed by the insanity that they don’t care about the
lack of a story. TNA is walking a very thin line right now with this
latest heel stable, even if it’s a looser version than usual.
Hopefully it doesn’t turn out like the rest, but that’s probably the
case.

Velvet
Sky is seen talking to Austin Aries in the back until Chris Sabin
comes up and demands to talk to her in the ring.

Kurt
Angle arrives and is looking for Dixie and/or Al Snow, the latter of
whom told Angle that he had a family emergency.

Sabin
is in the ring to yell at Velvet for having secret meetings with
Austin Aries but the man himself interrupts. Aries calls Sabin the
worst boyfriend ever and says that even though he’s a vegan, he might
make an exception for a piece of pigeon pie. Velvet looks flattered
and Aries keeps up the charm by calling Velvet an extremely hot
woman.

Chris
cuts Aries off by saying he tells Velvet what to do, but Aries says
he’s been telling Velvet to do what she wants to do. Sabin says
she’s his and gives her a little spank to prove it. Austin wants one
more match with Sabin for the title and Velvet locked in a small cage
at ringside. Sabin says no, but Velvet takes the mic and says she’ll
do it. She goes off on Sabin by saying she never wanted to be
involved in this. Sabin has treated her like garbage lately, so if
he loses next week she might be looking for someone else.

Angle
has already changed into his wrestling gear and is still looking for
Dixie.

Pat
Kenney (I think) tells a cameraman to shoot everything he sees
backstage. Sam Shaw comes by and Kenney congratulates him on his
match last week, but politely advises Shaw to stay away from Christy
Hemme and focus on his career. Shaw snaps and destroys Kenney,
beating him down with Kenney’s own shoe. Also it’s Samuel, not Sam.

Ethan
Carter practices his catchphrase when Magnus comes in to say believe
in yourself. Magnus got to the top by himself and Ethan can do the
same.

Bully
Ray comes to the ring for his No DQ match with Anderson but Ken jumps
him from behind as we go to a break before a bell.

Bully
Ray vs. Mr. Anderson

No
DQ. We come back from a break with Anderson ramming Ray (back in his
old pre-Aces attire and music) into the announcers’ table and heading
back inside, only to have Ray block the Mic Check. A double
clothesline puts both guys down as Tazz talks about Anderson wearing
the hospital wristbands for his newborn twins. Both guys bring in
chairs but it’s Anderson getting in the first shot.

Ray
comes back with a spear to put both guys down again and grabs his
chain for a whipping. An elbow drop with the chain wrapped arund the
arm gets two on Anderson but Ray stops to yell at Earl, allowing
Anderson to knock Ray’s chair into his face with a chair of his own
for two. Anderson pulls out a piece of a barricade that is clearly
made of plastic, only to have it kicked into his face.

Ray
misses a splash, allowing Anderson to go up for the Swanton. He hits
the barricade as well but comes back with a Mic Check onto the
“steel” for two. Anderson sets up a table in the corner and hits
a Regal Roll through the wood for another two count. These kickouts
are getting surprising. Another table is set up but Ray comes back
with a Rock Bottom for two of his own. Bully pulls out the lighter
fluid but takes too long to yell about Anderson’s newborns. A Mic
Check puts Ray down but Anderson gos to light the table on fire
instead. Ray hits a quick low blow and piledriver for the pin 9:40.

Rating:
C. This falls under the “screw
wrestling and let’s fight” category and that’s what it should have
been. Ray is SO much better in this role than he was as the head of
the lame biker gang which makes you all the more annoyed at Bischoff
for having to fulfill his childhood dreams on national TV. Good
fight here though not much of a match.

Angle
finds Al Snow and demands to know what happened last week. Al says
he was just following orders and gets thrown down.

Post
break Angle is in the ring to demand that Dixie come face him right
now. She went too far by bringing his family in and here’s Dixie to
respond. Kurt goes on a rant about how Dixie isn’t the same person
she used to be and how wrong it was to bring Kurt’s wife and kids
into this situation. Dixie says she did it to protect him because he
would have gotten hurt out here last week, meaning he couldn’t make
her any money.

She
doesn’t want him to be like AJ or Jeff Hardy and did what she did
because it was best. Angle says he isn’t on her team but says he’ll
be out here for the main event. Dixie postpones the match until next
week and has Angle taken out by security. Roode comes in off the
distraction and lays him out with the Death Valley Driver (dubbed the
Roode Bomb).

Gail
Kim and Lei’D Tapa jump Madison Rayne before Rayne’s title shot.

Knockouts
Title: Gail Kim vs. Madison Rayne

Madison
is challenging but is still beaten down from the attack from before
the break. Kim beats her down even more by stomping away in the
corner but Madison comes back with a rollup for two of her own.
Madison can’t shake off all of the punishment from earlier though and
staggers down off a forearm to the head. A shoulder block sends the
champion to the floor but Tapa runs Madison over and chokes her down.
Tapa is finally ejected but Gail does just fine by putting on the
Figure Four around the post. The referee breaks it up and Rayne
comes back with a flapjack and the Rayne Drop for the pin and the
title at 4:00.

Rating:
D. Just a match here but at
least it ended the less than enthralling Gail Kim title reign. Kim
is very talented in the ring but she’s a black hole of charisma,
making her title reigns very difficult to sit through. Rayne could
be an improvement if she’s actually given the chance to do something
different.

Dixie
is with The Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards of course) and
offers them a tryout match next week. However, they’ve already
signed contracts offered to them by a TNA investor. Eddie hands her
an envelope, saying it’ll change everything. Oh dear.

We
run down the card for next week’s show.

Sting
vs. Ethan Carter III

Spud
is guest referee to really keep the deck stacked. Sting takes Carter
into the corner and is immediately warned for his actions. Carther
does the same and nothing happens as you would expect. A dropkick
sends Carter to the floor and Sting rams him into the steps for good
measure. Back in and Spud gets in the way of a Stinger Splash
attempt, allowing Ethan to take over with right hands of his own.

Sting
avoids a splash and puts on the Scorpion but Spud jumps on his back.
Instead Sting hits the Death Drop but Spud still won’t count. Sting
tries to force Spud’s hand down but Magnus pulls Spud to safety. The
champion takes his shirt off to reveal a referee’s shirt. Ethan uses
the distraction to roll up Sting and Magnus makes a fast count for
the pin at 4:58.

Rating:
D. This was all angle instead
of a match. That being said, I’m already getting sick of the latest
heel stable dominance with Sting fighting against the evil authority.
We’ve covered this so many times already and there’s almost nothing
new that can be done with this idea.

Post
break Sting says he wants one shot at the title and will do anything
to get it. Magnus says Sting lost at Slammiversary and can’t get a
shot, but Sting appeals to his pride, saying Magnus must want to earn
the title. He says men wear belts, so Magnus needs to stop being a
boy. Magnus gets in the ring and says it’s not going to work, but
offers Sting a deal: next week it’s Sting’s contract vs. the title.
Sting accepts to end the show.

Overall
Rating: D+. This is a hard one
to grade. Believe it or not, I’m really digging everything in TNA
other than the main event. The Ray solo heel character works, Sabin
vs. Aries with Velvet in the middle is a nice midcard feud and Angle
vs. Roode is an excellent feud in general. Then there’s the main
event, which is every stereotype TNA has rolled into one bloated
feud. It’s yet another heel stable/power struggle with Sting being
the great white knight for the company. Count up how many times TNA
has done that story and stop when you get to the second hand. I
think that sums up everything wrong at the moment.

Results

James
Storm/Gunner/ODB/Samoa Joe/Eric Young/Joseph Park b. Bad
Influence/Zema Ion/Bro Mans/Lei’D Tapa – Koquina Clutch to Daniels

Bully
Ray b. Mr. Anderson – Piledriver

Madison
Rayne b. Gail Kim – Rayne Drop

Ethan
Carter III b. Sting – Rollup

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – January 9, 2014

By Scott Keith on 9th January 2014

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
January 9, 2014

Location:
Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

This
is the final taped show in a long series of them as we’re closing in
on Genesis next week. The main story tonight is the World Title
unification match between AJ Styles and Magnus which has had a full
week’s worth of hype. On top of that, Kurt Angle has an open
challenge to anyone willing to step inside of a cage with him. Let’s
get to it.

After
the opening recap, here’s Dixie in a sweater and skirt that belongs
on a 22 year old. She doesn’t want to put up with this nonsense
tonight so AJ needs to get out here and sign this contract. AJ comes
out but Dixie goes into a long rant about how the contract is for one
night only and the match tonight is going to be No DQ. She wants
Magnus to leave AJ bloodied and broken and carried out on a stretcher
tonight so he’ll be out of her life forever.

AJ
says she must have a lot of confidence in her champion, just like she
did at Bound For Glory when she bet against AJ and lost. Before
signing, AJ says there are boys in the back that hate Dixie just as
much as he does and they don’t mind coming out here to help him
tonight. Dixie says those people weren’t there for him over the last
11 years like she was when she was feeding his wife and kids.

She
owns those people and will be the one to break AJ Styles. AJ says
Dixie doesn’t get wrestling because it’s supposed to be about two
wrestlers but Dixie keeps screwing it up. The belt got respect when
AJ won it while the paper champion was hiding under Dixie’s skirt, so
here’s Magnus to keep this segment going.

Magnus
asks Dixie to leave the ring and gets in AJ’s face for calling him a
paper champion. The last image anyone had of AJ is him running away,
just like he’ll be doing after Magnus gets done with him tonight.
Magnus leaves and AJ talks about how it took eleven years to get him
to the title, which is the kind of hard work Magnus doesn’t
understand.

Post
break Dixie tells Gail Kim and Lei’D Tapa to make sure they take care
of something.

Eric
Young/Joseph Park vs. Bro Mans

Non-title.
Dixie is shown in the back telling the Bro Mans how serious this is.
I have a bad feeling about a running theme tonight. Eric starts
fast with Robbie and tries to do a Flair strut after being sent into
the corner but instead slides through his legs for a sunset flip. A
belly to belly puts Jessie down and Eric loads up the top rope elbow
but we see Gail and Tapa beating up ODB in the back.

Eric
runs off to help, leaving Joseph to get double teamed. Park gets
beaten down into the corner but runs both champions over with
shoulder blocks and slams. Robbie’s cross body just bounces off Park
so he chop blocks Park down instead. The Bro Down (Hart Attack) is
good for the pin at 3:27.

Rating:
D+. This was more about the
story than the match as it seems Dixie has recruited the Bro Mans and
Gail Kim and Tapa. It’s probably better that was as we haven’t had a
heel stable in all of six weeks around here. The match was nothing
to see and the less Eric Young I have to see, the better.

Post
match the Bro Mans remove a piece of the barricade and put it in the
ring, setting up a Bro Down on Park onto the steel.

Joe
goes into Dixie’s office (fourth appearance in 25 minutes) and says
he’ll have AJ’s back tonight. Dixie says Joe has a match with Ethan
Carter III tonight, but Joe says Ethan’s blood is on Dixie’s hands
tonight.

Eric
carries ODB to an ambulance, sending Sting off to find Dixie.

James
Storm is in the ring and wants to talk to Gunner right now. Gunner
comes to the ring and Storm talks about being part of some of the
best tag teams ever in wrestling history. You have to check your ego
if you’re going to be part of a team, but if loving the fans chanting
Cowboy means you have a big ego, he has the biggest ego of all time.
The world title has split up Beer Money, America’s Most Wanted and
now the two of them.

Gunner
says Storm can keep his ego because he has the case. Storm knew the
risk he was taking in Feast or Fired and Gunner played by the rules.
James says let’s hang the case up one more time because Gunner can’t
do it again in another match. They shake on it and I think we have
either a briefcase on a pole or a ladder match, presumably for next
week.

Ethan
Carter jumps Joe in the back.

We
come back with Ethan and Joe slugging it out on the stage before Joe
punches Ethan down the ramp.

Ethan
Carter III vs. Samoa Joe

They
ight into the ring and we get a bell with Joe taking over with his
usual stuff. The backsplash gets two and Carter is knocked into the
corner for the enziguri, only to have Carter come out with a dropkick
to the knee. Ethan goes after the knee as the fans tell Carter he
can’t wrestle. Joe breaks up something off the top and goes for the
MuscleBuster, only to have Spud grab Joe’s leg. The distraction lets
Carter get in a shot to the knee for a…..no contest at 2:50?
Shouldn’t it be a DQ?

Carter
hits Joe’s knee with a wrench to really put him out.

Angle
promises to wreck anyone who gets in a cage with him tonight because
he’ll be seeing Bobby Roode.

We
recap all the injures tonight.

Joe
refuses to be taken to the hospital but is forced to go.

James
Storm and Gunner have been attacked by whiskey bottles. Sting sees
them and goes through the door to find Dixie (5th
appearance) for a good yelling about the events tonight. She says
this is a dangerous business but Sting says she can be turned back.
He asks what happened to her but Dixie yells at him for trying to be
Dr. Phil. Sting has a match tonight with an unnamed opponent.

Kurt
Angle vs. ???

In
a cage with an open challenge. Angle waits and gets…..Bobby Roode?
He doesn’t come to the cage though because he’s got a mic. In seven
days Angle is going to lose inside the cage and his Hall of Fame
induction will be gone forever. Roode says Angle can get him in the
cage next week, but for tonight it’s two on one.

Kurt
Angle vs. Bad Influence

Daniels
goes through the door as Kaz tries to climb the cage. Angle puts
Christopher down and goes after Kaz, only to get crotched on the top.
Daniels sends Angle into the cage as Kaz comes in with a top rope ax
handle to give Christopher two. Angle is rammed back first into the
cage as Bad Influence keeps up their double teaming. He grabs a
small package on Daniels but Kaz grabs the referee to prevent a
count.

A
spinning springboard legdrop gets two on Angle but he pops up with
the suplexes for everyone. We get Germans, belly to bellys and more
Germans before Kaz breaks up the Angle Slam on Daniels. Kaz tries to
leave but gets superplexed down, landing on Daniels in the process.
Angle sends Daniels hard into the cage before the Angle Slam pins Kaz
at 6:11.

Rating:
C+. Kurt Angle just knows how
to have a good cage match. The good thing here is that Bad Influence
can lose over and over again but keep coming back through their
hilarious antics. The match with Roode next week is going to be
great as those two have the chemistry to have an awesome match every
time they’re out there.

Dixie
(6th
appearance) says leave the cage up. Bobby Roode comes in and is told
he has a cage match tonight. Roode assumes it’s with Angle but it’s
against Sting. Bobby freaks out as you would expect him to. Dixie
promises to have him covered.

Angle
is having pictures taken with some fans when Al Snow comes up in a
car, saying Angle has to get to the airport for an emergency.

Bobby
Roode vs. Sting

In
a cage as well. I didn’t hear a bell but Sting takes him into the
corner, only to be taken down by a shoulder block. Sting blocks
being rammed into the cage but Roode does the same. A Stinger Splash
hits Roode’s feet and Roode gets two off a clothesline. Sting won’t
let Bobby go through the door and stops a charging Roode with a boot
and elbow to the jaw.

Roode
comes back with a spinebuster for two but Sting breaks up another
escape attempt. Sting slams him off the top in classic fashion
before ramming Roode into the cage a few times. A pair of Stinger
Splashes sets up the Death Drop and Deathlock but here are Ethan and
Spud to interfere. Spud distracts the referee, allowing Spud to send
in a baton so Roode can lay Sting out and escape at 7:10.

Rating:
C-. This was mainly just
killing time until the interfering ending but it wasn’t that bad for
the most part. Tonight is a one story show and it got old about half
an hour ago. Sting works best in quick bursts like this and the
match wasn’t bad due to how short it was. Still though, two cage
matches not combining to go fifteen minutes isn’t something I can get
behind.

Earlier
today, Mr. Anderson entered a funeral home to finish this with Ray.

We
recap Ray trying to set Joseph park on fire last week.

Anderson
is in the funeral home where Aces and 8’s were laid to rest. Ray is
sitting in the corner with his sunglasses on and Anderson says let’s
finish this. Bully says if he wanted to finish this, he would have
done it last week with the lighter. That’s too forgiving of him
though because he wants this to last. He says there’s something in
his other hand that doesn’t smell as nice (lighter fluid?) before
talking about Anderson taking everything from him.

Ray
wants his loneliness to encompass Anderson’s life. Next week is
Genesis, or the beginning, but it means the end for Anderson. He
talks about Anderson throwing the Aces and 8’s colors in the coffin
and tells Anderson to go look at what’s in there now. Anderson goes
to look and gets ad before turning back to see Ray gone. We see what
appears to be baby clothes in Anderson’s hands.

We
recap the attacks tonight.

Sting
comes into Dixie’s office (7th appearance tonight) and
says it takes more than that to put him down. Dixie says it’s
contract season and implies that she’ll pay Sting to side with her.

We
recap the AJ vs. Dixie situation and hype the main event.

We
run down the stacked Genesis card.

TNA
World Title: AJ Styles vs. Magnus

No
DQ and both guys are champion coming in. Magnus immediately goes to
the floor and does it again for a second time in less than ninety
seconds. No contact yet. Magnus gets back in but here are Ethan
Carter and Spud to jump AJ before any contact is made. AJ fights
them off and superkicks Magnus in the ribs but Carter breaks up a
Styles Clash attempt. Sting finally comes out for the save but
doesn’t do anything as AJ saves himself. Magnus bails to the floor
and we take a break.

Back
with the two champions still not making contact as the Bro Mans and
Zema Ion come out to jump Sting and AJ and giving us six run-ins in
less than eight minutes. Zema DDTs AJ and the Bro Down gets a
delayed two on Styles. Sting comes back in as Magnus just chills at
ringside. The Brit finally comes back in and AJ quickly loads up the
Clash, only to have Bad Influence make the save and lay him out with
a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo.

Earl
Hebner refuses to count so Dixie and Brian Hebner get us to ELEVEN
people coming out for this match. Bad Influence goes High/Low on AJ
for two and Brian gets yelled at. Sting lays out the Bro Mans with a
double Death Drop on the floor before putting Ion in the Deathlock.
AJ fights back against Bad Influence as Sting comes in to help even
more. We’re down to Magnus vs. AJ with Styles getting the Calf
Killer, only to have Kazarian take out the referee.

Kazarian
monkey flips AJ into Daniels but AJ clotheslines him down and Peles
Kaz. Now the Styles Clash takes out Magnus but there’s no referee.
Earl Hebner hobbles back out (we’ll call that #12) to count two
before AJ dives over the top to take out Bad Influence yet again. AJ
goes up top but Bobby Roode makes it #13 by shoving Styles into the
ropes. Three AA/DVDs lay AJ out for about the fifth time, giving
Magnus the pin (thanks to referee #3 and the fourteenth person added
to the match) and the undisputed title at 15:47. Sting was being
held back by most of the heels in case you were wondering.

Rating:
D. So they spent all night
hyping up the match before going full Russo on it. That’s what we
spent months and months building to? The match was definitely
energetic but we really had to spend all this time setting up Dixie
with her corporate champion? Assuming AJ leaving isn’t a HUGE
swerve, this was one of the biggest wastes of time I can remember in
years.

Dixie
and Magnus pose to end the show.

Overall
Rating: D+. The Angle and
Ray/Anderson stuff was good but WOW the rest of it got on my nerves
in a hurry. This was one of TNA’s biggest problems flaring up all
over again: putting everything on one idea and going full blast with
it until the fans are sick of the story. Genesis looks stacked but
man alive this show got annoying fast. Dixie just doesn’t do it for
me as the top heel and the lack of planning with AJ basically makes
everything since the summer a waste of time.

Results

Bro
Mans b. Joseph Park/Eric Young – Bro Down to Park

Ethan
Carter III vs. Samoa Joe went to a no contest

Kurt
Angle b. Bad Influence – Angle Slam to Kazarian

Bobby
Roode b. Sting – Roode escaped the cage

Magnus
b. AJ Styles – Magnus pinned Styles after a Death Valley Driver
from Bobby Roode

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – December 26, 2013

By Scott Keith on 26th December 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
December 26, 2013

Location:
Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Taz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We
close out the year tonight with the fallout from last week’s Final
Resolution which saw Magnus (in theory) join up with Dixie as the new
corporate champion. This should mean the imminent return of AJ
Styles and the unification match for the two titles. It should also
be interesting to see if TNA starts having more matches during the
show or sticks with around three plus a lot of talking. Let’s get to
it.

After
the usual recap of last week’s events, here’s Spud in the ring to get
things going. He gives a very elaborate introduction for someone
very important to all of us: Dixie Carter. She talks about how great
the last seven days have been and talks about how Santa didn’t
deliver the title to Jeff Hardy like the fans wanted him to. That
doesn’t matter though because the right man wanted. The fans sound
like they want AJ.

