[Official] TNA TV Shows Aftermath, Review & Ratings Thread

[Jack-Hammer]

The point of my post...

Bobby fucking Roode had perhaps his best heel promo ever... with Hulk Hogan. I loved it. It was almost jaw dropping for me to see Roode basically put himself over Hogan in the live promo, so who knows how much it was scripted and wasn't when it's live.

But you got to love... I'M NOT FINISHED YET... as he yells to Hogan on 3 or 4 different times. Hogan just looking pissed, the crowd expecting something... they started Hogan chants everytime Roode stopped him. I especially loved when he grabbed Hogan and told Hogan to get the hell out of his ring... this was great... Hulk Hogan.. the gm.. the icon.. it doesn't matter.... Roode just layed down some gold.

Roode did cut a great promo. Unfortunately, by the end of the night, all the heat he'd garnered was oblieterated as Sting made him his bitch for the 2nd consecutive week. After Roode's promo on Hogan, Sting comes out and beats the crap out of him, including no selling most of the shots Roode landed. All the heat his great mic work had garnered was completely gone when Sting made Roode tap out for the 2nd time in as many weeks. It was in a six man tag match, but it still compounds the fact that Sting continues to get the best of Roode. At least TNA didn't take an even further step back by having Hogan join in on the fun of smacking Roode around as well.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

Roode did cut a great promo. Unfortunately, by the end of the night, all the heat he'd garnered was oblieterated as Sting made him his bitch for the 2nd consecutive week. After Roode's promo on Hogan, Sting comes out and beats the crap out of him, including no selling most of the shots Roode landed. All the heat his great mic work had garnered was completely gone when Sting made Roode tap out for the 2nd time in as many weeks. It was in a six man tag match, but it still compounds the fact that Sting continues to get the best of Roode. At least TNA didn't take an even further step back by having Hogan join in on the fun of smacking Roode around as well.

I get where your coming from, but I don't see it as much of a valid point. Sting no sells punches all the time, it's sort of his way of hulking up. Sting going over Roode? Why not? I think their trying to convince the audience that Roode doesn't stand a chance... as they have been doing... but then you know who's going to win. Roode is going to escape with the belt at Slammiversary. It sure would be pretty stupid if he didn't. So why would they put Roode over Sting on Impact and then again at Slammiversary... essentially squashing Sting.

I do think Sting's in ring work is even a little better as of recent than it has been in recent years. So I have no problem with Sting looking strong over Roode on Impact, because Roode's going over him at Slammy.

 

[GrandSword]

I thought it was one of the strongest Impacts in a long while, great show. Loved the Roode promo on Hogan and just look at who's in the main event. Daniels and Kazarian, showing they can mix it up with the big boys. Sting and Angle even though didn't really do too much as a team just looked like they belong as a team.

Aries looked great as always and although I don't like Crison, him being heel now has worked for him as now we have a reason to dislike him, not just because he sucks in the ring. Joe vs. Aries at Slammiversary will be awesome.

As for Sting looking too strong... I think it is fine. Sting is TNA's Undertaker. If The Undertaker walked out on Raw and challenged CM Punk, do any of us really think Punkwould beat him? Especially in a 6 man tag... I think it was booked just right. The fans got a happy ending to a great episode and the TNA originals all looked to be at the top of the card.

What about Daniels telling Dixie Carter to not put her hands on him and shoving her to the ground. Man I hope they keep investing in Daniels. He is awesome, and is slowly getting the push he has deserved for years now. I laugh when people on these boards say his mic skills have picked up. He has always had awesome mic skills,the company just never gave him a mic.

Strong momentum leading into Slammiversary X, as we are going to get some really good matches. The Tag title match and Joe/Aries are going to be matches of the night, with the players involved.

Who will be Crimson's mystery opponent? Maybe Matt Morgan returns??