Dixie
has a major announcement that she’s been hyping up all week on social
media but Jeff Hardy cuts her off. Jeff has some complaints to make
but Dixie cuts him off. The fans aren’t interested in what Jeff has
to say so he threatens Spud for what he did to Jeff last week. Spud
goes all pompous Brit on Jeff and orders him out of the ring. Spud
is sent into the corner but EC3 runs out to jump Hardy, knocking him
to the floor. Dixie loads up the announcement but here’s Sting to
interrupt as well.

Carter
and Spud roll to the floor like proper cowardly heels should and
Sting grabs the mic. He’s tired of entitled pipsqueaks getting
everything they want, so Sting isn’t leaving until both he and the
fans get what they want: Sting beating the tar out of Ethan Carter.
The Icon wants Carter/Spud vs. Sting/Hardy but Dixie says no way.
Dixie says she’ll give Sting a tag match but doesn’t say who is in
it. Her music comes on but she wants to make her announcement. The
music keeps going as we take a break.

Back
with Dixie trying to make the announcement again but this time Gunner
interrupts. Gunner wants his title shot right now but Dixie turns
him down because Magnus is in England. Gunner grabs the mic from
Dixie and says to let Magnus know that the cash-in is coming sooner
rather than later. Dixie tries for I think the fourth time to make
the announcement but here’s James Storm to interrupt this time.
James thinks Gunner owes him something but Gunner disagrees.

Storm
talks about Gunner costing him the match against Bobby Roode when
Storm asked him to. Gunner says he did it for Storm’s own good
because Storm was in a bar fight the night before. Storm says that
may be true but he wants to know who told Roode about the bar fight.
James thinks Gunner is the stooge and wants a match for that case
tonight. Dixie says ok because Gunner interrupted her. She’s not
ready for the announcement though so everyone has to wait for later.

Gunner
vs. James Storm

For
the Feast or Fired case. They shove each other to start until Gunner
sends Storm into the corner but walks into a headlock takeover.
Gunner shoves him into the corner again but Storm hits a quick
enziguri from the apron. A running forearm gets two on Gunner and a
facebuster gets the same. Gunner gets in a knee lift to the ribs and
puts on a quickly broken chinlock as the announcers talk about the
announcement. Storm comes back with a tackle/spear to send both guys
out to the floor…..for a VERY fast double countout at 4:58.

Rating:
D. This was all about extending
the feud which is the right idea. I’d assume we’re headed for a
gimmick match at Genesis to blow this off so the ending makes sense.
That doesn’t mean it was executed well at all though as the ten count
took maybe five seconds and we didn’t see any of the count until the
end.

They
fight to the back as referees fail to pull them apart.

Brooke
is annoyed at Bully Ray for annoying her since he doesn’t seem to
want her anymore. That’s fine with her as she’ll just go air all his
dirty secrets in the ring. Bully says her name but that’s it.

Magnus
talks about all the bad characters he’s been given over the years
which counts as paying dues. He talks about being called the future,
meaning he’s not ready yet “because some people weren’t ready to
hang it up yet, BROTHER”. This felt like part of a shoot
interview.

Here’s
Brooke to demand answers from Bully. She understands that he’s mad
at her for throwing the hammer, but she’s not accepting full blame
for everything. Here’s Ray in a hoodie and sunglasses as Brooke
insists that this can be fixed. It’s neither of their faults that
Aces and 8’s ended but Ray turns his back on her. Brooke yells at
him for not respecting her and reminds him that Ray said throw the
hammer. Ray was supposed to be her ticket to the big time but now
he’s that weird high school kid that has no friends.

Brooke
says she’s no one’s property and that she’s done but Ray grabs her
arm. Ray says she’s done when he’s done with her but he doesn’t
blame her for anything. After all, she’s not the smartest girl in
the world but she was there for certain uses. She wasn’t even that
good at those things thought and sometimes he would close his eyes
and think of Brooke #1.

He
could piledrive her right now but instead he’s going to use her to
spread his word. She knows how evil he can be, so she can let
everyone know what’s in store for them. Ray takes off the glasses
and says it’s going to be a lot worse as ominous music plays. He’s
done with her.

Joseph
Park is scared to have a Monster’s Ball match.

Magnus
thinks being in the Main Event Mafia was the way the Mafia kept him
on a leash.

Ethan
tries to get out of the tag match but Dixie says she has them
covered.

We
recap Park’s revelation that he’s Abyss.

Park
is scared but Young says believe in himself. Eric says hit the music
and it’s the old Abyss song. He gives Park Janice to make him feel
better.

Joseph
Park vs. Bad Influence

Monster’s
Ball, meaning anything goes with weapons at ringside. Park has
Janice while the team grabs a kendo stick and crutch. Bad Influence
surrounds Park but he swings Janice…and drops it, allowing the
heels to score with shots to the ribs and back. Park gets taken down
and Kaz hits a backsplash before more weapons are thrown inside. Kaz
throws in a trash can which hits Park in the head but there’s no
blood yet. Daniels stomps on Park in the corner and chokes him with
a cord.

Kaz
loads up a chair shot but Daniels stops him to prevent blood. Park
comes back with his usual basic offense and picks up a kendo stick.
Kaz gets in a cheap shot with a trashcan lid though and Bad Influence
takes over again. They head outside and send Park into the steps but
have to stop and check for blood again. Back inside and Park
backdrops Daniels over the top before splashing a trashcan lid into
Kaz.

There’s
a Boston crab on Kaz’s damaged ribs but Daniels comes back in with a
crutch to break the hold. Eric Young finally comes out for some
moral support but Park says he needs help. Young loads up some right
hands to Park’s head but Bad Influence makes the save. Kaz tries a
kendo stick shot but Park shoves him out of the way to take the shot
to the forehead. We’ve got blood, kendo stick shots, Shock Treatment
to Kaz, Black Hole Slam to Daniels for the pin at 10:24.

Rating:
D. WAY too long for the end
result. This is the same idea they’ve been using for months now and
the fact that it’s taking Eric Young to get us there makes it all the
more annoying. The stuff with not letting Park get hit in the head
was smart so the match wasn’t a total loss. Just too long.

Jeff
Hardy is on the phone with his wife. He’s had a plan for a few weeks
and it goes down tonight.

Magnus
talks about the BFG Series being proof he could hang with anyone.
The loss to AJ was what changed him because he never wants to feel
that again. The win over Sting at BFG was the biggest win of his
career.

ODB
vs. Lei’D Tapa

Before
the match Gail tells Madison to stay out of her business. ODB can’t
slam her so she chops at Tapa instead. Tapa sends ODB into the
corner and slowly pounds away before kicking ODB in the face. ODB
avoids a middle rope seated senton (which would have missed if she
hadn’t moved) but still can’t drop Tapa with shoulder blocks. Gail
throws the title belt into the ring and pulls ODB’s hair to distract
her, allowing Tapa to hit the TKO for the pin at 4:16.

Rating:
D. They treated this as the
female version of the Colossal Jostle but even that match looked
great by comparison. I have no idea who TNA thinks cares about
either of these girls but the fans here didn’t seem interested in
them at all. Madison at least has some appeal to her while ODB is
just loud and unpleasant.

Gail
says that was a lesson for Madison.

Sabin
and Velvet have a nice moment in the back. Chris has an X Title
match next week and he blames Velvet for losing the title in the
first place. She doesn’t think she can help him so he says he’ll
find a girl that can.

Magnus
talks about having Dixie in his corner and how their partnership will
last for years.

Ethan
Carter III/Rockstar Spud vs. Sting/Jeff Hardy

Before
the match Dixie makes her announcement: next week there’s a
coronation. Oh and this will be a tag match, but it’s a tag team
handicap match.

Ethan
Carter III/Rockstar Spud/Bro Mans vs. Sting/Jeff Hardy

Carter
and Spud want nothing to do with Sting so they both tag out with
Jesse eventually getting the start. Sting hiptosses him down but
Zema Ion grabs Sting’s leg to get an advantage. Carter comes in but
Sting gets up so it’s off to Robbie before any contact is made. Jeff
comes in with a middle rope splash for two and a backdrop to send
Robbie out to the floor. Carter accidentally tackles Godderz to the
floor, setting up a dive (with Sting as a springboard) to take out
all four heels at once.

The
four of them pull Jeff down and stomp away for their first advantage
as we take a break. Back with Godderz getting two off a knee to the
ribs. A powerslam gets the same and it’s back to Robbie who gets two
off a clothesline. Jesse comes back in for a half crab and Sting is
suckered in, allowing a four man beatdown on Hardy. Carter mocks
Sting with a Stinger Splash but Jeff comes back with a jawbreaker.
Sting comes in and cleans house, even with Spud on his back in an
impressive feat. Sting keeps beating everyone up but Carter grabs a
rollup for the clean pin at 13:30. Taz said he had tights but I
didn’t see them.

Rating:
D+. This was another dull match
in a string of them tonight. It’s not like Sting and Hardy got
screwed over, or at least it didn’t come off like they did. The
match made the tag champions look like jobbers which is a step
backward for them after how much better they’ve looked lately.
Boring match here and I don’t know what it accomplished.

Post
match Hardy gets on the mic and thanks Sting for getting him into the
business. Last week he was the better man but lost because of the
politics. The fans chant for Hardy but he says the fight’s all gone.
This was his last match in TNA and he’s leaving until the sun shines
on this dark kingdom. Hardy says he loves the Creatures, takes off
his shirt, and leaves.

Overall
Rating: D. Well they’re back to
boring already. Save for the decent promo work from Magnus, there
was nothing to see here. We’re still just waiting for AJ to come
back which will probably be at the coronation next week. That
doesn’t make this week any better though as we had four dull or short
matches which makes for a LONG two hour show.

Results

James
Storm vs. Gunner went to a double countout

Joseph
Park b. Bad Influence – Black Hole Slam to Daniels

Lei’D
Tapa b. ODB – TKO

Bro
Mans/Rockstar Spud/Ethan Carter III b. Sting/Jeff Hardy – Rollup to
Sting

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

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Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – December 19, 2013

By Scott Keith on 19th December 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
December 19, 2013

Location:
Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

Tonight
is the Final Resolution special with a double main event. The main
stories are the Dixieland match with Magnus facing Jeff Hardy in the
world title tournament final and Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode in a 2/3
falls match which might be the blowoff to their feud. The other
question is where AJ Styles fits into this whole picture, assuming he
still has a job in this company. We also get the Feast or Fired
reveals tonight. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a recap of the AJ fiasco which set up the tournament.

Magnus
is looking for Jeff and Dixie but neither are here. That’s fine with
him as he’s got something to say that will get everyone’s attention.

Here’s
Magnus to talk about how much he loves this business just like
everyone else in the back. That’s why they’ve all worked so hard to
get where they are today. He’s made his living as a wrestler here
for five years and has learned one thing: money is power. Magnus
understands all that but thinks the respect is what really matters.
However, he isn’t sure if Jeff Hardy feels the same. Jeff might have
slayed his demons, but maybe there’s one little demon coming back in:
greed.

Magnus
wants an explanation for why Hardy was seen having drinks with Dixie
Carter last week, so here’s Jeff to respond. The Brit says Hardy has
the fans fooled but Magnus remembers 10-10-10 when Jeff sold out to
become world champion. Fans: “WE DON’T CARE!” Jeff basically
tells Magnus to mind his own business and drops the mic.

Angle
says everything changes tonight when he beats Bobby Roode twice.

We
recap Roode vs. Angle with Roode getting the better of Angle every
time since BFG.

Chavo
Guerrero is excited about his chances in Feast or Fired. Zema Ion
comes up and makes annoying noises.

Kurt
Angle vs. Bobby Roode

2/3
falls. Aggressive feeling out process with both guys countering
everything the other one has until an ankle lock attempt sends Roode
to the ropes for a break. A belly to belly sends Roode tot he floor
but Angle throws him back inside for the rolling Germans. Roode
avoids the Angle Slam and hides behind the referee to hit Angle low.
A Death Valley Driver gives Bobby the first fall at 4:10 and we take
a break.

Back
with Roode missing a knee drop and Angle coming back with forearms
and a release overhead belly to belly. Roode sidesteps a charge to
send Angle’s shoulder into the post but the Crossface is countered
into the Angle Slam for the pin at 10:00 total. Roode tries to leave
but Angle throws him back inside for more rolling Germans but Bobby
snaps on the Crossface. Angle counters into a rollup but Roode puts
him right back in the Crossface.

Kurt
escapes again but Roode DDTs his arm down and puts the hold on for
the third time. Angle rolls out one more time and puts on the ankle
lock. Roode is about to tap so Angle switches over to a Crossface.
Bobby fights out and tries another Death Valley Driver, only to have
Angle slip behind the back and hit the Angle Slam for two. Back to
the ankle lock but Roode rolls through and grabs the rope for the pin
(just like Angle did to Roode at BFG 11) at 14:55. Kurt even puts
his face in his hands like Roode did two years ago.

Rating:
B-. The match and ending in
particular were good but it never hit that level that they were going
for. The commercial hurt this a lot as any momentum they had built
up in the first section stopped cold as a result. Still though, good
stuff, but I don’t think this is the blowoff just yet.

Storm
says Gunner gambled last week, which offends Gunner for some reason.

Angle
looks shell shocked in the back and is terrified by the idea of Roode
having his number.

Video
on Madison Rayne returning with Madison talking about her history
with Gail Kim.

Ethan
Carter III isn’t worried because he knows the boss. His phone rings
and he walks off, but the camera follows him. It’s Dixie who can’t
fix things if Ethan gets fired. Thankfully he has it on speaker and
up to his ear.

Eric
Young has a gift for Abyss.

After
a video recapping Eric telling Park he’s Abyss, Young calls out Park
for a chat. Park thinks Eric is wrong, but Eric has made him a match
next week with Park facing Bad Influence. Joseph rightfully freaks
out but Eric makes it even worse: it’s Monster’s Ball. Park says
that’s Abyss’ match but Eric has gifts for Park. Park gets a chair,
a bag of thumbtacks, and barbed wire. He’s still not convinced, but
Eric has saved the best for last. Park is sent under the ring to
find….Janice, the 2×4 covered in nails. Joseph gets very serious
and says he’ll do it.

We
look at Magnus accusing Hardy earlier before going to Hardy in the
back. He looks upset when Samoa Joe sits down and asks if there’s
any truth to what Magnus suggested. Hardy is offended and leaves.

It’s
time to reveal Feast or Fired in a room backstage. Dixie comes in
and talks about how amazing an idea this is before going to Ion for
the first reveal. Zema gets an X-Division Title shot. Gunner goes
next and says Storm will be his partner if he gets the Tag Title
shot. Instead it’s the World Title shot and Storm is MAD. That
leaves Chavo and Carter with Chavo saying no matter what happens,
he’s still a Guerrero. Carter says he’ll never lose and never be
fired.

Before
we get the reveal, Sting comes in and is thrilled that Ethan might be
fired. The dramatic music actually works here for a change. Sting
offers Ethan a deal: he’ll take the case and whatever it contains in
exchange for one match with Carter. Ethan takes the case and gets
the Tag Title shot, meaning Chavo is fired.

Magnus
says he’ll win the title and all questions will be answered.

Gail
Kim/Lei’D Tapa vs. ODB/Madison Rayne

Tapa
throws Madison down to start so it’s off to ODB for the power
showdown. ODB gets slammed with ease and it’s off to Gail as the
announcers talk about a kickboxing show. The champion lays in some
kicks before it’s back to Tapa for some choking. Tapa misses a
charge in the corner and it’s off to Madison for some house cleaning.
ODB is sent to the floor but Madison counters Eat Defeat into a
backslide for the pin at 5:50.

Rating:
D+. This was what it was.
Madison is a good hand to have back and the new looks works very well
for her, but bringing in one new girl isn’t going to help the
division’s long term problems. Tapa continues to bore me to death
every time I see her. She’s big and different looking and that’s the
end of her appeal.

Sting
tells Jeff that he’s been where Jeff is before and to play it cool.

Dixie
has told Spud to get a new World Title belt made.

Video
recapping the tournament.

Jeff
Hardy comes out for the match and addresses the accusations. Three
years ago he made a mistake but he’s a different man now. Yeah he
met with Dixie, but he thought about his family and his fans so
Dixie’s offer is rejected because nobody owns Jeff Hardy. This
brings out Dixie who says Hardy owes everything he has to her. She’s
the one who stood by him and all that matters is her company, not
Hardy’s family. Jeff needs Hardy more than she needs him so she’s
going to watch from ringside.

TNA
World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Magnus

This
is Dixieland, meaning it starts in a cage and the winner has to
escape and climb a ladder at the top of the stage to pull down the
title. Magnus sends Hardy into the corner to start but gets caught
in a headscissors. A running forearm in the corner has Magnus in
trouble and Jeff rains down right hands. Magnus comes right back
with a running clothesline but Hardy avoids the top rope elbow.
Hardy tries to leave but shoves Magnus down and misses the Swanton.
EC3 is watching at the ramp as we take a break.

Back
with Hardy being pulled back through the camera hole before kicking
Magnus in the chest to put him down. Hardy goes to climb out but
drops a Vader Bomb from the middle of the ropes to keep Magnus down.
The Twist of Fate looks to set up a second Twist of Fate but Magnus
shoves him off and chop blocks Jeff’s knee. The Texas Cloverleaf has
Hardy in trouble and a Snow Plow sets up the top rope elbow from
Magnus.

Hardy
fights up and hits a quick Whisper in the Wind before climbing up for
a HUGE Whisper from the top of the cage to put both guys down again.
They both climb over the top but EC3 goes to stop Magnus. The Brit
fights him off but Hardy goes after Carter anyway because he wants to
win fair. Magnus and Hardy slug it out on the floor but Hardy hits
another Twist of Fate on the ramp. Jeff goes to the ladder but Dixie
begs him to not go up. Hardy goes up anyway but Spud shoves the
ladder down, sending Hardy down the ramp in an ugly crash. Magnus
goes up to win the title at 17:43.

Rating:
B-. Obvious ending aside, this
was still a good match that gets better if you just make it a cage
match. The ladder felt like overkill and the match being called
Dixieland made it feel more silly than important. Hardy is good in
this role and Magnus as the Corporate Champion makes sense.

The
Author….Dixie and company celebrate to end the show.

Overall
Rating: C+. I liked the show
for the most part but the ending was pretty telegraphed. Luckily
here it didn’t hurt things too badly and Magnus as the Corporate
Champion makes sense with Dixie being annoyed at AJ being a country
hick. This sets up the unification match that TNA has been wanting,
even though I don’t think Magnus vs. Styles is going to draw the
biggest audience. Good show but the midcard continues to be ignored.

Results

Bobby
Roode b. Kurt Angle – Rollup while grabbing the ropes

ODB/Madison
Rayne b. Gail Kim/Lei’D Tapa – Backslide to Kim

Magnus
b. Jeff Hardy – Magnus pulled down the title

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – December 12, 2013

By Scott Keith on 12th December 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
December 12, 2013

Location:
Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

The
tournament is finally down to two entrants with Magnus and Jeff Hardy
left to square off for the title. Thankfully they’re giving us a
week off from the matches to get ready for the title match instead of
just blasting through it tonight. We do however have Feast or Fired
tonight, with a shot at all the male titles and a pink slip up for
grabs. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a recap of Dixie trying to get the title back last week.

Rockstar
Spud is driving near Gainsville, Georgia as he tries find AJ’s house.

In
the arena, JB is standing next to four briefcases and the Wheel of
Dixie. Inside the four cases are a World Title shot, an X-Division
Title shot, a Tag Team Title shot and a pink slip. We’ll get to
those later though as we need to find out the stipulations for the
tournament final. Before we can talk about gimmick match #2 though,
here’s Angle to clear the ring and call out Bobby Roode to end this
once and for all.

Roode
comes out and says he’ll fight but not right now. He was eliminated
from the tournament by falling through a table. Angle was eliminated
because ever since he passed on the Hall of Fame, Roode has beaten
him. Kurt says he could beat Roode twice in one night and the fight
is on again. Security comes out to break it up and Roode gets in a
low blow. Next week is Final Resolution and Bobby wants a 2/3 falls
match.

We
look back at Bad Influence vs. Joseph Park, focusing on Bad Influence
finding out that the Park Park and Park law offices closed years ago.

Eric
Young has a plan for the match and asks Park to trust him.

Joseph
Park/Eric Young vs. Bad Influence

Young
takes Daniels down to start before bringing in a hesitant Park. Off
to Kaz vs. Eric with Young raining down right hands in the corner.
Back to Park as the fast tags continue and Tenay plugs every internet
feature the company can think of. A knee to Park’s gut puts him down
and Bad Influence takes turns pounding on him. Par fights back but
gets nervous again, so Eric gives him a few hard right hands to the
face, busting him open. Abyss mode ensues and Kaz is Black Hole
Slammed for the pin at 5:45.

Rating:
D+. I still don’t get the
appeal of Eric Young. He isn’t particularly funny, he isn’t anything
special in the ring, he doesn’t do anything that others couldn’t do
just as well, but he’s kept a job for several years now. Bad
Influence on the other hand is actually funny and can put on good
matches, which is clearly why they’re stuck in feuds like this one.

Post
match Eric tells Park that he’s Abyss, which apparently no one
suggested to him in 18 months.

Ethan
Carter III is getting massaged before he has a Hall of Fame moment
tonight. It’s going to make social media explode.

Here’s
Carter for his match but he makes sure to tell Brian Hebner that he
has nothing to worry about. Tonight Carter is going to face TNA’s
social media guru: Jeremy Borash. JB makes a hilarious terrified
face like he just saw TNA’s PPV numbers but Sting of all people
interrupts Carter.

Sting
asks if he can shake Carter’s hands because Carter is a skyrocket.
Carter is shooting for the stars but he hasn’t accomplished anything
at all. Sting isn’t cool with this because Carter is just riding his
family and last name through doors that never should have been opened
for him. There’s a big match coming up tonight called Feast or Fired
and Carter can either enter or fight Sting right now. Carter gets in
Sting’s face and says it’s on, meaning he’ll enter Feast or Fired.

Spud
is still looking for AJ’s house but finds a gas station attendant who
says Styles hangs out at a bar down the road.

Gail
Kim vs. ODB

This
is supposed to be the open challenge but Gail says she’s beaten ODB
too many times already. ODB says she’s here to fight Tapa though and
the brawl is on. Gail gets involved though and ODB gets double
teamed down until Madison Rayne (looking great with long reddish
brown hair) returns to make the save.

Spud
finds the bar and imitates a redneck to get some service. He calls
AJ Alan Jones (his real name) and is told he’ll get information for a
drink. Spud puts down a dollar bill and asks for some mixed drink,
getting a beer with a lemon instead.

Post
match Spud sings karaoke and is thrown out.

Video
outlining Feast or Fired.

James
Storm and Gunner apologize to each other and say good luck in the
match tonight.

Spud
keeps looking and walks off into the dark with a flashlight.

Here’s
Dixie Carter to oversee the face to face meeting between Hardy and
Magnus. Earlier tonight Angle destroyed the Wheel of Dixie but
she’ll give him the 2/3 falls match anyway. That brings her to AJ
Styles, who is still making a mockery of her world title. Next week
though she gets a new world champion and brings out the competitors.
Hardy talks about winning the Bound For Glory Series last year and
promises to win the title again next week.

Magnus
says he sees Hardy as the best today and the final obstacle. Dixie
says the final match will be called Dixieland and we get a video
explaining the concept. The match starts in a cage and you have to
climb over the top and go up the ramp and climb a ladder to pull down
the belt. I’m sure this isn’t going to be overbooked at all. Dixie
promises to make the winner the face of TNA and let them become the
most important person in the company.

Velvet
says she has Sabin’s back tonight in his title match, even though
Sabin seems oblivious to her.

Spud
breaks into presumably AJ’s house and finds the belt in a bag on the
coffee table. AJ comes down the stairs and is incredibly calm
considering someone broke into his home. Apparently people had
called him and told him to expect a British guy, hence why the door
was open. AJ says we can either call the cops or call some of his
buddies. Spud leaves the belt and runs away as AJ slams the door.

Anderson
says he had fun at the funeral but now it’s time to get the world
title back.

X-Division
Title: Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries

Sabin
is defending. Aries sends him into the corner to start and takes a
victory lap, including a look at Sky. The distraction lets Aries
slide back in for a baseball slide to take out Sabin, only to have
the champion send him face first into the apron. A gutbuster gets
three straight near falls for Sabin and he drapes Aries ribs first
across the top rope for the same.

Aries
comes right back by draping Sabin’s ribs across the top and pounding
away at Chris’ head. A forearm puts Sabin on the floor but Aries
throws him back in for a missile dropkick. Sabin stops a charging
Aries with a boot to the face but Austin Japanese armdrags the
champion into the corner. Chris rolls him up for two but the kickout
nearly sends Sabin into Velvet. The distraction lets Aries hit the
brainbuster for the pin and the title at 6:08.

Rating:
C. Not bad here and maybe this
can get the title to mean something for a few weeks. The belt has
been worthless since BFG as it always is around this time of year.
It’s just a toy that TNA dusts off every now and then to make it seem
like it matters but it’ll be nothing again in a few weeks.

Post
break Sabin gets in Aries’ face but Aries says he’ll enter Feast or
Fired and then steal Velvet.

Magnus
talks about winning the world title but gets a phone call.

Preview
for next week’s Final Resolution with Angle vs. Roode and Jeff vs.
Magnus.

Feast
or Fired

Mr.
Anderson, Curry Man, Samoa Joe, Dewey Barnes, Norv Fernum, Chris
Sabin, Chavo Guerrero, Hernandez, Zema Ion, James Storm, Gunner,
Austin Aries, Ethan Carter III

Anderson
comes out to do his entrance but Bully Ray jumps him from behind and
piledrives Anderson on the stage. Ray talks about evil standing
strong over good in what sounds like a quote from a rather epic
speech. He says Anderson’s wife is pregnant with twins but Ray will
be responsible for their future.

As
for the match, there’s a briefcase at each corner of the ring and
whoever gets the case gets whatever is inside. That could be a shot
at the World, Tag Team or X-Division Titles or a pink slip. The bell
rings and Curry Man immediately walks out and Sabin bails to the
floor. Fernum and Barnes both miss dives but Aries dives on everyone
to take them out. Ion dropkicks Aries through the ropes and SuperMex
launches himself over the top rope to take everyone out. Gunner
backdrops storm onto them as Norm and Dewey hit dives of their own.
Joe hits the suicide elbow to take the jobbers out and the ring is
empty.

Carter
gets back in the ring and gets case #3 as we take a break. Back with
Joe destroying everyone in sight until Barnes and Fernum throw him to
the floor. They both go up top but Ion shoves them to the floor,
allowing him to grab case #2. Most of the people get back inside and
it’s Aries diving onto Storm and Hernandez. A discus lariat staggers
Hernandez and Aries hits some running dropkicks in the corner. He
sends Barnes and Fernum into each other before going up top for a 450
onto both guys.

Austin
goes for a case but Sabin makes a save, only to be sent into the
steps. Joe, Chavo and Hernandez get back inside with Chavo being
launched into the corner where he grabs case #4. Gunner and Storm
get back inside but have to deal with Hernandez. Dewey and Norv come
back in to try a superplex on Hernandez but Gunner powerbombs him
down to make it a Tower of Doom. Storm Last Calls Joe to the floor
but Gunner crotches him and takes the case to end the match at 14:11.

Rating:
C+. This is always a hard match
to grade as there are four winners and technically no losers. The
whole point of the match is the drama of the cases being opened next
week and not really about the action here. Gunner turning on Storm
is kind of interesting but nothing out of the ordinary. Still
though, decent enough stuff.

Dixie
is sitting at a dinner table when Jeff Hardy comes in. He accepts a
glass of wine as the show ends.

Overall
Rating: D+. This show was
really chatty. We had one match in the first hour and then a lot of
talking. Then there was another match and we talked some more, then
we had Feast or Fired to end things. Last week’s show worked because
they threw a lot of stuff at us to keep it interesting, but tonight
was all about only a handful of angles which got repetitive quickly.
It’s not a horrible show but it was there to set up future stuff
which doesn’t make for the most entertaining two hours.

Results

Joseph
Park/Eric Young b. Bad Influence – Black Hole Slam to Kazarian

Austin
Aries b. Chris Sabin – Brainbuster

Ethan
Carter III, Zema Ion, Chavo Guerrero and Gunner won Feast or Fired

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – December 5, 2013

By Scott Keith on 5th December 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
December 5, 2013

Location:
Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

It’s
a big night tonight as we have the semi-finals of the world title
tournament. The two matches scheduled are Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode
in a tables match and Magnus vs. Kurt Angle in a last man standing
match. The winners will face off in two weeks for the title in a
gimmick match to be announced. At this point the question is who
gets to face AJ Styles when he returns for the champion vs. champion
match. Let’s get to it.

The
opening video looks like a scene out of a post apocalyptic thriller
with a WAY higher budget than TNA usually has. It’s another recap of
the tournament.

Here’s
Kurt Angle with something to say. Last week was Thanksgiving and
he’s very thankful for his health, his family, and the fans’ support
as he tries to get into the Hall of Fame. Winning the title is the
path for him to prove himself and Austin Aries gave him the fight of
his life in the last round. However, now he has to face Magnus so
the Brit needs to come out here.

Angle
asks Magnus what happened last week when Magnus left him alone four
on one. Magnus talks about getting hurt in a match against Samoa Joe
and getting into the tag match anyway. Magnus hurt his knee and
that’s all there is to it. Angle says champions fight through
injuries and he has a knee injury at the moment to prove it.

Kurt
asks Magnus if he has the heart to be a champion. Magnus says he
does along with the hunger to go through everyone he has to in order
to become champion for the first time. He’ll prove that to Angle
tonight. Angle says they may be friends, but he has to go through
Magnus, Hardy and Roode to become champion.

This
brings out Roode who says he has the killer instinct you need to be a
world champion. We’ve already seen what Roode will do to Storm to
become champion, so next up is Jeff Hardy. If he’ll do that to
Storm, imagine what he’ll do to Hardy. Roode says Magnus will never
be a world champion. Magnus goes for Roode but Angle holds him back.
Hardy comes out to start the tables match right now.

TNA
World Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode

Tables
match. The fans are naturally behind Hardy who starts off with some
right hands and the legdrop between the legs. Hardy sends him into
the corner and dropkicks Roode in the back before bringing in a
table. Bobby uses the breather to get in a shot of his own and sets
up the table in the corner. A clothesline puts Hardy down but he
stops a charging Roode with an elbow in the corner. The comeback is
very short lived though as Hardy’s Whisper in the Wind only hits mat.
They fight to the apron and Hardy kicks Roode in the face, putting
both of them through the table and sending us to a beak as this is
figured out.

Back
with the match continuing and Roode in control, only to be caught by
a quick Twist of Fate, knocking him onto the table. Jeff goes up for
the Swanton but Roode rolls off the table before Jeff jumps. That’s
cool with Hardy as he dives over the table and hits the Swanton
anyway to keep control. Hardy loads up a superplex but gets crotched
on the top rope in a counter. Roode tires to suplex him over the top
and through another table at ringside, only to be kicked in the chest
to put Roode through the table at 14:00.

Rating:
C. This was fine. Roode is
pretty solidly in the JBL role as his resume is strong enough to make
a win over him mean something but he’s not likely to be the top guy
ever again. Jeff is a good face to send into the title match as he’s
over with the fans and still able to put on good matches.

Ethan
Carter III gets his makeup applied and says he’s calling out a first
ballot Hall of Famer tonight.

AJ’s
agent has sent Dixie a letter saying the title will be back soon.

Ethan
Carter is here to call out a legend who has been in the ring with the
likes of Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart. Therefore,
here’s his opponent: Earl Hebner. Hebner says he isn’t a wrestler
but Carter says his aunt is Earl’s boss. There’s even going to be a
special referee: Earl’s son Brian. Carter says Earl is going to lay
down so his worthless son can count 1-2-3. Earl won’t do it so Ethan
threatens him until he does it.

Ethan
Carter III vs. Earl Hebner

Ethan
takes his time and puts a finger on Earl’s chest for the pin at 48
seconds.

Carter
makes Brian roll Earl out of the ring and raise Ethan’s hand.

We
recap the Bad Influence vs. Park/Young feud and Bad Influence trying
to convince Park that he’s Abyss.

We
see Christy and Sam Shaw on their date. Christy gets up for a second
and Shaw is somewhat obsessed with a knife. The waiter comes for the
check and Shaw threatens to gouge his eyes out if he catches the
waiter looking at Christy again. Christy comes back and they leave
quickly.

Video
recapping AJ going around the world to defend the title.

Dixie
gets a delivery: flowers. The note says it’s from a fan so Dixie
yells at the aide who delivered them.

Roode
says he should be in the title match because you shouldn’t lose a
wrestling match for falling through a table.

Dixie
gives a speech to some of the roster. She has a new great idea:
Feast or Fired. It’s TNA’s version of MITB. There are four cases:
one containing a world, tag team or X-Division title shot each and
the last containing a pink slip. You get a case, you win whatever is
inside of it.

Here’s
Bad Influence with an envelope containing some results. Before they
can go into it, here’s Joseph Park to interrupt. Park gets serious
and tells them they need to stop because they’ve won. Maybe Park
never should have been in TNA and maybe he’s just an attorney. Kaz
thinks that’s funny and says they have information. Park snatches
the envelope from them and rips it up. Daniels thinks it’s funny and
Kaz says all that proves is Park can rip apart an envelope.

We
get a video showing Bad Influence at Park’s law offices to find them
completely empty. They ask the secretary who says the offices used
to belong to a doctor but he moved out months ago. Daniels shows her
Park’s business card and apparently the law offices closed about 13
years ago.

Back
in the arena, Daniels wants to know what Park has been doing for
thirteen years. Park gets nervous and again asks them to drop this.
Kaz spits at Park and calls him a liar before the beatdown commences.
Eric Young makes the save and tells Bad Influence that if they keep
knocking on the devil’s door, the devil is going to answer. Young
makes a tag match next week but Park isn’t sure.

Sting
gives another of his speeches to Magnus and says he’s looking forward
to the main event tonight.

Dixie’s
main assistant Spud is told the delivery man is here.

Bromans
vs. James Storm/Gunner

Non-title.
Zema Ion is DJ for the champions and gets in a great line with
“Ladies remember these names because you’ll be screaming them
later!” Storm throws Jesse around with ease to start before it’s
off to Gunner for the same on Robbie. Zema keeps playing sound
effects on the turntables. Gunner pounds away on Robbie in the
corner but Jesse’s interference lets the champions take over. Jesse
gets two off a dropkick but Gunner pretty easily tags out to Storm.
The superkick lays out Jesse but Robbie spits beer at Gunner. The
tattooed one goes into a rage and he knocks the referee down for the
DQ at 4:50.

Rating:
D+. This was about advancing
the Gunner/Storm split which doesn’t quite work when they were only a
team for about seven months. Storm really needs to get out of the
tag division because there’s absolutely nothing left for him to do
there. Gunner could get a nice rub out of this though.

Sting
tries to go in to see Angle but Spud stops him. Sting makes fun of
Spud’s job title and is told that Dixie wants him out. If Dixie
wants him to leave, come tell him to his face. Spud goes to see the
delivery man and Sting wants to know what’s going on around here.

Gail
Kim and her husband say don’t send her any more challengers until you
have someone good.

Chris
Sabin is looking in a mirror while Velvet Sky checks her hair. It’s
Sabin vs. Aries next week for the X Title. Velvet asks if she looks
good and Sabin picks up the belt and says they look good.

Gail
Kim vs. Laura Dennis

From
what I can find, Dennis is an indy wrestler named Cherry Bomb who has
worked in Shimmer, CZW and ROH. Gail runs her over to start and
sends Laura into the corner for a running cross body. Kim talks a
lot of trash but gets slapped in the face. Some clotheslines put Kim
down and a running forearm gets two but Gail gets some feet up in the
corner. Eat Defeat gets the pin at 3:02.

Rating:
D. We need to get to Tapa
crushing Kim already so we can stop caring about either of them at
all. These one off girls aren’t helping the division’s major problem
at all but it’s better than seeing the same matches over and over
again. This was just a squash though which doesn’t do anything for
anyone.

Post
match Gail hits another Eat Defeat but before Tapa can beat up Dennis
again, ODB comes out for the save. Tapa is knocked to the floor and
ODB slaps her chest.

TNA
World Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Kurt Angle vs. Magnus

Last
man standing. Angle takes him into the corner to start but Magnus
counters into an armbreaker followed by a headlock. Back up and
Magnus pounds away to drive Angle into the corner, only to have a
double clothesline put both guys down. They slug it out some more
and we take a break.

Back
with…..Dixie receiving the package she’s been waiting for all
night. We go back to the arena to see Angle taken down by something
we don’t see for a five count. Angle comes back with five Rolling
Germans but Magnus gets up at five. Kurt spears Magnus to the floor
but both guys are up by 8. Magnus tries to get back in but has to
elbow out of the German suplex off the apron.

The
elbow drop off the apron has Kurt in trouble but he gets up at nine.
Back in and Angle hits a quick snap suplex but misses the moonsault.
Magnus picks him up and hits a modified Rock Bottom (arm around the
ribs instead of the chest) and the top rope elbow gets nine. Angle
accidentally takes out the referee before hitting the Angle Slam.
Cue Roode with a clothesline to the back of Kurt’s head and an
Attitude Adjustment. Magnus gets back up but Angle can’t make the
ten count at 15:23.

Rating:
C+. Not great here but it could
have been much worse. Angle is great in the role of guy you can
throw out there for a good match and to put someone over at any time.
It wasn’t a great match but it advances Roode vs. Angle which needs
to end after the next match. Good match here but not great.

Hardy
saves Angle and wishes Magnus luck with a handshake.

Dixie
opens the box and finds a toy belt.

We
get a video from AJ, saying Dixie needs to come to Georgia if she
wants the belt back.

Overall
Rating: B-. This was one of
TNA’s better shows in a long time. The matches were good, but more
importantly than that the stories felt like they were important and
got the time that they needed to develop. Nothing came off as stupid
or like a waste of time and those are things that have been plaguing
TNA for months now.

Results

Jeff
Hardy b. Bobby Roode – Hardy kicked Roode through a table.

Ethan
Carter III b. Earl Hebner – Hebner laid down for Carter

Bromans
b. Gunner/James Storm via DQ when Gunner shoved the referee

Gail
Kim b. Laura Dennis – Eat Defeat

Magnus
b. Kurt Angle – Angle couldn’t answer the ten count

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – November 21, 2013

By Scott Keith on 21st November 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
November 21, 2013

Location:
Impact zone, Orlando, Florida

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Taz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

Usually
I start each NXT review by saying Welcome Home but it’s more
appropriate in this case. Tonight is the Turning Point special as we
return to the Impact Zone in Orlando. The focus tonight is on the
tournament with two tournament matches, but we also get Bully Ray vs.
Anderson, with the future of aces and 8’s on the line. Let’s get to
it.

We
open with an Impact365 video of Roode attacking Storm at a bar last
night.

We
get an opening video recapping both the tournament matches as well as
Anderson vs. Ray.

Dixie
comes up to Joe in the back and says she’s been watching last week’s
show and threatens to fire Joe if he ever takes the same tone that he
did last week.

Here’s
Dixie to open the show. She plugs an article about her in Sports
Illustrated before talking about the disdain she feels for AJ Styles.
He’s taken her intellectual property and misrepresented it around
the world. There are lawyers around the world ready to shut him down
but here’s James Storm for an interruption. Storm says he wants some
revenge on Roode but doesn’t think the bullrope he has is going to do
enough damage.

He
wants to use chairs (Dixie: “No.”), tables (“No!”) and the
old woman’s dentures if he can get them out of his mouth. Storm
wants it to be a Florida death match but Dixie says the Wheel has
spoken. James says that’s cool, because he can call the police and
change his minds about filing charges and drop out of the tournament.
Dixie still says no, so Storm asks all politely and gets what he
wants.

TNA
World Title Tournament First Round: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe

Falls
count anywhere. Joe pops upon the screen and says he wants to start
the fight in the back. Magnus heads backstage and we take a break.
This is joined in progress in the back with Joe throwing Magnus
through various objects. Apparently that was a replay and we cut
back to the stage with Magnus getting two off an elbow drop. They
head to ringside with Joe taking over via some right hands before
taking Magnus down with a running boot to the face.

Magnus
avoids the backsplash though and peppers Joe with forearms and
uppercuts. Joe snaps off the powerslam for two but walks into the
Michinoku Driver. Magnus loads up the top rope elbow but Joe stops
him with a chop. A superplex is blocked and Magnus knees him in the
chest to put Joe on the mat. Now the top rope elbow connects for two
but Joe kicks away from the Kingsley Cloverleaf. The Rock Bottom out
of the corner puts Magnus down on the floor and the suicide elbow
takes Magnus out again for two.

The
Brit sends Joe into the barricade and pulls out a chair which he
wedges between the bottom and middle rope. Joe reverses a whip into
the chair and hooks the Koquina Clutch but Magnus rams him back first
into the apron. Magnus ducks a charging Samoan to send Joe head
first into the chair for the pin at 7:11.