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA Impact Wrestling - June 14, 2012

1. Austin Aries vs. Chris Sabin vs. Zema Ion in an Ultimate X Match for the TNA X Division Championship - Pretty decent match overall, but it definitely didn't have the feel of many of the older Ultimate X matches. There really weren't any crazy spots in the match, though some of the spots that did take place most definitely had that heavy choreographed feel to them. The timing was also off on a couple of spots, such as whatever Zema Ion was trying to do on the top at one point. It looked like he was waiting for someone to come up and stop him. You never got the sense that Aries was ever in any kind of trouble or his reign was in any danger. Aries winds up getting the win about the 7 minute mark after pulling the title down. **1/4

Austin Aries & Hulk Hogan - This was a really strong promo segment. Aries did well on the mic, nothing out of this world, but there was a lot of excitement here. Hogan came out and did a good job of putting over Aries. He laid it on a little thick at times, but better that than not putting him over nearly enough. Hogan announced an interesting hook for both next week & the Destination X ppv in which Hogan offers Aries to wrestle the TNA WHC at the ppv in the main event. However, in order to do that, Aries has to surrender the X Division Championship. There's no real drama to it as you know what Aries' decision will be next week. He'll surrender the title of course, as well he should because, let's face it, Aries has gone as far as he can in the X Division. He's the only one remotely relevant within the X Division and he's mostly just been carrying the title for months now. Thumbs Up

2. Devon vs. Hernandez for the TNA Television Championship - An ok match for what it was. While it was nice to see Devon wrestle someone that wasn't Robbie E for a change on the show, it's hard to get excited or particularly care abut Hernandez. The match served its purpose as kind of a buffer, though Devon & Hernandez seemed a little clunky at times. Devon gets the win at the 3.5 minute mark after hitting his Spinebuster finisher. *1/4

3. BFG Series Gauntlet Match - This was a good, solid battle royal. Given the number of participants in the BFG Series, 12, and the fact that a wrestler would come out every 90 seconds, they tried to give this sort of a mini Royal Rumble feel. All in all, there was your usual battle royal offense and the crowd popping for some entrants. The match went about 21 minutes in all, so there were a couple of commercial breaks. During which, there were some eliminations that weren't shown and I wish TNA had shown a replay so we could get caught up & really know what happened. The match ultimately did its job of introducing the BFG Series participants. All in all, most of the people I figured would be included were included. I was surprised that Kazarian wasn't part of the mix. Robbie E, Magnus & The Pope are definitely three oddities in my view. I've got nothing against Magnus, he's shown some real promise, but it's obvious that he's among the three that have no chance. The Pope has been MIA for many months so it's hard to get excited about him. I think the bloom is off the rose when it comes to him. Robbie E is...well he's Robbie E. The downside to this match is that there really wasn't any drama to speak of. I also didn't really see any of the teasingly suspenseful near eliminations that happen during battle royals. Once James Storm was out, I knew the match was pretty much over. Styles & Angle are probably not realistically in the running to face the champ at BFG as I see this affair angle/tag team drama going on for the next several months, culminating in a break up of the Angle/Styles team and maybe leading to a renewed feud between them. Samoa Joe is another guy I don't think has a realistic chance of being the guy. It comes down to him & James Storm as the last two guys and Storm eliminates him to win the match and earn 20 points. **1/2

James Storm - Great promo work from Storm following the match. For the most part, Storm said about what I figured he'd say and his delivery & intensity were spot on. They're definitely going with the blue collar hero type of feel with Storm, which fits him just fine. The live crowd was really into Storm and practically hanging on his every word. He came off like a star here. Thumbs Up

4. Miss Tessmacher vs. Madison Rayne - Pretty standard match here, basically another buffer match to feature Tessmacher as the new Knockouts Champion and to give the crowd a bit of a breather. The match went to about the 2.5 minute mark or so with Tessmacher getting the win. Not a good match or a bad one, one that's just kinda there. N/A