Rating:
D+. There were some decent
moments in this but for the most part the stipulation meant nothing
at all. That ending could have happened just as easily in the ring
and the backstage brawl part was nothing special. This would have
been much better as a regular match or a No DQ match but it wasn’t
horrible.

Here’s
Bad Influence to watch the Joseph Park vs. Abyss match.

Joseph
Park vs. Abyss

Park
says he’s here to face his brother for the first time only, meaning
that this is his turning point. Naturally there’s no Abyss, so Bad
Influence says Park isn’t a good story of someone coming up from the
bottom. He’s a jar of mayonnaise with a law degree and a cheap track
suit.

The
reason Park’s mom Bernice, his dad Alfredo and his great great
grandfather Jurassic aren’t here tonight is because he’s such an
embarrassment. Daniels asks if Park wants to fight but thinks we
need blood first. Kazarian pours a bucket of red liquid over Park
and Daniels asks where Abyss is. Daniels demands that a loser like
Park get out of the ring right now and Park walks away very sad.

Gail
Kim vs. Candice Larea

Candice
is another newcomer and is a good looking blonde. Gail runs her over
to start and gets two off a running dropkick in the corner. Larea
comes back with a headscissors and a sunset flip before awkwardly
running into the corner. Kim forearms her a lot and catches a
hurricanrana in a sitout powerbomb for two. Eat Defeat is enough for
the pin on Candice at 1:52.

AJ
Styles video from his time in Japan.

Anderson
promises that Aces and 8’s are done tonight.

Gunner
gives Storm a pep talk before his match.

We
recap Storm vs. Roode. They were partners for years until Roode
turned heel on Storm to win the title. A long running feud and
series of matches followed.

TNA
World Title Tournament First Round: James Storm vs. Bobby Roode

Florida
death match, meaning last man standing. Storm doesn’t want to wait
and charge sup the ramp to pound on Bobby with a Singapore cane.
Roode makes a quick comeback but gets sent into the steps to stop it
cold. They head inside with Storm throwing in a garbage can fill of
weapons. Storm hits the corner enziguri but his running neckbreaker
is countered with a piece of steel to the head.

Storm
comes back by driving the trash can between Roode’s legs and trying a
middle rope sunset flip, only to have Roode roll through and kick him
in the chest. A catapult into the corner is blocked though and Storm
hits a trashcan to Roode’s head twice in a row. Roode is up at 9 but
is immediately lifted into the Eye of the Storm which Roode counters
into a spinebuster onto the trashcan.

They
pound on each other with trashcan lids and both guys go down for a
seven count. Roode has a crutch but walks into the Last Call and
rolls to the floor. He finds a beer bottle on the floor and smashes
Storm in the head but James gets up at nine. Roode clotheslines him
down again and hits an Attitude Adjustment through two chairs but
Storm is up at nine. Bobby is ticked so he goes under the ring and
finds a barbed wire board, which I guess is there just in case a
Florida death match broke out. Roode loads up another AA but Gunner
comes out to throw in the towel and end the match at 12:00.

Rating:
C+. The match was better than a
bullrope match would have been but the ending was much more about
setting up a future program than the match itself. On top of that,
Storm loses in ANOTHER big match which does nothing to help his
reputation as a choker. Still though, fun brawl.

Post
break Gunner pleads his case but Storm is still furious.

Here
are the updated brackets:

Hardy

Roode

Angle

Magnus

Your
time wasting segment of the week is a look at Samuel Shaw’s apartment
and his artwork. The segment finishes filming and Shaw asks Christy
out. She says yes and gives her his number before leaving. Shaw
makes sure to straighten the notepad and pens she moved. Apparently
he’s OCD.

Ethan
Carter III has brought his personal jobbers here again but isn’t
facing them again because there’s no challenge. Instead he’s facing
a TNA legend.

Ray
talks about taking care of Anderson tonight. TNA turned their backs
on Anderson a year ago, but after Ray ends his career, he’ll make
sure to take care of Anderson’s pregnant wife.

Angle
is cutting a promo on Magnus when Dixie Carter summons him to her
office.

Ethan
Carter III vs. Shark Boy

Shark
Boy had announced he was coming back tonight on Impact365 earlier
this week. Carter bails to the floor for a chase but still avoids an
elbow as they get back inside. The Chummer is countered with ease
and the One Percenter is good for the pin at 2:06.

We
recap Anderson vs. Ray which stemmed from Ray using the club as a way
to get himself over and Anderson not being cool with it. Anderson
cost Ray a match against Sting and the Bound For Glory rematch
against AJ Styles.

Dixie
tells Roode and Angle that they’er going to captain teams in an eight
man elimination tag match next week.

Mr.
Anderson vs. Bully Ray

No
DQ and it’s career vs. Aces and 8’s. Anderson is in long tights for
the first time I can ever remember. The roster comes out to watch
the match from the stage. Anderson jumps Ray during big match intros
and hits him low while shouting his name a lot. They head to the
floor with Ray ramming him into the steps but stopping to breathe a
bit. Ray pulls out a table and we take our last break. Back with
Anderson being suplexed into the ring and chopped loudly in the
corner. There’s a table set up in the corner as well.

Ray
takes off the chain to whip Anderson even more but Anderson takes the
chain away and gets in a few whips of his own. Anderson loads up a
big chained fist but gets sent to the floor instead. Ray pulls back
the mats but Anderson backdrops Ray onto the concrete instead.

Knux
saves Ray from being piledriven on the concrete but gets piledriven
down onto the mats for his efforts. Back inside and Anderson hits
the rolling senton but Ray fights out of the Mic Check. A spear puts
Anderson through the table in the corner but it’s only good for two.
Tazz hands Brooke the hammer but Anderson intercepts it and blasts
Ray in the head. The Mic Check ends Aces and 8’s at 13:00.

Rating:
C+. Not a bad brawl here but
Aces and 8’s hasn’t meant anything in months so this isn’t the
biggest deal in the world. I’m glad they’re gone for good and it’s a
good feather in the cap for Anderson, but this is hardly some huge
moment that changes wrestling forever. Fun match though.

Anderson
gets Ray and Tazz’s cuts to end the show.

Overall
Rating: C. Most of the matches
were good but this didn’t feel like anything major at all. The
ending was so far overdue that it doesn’t even feel like a big deal
anymore, but at least it finally happened. As for everything
else…..nothing significant really happened. Two first round
tournament matches don’t feel like anything major to me but at least
the wrestling was good for the most part. Not a horrible or even bad
show, but it’s nothing you need to see at all.

Results

Magnus
b. Samoa Joe – Joe rammed his head into a chair

Gail
Kim b. Candice Larea – Eat Defeat

Bobby
Roode b. James Storm – Gunner threw in the towel

Ethan
Carter III b. Shark Boy – One Percenter

Mr.
Anderson b. Bully Ray – Mic Check

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

 

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – November 14, 2013

By Scott Keith on 14th November 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
November 14, 2013

Location:
Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

It’s
the final show on the road before they head back to Orlando which
seems to be the best idea they could have at the moment. We’re also
a week away from the next Clash of the Champions style show called
Turning Point which will likely be a lot of tournament matches and a
few other things thrown in on the side. Tonight’s main event is
Angle vs. Aries in a submission match which isn’t the most
interesting match in the world. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a recap of Dixie announcing the tournament and Hardy vs.
Sabin in the first match last week.

Here
are Aces and 8’s to open the show with Brooke shaking her hips and
Ray laughing at Tenay for falling for the ruse last week. Ray asks
if the fans know who he is and says this club is about quality. He
doesn’t need to be world champion to be the most talked about guy in
TNA because everyone knows he’s the be all and end all. Ray accepts
the challenge for a match with Anderson at Turning Point but promises
to piledrive him through the stage next week.

This
brings out Anderson who says that everyone here in Cincinnati is sick
and tired of the Aces and 8’s. Therefore, how about if he beats Ray
next week, Aces and 8’s are done in TNA, never to ride again? Ray
doesn’t see the appeal so he turns it down, so Anderson sweetens the
pot: if he loses, he’s gone for good. That’s cool with him too,
because his wife is pregnant with twins.

Ray
is all cool with that but thinks Anderson is crazy for agreeing to
this match. Anderson says that’s right and goes after Ray, only to
be beaten down by Knux and Bischoff. Ray gets a chair but Anderson
kicks him away and cleans house. Anderson says he’s feeling frisky
and wants one of the bikers right now. It looks like it’ll be Knux
after the break.

Mr.
Anderson vs. Knux

Anderson,
in street clothes, pounds away in the corner to start and scores with
some right hands. Knux comes back with a cross body for two and they
head outside. Anderson is whipped into the steps and apron before
Knux suplexes him back inside. Anderson can’t slam him down and gets
splashed in the corner. A side slam gets two for Knux but after more
slow pounding, Anderson grabs the Mic Check out of nowhere for the
pin at 4:50.

Rating:
D+. Just a basic warmup match
before next week and there’s nothing wrong with that. The match
showed how basic Knux is though and that’s the problem with Aces and
8’s. Other than Bully, there hasn’t been anyone not named Anderson
worth anything at all. The team has needed to go away for months now
and hopefully that happens next week.

We
get an Impact365 video from Joseph Park, challenging Daniels to a
singles match tonight.

Daniels
accepts the challenge in another video where he talks about the
medical benefits of appletinis with Kazarian. Daniels runs into
Roode walking down the hall and t-shirts are schilled.

Video
on Aries vs. Angle for later tonight, focusing on Aries’ submission
skills.

Christopher
Daniels vs. Joseph Park

Park
scores with a quick hiptoss and a right hand to put Daniels down. He
doesn’t fall for a Daniels’ handshake and pulls him into a
clothesline before Christopher scores with some right hands and a
half nelson rollup for two. Park misses an Earthquake splash and
Daniels hooks a chinlock. Joseph fights up with a Samoan drop and a
side slam for two more. Daniels rolls away before Park can try a
middle rope splash but a running splash in the corner connects
instead. The referee yells so Daniels kicks Park low for the pin at
5:24.

Rating:
D. Well, this happened. There
really isn’t much else to say about it either and that’s not a good
sign. It’s also very indicative of a major TNA problem: so much of
their stuff feels like filler, but we never get to the shows that
we’re supposed to be filling time until. In theory it’s Turning
Point or Genesis, but Turning Point is mainly tournament matches
which is just filler until we get to the winner of the tournament vs.
AJ. That’s not good when it feels like everything is just filler
until BFG time. In case you couldn’t tell, there wasn’t much to this
match.

Ray
promises to beat Anderson next week.

Norv
Fernum/Dewey Barnes vs. Ethan Carter III

Carter
is now 7-0 after winning on some house shows this weekend. The
jobbers work on the arm to start until Carter takes Barnes’ head off
with a clothesline out of the corner. A snap suplex sets up a belly
to back suplex on Dewey before the tag is off to Fernum for some top
rope dropkicks. Norv gets two off a tornado DDT but Carter hits 1
Percenters on both guys for the double pin at 3:29.

Rating:
D+. Carter is still working for
me as a character but they need to do more for him soon before he
gets boring. I still think he winds up in the title scene sooner
rather than later and shockingly enough, that doesn’t sound too bad.
He’s definitely playing the character well but he needs a few decent
wins for credibility.

We
see another AJ in Mexico video, with Styles saying he’s an awesome
wrestler.

Dixie
freaks out on the production team for letting that video air.

Jeff
Hardy talks about his injuries in the match last week but saying it’s
just step one to winning the title.

Here’s
Dixie to proclaim how great she is. Sometimes it feels great to say
how amazing you are, such as when she kicked AJ off the show and
raised the quality of the show. It also proves her point that no one
is irreplaceable. AJ left in her car with her title but in a few
weeks we’ll have a new champion to replace Styles. Dixie talks about
the tournament being all gimmicky and calls out the four people in
the matches next week: Bobby Roode, James Storm, Magnus and Samoa
Joe.

She
spun the Wheel of Dixie earlier and it’s Roode vs. Storm in a
bullrope match, with Dixie picking Roode to win. Dixie talks about
Storm not doing anything for her lately, so Storm talks about being a
cowboy and says his catchphrase. On the other hand, Joe vs. Magnus
is going to be falls count anywhere. Joe says the only reason this
tournament is going on is to cover for her inability to sign AJ to a
new deal. Once he runs through the tournament, AJ gets the first
title shot whether it’s here or anywhere else in the world. Magnus
cuts Joe off and says he’ll win, but Dixie says this is all about
finding her one true champion. Nice segment.

Anderson
beats up Bischoff in the back and handcuffs him to a metal cart.

Video
on Angle’s submission skills.

Gail
Kim vs. Hannah Blossom

This
is the Gail Kim open challenge to anyone from outside of the company.
If Hannah wins, she gets a title shot down the line. Gail kicks her
in the head to start and rams Hannah into a buckle. More kicks put
Blossom down and there’s the Figure Four around the post for good
measure. Hannah makes the jobber comeback but misses a charge and
Eats Defeat for the pin at 3:28.

Rating:
D. Nothing to see here as usual
with Kim. She’s decent in the ring but I just do not care about her
at all and haven’t in years. It’s another case of something we’ve
seen so many times that there’s no reason to get interested in it at
all. At least we’re getting some fresh Knockouts for the time being
though.

Joseph
Park comes out again and talks about how he doesn’t know where Abyss
is. All he knows is that Abyss is a future TNA Hall of Famer and
issues an open challenge to Abyss for next week. That should be
interesting.

Anderson
carries Bischoff away on his shoulders.

TNA
World Title Tournament First Round: Kurt Angle vs. Austin Aries

Submission
match. Feeling out process to start with Angle taking it to the mat
and putting on a headscissors. Aries rolls out of the ankle lock but
Kurt bails to the floor to avoid the Last Chancery. Back in and
Aries grabs a quick STF but Angle is in the ropes even faster. Angle
comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Roode comes out with a
chair to watch from the stage. Kurt gets distracted, allowing Aries
to dive off the top, only to be caught in a belly to belly. Aries
dropkicks him to the floor and we take a break.

Back
with Aries in control and going after the neck, only to wake Angle up
in the process. Angle rolls some Germans but Aries armdrags Angle
out to the floor. A big top rope ax handle to the floor puts Kurt
down again but Aries hurts his ankle in the process. Aries comes
back in with a missile dropkick but Angle grabs the ankle lock in
midair to take over.

Aries
counters by rolling Angle into the corner but Angle catches the
running dropkick in another ankle lock. Austin rolls through again
to send Angle outside but it’s quickly back inside so Aries can hit
the missile dropkick. The corner dropkick sets up the brainbuster
and the Last Chancery but of course Angle doesn’t tap.

Aries
lets go of the hold and Angle snaps off another suplex, only to have
Aries get up top. He throws Angle off to block a running suplex but
Aries’ 450 only hits mat and hurts the ankle again. The Angle Slam
is countered twice but Aries misses a charge into the post and Angle
Crossfaces him for the win at 16:45.

Rating:
B-. I liked the match but it
felt like it was just waiting until we got to the inevitable. That’s
a major problem for so much of TNA’s stuff anymore as you can call
most of what they’re going to do anymore. Aries was trying but it
was a lot of the same stuff we always see from him. Still way better
than anything else tonight though.

Anderson
drags Bischoff out to piledrive him on the stage to end the show.

Overall
Rating: C-. The show wasn’t bad
tonight but it’s clear that they’ve only got two stories at the
moment. Luckily for them the stories aren’t bad, but that’s going to
catch up to them in the long run, as it always does. The matches
were rather bad for the most part though with mainly a night of
squashes to set up the big show next week. The main event helped but
Angle winning was somewhat obvious. Again, the show has no soul
though and it’s showing more and more every week.

Results

Mr.
Anderson b. Knux – Mic Check

Christopher
Daniels b. Joseph Park – Low blow

Ethan
Carter III b. Norv Fernum/Dewey Barnes – Double pin after 1
Perfecters to both men

Gail
Kim b. Hannah Blossom – Eat Defeat

Kurt
Angle b. Austin Aries – Crossface

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – November 7, 2013

By Scott Keith on 7th November 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
November 7, 2013

Location:
Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio

Commentators:
Taz, Mike Tenay

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

It’s
a big show this week for TNA as this is the start of their world
title tournament, perhaps the final Impact outside of Orlando for a
good while and it’s the 500th episode. However, what has
TNA been focused on with their new Impact 365 dead? The fact that
Pacman Jones is back in TNA for a show or two.

For
those of you that aren’t familiar with him, he’s the guy that was
suspended from the NFL for a year and thought he’d make a quick buck
“wrestling” (read as standing on the apron and making a cover
here or there) in the mean time. Now he’s famous for being a decent
football player that hasn’t gotten arrested in a few years. He’s
been the focus for TNA in their internet videos late. Let’s get to
it.

We
open with Dixie in the back with Pacman when Mr. Anderson comes up.
He doesn’t want any trouble but just a match with Bully. Dixie says
she can make that happen.

We
get a recap of AJ leaving and the announcement of the world title
tournament via a voiceover similar to a movie trailer.

Pacman
Jones and another Cincinnati Bengal are in the front row.

Here’s
the Main Event Mafia, which is actually still a thing. Sting says
the Mafia has accomplished its goals of keeping Aces and 8’s at bay
and taking the world title away from Bully Ray. Today he can say
mission accomplished, even though there has been a lot of trials and
tribulation along the way. As of today, the Mafia is being put back
up on the shelf. All of them have something they’re doing at the
moment, such as Sting coming up short in the gauntlet match and the
other three all being in the world title tournament.

Sting
is going to be dealing with this thing called entitlement. He’s
going to be dealing with those people that are trying to come in on
top without ever having to pay any dues. Sting has respect for this
business and hugs all three members of the team. He says he loves
Joe and Angle but only hugs Magnus before walking away. Joe takes
the mic and says he’s been denied a world title for far too long.
The road to the title starts with Magnus and it’s going to go through
Angle. They’re all friends, but Joe is going to remind them why they
make far better enemies.

Magnus
says that Angle is on a road to redemption but it’s also Magnus’ road
to destiny. He loves Angle like a brother, but after he goes through
Joe, he’ll mow Angle down if he has to. His goal is to become world
champion but the fans don’t seem to have the same vision that Magnus
has.

Angle
is left alone in the ring and says Sting is right. They all have
their own goals and his is to become world champion once again. He
also wants to prove he’s Hall of Fame worthy, but last week he
suffered a setback. Last week he was told he wasn’t cleared to
compete, but since then he’s talked to his personal doctor….but
here’s Roode with an interruption.

Roode
says he’s embarrassed for Kurt because he keeps having to make
excuses. Angle needs to be a man and admit that he’s lost twice in a
row to the It Factor. Roode’s goal is the world title as well, and
if he has to face Angle in the finals, he has no problem destroying
him for a third time. Angle is cool with that but doesn’t want to
wait for the finals so the fight is on now.

Angle
is still in the ring after the break and says he’ll wait in the ring
until he gets Bobby Roode even if it’s until next week. Roode comes
right back out at him but security tries to break it up. The guys
are finally split up after a few moments but Angle sprints up the
ramp to get another piece. Joe, Magnus and Bad Influence come out to
try to split them up and both guys are finally taken to the back.

The
opening segment somehow keeps going with Bad Influence getting in the
Bengals’ faces, only to have them come into the ring and slam Kaz and
Daniels down.

Garrett
and Knux say the condition of the club is none of the people’s
business. Anderson comes up behind them and says that he just wants
to talk. He says what they did to him was the best thing they’ve
ever done to him. They need to get out of the club though because
this isn’t what they started.

Velvet
Sky vs. ODB vs. Brooke

Winner
gets a title shot at some point in the future. Brooke and Velvet
shake it a bit to start so ODB chests them down. A double Bronco
Buster has Brooke and Sky in trouble but Brooke rolls ODB up for two.
ODB gets knocked to the floor so Velvet can get a neckbreaker for
two on Brooke. Velvet gets powerslammed down but Brooke takes her
down and drops a top rope elbow to ODB. Everyone is down so here are
Gail and Lei’D Tapa to watch as we take a break.

Back
with a three way slugout with ODB taking over. Both girls put a half
crab on Brooke at the same time. The alliance doesn’t last long as
Velvet starts chopping away at ODB, only to be ran over again. ODB
slams Brooke onto Velvet but goes to the floor to yell at Tapa and
Kim. Brooke hits a dropkick through the ropes before clotheslining
Velvet down. Everyone is back inside now and Brooke hits a cross
body to take out both girls at once. Gail and Tapa get up on the
apron and Gail comes in to break up In Yo Face to Brooke for a DQ at
9:45.

Rating:
C-. Not the worst match in the
world but the ending sucked. Since when are there DQ’s in a triple
threat match? Velvet and ODB were their usual selves but Brooke
looked a bit better than her typical performance here. The downside
here is how obvious it was that the division is dying for some fresh
blood though.

Post
match Gail and Tapa destroy everyone (save for some forearms from ODB
that staggered Tapa). Gail says it’s clear she has no competition so
she’s issuing an open challenge to anyone from outside the company
and if anyone beats her, they can have a title shot.

We
get a video from AJ Styles of a title defense in AAA in Mexico.

Bully
goes up to Knux and Garrett in the back and says he’s tired of being
ignored. Knux goes on a rant about how this isn’t their club anymore
but all about Bully. Ray says it’s because he’s president but Knux
demands a vote tonight from all three of them and Taz. Knux storms
off but Ray grabs Garrett and glares at him.

Dixie
is on the phone, yelling at someone to fix the person who is
humiliating her (presumably AJ). She hangs up when Ethan Carter III
comes in. Dixie says he’s done a great job but they need to change
their plan a bit. Tonight he gets to pick his opponent which he
thinks will mean the end of the streak. Dixie says keep the
intensity up.

It’s
time for the Aces and 8’s vote. Ray comes out last and says his
catchphrase but Garrett cuts him off by saying yes, they do know who
he is. Before the vote can be taken, Anderson comes out to watch.
Garrett votes that he’s finished and takes off his cut. Ray appeals
to Knux but Knux says he doesn’t need Ray or the club. He takes off
the cut as well, leaving just Tazz and Ray in the club.

Ray
assumes that Tazz is going to vote with him, which Ray says we’re
going to a tie, which goes to a president. Ray sucks up to Taz a bit
before saying Tazz knows how to do what his president tells him to
do. Tazz takes the mic and tells Ray to hit the brakes a little bit.
They’ve been friends for a long time but have always done the right
thing. The club has been about Bully’s agenda alone for way too
long, so Tazz is done too. Ray says put those colors back on but
Tazz says make him.

Ray
yells at Anderson for ruining everything so Anderson throws out a
challenge for a No DQ fight at Turning Point. Bully talks about
Anderson looking up to Steve Austin, but Anderson has forgotten the
first rule. Garrett and Knux jump Anderson so Ray can whip him with
the chain while shouting DON’T TRUST ANYBODY. Ray says the Aces
catchphrase and the team is still together. Yes, SERIOUSLY.

Back
from a break with Bobby Roode coming up to the announce desk and
promising to take Angle out tonight.

Ethan
Carter III vs. Dewey Barnes

This
is another rematch for Carter. Ethan runs him over to start and
slams him face first into the mat out of a belly to back suplex.
There’s a kick to the ribs but Dewey comes back with a dropkick in
the corner and a neckbreaker but his missile dropkick misses. The
Bulldog Driver (the 1 Percenter) ends Barnes at 2:25.

Joseph
Park is eating candy corn in the back when Bad Influence shows up.
Park says they’re bullying him while they suggest he’s Abyss. Richie
Incognito and Jonathan Martin (NFL players currently involved in a
bullying scandal) references are made until Eric Young comes in to
make science jokes and set up a tag team match.

Bad
Influence vs. Eric Young/Joseph Park

Eric
gets double teamed to start but sends Bad Influence into each other.
Park comes in for some work on the arm but it’s back to Young for an
Ultimo Dragon headstand in the corner. Kaz is sent to the floor for
a suicide dive from Eric and a cross body back inside gets two.
Young is sent to the corner for a Flair Flip plus some strutting on
the apron, only to have Kaz knock him out to the floor. Back inside
and Bad Influence lays him out with Daniels getting two off a
clothesline to the back of the head.

A
Kaz distraction prevents the referee from seeing the hot tag to Park
but Young ducks a clothesline, sending Bad Influence into each other
again. Now the hot tag brings in Park and there’s a Boston Crab on
Kaz. Daniels makes the save but everything breaks down. Daniels
whips Young knees first into the steps before picking up the bell
ringer’s hammer. That goes nowhere so he picks up the Appletini to
blind Park, allowing Kaz to crucifix him for the pin at 4:38.

Rating:
D. Just a match here for the
most part with nothing significant happening at all. We’ve seen
these teams fight several times now and nothing has really been
accomplished as a result. The only interesting thing here is the
difference in comedy. Young and Park have hammered their jokes so
far into the ground that they haven’t been funny for months. Bad
Influence on the other hand at least keeps their comedy moving, which
keeps them feeling much fresher. It’s a nice breather.

Post
break here’s Angle again, saying he’ll be out here if Roode wants a
piece. Instead he gets Austin Aries who says he respects everything
Angle has done, but if Angle doesn’t bring his best, he has no
chance. Dixie pops up on screen and spins the Wheel of Dixie to make
it a submission match next week. Aries says good luck and walks away
but Roode comes in from behind to jump Angle and beat him down
against the steps. Aries makes the save so Angle will be at 100%
next week. That’s nice of him. Angle throws Aries to the side to
get at Roode but so Aries goes after Kurt until security breaks it
up.

TNA
World Title Tournament First Round: Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Sabin

This
is Full Metal Mayhem, which is TNA’s version of TLC but you win by
pin or submission. Sabin is sent into a chair in the corner to knock
him to the floor, allowing Hardy to hit a clothesline off the apron
to take Chris down again. Sabin comes back with a ladder to the ribs
as we head back inside for a rolling cutter onto the ladder for two
on Hardy. Jeff comes back with a backdrop to send Sabin onto the
ladder in the corner and blasts Sabin with a garbage can.

Jeff
sets up a table in the corner but Sabin hurricanranas out of whatever
Hardy was setting up. Hardy gets crotched on the top and is caught
in the Tree of Woe so Sabin can rip at his EARS. That’s just painful
looking. A baseball slide dropkick sends a chair into Hardy’s face
and Sabin stands on his groin in the corner. Hardy is able to blast
Sabin in the back with a chair despite hanging upside down in a nice
counter.

Poetry
in Motion connects in the corner and a clothesline sends Sabin out to
the floor. Hardy lays him on a table and goes up top but misses a
dive, crashing through the table as a result. Back in and Sabin puts
Hardy on a table but his splash hits knees. It still drives Jeff
through the table though so I’m not sure how much good it did him.
Jeff scores with a quick Twist of Fate and sets up the ladder for a
Swanton off the top to send him to the next round at 10:45.

Rating:
B-. This was exactly what it
was supposed to be. It wasn’t anything that set the bar any higher,
but it was what they advertised it as: complete mayhem with both guys
destroying each other and a huge spot to end it. I fear for Jeff’s
ability to move when he’s 54 years old, but the entertainment is good
while it lasts.

Overall
Rating: C+. This was a much
better show than what TNA has been throwing at us lately but it was
far from perfect. I really liked the Angle vs. Roode stuff which
made me feel like they wanted to kill each other. It would be better
if they were meeting in the tournament, but there’s always the chance
that they could cost one another their matches to set up a showdown
somewhere in the future.

On
the other hand, we have Aces and 8’s. That’s my problem with them:
they’re still around. This group has been around nearly 18 months at
this point and shouldn’t have made it half that long. I have no idea
why this team is still around and I have no idea what TNA sees in
them anymore. It’s Ray and two goons who have never accomplished
anything on their own but we’re still supposed to care about them?

Overall
the show was decent tonight but there was too much stuff that went
nowhere, such as pretty much everything other than the main event and
Angle vs. Roode. I liked tonight’s episode, but I have zero faith in
TNA to make this last at all. Maybe it’ll be good for a few weeks,
but long term planning is TNA’s Kryptonite. Actually scratch that as
it would imply TNA is Superman. We’ll say it’s their……whatever
the weakness is of Carrotman.

Results

Gail
Kim vs. ODB vs. Brooke went to a no contest when Gail Kim interfered

Ethan
Carter III b. Dewey Barnes – 1 Percenter

Bad
Influence b. Joseph Park/Eric Young – Crucifix to Park

Jeff
Hardy b. Chris Sabin – Swanton Bomb off the top of the ladder

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – October 31, 2013

By Scott Keith on 31st October 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
October 31, 2013

Location:
Maverik Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

Commentators:
Tazz, Mike Tenay

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

It’s
Halloween night and the main story is the TNA World Champion left in
a nice car last week, apparently not wanting to sign a contract and
taking the title with him. Since this is TNA, you can see the
brackets for the tournament being filled out as we speak. I’d assume
we’re heading for a champion vs. champion match because that’s what
WWE did a few years ago and if WWE can do it, TNA can as well, albeit
with more mistakes and stupidity. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a recap of AJ literally driving away from TNA and Dixie
with the title in hand to end last week’s show.

Here’s
Dixie to open the show, talking about how she served AJ the world up
on a plate but he just walked away with his nose in the air. From
here on out, AJ is no longer world champion and is just like everyone
else that buys replica belts. The title is officially stripped and
the car is a present to AJ for all his work.

Therefore,
we need a new world champion so we’ll be holding an eight man
tournament over the next few weeks for the vacant title. Seven of
the entrants are former world champions, so here are James Storm,
Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode and
Chris Sabin. Everyone gets a video bio of their accomplishments.
There’s a spot left so here’s Bully Ray to interrupt.

Before
he can say anything though, Dixie announces a gauntlet match for the
final tournament spot. Ray gets in the ring and says he’s been
forgotten but the fans tell him he tapped out. He blames Earl Hebner
and Ken Anderson for the losses, but the lights go out and here comes
Anderson. Ken slowly stomps on Ray in the corner as we take a break.

During
the break Anderson was taken away by security where Brooke yelled at
her. Bully jumps him from behind and whips Anderson with the chain.
He yells that Anderson is nothing without the club so stay out of
club business.

Garrett
Bischoff is asked what he thinks of this and says it’s club business.
Knux comes up and says he needs Bischoff’s help in his match
tonight.

Tag
Titles: Bro Mans vs. James Storm/Gunner

The
challengers jump the Bro Mans in the aisle before Gunner sends Robbie
into the corner to start the official beating. A splash crushes
Robbie and a slingshot suplex gets two. Off to Storm for a double
back elbow and a knee drop to give James a two count. Jesse comes in
and takes a big chop in the corner to mess with his blood vessels.

Back
to Storm who gets two off a back elbow to the jaw followed by Storm
getting the same via the Eye of the Storm. Things break down a bit
with Gunner being sent out to the floor and Storm backdropping Jesse
onto the back of his head. Robbie pulls his partner to the floor to
avoid the Last Call before tripping up Storm on a suplex attempt and
holding the foot down to give Jesse the pin at 4:15.

Rating:
D+. Not much to see here but
it’s good to have the Bro Mans get a win like this. They’re the kind
of team that is going to have to cheat all the time to keep the belts
and it’s just going to make the reaction even bigger when they lose
the titles. I’m not wild on Storm and Gunner but they’re good enough
for stuff like this.

Sting
goes in to see Dixie who is willing to lift the ban on Sting getting
a world title shot for tonight only. He can be in the gauntlet but
has to start first. Sting leaves without saying yes or no.

We
get a recap of Abyss returning last week, leading to Bad Influence
dressed up as Sherlock Holmes and Watson. They promise to solve the
Abyss mystery and unveil the monster tonight.

Norv
Fernum vs. Ethan Carter III

Bernum
is the guy Carter squashed at BFG and weighs about 104lbs. Carter
tosses him around to start before putting on a standing chinlock.
Fernum comes back with some flying shoulder blocks but can’t knock
Carter down. Norv scores with a missile dropkick but walks into the
bulldog driver (which might be called the 1%) for the pin at 3:10.

Rating:
D. Yeah it was a squash, but
I’m digging Carter’s character. The turnaround from his character in
WWE is reminding me of Rick Rude when he jumped to WCW. In the WWF
he was a glorified comedy guy but in WCW he was nothing short of a
killer. Carter has gone from Derrick Bateman who was nothing to
Carter who looks solid in the ring and has a great look. Well done
TNA.

Bobby
Roode asks the doctor how Angle can be cleared in just a week. He
wants Angle checked again.

Bad
Influence run into ODB and Eric, with the latter promising a surprise
for them later.

Gauntlet
Battle Royal

Sting
starts out with Kazarian as this is over the top only with two minute
time intervals. They start with a WOO off until Sting rams him into
some top turnbuckles. A backdrop puts Kaz down and a suplex does the
same. Kaz comes back with some shots to the ribs but can’t put him
out in the corner. Knux is in at #3 and we take an early break.
Back with Eric Young coming out and no eliminations so far. It’s
been way more than two minutes since the break so screw the clock I
guess.

Eric
cleans house on the heels and pounds away in the corner as Sting gets
back up. Kaz pulls at the beard to slow Eric down as Taz rips into
Utah and all the wives the people around here have (his words not
mine). Knux tries to put Eric out but he “pulls some of the pubic
hair out” (again Tazz’s words) to escape. Christopher Daniels is
#5 and saves Kaz before he even gets to the ring. Daniels comes in
and pounds away on Eric as Bad Influence takes over. Sting suplexes
both of them down and we take our second break in than eleven minutes
since the opening bell.

Back
with Manik in at #6. They’re clearly not doing anything during the
break as the guys are in virtually the same positions as when the
cameras went off. Manik cleans house and saves himself by
headscissoring Kaz down. No eliminations so far and the ring fills
up even more with Magnus at #7, the last entrant. Magnus cleans
house but gets taken down by a cross body from Knux of all people.
Manik escapes a pumphandle slam and catches Knux in a hurricanrana
for the elimination.

Kaz
hits a springboard elbow to eliminate Manik a few seconds later.
Tazz says Aces and 8’s suck. Eric goes up but gets crotched down and
kicked in the head by Kaz for an elimination. We’re down to Mafia
vs. Bad Influence with Sting clotheslining Kaz down before Magnus
hits a Snow Plow on Daniels. Sting gets his eyes raked so the double
teaming of Magnus can begin, only to have the Mafia come right back
with a clothesline to eliminate Kaz. Magnus sneaks up on Kaz and
Sting with a double elimination for the win at 19:40. I’m pretty
sure there was no extra action during the commercial though.

Rating:
C-. This was pretty lame with
just seven people and no real need for the match to go this long.
Magnus winning the way he did extends his heel turn a bit more which
is the right idea, but I can’t picture him winning the tournament to
set up an eventual champion vs. champion match.

Angle
has been advised to take the night off but will wrestle anyway.

Dixie
has a surprise for us later: the Wheel of Dixie.

Knockouts
Title: ODB vs. Gail Kim

ODB
spears her down to start and pounds away on the champion in the
corner. A splash sets up a Bronco Buster attempt but Gail bails to
the floor. Gail loads up Eat Defeat on the floor but gets caught in
a fallaway slam instead. ODB looks to go after Gail’s enforcer Lei’D
Tapa but gets dropkicked into the announce table instead. There’s
the Figure Four around the post as Tenay announces Turning Point for
free on November 21.

Back
in and Gail puts on a headscissor choke, only to have ODB counter
into a half crab. Gail gets to the rope but a Thesz Press gets two
for ODB. A front suplex out of the corner puts Gail down but Tapa
distracts the referee. Gail grabs a rollup and a rope for the
retaining pin at 6:25.

Rating:
D+. I am so over the Knockouts
as a whole. It’s the same five or so girls having the same feuds
with the same dull stories (calling them stories is a stretch. It’s
more like Knockout A is champion and Knockout B wins a contenders’
match) resolved in the same dull matches. Nothing to see here and
ODB continues to get on my nerves.

Bad
Influence has solved the mystery of Abyss.

Back
from a break with Daniels and Kaz in the ring to explain their
findings. With British accents, Daniels and Kaz say they’ve figured
out the on again off again monster Abyss. Apparently it’s under the
ring, which is certainly not a ripoff of when Santino dressed up like
Sherlock Holmes and was told to solve the mystery of the Raw GM and
it wound up being under the ring.

It’s
a pumpkin under the ring though, which apparently has more brains
than the entire Knockouts roster put together. This brings out Eric
Young dressed as Joseph Park in a decent imitation. He has no proof
that Halloween is a real holiday but it’s the big guy’s favorite
holiday. Eric has a message for bad Influence so he punches them
both, earning himself a beatdown. Abyss comes out for the save and
crushes Bad Influence before helping Young up in the corner.

Here
are the world title tournament brackets.

Hardy

Sabin

Roode

Storm

Angle

Aries

Magnus

Joe

As
simple as this sounds, the wheel of Dixie will determine what the
gimmick is for Sabin vs. Hardy. It’s Full Metal Mayhem, which is
basically TLC.

Kurt
Angle vs. Bobby Roode

This
would be the third Bound For Glory rematch of the night. Roode was
inducted into the EGO Hall of Fame to mock Angle, but since Angle
declined the induction into the TNA Hall of Fame, the whole thing is
kind of worthless now. Angle takes him into the corner to start but
Roode bails to the floor to escape the ankle lock. Back in and Roode
chops away but gets caught in a belly to belly. Roode bails to the
floor again and has to rake Angle’s eyes to break up another suplex.

Back
from a break with Roode working on the ribs with an abdominal
stretch. Angle escapes and puts on Rolling Germans, getting up to
about five of them this time. Roode fights up but has to escape the
ankle lock. There’s the Crossface but Kurt tries to grab the ankle
lock to counter. Roode rolls back and puts the hold on again, only
to have to let go to escape a cradle and get it on for a third time.
Angle rolls backwards again and puts on the Angle Slam for two but
his shoulder is almost gone.

There’s
the ankle lock but Roode rolls through into a cradle for tow. Roode
comes back with an AA into a neckbreaker for a close two as this
starts getting better. Angle gets the ankle lock again with the
grapevine but Roode is too close to the ropes. Roode goes up but
Angle runs up the ropes for the big Angle Slam for two. Angle stops
moving and the match is stopped at 16:23.

Rating:
B. Good match for the most part
here until the storyline finish, which was again, THE SAME THING WE
SAW AT BFG. Is this company really that creatively bankrupt that
they can’t come up with something else? Like Roode dropping him in
the fisherman’s suplex and Angle being knocked out that way?
ANYTHING else? Good match until the ending though.

Angle
is shaking badly to end the show.

Overall
Rating: C. The show wasn’t bad
tonight but it was yet another rehash of Bound For Glory with over
half the matches being rematches from the PPV. The tournament will
help things out but they need something new to light a fire under
this company. Maybe the changes behind the scenes will help out but
they rarely have before. Not a bad show this week but nothing that
set the world on fire.

Results

Bro
Mans b. Gunner/James Storm – Suplex reversal to Storm

Ethan
Carter III b. Norv Fernum – Bulldog driver

Magnus
won a gauntlet battle royal last elimination Sting and Kazarian

Gail
Kim b. ODB – Rollup

Bobby
Roode b. Kurt Angle via referee stoppage

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – October 24, 2013

By Scott Keith on 24th October 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
October 24, 2013

Location:
Maverik Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

Bound
For Glory has come and gone, boring the hundreds and hundreds of
people who bought it and the dozens who actually attended. The main
development is AJ Styles defeated Bully Ray to win the world title.
Actually every title changed hands at the show, with the Bro Mans,
Gail Kim and Chris Sabin all taking home gold. This is kind of the
beginning of a new year for TNA so hopefully they can come up with
something better than what we’ve been seeing lately. Let’s get to
it.

The
opening video recaps the events of Bound For Glory, including all the
title changes and Kurt Angle declining the induction into the Hall of
Fame.

AJ
vs. Ray II for the title tonight.

Here’s
a very happy Dixie Carter to open things up. There’s a big set in
the ring with AJ shirts and merchandise and a big WELCOME BACK AJ
STYLES banner. Dixie gets Vickie Guerrero style heat as she says
that she made a mistake recently and this is her apology. She always
looks to the future and sucks up to Styles for a few minutes, talking
about how he’s a legend and her world champion. Dixie introduces AJ
and here’s the new champion.

Dixie
keeps sucking up to AJ and talks about the slump he’s been in for
several months now. She’s ready to pay though so it’s all good.
Tonight AJ gets a fancy private dressing room which is almost as nice
as Dixie’s. It comes complete with fillet mignon, caviar and
champagne. Dixie shows off a watch for AJ which is apparently off of
Craigslist. There’s one thing left though: a black sports car which
AJ can drive with his new long hair flowing in the wind.

AJ
talks about all the stuff Dixie has but still won’t join Team Dixie.
First of all he’s a truck guy so the car doesn’t do much for him. He
won’t separate himself from the boys that built this company. This
mess could have been settled months ago when Dixie bet against him
and lost. Dixie offers to cancel the rematch tonight with she and AJ
going on a trip on her private jet instead. This brings out Bully
and Brooke to protest after a break.

Bully
doesn’t like the idea of the title match being canceled but AJ cuts
him off. He definitely isn’t taking that trip to Dixieland and
doesn’t think the whole rematch idea applies to wrestlers with no
contract. However, he’s here in Salt Lake City to defend the title
so it’s on. Bully calls AJ’s title win lucky because there was no
way AJ can beat him clean.

Ray
says that he kicked out of the Spiral Tap but Earl Hebner didn’t call
it for some reason. Apparently God is a bully too and if he’s a
bully, he’s Bully Ray. AJ says Aces and 8’s, all three of them,
won’t be able to beat him tonight and he’ll be celebrating in the
crowd with his fans tonight. He says they’ll know what his name is,
so Ray drops him with one punch and beats on AJ with part of the set.
Ray loads up a powerbomb through the table but here’s the returning
Anderson for the save. Anderson beats on Bully in the corner and
sends him running away.

After
another break Anderson is still in the ring and says he really missed
all the fans. They didn’t seem to miss him but he wants to know if
Ray missed him as well. The fans don’t quite think so but Anderson
spins his head around to show how good his neck feels. Anderson
talks about being gone for so long and how tired he’s getting of
everything, much like the agents in the back and the fans here
tonight. It’s really gotten that bad in the five weeks he’s been
gone?

The
fans chant YES and here’s Dixie with a bunch of security to arrest
Anderson. Anderson: “You’re into handcuffs?” He talks about
getting arrested several times but thinks we should have some fun
with it this time. Anderson punches two security guards (who are
nice enough to sell for him) until voluntarily being taken away in
the cuffs.

Video
on the Knockouts Title match from BFG which saw Lei’D Tapa reveal an
alliance with Gail Kim to win her the title.

Brooke/Gail
Kim vs. Velvet Sky/ODB

ODB
pulls Brooke in to start and hits a quick Bronco Buster, sending
Brooke out to the floor. She pulls ODB to the floor and stomps away
a bit before sending ODB back in for more of the same from Gail. The
champ quickly leaves and it’s back to Brooke for more forearms and
stomping. ODB shoves Brooke off the middle rope and it’s hot tag to
Velvet. She cleans a few rooms of the house with a flying
headscissors and a running neckbreaker as everything breaks down.
Everyone heads to the floor and it’s Tapa sneaking in to kick Velvet
in the face to give Gail the pin at 3:35.

Rating:
D-. And most of that is because
of how good Brooke looks in her new outfit. Tapa can’t even do a big
boot properly as she hit more of the shoulder instead of Velvet’s
head. Gail as Knockouts Champion is nothing new, which is the
continued problem with the entire division: it needs some fresh
faces. Tapa simply isn’t going to work in that regard based on what
we’ve seen so far.

The
Bro Mans celebrate their tag title win by spraying their hair.

Ethan
Carter III vs. Dewey Barnes

Dewey
is another jobber, this time from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, home of
Cody Deaner if I remember correctly. Carter takes him to the mat
with ease and pounds away in the corner. Dewey comes back with a few
shots to the face and a missile dropkick, only to be caught in the
bulldog driver for the pin at 2:38. Same match he had at Bound For
Glory.

Post
match Ethan says he’s a Carter so the world needs him.

We
recap Magnus beating Sting on Sunday.

Magnus
is with Sting in the back and says he didn’t show Sting the right
amount of respect. Sting is wondering if he passed the torch or lit
a new fire under Magnus. They shake hands and everything seems cool.

We
get a video from the Hall of Fame induction dinner, Angle declining
the Hall of Fame induction and Angle vs. Roode.

Here’s
Angle with something to say. He talks about how great it was to hear
people praise him at the dinner, but he couldn’t accept the induction
at BFG. One day though, he’ll have proven himself worthy of the spot
which he’ll then accept. As for the match, it took a toll on his
body and yes he knocked himself out on the last move, but here’s
Roode to interrupt before Kurt can go any further.

Roode
talks about evening the score from two years ago when Angle beat him
in the main event of Bound For Glory 2011. He’s lived with that
feeling of failure for two years but now it’s Kurt’s turn to feel the
exact same thing. On Sunday, the It Factor beat the Olympic gold
medalist. Angle says Roode is a bad man but he’s not better than
Kurt. Angle wants a rematch RIGHT NOW but Roode hands him a paper
instead. Apparently Kurt has torn knee cartilage and isn’t cleared
to wrestle, but Kurt says he’s cleared to fight. The brawl only
lasts for a few seconds before security breaks it up.

Bully
tells Bischoff and Knux to make sure Anderson doesn’t make bail.

Dixie
is on the phone in her office and says she needed something done
yesterday.

It’s
time for the Bro Mans’ celebration of being the new tag champions.
They have punch, shrimp, confetti and a DJ. Robbie thinks this is a
great party and declares Sunday the biggest night in Bro Man history.
The fans think the new champions can’t wrestle but here are Storm
and Gunner before the party goes on too long. Storm says this is a
party and starts drinking the champagne while gunner eats the protein
bars.

The
fight is about to start but here’s Bad Influence to object. Kaz says
they need to become three time tag team champions but Daniels wants
to talk about the kind of beverages at this party. Beer is the drink
of the lower class, champagne is for posers and the drink of a man is
an appletini. Storm steals the drink and Gunner throws it in
Daniels’ face, triggering the brawl. Cue Part and Young to join the
brawl, but Daniels makes the mistake of shattering a bottle over
Park’s head, drawing blood. Park chases off the bad guys and the
good guys get to stand tall.

Angle
vs. Roode next week. How TNA can be sure Angle can be cleared that
fast isn’t really clear but at least they’ve got the right idea.

TNA
World Title: Bully Ray vs. AJ Styles

They
have a ton of time here with nearly half an hour left in the show.
AJ has heavily taped up ribs. Bully interrupts the big match intros
so AJ punches him in the face to get things going. The champion
scores with his drop down into the dropkick sequence and gets two off
a kick to the head. Bully starts thinking and lifts Styles into the
air to drop him ribs first down onto the mat as we take a break.

Back
with Ray mocking Hogan and easily stopping an AJ comeback by going to
the ribs. A big backdrop puts AJ down again but he comes back with
some shots to the head. Ray sends him to the apron but Styles scores
with the springboard forearm for two. AJ foolishly tries a fireman’s
carry and gets caught in a Samoan drop for two. Ray misses the
middle rope backsplash but AJ misses the springboard 450 to hurt the
ribs even worse.

AJ
is loaded up onto the ropes but he shoves Ray back, right into the
referee. Styles grabs the Calf Killer for the tap out but there’s no
referee. Ray hits a chain shot to the throat and the Bully Cutter is
good for two. Ray gets the chain again but the referee is starting
to get back into it. Cue Anderson to snap Ray’s throat across the
ropes, allowing AJ to get a crucifix for the pin at 13:28.

Rating:
C+. I liked this better than
Bound For Glory because it wasn’t so insane and told a better story,
but did anyone not know Anderson was coming back? It’s good to give
Ray a new feud and as long as it gets him away from the Aces and 8’s
schtick he’ll be in much better shape. Not a great match here but it
worked well enough.

Post
match Anderson and Ray get pulled apart. Dixie pops up on screen
with a contract for Styles, telling him not to go anywhere. After
the break here’s Carter with the contract and a speech ready of
course. She offers AJ the contract and reminds AJ how sweet she is.
The car is a signing bonus for Styles for date nights with his wife.

AJ
says it’s a great contract from a horrible human being who uses
wrestlers like him to pad their bank account and buy themselves fancy
cars. Styles rips up the contract and says it wasn’t about the money
but rather about the respect. Dixie is going to pay by having AJ
take the title and leaving with it. He’s taking the title with him
to the people who deserve a champion. Oh and he’s taking the car
too. Styles walks to the back and heads to the car which is already
running despite him having the key. He drives off to end the show.

Overall
Rating: D+. TNA needed to hit a
home run tonight to make up for Bound For Glory but instead we got a
decent single. This more or less did nothing new as everything seems
focused on Bound For Glory rematches in the coming weeks. That’s a
major problem when almost everything you had for BFG wasn’t well
received. This show was a lot of nothing with WAY too many recaps
and nowhere near enough action. Where was the X-Division? You know,
that thing that sucked up most of the midcard talent for the PPV?
TNA needs something fresh and they need it in a hurry. This wasn’t a
horrible show, but it didn’t help things.

Results

Brooke/Gail
Kim b. Velvet Sky/ODB – Kim pinned Sky after a big boot from Lei’D
Tapa

Ethan
Carter III b. Dewey Barnes – Bulldog driver

AJ
Styles b. Bully Ray – Crucifix

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – October 17, 2013

By Scott Keith on 17th October 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
October 17, 2013

Location:
Cox Business Arena, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s
the go home show for Bound for Glory and the card is almost entirely
set. The focus of the show will likely be just polishing everything
up and giving us the hard push to Sunday. Odds are we’ll also get
some development on the Dixie Is Evil story which seems to be where
we’re headed after the big show. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a recap of last week’s events with Angle returning and
Sting angering Magnus by getting the pin in their tag match.

Here’s
Dixie to open the show, flanked by two goons with one carrying a
briefcase. She talks about being an artist like Michelangelo but she
has to deal with a redneck like AJ Styles slinging paint everywhere.
This coming Sunday is going to be her masterpiece but she what if AJ
doesn’t make it there? The fans chant WE WANT HOGAN as Dixie offers
a $50,000 bounty to anyone that can keep AJ out of the main event of
Bound For Glory.

This
brings out Bully and Brooke with Bully saying that he took out AJ
last week so he’d be glad to do it again for the $50,000 (clearly
fake money in the briefcase). Cue Magnus to say that 12 men over 3
months fought for a chance to be the #1 contender, but now the title
shot might go to whomever takes out AJ Styles tonight.

Magnus
starts a Dixie Sucks chant and says that $50,000 is a lot of money to
him, but he’ll fight Bully Ray right here tonight for free. Ray
praises Magnus and says that Sting believes in him, but Magnus hasn’t
proven himself yet. He’s a disappointment, just like everyone else
in Oklahoma. Magnus drops him with one punch and Ray bails to the
floor. The match is on for later tonight.

Ray
gives Bischoff and Knux a pep talk. Things seem to be ok and if Knux
needs Ray’s help in his match with Gunner tonight, just throw up the
signal.

Christopher
Daniels vs. Robbie E. vs. Hernandez vs. Eric Young

The
winner of this gets the final spot for his team in the gauntlet match
on the preshow with the winning team getting a title shot at the PPV.
Robbie and Young get us going but Young tags in Hernandez for the
slingshot shoulder to E. Robbie brings in Daniels who has to escape
the over the shoulder backbreaker but gets caught in the choke suplex
for two. A cheap shot from Robbie takes Hernandez to the floor
before he comes in legally and gets two off a middle rope elbow.

SuperMex
comes back with a double clothesline to take down Daniels and Robbie,
allowing for the tag off to Eric. Daniels and Robbie get in an
argument (despite not being a team), allowing Hernandez to do the
running clothesline from the ramp. Hernandez misses a splash in the
corner and falls out to the floor before Eric suplexes Daniels down.
Robbie makes a blind tag in and pins Daniels off the top rope elbow
from Young at 5:18.

Rating:
D+. This might as well have
been a tag match until the ending which is about all you can expect
out of something like this. Odds are we’re getting Chavo and
Hernandez vs. Gunner/Storm because that’s the least interesting match
out of the options available. Nothing match but it wasn’t too bad.

AJ
fights off Jesse Godderz.

Here’s
AJ to the ring with something to say. He talks about Dixie being
desperate by sending everyone after him because she knows he’s
winning at Bound For Glory. She’ll pay after the PPV but tonight, he
isn’t running and hiding so come get paid. This brings out Knux and
Bischoff but AJ jumps them as they come in. This brings out James
Storm and Gunner to clear the ring with Storm staring AJ down but
letting him go.

Gunner
vs. Knux

Bischoff
immediately grabs Gunner’s leg to give Knux the early advantage.
Gunner comes back with a hard clothesline and pounds away, only to be
sent into the middle buckle to stop him cold. Another clothesline
puts Gunner down before Knux drives him into the corner. Gunner
finally slams him into the corner before a double clothesline puts
both guys down. Storm spits beer in Bischoff’s face as Gunner makes
his comeback and hits a decent fallaway slam on the big Knux. He
can’t hook the Gun Rack so Knux gets two off a cross body of all
things. Knux calls for Bully, allowing Gunner to spear him down for
the pin at 5:03.

Rating:
C-. Knux looked decent here,
but why aren’t Knux and Bischoff at least in the gauntlet match on
Sunday? It would at least give them something to do and add to the
match a bit. A four team gauntlet isn’t much to see but it could be
worse I guess. As long as Gunner doesn’t become the 194th
wrestler to use the spear I’ll be ok with him.

Chris
Sabin is going for the bounty.

Knux
and Bischoff want to know where Bully was. It’s going to be
interesting the next time he wants their help.

We
recap Lei’D Tapa’s attacks on the Knockouts.

Gail
Kim suggests an alliance with Brooke to take care of Tapa but she’s
not interested.

Video
on the Ultimate X match.

Sabin
asks a security guard if he’s seen the not-so-Phenomenal AJ Styles
but finds Joe instead. Joe threatens him with violence both tonight
and Sunday so Sabin backs away.

Chris
Sabin vs. Samoa Joe

Joe
takes him into the corner to start but gets poked in the eye to slow
him down. A flurry of punches take Sabin down in turn and there’s a
running elbow into the standing enziguri. Sabin bails to the floor
to avoid the running boot in the corner before firing off chops and
punches with Joe selling nothing at all.

Sabin
tries to bail but Joe grabs him on the ramp, only to have Chris slam
him onto the steel. Joe dives back in to beat the count at nine and
catches a charging Sabin in a release Rock Bottom out of the corner.
A boot to the chest and the backsplash gets two for Joe but Sabin
comes back with a springboard tornado DDT for two. Not that it
matters as Joe grabs a quick Koquina Clutch for the win at 5:17.

Rating:
C. Nice match here to preview
the big title match on Sunday but a bit more high flying would have
helped. Granted these aren’t the best choices for flying given that
Sabin is a heel and that Joe is fat, but it wasn’t a bad match at
all. Sabin is rocking the heel character so at least his world title
reign was only mostly worthless.

Post
match Aries, Hardy and Manik come in for a big brawl. Hardy pulls in
a ladder, allowing Manik to dive onto Aries and Sabin.

Bad
Influence goes after AJ but he holds them off with a fire
extinguisher.

Ethan
Carter III debuts at Bound For Glory.

Bully
Ray vs. Magnus

Non-title
of course. Feeling out process to start with Magnus grabbing a
headlock for early control. Ray shoves him away but gets
clotheslined, allowing Magnus to go up top and get crotched as we
take a break. Back with Ray throwing Magnus down and posing a lot
before missing a big elbow drop. They’re going very lightly here so
far.

Magnus
wins a quick slugout and clotheslines Bully down to speed things up a
bit. A big boot puts Ray down and the top rope elbow gets two.
Magnus charges into the referee by mistake so Ray gets the chain,
drawing out Sting for the save. The referee throws Sting out,
allowing Ray to low blow Magnus for the pin at 10:42.

Rating:
D. This was really boring stuff
and the ending was never in doubt. Obviously you can’t put anyone
over the world champion three days before the biggest show of the
year but it did advance the Sting vs. Magnus story a bit more. I’m
guessing they were going slowly to avoid any injuries for Sunday,
which is a constant problem with go home shows.

Magnus
isn’t pleased with Sting but they don’t come to blows.

Post
break Magnus yells at Sting for getting in his business. Sting says
he’ll be alone on Sunday.

We
run down the BFG card.

Here’s
Angle with his first comments since being back. Kurt says it’s good
to be home before talking about Bobby Roode being great. He even
reminds Angle of himself about five years ago. However, Roode is
just one of the great ones at the moment rather than being one of the
best of all time. When Roode starts messing with Angle’s legacy,
that makes it personal. This brings out Roode to says he’s ok with
not being Kurt Angle. Roode says he wanted to be Kurt Angle years
ago but now, Angle hasn’t done anything at all.

The
only thing Roode remembers Angle doing recently was beating Roode two
years ago at Bound For Glory. That was Roode’s wakeup call and the
reason he won the world title which he held longer than anyone,
including Angle. Roode says he’ll win on Sunday but Angle says he’ll
make Roode tap. Roode sucker punches Kurt and here’s the rest of EGO
to send Angle shoulder first into the post. Angle gets put in the
Crossface to damage his shoulder even worse.

Here
are Dixie, AJ and Ray for the contract signing. Ray signs and says
he’ll keep it simple: AJ can’t beat him no matter what he does on
Sunday. He talks about Flair vs. Rhodes from 1985 and the Hard Times
that Dusty talked about Flair putting wrestling through. Ray has put
wrestling through hard times over the last year by getting rid of
Sting, Sabin and Hogan. Ray is going to put AJ on hard times and
send him back to the trailer park in Georgia, where AJ’s family
probably won’t be waiting. He’s the Darth Vader of professional
wrestling and AJ isn’t Luke Skywalker.

AJ
says he appreciates Ray’s story but he’s no Ric Flair and AJ is no
Dusty Rhodes. This is the future instead of the past and Ray doesn’t
deserve to compare himself to Bully Ray. AJ has to win on Sunday
because he has nothing to lose. He has to win to make Dixie beg and
take everything away from Bully Ray. AJ signs but Ray says he takes
it back. He’s not putting the title on the line but he will take the
$50,000 right now. Ray swings the chain but gets hit with the
briefcase. AJ throws the money at Dixie and her security so a
staredown can end the show.

Overall
Rating: C. The show did a good
job of selling what Bound For Glory has to offer, but the show really
doesn’t have a flare to it. This Sunday’s show feels like any other
show but it happens to be the biggest show of the year. Nothing on
it feels really special and the big moment is going to be what?
Hogan returning? After nearly four years of sitting through him, two
weeks of no Hogan doesn’t make a return mean anything. Decent show
tonight but it doesn’t change how I feel about Sunday at all.

Results

Robbie
E. b. Eric Young, Hernandez and Christopher Daniels – Robbie pinned
Daniels after a top rope elbow from Young

Gunner
b. Knux – Spear

Samoa
Joe b. Chris Sabin – Koquina Clutch

Bully
Ray b. Magnus – Low blow

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 each at:

Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – October 3, 2013

By Scott Keith on 3rd October 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
October 3, 2013

Location:
Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We’re
still in Arkansas and the main story is still Dixie Carter vs. Hulk
Hogan, despite us only having three more Impacts until the biggest
show of the year. Tonight is about Hogan’s decision on whether or
not to join Dixie’s side in whatever she thinks she’s doing. If
we’re lucky we might even get Bully and AJ in the same ring for the
first time for the build to their match. Let’s get to it.

We
open with the customary recap of last week’s events.

Here’s
AJ to address the crowd. He can appreciate Hogan trying to come out
here last week and smooth things over, but then Dixie Carter came out
and showed her true colors. AJ isn’t here to talk about Dixie or
Hogan though. Instead he wants to talk about his opponent at Bound
For Glory. What a refreshing idea. He knows exactly who Bully Ray
is: the man that he’ll beat at Bound For Glory for the world title.
Styles doesn’t have a contract right now and hasn’t even looked at
the world title in over a year. He’s coming to get what’s his at
Bound For Glory, but here’s Bully Ray to object.

Bully
says Dixie is in AJ’s head because AJ is just hoping to win. If AJ
was really in the game, he would know that he’s going to win rather
than just hoping. AJ doesn’t have to worry about Dixie in San Diego
though, because Bully will give him all he can handle. Look at what
Ray has done to people like Hogan, Hardy or D-Von. What do you think
he’ll do to a guy like Styles? AJ knows who he is: the man that beat
AJ in a last man standing match two years ago. AJ has one thing Ray
wants: he wants to take Styles away from the fans. Bully is sick of
hearing the fans chant AJ, and there’s the chant again.

Styles
says that Bully is just like Dixie Carter, but Ray takes that as a
compliment. Dixie is a millionaire and a somebody while Bully is a
millionaire and the World Heavyweight Champion. Ray goes OFF on AJ,
ranting about how he’s going to beat AJ into the ground and send him
back home to his trailer, wife and three kids. AJ thinks Ray is
going to get killed in his match tonight against Samoa Joe, which is
a surprise to Ray.

Magnus
is going to run the EGO gauntlet tonight.

Dixie
has AJ escorted out by security but he leaves on his own so he
doesn’t have to breathe the same air Dixie is breathing.

Kenny
King/Chris Sabin vs. Manik/Jeff Hardy

Austin
Aries is on commentary. Manik and King get us going with Kenny
taking him into the corner for some choking by Sabin. Chris comes in
legally but the double team doesn’t work as King is caught in a
springboard hurricanrana to send him into the corner. Off to Jeff to
speed things up and hit a middle rope splash on King for two. Back
to Manik for something resembling an octopus hold on King before
rolling him up for two. King’s cut from last week has busted open
again.

King
snaps Manik throat first across the top rope before bringing Sabin
back in for a basement dropkick. Manik is tied up in the Tree of Woe
so Sabin can stand on his crotch for some torture and a two count.
Back to King for some right hands before Sabin comes back in for some
choking in the corner.

Chris
runs into a boot in the corner and a middle rope dropkick (Aries:
“Right in the brain stem!”) puts Sabin down. Hardy comes in off
the hot tag and cleans house with the sitout gordbuster on King for
two. Sabin breaks up the Twist attempt on King as everything breaks
down. Manik sends Sabin to the floor and hits his double chicken
wing gutbuster on King, setting up the Swanton for the pin at 7:07.

Rating:
C+. This was fine and set up
whatever match we’re going to see for the title at Bound For Glory.
Kenny King doesn’t really fit into the three former world champions
against the X-Division Champion but it’s not the worst idea in the
world. It could bring some blood into the division which has been
anemic for years now.

Post
match Sabin goes after Manik but Aries makes the save. Austin asks
for a four way match with Manik, Sabin, Hardy and himself for the
title at Bound For Glory.

Sting
and Hogan have a legends powwow about what Hogan should do. Hulk
declares Dixie worse than Bischoff before a girl delivers a gift from
Dixie. It’s a watch, the same one that Dixie gave Sting as a
retirement gift. Hogan: “She is worse than Bischoff. He never
gave me anything.”

We
look at EGO jumping Magnus last week. Later in the night Sting asked
Magnus what happened. Magnus says they’re in his head and he wants
all three of them on his own next week (tonight). He’s icing his
knee but says it’s just tweeked.

EGO
vs. Magnus

It’s
a gauntlet match with Daniels up first. Magnus jumps Daniels in the
corner but Chris comes back with elbows to the neck. Daniels gets
shouldered down and asks for a breather, only to get kicked in the
ribs for his efforts. Chris goes to the throat to slow the Brit down
before bulldogging him throat first on the top rope. We hit the
chinlock for a bit before Daniels can’t hit Angel’s Wings. Magnus
comes back with a clothesline but jumps into the Koji Clutch. He’s
right next to the ropes though so Daniels goes up for the BME, only
to land on Magnus’ bad leg. The Falcon’s Arrow eliminates Daniels at
3:55.

Kazarian
is up next and Magnus doesn’t wait for him to get to the ring. We
take a break and come back with Kazarian raking the eyes to escape a
press slam. A dropkick puts Magnus down again for two but he comes
back with right hands out of the corner. Magnus punches him down and
drops the top rope elbow for two. He goes up but gets kicked in the
chest, only to roll through Fade to Black into the Cloverleaf for the
submission at 12:37 total.

Last
up is Bobby Roode but Kaz clips Magnus’ knee and crunches it in
between his own legs. Roode goes after the leg as we take a break.
Back with Roode still working on the knee like a smart heel would.
Roode can’t get a figure four, allowing Magnus to fight up and hit
another Falcon’s Arrow for a quick two. He tries the Cloverleaf
again but can’t sit down on it like he should.

Bobby
punches at the bad leg to escape but gets shoved off during a
superplex attempt. Magnus misses the top rope elbow and gets caught
in the Crossface. Just as he’s about to make the rope, Roode pulls
him back and puts on an ankle lock with a grapevine for the
submission at 23:08.

Rating:
B-. This match was more long
than good but the idea was right. You can’t have Magnus beat all
three guys in a row on a bad leg so the ending was the right call.
This came off a bit like Benoit vs. Angle at the 2003 Rumble where
Benoit didn’t so much get beat as much as he got caught. Very good
showing by Magnus here which is what he needed at this point.

Magnus
is mad post match but here’s Sting with something to say. The Brit
won’t listen to reason so Sting says let’s go to the back and talk
about this. Magnus says no with all due respect because he’s had
enough. He says everyone in the Mafia sees something in him but it’s
not really there. Sting, Joe and Kurt all passed the challenges
given to him but Magnus has failed every time.

Sting
tries to calm him down but Magnus says he doesn’t need another pep
talk. Magnus says this is a results driven business but he’s not
getting the results. Sting talks about needing the one big match and
he got it with Ric Flair but Magnus cuts him off. He saw the Flair
match with his own eyes and has been watching Sting his whole career.
Magnus was one step away from Bound For Glory but now who puts him
on the map? Sting says he’ll do it at BFG and they shake hands.

Aries
has a present for Hogan too: vegan vitamins. Maybe even a prayer or
two would help Hogan make the right decision. Aries talks about
Hogan doing the right thing over his entire career and says tonight
is all black and white.

Video
on Hogan’s history in TNA.

Sabin
won’t be at ringside for Velvet’s match tonight because he has to
focus on his match at Bound For Glory.

We
recap the gauntlet match.

EGO
celebrates their win by singing their version of Roode’s theme song.
They’re happy because Magnus is off somewhere crying. Also Roode is
going to be the first inductee into the EGO Hall of Fame with the
ceremony next week. It’s going to be a black tie affair with
everyone dressed to the nines. Kaz: “Let’s make it to the tens!”

Brooke
Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky

Winner
gets a title shot at BFG. Before the match here’s Lei’D Tapa to
destroy Velvet so no match.

We
get our first clip of Ethan who appears to be at a Hollywood store
shopping but doesn’t seem impressed. We can’t see his face.

We
recap Gunner and Storm’s run as tag champions.

Bound
for Glory card.

Video
on Angle’s career.

Samoa
Joe vs. Bully Ray

Joe
is apparently one of AJ’s Band of Brothers, because if there’s one
thing TNA needs it’s another group. They shove each other around to
start with Ray running his mouth too much and getting shoved out of
the corner. Joe pounds away in the corner but misses a knee drop,
only to put on the standing choke. Ray escapes and grabs the chain,
only to have Hebner take it away so Ray can hit the Samoan low.

Back
with Ray clotheslining Joe down but missing an elbow drop to give Joe
a breather. Joe comes back with a kick to the face and a middle rope
kick to the chest for two. The referee gets crushed in the corner as
Joe hooks up the Clutch. Ray taps but there’s no referee, so
naturally he lets go of the hold. Ray gets the chain around his hand
and hits a middle rope ax handle, only to get caught for the DQ at
10:20.

Rating:
D+. This didn’t have time to go
anywhere and I have no idea what it was supposed to accomplish. Ray
taps out and then loses on a DQ, so what in the world does this do
for Bound For Glory? Nothing match here which is the last thing they
needed to do for the world title match.

Post
match Ray shoves the referee and sends Joe into the announce table.
He pulls back the mats for a piledriver on the floor but AJ makes the
save and celebrates with the fans.

Here’s
Dixie to tell us we don’t know anything about business. Hulk Hogan
however does know a little bit about it so please come out here and
let’s take care of this. Hogan looks annoyed as Dixie says she can
take him to the next level. He thanks her for the watch and talks
about always wanting to be part of a power couple in this business.
While it’s an amazing offer, he’s quitting. Hogan throws down the
mic and walks away, leaving Dixie on her knees begging, because you
can’t have Hogan on a wrestling show without worshiping him right?

Overall
Rating: C-. This show did a
good job of filling out the Bound For Glory card, but as usual
there’s WAY too much of a focus on Hogan. Ray vs. Styles got its
first bit of development and it lasted about five minutes before we
got back to Dixie vs. Hogan for the REAL story. Hogan left but I’ll
believe it’s for real when he’s not at Bound For Glory or the Impact
taping after. Just like lat year the world title isn’t the focus of
the show at all but in this case there isn’t another match to focus
on which is making these final shows really dull to sit through. The
lack of Aces and 8’s helped a bit though.

Results

Manik/Jeff
Hardy b. Chris Sabin/Kenny King – Swanton Bomb to King

EGO
b. Magnus – Ankle lock

Samoa
Joe b. Bully Ray via DQ when Ray hit Joe with a chain

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

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Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – September 26, 2013

By Scott Keith on 26th September 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
September 26, 2013

Location:
Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We’re
less than a month away from the biggest show of the year and somehow
the top heel is Dixie Carter. Bully Ray is busy with the rejects
known as Aces and 8’s while AJ Styles is being called Mr. Marginal by
a woman famous for having a husband named Surge and tweeting a lot.
But remember, everything is FINE in this company. Let’s get to it.

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

Dixie
Carter arrives and blows Sting off, basically telling him to stay out
of her business.

Here
are Bully and Brooke to get things going. Bully says it’s not easy
to take the words out of his mouth but Dixie did it last week. He’s
been up every night wondering how he can beat AJ Styles since AJ won
the Series. Now it doesn’t matter though as Dixie is inside AJ’s
head. AJ should be kissing the ground Dixie walks on for making him
phenomenal. Ray stops to ask if we know who he is and here are the
remaining Aces and 8’s.

Knux
does the talking and says the same thing he said last week: Ray needs
to stop thinking about his ho and start thinking about his bros. Ray
says he’s the president and the rest of their patches should just say
lackey. They need to fall in line and remember what he did to the
former members of this club. Tonight it’s Main Event Mafia vs. the
three of them and if an Ace loses, they’re out of the club.

Joseph
Park is shaving while singing Sweet Caroline when Eric Young and ODB
come in. Eric says Park needs to use a safety razor to prevent the
civilians in the back.

Bro
Mans/Gail Kim vs. ODB/Eric Young/Joseph Park

This
is a result of Robbie getting beaten by both Young and Park in a
combined 12 seconds last week. The girls start but it’s off to
Robbie vs. Joseph before there’s any contact. Robbie can’t slam
Joseph so Park slams him down for one instead. Jesse and Gail slow
Joseph down before the Mans send him into the buckle. Jesse hits a
good looking dropkick and avoids a seated senton from the big man.
Robbie’s middle rope elbow gets two but Park comes back with
something resembling a Samoan drop.

The
referee misses the hot tag to Eric and it’s Gail in to get in some
cheap shots. Back to the guys who are clotheslined down by Joseph,
allowing for the hot tag to Eric for some house cleaning. Everything
breaks down and ODB sends Gail to the ramp. Robbie pulls back to hit
ODB so she shoves his face into her chest. Eric hits a Death Valley
Driver on Jesse, setting up a middle rope splash from Park, a top
rope elbow from Eric and a splash from ODB for the pin at 6:26.

Rating:
D. WAY too long here for the
story they were telling as there was nothing going on out there.
Park cleaned house, Park got beaten down, Park made the hot tag, ODB
breast joke, pin. Somehow that took nearly seven minutes to get
through. I’m over the in your face comedy stuff with ODB, Park and
Young but they’re clearly not going anywhere.

Austin
Aries says he’ll explain his future plans in the ring.

Hulk
Hogan says he’ll fix everything.

Here’s
Aries with something to say. He says it was just a year ago when he
was headlining Bound For Glory and even though he’s not doing that
this year, he’s still the main eventer. This brings out…..Kenny
King? Kenny says he’s tired of hearing everything Aries is talking
about when it was Kenny King making headlines last year when he
became X-Division Champion. Then the headlines changed to King being
ripped off by Frail Sabin. He was ready to get his belt back but
then someone got in the Manik costume and stole the X-Division Title.

That
would be Austin Aries, who hasn’t been the future or Generation Next
(ROH reference) in about ten years. Now it’s Kenny King’s time but
Aries cuts to the chase by saying he’s ready right now. King says
that just like Hilary Clinton says before she takes her clothes off,
“you don’t want none of this”, before decking Aries. Austin
fights him off and says let’s do it right now so here’s a referee.
Aries doesn’t wait and dives at King on the ramp to start the match
after a break.

Austin
Aries vs. Kenny King

Back
with Aries pounding away on the floor before heading back inside,
only to be taken down by a leg drop and caught with a jumping elbow
in the corner. King is busted open BAD, likely off something on the
floor. Aries comes back with chops and an atomic drop before rolling
over King’s back to set up a release STO. The pendulum elbow but
King spins out of the brainbuster. Aries loads up the 450 but King
comes back with a super Tazplex for two. Austin shrugs it off and
hits the running dropkick and the brainbuster for the pin at 5:00.

Rating:
C. This was fine with both guys
getting to show off a bit out there. I’m getting curious as to what
Aries is going to do at the PPV as he really doesn’t have anything
going on right now, though that could be said about a lot of big
names. King could be worth something in the X-Division if there was
enough competition to fight him.

Lei’D
Tapa is coming. It still should have been Ivelisse.

Chris
Sabin brags to Austin Aries about being greater than the greatest man
that ever lived. Velvet still looks uncomfortable. Sabin and Velvet
leaves and Aries says he’d like to test Sabin’s theory.

We
recap the end of Ray/Aces and 8’s from earlier.

The
Mafia is getting ready but Magnus is frustrated by EGO. Sting tells
him to calm down and focus on the bikers tonight.

We
get a quick recap of AJ vs. Dixie from last week.

Here’s
Hogan to make everything better while also taking a bunch of money
and not really improving anything. Hogan talks about being here for
about four years now and being GM, meaning he’s in charge of the day
to day operations of this show. You never air your dirty laundry in
public, and that’s what’s happening with Dixie and AJ. The fans seem
to think AJ Styles should stick around and Hogan wants AJ out here to
hear that himself. No one comes out so Hogan says we’ll do this
later.

Kurt
Angle is back at BFG.

Someone
named ETHAN is coming.

X-Division
Title: Manik vs. Chris Sabin

Manik
is defending and gets a quick two off a cross body. Sabin jumps over
him in the corner but goes down grabbing his knee. Sabin limps
around the ring and leans on Velvet for help, allowing Manik to
become the stupidest man in wrestling by falling for it. The
distraction lets Sabin pop up to the apron and kick Manik in the face
to take over. Back in and Manik jumps over Sabin in the corner
before putting on something like a Sharpshooter’s mentally disabled
cousin.

A
middle rope missile dropkick staggers Chris before Manik busts out
kicking combination #6 and a standing flip attack gets two. Velvet’s
distraction lets Chris get two off a rollup but Manik catapults Chris
into the corner. Back to the same leg lock from earlier from the
champion but Chris reaches out for the ropes, only to grab Velvet’s
hands. He drags her inside but the distraction lets Manik counter a
rollup into a pinning combination for the pin at 5:43.

Rating:
C+. I just don’t get the appeal
of Manik. He’s fine in the ring and does some nice stuff but I don’t
get his popularity. The leg stuff was smart here and it furthered
Sabin’s heel turn, but the match wasn’t much better than average.
Also, wasn’t Jeff Hardy involved in this feud?

Sabin
pounds on Manik until Aries makes the save. Velvet looks shocked at
what Chris was doing.

Garrett
Bischoff tells Aces and 8’s to keep it together. Knux is ready to
go.

Kurt
Angle is still back at BFG. That hasn’t changed in the last 20
minutes. Here’s the same video in case you were confused though.

EGO
thinks they should be in the Hall of Fame and suggest they should
make sure Magnus loses again tonight. Bad Intentions laughs
maniacally but Roode just stares at them, refusing to join in.
Daniels: “That’s how villains laugh. Come on Bobby.” Roode
walks away. Funny stuff.

Main
Event Mafia vs. Aces and 8’s

If
the Aces lose, whomever loses the fall is gone. Magnus pounds away
on Knux to start but Garrett comes in to be suplexed. Knux and
Brisco immediately dive in for the save and everything breaks down.
Cue EGO to beat up Magnus who is left holding his knee as, making it
3-2 for the time being.

Back
with Sting still in trouble and Magnus not on the apron. Knux chokes
on Sting a bit and it’s off to Brisco for a chinlock. Sting finally
fights up and dropkicks Wes down and there’s the hot tag to Joe as
the Aces are all taken down. The backsplash gets two on Brisco and
everything breaks down. The Stinger Splash crushes the bikers and
there’s the Clutch on Brisco for the submission at 10:07.

Rating:
C. The match was ok but it
illustrates the problem with the remaining bikers: even with an
advantage they were trampled by a pair of former world champions.
Why would anyone care if Brisco is gone? He’s done nothing at all
and is just another lackey. The match was fine but the conclusion
was never in doubt other than which Ace took the fall.

Post
match Ray comes out and demands Wes’ cut but he won’t give it up.
The fans chant NO, so Bully orders Garrett and Knux to take the cut
off of Wes. They hesitate so Ray yells at them and lays out Wes
himself with a clothesline and a piledriver. They’re told to take
the cut off again or Ray will piledriver Brisco a second time. Knux
and Bischoff begrudgingly do what Ray says. Bischoff holds the cut
out to Ray but Bully wants Knux to hand it to him. Ray tells Knux to
not let the people get in his head before handing him the cut. Knux
and Bischoff pick up Brisco….and we need to watch Hogan walking in
the back.

Hogan
is in the ring to call out AJ with his double theme music. Hogan has
a long term contract for AJ to sign but AJ doesn’t look happy. He
picks up the pen and finally signs, saying he’s TNA’s. This brings
out an overly smiley Dixie Carter who talks about why she signed
Hulk. He was brought in to open doors and that’s exactly what he
did. She’s very grateful but Hogan is just an employee. Dixie makes
fun of AJ Styles’ accent and rips up the contract, telling AJ can get
out of his ring.

AJ
leaves so Dixie goes on a rant about how no one knows how tough she
has it. She knows how tough it is because she’s in the 1% of people
that get to make decisions like she does. Yes, they’re seriously
going with this story. Hogan now has a week to fall in line and join
Team Dixie or else.

Overall
Rating: C. I liked the show for
the most part tonight as the middle of the BFG card is starting to
come into focus. The elimination of an Ace is always a good thing as
they’ve been around for about a year too long at this point. The
Dixie/AJ/Hogan stuff makes me roll my eyes but at this point it’s
hard to complain about anything not named Aces and 8’s. Decent, but
not great show this week.

Results

ODB/Eric
Young/Joseph Park b. Bro Mans/Gail Kim – Splash to Jesse

Austin
Aries b. Kenny King – Brainbuster

Manik
b. Chris Sabin – Rollup

Main
Event Mafia b. Aces and 8’s – Koquina Clutch to Brisco

Remember
to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up my new
e-book of Monday Nitro Reviews Volume I at Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FF492XM

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

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Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – September 19, 2013

By Scott Keith on 19th September 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
September 19, 2013

Location:
Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We’re
officially heading towards Bound For Glory with AJ Styles as the #1
contender to Bully Ray’s title. The main story for tonight though is
AJ having something to say to Dixie Carter’s face, which sounds to me
like a war is about to start. Other than that we’re likely to get
the start of the build towards Bound For Glory, which isn’t really
clear aside from the world title. Let’s get to it.

Magnus
is annoyed that he lost last week when Roode comes up to say it was
all the Brit’s fault. EGO comes in and beats Magnus down.

We
recap last week’s events.

Here’s
Magnus to get us going. He talks about being sore from the end of
the Bound For Glory Series, but the only thing he can think about is
EGO. Magnus thinks the crowd wants nothing to do with them because
this is Mafia country. He issues an open challenge to Kaz, Daniels
or Roode for a fight right now. Kaz hits the ring but gets stomped
down into the corner, only to have Daniels come in from behind to
start the double team. Magnus fights them both off and stomps
Daniels, only to have Roode make it 3-1. Sting and Joe come out for
the save, followed by Sting making a six man tag for later tonight.

Video
on AJ vs. Magnus from last week.

Chris
Sabin congratulates Manik on challenging Hardy while talking down to
him at the same time.

Manik
vs. Jeff Hardy

Non-title.
Sabin and Velvet Sky come out to watch the match. Feeling out
process to start with both guys working on a wristlock. They head to
the outside with Hardy hitting a clothesline off the apron before
missing the slingshot dropkick back inside. Manik drops Hardy into
619 position before hitting a dropkick to the side of the head to
take him down. A missile dropkick misses though and Jeff comes back
with the Whisper in the Wind for two. Manik hits a fireman’s carry
into a kick to Jeff’s head for two of his own but Jeff blocks a
neckbreaker out of the corner. There’s the Twist and the Swanton
pins Manik at 4:00.

Rating:
C. I might be alone in this,
but I don’t get the appeal of Manik. He’s not bad or anything but I
don’t see the huge appeal of what he does. I won’t say he’s generic
in the ring or anything like that, but I’ve yet to be excited when I
hear he’s on the card. Also did we really need to see him get beaten
clean in four minutes? At least it was to a bigger star though.

Post
match Hardy shakes Manik’s hand but Sabin turns heel by jumping Manik
from behind.

Dixie
has no comment on AJ.

Sabin
says Manik is disrespectful and that no one can fill his shoes. He’s
going to make the fans respect him.

Knockouts
Title: ODB vs. Mickie James

Mickie
is defending. ODB easily turns back a sneak attack and pounds away
on Mickie but gets dropkicked down for two. Mickie charges into an
elbow in the corner but she pulls ODB down off the middle rope to
take over. A spear puts Mickie down for two more and there’s the
fall away slam to send Mickie to the floor. She wants a timeout but
trips ODB up, catching her inside the ring skirt as we take a break.

Back
with Mickie getting two off a neckbreaker and catching a charging ODB
with a boot to the jaw. A hurricanrana out of the corner is
countered into an ODB powerbomb to put both girls down. They slug it
out with ODB taking over and putting Mickie down with a clothesline.
Back up and a suplex is good for two on the champion but she catches
ODB with a spinning kick to the face to take over again. Mickie
loads up a tornado DDT out of the corner, only to have ODB counter it
into the Bam for the pin and the title at 10:55.

Rating:
C-. The match was ok but how
many times can we have the same pairings over and over again in this
division? Mickie is apparently leaving after this match, so who in
the world is ODB supposed to fight now? Velvet? Brooke? Are either
of them even active wrestlers at this point?

Eric
Young and Joseph Park (sipping chocolate milk) come out to celebrate
but the Bro Mans have something to say. Robbie calls it the weirdest
threeway in history but Joseph Park goes off on them, saying they’re
embarrassments. If he wasn’t wearing a suit right now, he’d be ready
for a fight. Eric says he’s not in a suit so let’s have a match.

Eric
Young vs. Robbie E

Eric
wins in 6 seconds with a rollup.

Robbie
wants Park and calls him an unpleasant name, ticking Joseph off. The
match is after a break.

Robbie
E vs. Joseph Park

Park
wins in 6 seconds with a rollup.

The
Bro Mans beat up Eric and send Park into the steps, blood is drawn,
Park goes Abyss and cleans house. Park really should see a doctor
about how easily he bleeds. That can’t be good.

Video
on Bully Ray vs. Anderson from last week with Anderson being
piledriven on the stage to write him off TV.

We
look at AJ vs. Magnus again.

Here
are the Aces and 8’s for the first time tonight. Brooke is in chaps,
half a swimsuit and is being pulled along by a chain. Not exactly PG
but it’s working to say the least. Ray says this is a great night,
even though Anderson isn’t there. The champ asks the people if they
know who he is. He’s Bully Ray if you weren’t clear, and there’s
nothing anyone can do about it.

Ray
says he has to thank someone special, which winds up being Brooke.
He couldn’t have kept the title without her but the guys aren’t happy
with that idea. Wes and Garrett complain about this because they’ve
been with Ray since day one. Ever since Brooke came along, the
champ’s priorities have been way out of whack. Ray says he loves
Bischoff but shoves him into the corner, telling him to never stand
up to Ray again. If they stand up to him again, Ray will slap them
in the face.

Knux
asks if that goes for him too because he’s been here for a year and a
half. Ray has a big mouth and maybe Knux is the man to shut it for
him. After a year and a half they had 25 members or so but now it’s
just 4. The club is falling apart and for what? Club business?
It’s been Bully Ray business for a year because Ray is breaking the
first rule of the club: bros before hoes. Ray shoves Knux away but
bails when Knux steps up to him.

Sting
says the Mafia is down to three with Angle gone and Rampage training,
so Magnus needs to stay focused. Joe says it’s time for revenge and
Magnus is ready to go.

Chavo
Guerrero/Hernandez vs. Gunner/James Storm

If
Chavo/Hernandez win, they get a title shot, presumably at BFG. Chavo
says he isn’t cleared to wrestle tonight so it’s Hernandez against
Gunner instead.

Hernandez
vs. Gunner

Hernandez
runs Gunner over to start and drapes him ribs first over the top
rope. The over the shoulder backbreaker gets two on Gunner and
Hernandez hits the run down the running dive from the ramp to the
ring for two. Gunner counters a suplex into a slingshot suplex to
put Hernandez down again. A slam puts SuperMex down and Sheamus’
Irish Curse (Rock Bottom backbreaker) is good for the pin for Gunner
at 4:17.

Rating:
D+. This wasn’t awful actually
but I have zero interest in seeing Chavo and Hernandez on the same
planet, let alone on the same team, ever again. They’re just not
interesting at all and they never have been. Nothing much to see
here, but it would imply another team gets the shot at BFG, thank
goodness.

EGO
vs. Main Event Mafia

Daniels
pounds away on Joe in the corner to start but charges into a Rock
Bottom out of the corner. Off to Kazarian who has about as much luck
with Joe chopping him into the corner and walking away from the cross
body out of the corner. Magnus gets the tag and hits a modified Hart
Attack for two on Kaz. Sting comes in and sends Kaz into the steps
as the dominance continues. An atomic drop has Kaz in trouble but
EGO double teams to take over as we go to a break.

Back
with Sting fighting out of a headlock but getting clotheslined down
for two. Daniels hooks a chinlock and stops a Sting comeback,
allowing a slingshot legdrop from Kaz to get two. We get the always
fun spot of Sting powering over to the corner but EGO distracting the
referee so the tag isn’t seen, keeping Sting in trouble. Sting
finally gets over for the hot tag and brings in Magnus as house is
cleaned.

Sting
is back in to take out Bad Intentions with a double clothesline but
Roode grabs a DDT to put him back down. Joe comes in with his snap
mare to set up Magnus’ elbow for two as Daniels save. I actually
thought that was it. Joe hits the suicide elbow to take out Kaz but
Daniels’ charge is caught in a Sting backdrop. The Stinger Splash
sets up the Deathlock, only to have Roode grab the ball bat. Magnus
takes the shot for Sting, allowing Roode to get the pin at 14:30.

Rating:
C+. This started off looking
like it was a thrown on main event but there were some awesome false
finishes in there that had me actually surprised. The two stables
fighting up to BFG is better than what it could have been with Mafia
vs. Aces, but I don’t like them pushing the idea of Magnus being on a
losing streak. That’s a step backwards for him.

Here’s
AJ’s big speech to Dixie. He talks about how he’s been here since
day one to try to make this an alternative for people who wanted to
see wrestling. Then one day Dixie Carter’s dad bought her a
wrestling company with no experience or effort at all. Then Dixie
started bringing in MMA guys and people who wanted a two year
vacation before going back to where they came from.

It’s
because of stuff like that that people like Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal
and Low Ki aren’t here anymore and it’s why the X-Division guys have
all left. Not that it matters as no one in the back respects Dixie
anyway. Despite what the internet says, he doesn’t have a contract
right now. There’s one guy of the TNA originals left and he’s going
to win the world title at Bound For Glory so he can make Dixie Carter
beg and then pay.

This
brings out a sad Dixie who says AJ must mean everything he says. As
president of the company, she has to be accountable to everyone from
the investors to the fans to AJ. She owes him an apology….for
letting him stay around as long as she did. He’s just a fish in a
pond that’s way too big for him and the Phenomenal One is a marketing
gimmick she created.

She
can’t remember the last five star match AJ had and with everything
he’s done in front of and behind the camera, he’s lucky to even be
the marginal one. Without Dixie’s dad’s paycheck, AJ would be living
in a trailer. She owns the house that AJ Styles built and he’s lucky
to have ever played in it. Dixie goes to leave and AJ tells her to
put the mic where it belongs. She grabs a headset and says cut off
his mic and cut the lights because the show is over at 10:58.

Overall
Rating: C. This show started
the build for Bound For Glory which is a good thing as there was only
one match established. However, the Dixie stuff makes me cringe as
it looks like it sets up a power struggle between Hogan and Dixie
which is about as uninteresting an idea as I can think of. Still
though, some good stuff here tonight mixed with story development is
a good thing so this show passes well enough.

Results

Jeff
Hardy b. Manik – Swanton Bomb

ODB
b. Mickie James – The Bam

Eric
Young b. Robbie E – Rollup

Joseph
Park b. Robbie E – Rollup

Gunner
b. Hernandez – Rock Bottom backbreaker

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Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – September 13, 2013

By Scott Keith on 12th September 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
September 12, 2013

Location:
Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

It’s
yet another special tonight with No Surrender, which is a pretty
meaningless name since none of the matches have anything to do with
surrendering or not surrendering. The card however is pretty big
with the semifinals and I believe the finals of the BFG Series.
Given hos screwed up this Series has been though, they might find a
way to hold the finals of the Bound For Glory Series after Bound For
Glory. We also have Anderson challenging Bully Ray for the world
title. Let’s get to it.

We
see the four finalists arriving before looking at a video of all four
guys saying what this means to them.

We
also get a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald about fighting families to
hype up Anderson vs. Ray.

Here
are Ray and Tessmacher to open things up. Ray talks about how his
family haven’t been seeing eye to eye as of late and blames it on
Hulk Hogan. This brings out Hogan in a blue shirt to talk about
quivering livers and thanks SpikeTV for letting us have this big show
for free. Hogan says Ray needs to be getting ready for his showdown
with Anderson and not even think about Bound For Glory yet. Ray
wants Anderson out here right now to say it to his face so here’s
Ken, though he passes Hogan’s outstretched arm.

Ray
says the Aces and 8’s are stronger than Hogan will ever been. All
Anderson has to do is apologize and this all ends. Anderson says Ray
is right and that he was out of line…..and he can’t wait to get out
of line again tonight. He decks Ray to send him to the floor and
says he’ll be the new world champion tonight. Hogan says the title
match is a last man standing match for absolutely no apparent reason.

Bound
For Glory Series Semifinals: Austin Aries vs. AJ Styles

It’s
win or go home here as the points are officially a non-factor now.
Feeling out process to start with Aries dropkicking AJ to the floor
and dropping him with a top rope ax handle. Back inside and Aries
misses a missile dropkick so AJ takes him down with a dropkick of his
own. Aries bails to the floor but he avoids a slingshot plancha from
AJ. Austin loads up the suicide dive but charges into an AJ forearm
to put him down. They head back inside to fight over a suplex and we
take a break.

Back
with Aries still trying to hit the brainbuster but opting for some
shots to the head instead. AJ comes back with some forearms and his
AA into a backbreaker for two. Styles loads up the Clash but Aries
grabs the rope to escape. Now the slingshot plancha takes Austin out
but he manages to break up the Superman forearm, knocking Styles face
first into the apron.

Aries
loads up another suicide dive but AJ pops back in with the forearm,
though Aries stopping in place so the move could connect looked bad.
Another Styles Clash attempt is countered into a hurricanrana but AJ
gets a boot up in the corner to block a running dropkick. That’s
fine with Aries as he hits it in the other corner instead. AJ blocks
the brainbuster again but just like the dropkick, the second attempt
connects for two.

There’s
the Last Chancery but AJ won’t tap so Aries pounds in knees to the
head. AJ avoids the 450 but Aries lands on his feet. A running
dropkick misses and Aries lands on the ropes, allowing AJ to hit the
Pele to stun him. AJ goes to the ropes for a middle rope Styles
Clash to send him to the finals at 15:38.

Rating:
B+. This was FUN as both guys
countered everything until Aries couldn’t get past the huge arsenal
of Styles in the end. That middle rope Styles Clash looked great and
there was no way he could kick out of it. Aries will have a big
match at BFG and he’ll deserve it, but AJ was just a step better
here.

Sting
gives Magnus a pep talk and the Brit says he’s tired of being the
future.

Bound
For Glory Series Semifinals: Bobby Roode vs. Magnus

Roode
gets a jobber entrance and Magnus is back in the shorts instead of
the tights. Bobby must be ticked off at the lack of respect because
he jumps Magnus from behind and takes it to the floor to send Magnus
into the barricade. Back in and a quick belly to back suplex gets
two for Roode and a regular suplex gets the same. We hit the
chinlock as this has been one sided so far.

Back
up and Magnus blocks an O’Connor Roll and takes Roode down with a
forearm. He catches Roode diving off the ropes in a very modified
Falcon’s Arrow for two but Roode goes to the eyes. There’s the
spinebuster for two on Magnus but the Brit breaks up a superplex and
hits the top rope elbow for two. Roode can’t hook the crossface and
gets caught in a Texas Cloverleaf but Roode finally makes the rope.
Back up and Magnus blocks a fisherman’s suplex into a jackknife cover
for the pin at 7:00.

Rating:
C. This was ok but nothing more
than that. Magnus got beaten up too much in the beginning and it
made the comeback better, but Roode tapping out would have been
better. Magnus looked like he couldn’t win with a big move and had
to steal a win instead of looking dominant. Still though, not bad
and it got the job done.

Roode
is freaking out when Bad Influence comes in to calm him down. Bobby
blames Hogan and says if he can’t go to the finals, no one is.

Hogan
gives Manik a pep talk. Manik wants a shot at Jeff Hardy tonight and
his wish is granted. Dixie comes in and asks to talk to Hogan alone.
Apparently Rampage and Tito are off the show for fear of the
November 2 PPV getting messed up.

Ray
doesn’t know what’s happening to Aces and 8’s but he thinks the
cronies want Anderson to be President and world champion. He yells
at Knux, Brisco and Bischoff, saying he did everything and brought
Anderson into the fold. Ray thinks they’ll do the right thing and
hopes they feel the same way about him.

We
recap Anderson vs. Ray, which is due to Ray blaming Anderson for
losing the title to Sabin. Ray then said Tito Ortiz was the only man
he needed and Anderson was annoyed at Ray acting like a dictator.

TNA
World Title: Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray

Last
man standing with Ray defending. Anderson jumps Ray on the ramp to
start and takes Ray into the ring for a whip into the corner. The
champion is sent back to the floor as this is one sided so far. Ray
is sent into the announce table and barricade so he hides behind
Christy, complete with Hemme’s top opening (it’s similar to Lita’s
outfits in the Rated R Superstar era) but the power of tape saving
her.

Bully
gets in a cheap shot and sends Anderson into the steps before asking
Brooke for a chair. It takes forever to get there and Anderson gets
in a shot to the ribs to take the chair away. He blasts the champion
in the back and pounds him back into the ring. Ray goes up but gets
hit low, allowing Anderson to hit a rolling senton. The fans are
COMPLETELY behind Anderson here and him telling himself to get the
tables makes them cheer even louder. Even Tenay is cheering for
Anderson.

Ray
takes him down with a boot to the face and gets in a chair shot of
his own. The table is set up in the corner as we take a break. Back
with Ray yelling at Hebner but Earl yells right back at him, looking
like a heart attack is imminent. Ray shoves him into the buckle to
knock him out but walks into a Mic Check onto the chair to lay him
out. There’s no referee though so Ray gets up and hits a Bully
Cutter to lay both guys down.

Cue
Bischoff, Brisco and Knux to stare at Ray before stalking Anderson.
Before they touch him, Brooke comes in with a low blow. Ray bosses
them around and a Shield TripleBomb lays Anderson out. Ray helps
Hebner up but Anderson is up at nine. Anderson comes back with right
hands but Ray drops him. Why the referee isn’t counting Anderson
when he’s down is anyone’s guess. Ray knocks Anderson out with the
chain, drawing blood. Anderson makes it up to his feet AGAIN but
staggers in front of the table in the corner. A spear through the
table is enough to retain the title at 17:30.

Rating:
B. This match did something
that is the best sign you can have in wrestling: they had me
believing that something was possible when there was no way it was
going to happen. The crowd was WAY into Anderson here and that’s a
good sign for TNA. They need some fresh blood at the top and it’s
been awhile since Anderson was up there. Good stuff here but the
crowd carried a lot of it.

Anderson
is taken out on a stretcher but Ray chases him down and rips the cut
off his back. A piledriver on the stage gets rid of Anderson,
probably until BFG.

ODB
is excited about the change to be Knocked Up Champion next week.

Here
are Storm and Gunner with something to say. Storm wants to drink and
Gunner wants to fight so why not do both things? James wants some
opponents so here are Chavo and Hernandez. Chavo talks about how
Storm is the second greatest tag team wrestler in TNA and how Gunner
is the second strongest man in TNA. Guerrero wants a match so Gunner
accepts it for next week. If the non Champions win, they get a title
shot.

Bound
For Glory Series Finals: Magnus vs. AJ Styles

Winner
gets Bully at Bound For Glory. AJ takes it to the mat with a
headlock takeover and does it again since it worked so well the first
time. Magnus comes back with a quick suplex and we hit the chinlock.
Back up and AJ drop toeholds Magnus into the buckle as Tenay runs
down a Bellator card. They slug it out with AJ taking over but
Magnus avoids a knee drop. AJ does the same with an elbow drop and
gets two off a small package. Cue EGO to attack both guys at about
4:30 to lay everyone out. The bell never rang to end the match.
Referee come out to break it up as we take a break.

Back
from a break with the two guys slugging it out. No explanation, no
restart, no Hogan announcement. Nothing at all as the match just
keeps going which is probably the right idea. AJ wins a slugout but
Magnus blocks the Superman Forearm before getting two off a Falcon’s
Arrow. AJ counters the Cloverleaf into Undertaker’s Hell’s Gate but
he has to raise his shoulder to avoid being pinned and the hold is
broken.

The
Pele gets two on Magnus and there’s the Calf Killer but Magnus hangs
on forever and finally makes the rope. Back up and Magnus counters a
spinwheel kick into a spinebuster for two. Magnus loads up a
superplex but AJ knocks him down three times in a row. The Spiral
Tap is enough to send AJ to Bound For Glory at 15:11.

Rating:
B. The EGO thing was completely
unnecessary but the match was solid either way. Did anyone really
think this wasn’t how the Series was going to end though? That’s the
one thing TNA needs to work on: telegraphing their major moments.
The Series seemed tailor made for Styles to win from day one and
that’s exactly what happened. Still though, very good showing from
Magnus and that’s what he needed here.

AJ
thanks the fans and Magnus, seemingly reaffirming his face status.
He got a lot of replies about what he said a few weeks ago, but he
didn’t hear from Dixie Carter. Dixie needs to be here next week
because AJ has a lot to say to her.

Overall
Rating: A-. Questionable ending
aside, this was a great show. When TNA cuts out most of the
nonsense, they have the ability to put on some very entertaining
shows. The problem is most of their regular shows just aren’t that
good and you can really see that when they give an effort like they
do on these specials. BFG is set though and that’s the good thing,
even though the main story has been Hogan vs. Ray for months now.

Results

AJ
Styles b. Austin Aries – Middle rope Styles Clash

Magnus
b. Bobby Roode – Jackknife pin

Bully
Ray b. Mr. Anderson – Spear through a table

AJ
Styles b. Magnus – Spiral Tap

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Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – August 29, 2013

By Scott Keith on 29th August 2013

Impact
Wrestling

Date:
August 29, 2013

Location:
Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz

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

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

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

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

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

Hulk
Hogan arrives.

Here
are the BFG Series standings coming into tonight.

1.
Magnus – 39

2.
Bobby Roode – 34

3.
Christopher Daniels – 30

4.
Austin Aries – 28

5.
Samoa Joe – 26

6.
Mr. Anderson – 24

6.
Jeff Hardy – 24

8.
AJ Styles – 22

8.
Kazarian – 22

10.
Joseph Park – 17

11.
Hernandez – 7

11.
Jay Bradley – 7

Remember
only the top 4 advance.

Bound
For Glory Series: Kazarian vs. Jeff Hardy

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

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

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

That
puts Hardy at 31 points and into third place.

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

Gail
Kim vs. ODB

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We
recap the ten man tag from last week.

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

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

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

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

Bound
For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode

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

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

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

Hogan
is going to talk after the main event.

Bound
For Glory Series: Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels

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

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

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

Here
are the final standings:

1.
Magnus – 39

2.
Austin Aries – 35

3.
Bobby Roode – 34

4.
Jeff Hardy – 31

5.
Christopher Daniels – 30

6.
AJ Styles – 29

7.
Samoa Joe – 26

8.
Mr. Anderson – 24

9.
Kazarian – 22

10.
Joseph Park – 17

11.
Hernandez – 7

11.
Jay Bradley – 7

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

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

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

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

Results

Jeff
Hardy b. Kazarian – Swanton Bomb

ODB
b. Gail Kim – Texas Cloverleaf

AJ
Styles b. Bobby Roode – Small Package

Austin
Aries b. Christopher Daniels – Brainbuster

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Rants

Rants

Impact Wrestling – August 22, 2013

By Scott Keith on 22nd August 2013

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

Reviewed by Tommy Hall 

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

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

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

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

James
Storm/Gunner vs. Kazarian/Bobby Roode

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

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

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

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

Sonjay
Dutt vs. Manik

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

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

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

Mr.
Anderson gives the bikers a pep talk.

Sting
and the Mafia huddle.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ODB
vs. Gail Kim

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aces
and 8’s vs. Main Event Mafia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taz
is furious to end the show.

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

Results

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

Manik
b. Sonjay Dutt – Wheelbarrow gutbuster

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

Gail
Kim b. ODB – Crucifix

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

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