Brooke Hogan & Gail Kim - Decent backstage segment with these two. They didn't try to overact things, neither one of them are particularly good actresses, and they set up a potential feud between the two of them in the future. Brooke tells Gail taht while she does have a rematch coming, it's up to her to decide when Gail gets it. She didn't try to come off as a snooty bitch in a position of power, she just said it in a civil & polite way. Gail didn't go off or anything, she acted disappointed of course, and she wasn't happy with Brooke's choice not to include her in a fourway match on next week's Open Fight Night for the title. Nothing great here but it had a more natural feel to it. I don't relish the idea of Gail Kim possibly feuding with Brooke Hogan at all, if that's where they're going with this, but this most definitely could've come off worse. Thumbs In The Middle

5. Bobby Roode vs. Mr. Anderson for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship - Good solid main event for the title that gave something of a surprise ending. Roode, predictably, got the win but it was so nice to see him get a decisive win. I've got no problem with heels cheating to win, they're heels after all, but it certainly gets old seeing a heel win only through outside interference, cheap flukes, beer bottles, ref incompotence, etc. I never got the sense that Roode's title run was in any real jeaopardy, but he & Anderson still put on a quality 11.5 minute match. Anderson looked better in the ring, to me, than he's looked in a long while. The end comes with Roode putting Anderson in the Crossface in the center of the ring. Anderson fights it for a while but finally winds up tapping. Roode retains here. Why doesn't TNA do this with main events more often instead of the usual overbooked clusterfuck and/or shitty endings? **3/4

Sting - Sting comes out to close the show and puts over how much TNA means to him and what it means to be the first inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame. Again, the crowd was hot for the segment and Sting did his usual good job as you'd expect. Eventually, three masked men storm the ring and start to beat on Sting. I knew that some sort of beatdown/confrontation was going to happen, otherwise why close the show with Sting just in the ring giving a promo. Sure, TNA could've just decided to close the show with a feel good moment but that's just not what we usually see. The beatdown was just kind of there, it wasn't brutal or particularly physical. The crowd was chanting for Hogan to come out, which he didn't, but they close the show here to build some suspense for next week. Thumbs In The Middle

Final Thoughts - From top to bottom, last night's Impact Wrestling may have been the strongest tv show TNA has put on in years. It was one of those super hot shows that comes along or has the potential to come along a couple of times a year in which it seems that almost everything comes off right. Wrestling action on the show was strong overall. There were a couple of filler matches that didn't really mean very much, the standard Knockout match & TV Title match, but they served their purposes. The Ultimate X match was pretty decent, though it wasn't great. It really was what I figured it'd be. Aries' promo with Hogan afterward worked really well and set up a fun hook for next week's show & the Destinaiton X ppv. It's highly improbably that Aries will win against Bobby Roode at the ppv, but it'll be another chance to show that he should be a main eventer. The BFG Series Gauntlet Match/Battle Royal was solid, though relatively tame as far as battle royals go. No real drama or suspense was here in my eyes. The BFG Series participants are mostly who I figured would be there, Anderson will be the 12th guy as he lost to Bobby Roode in the main event. Aside from James Storm, nobody there really seems to have the momentum, which only reinforces the notion that Storm will be the one to take the title from Roode. Storm's promo afterward was very well done and was the highlight of the show for me, along with Aries' promo with Hogan earlier in the night. The main event was surprisingly good with good action and a surprisingly solid finish instead of the usual mess we get in TNA WHC matches. The closing segment with Sting was ok, nothing great but it built up some suspense for next week and as to who these men are who attacked him.

Grade: B+

 

[Pera]

Couple of random thoughts on the show.

- This was an awesome episode. Great amount of wrestling, a very good Royal Rumble like match and plenty of intrigue in the Aries, AJ/Dixie and Sting storylines. I really do think this is the top episode of Impact for this year and thats saying something.

- How fucking good does James Storm look? In his time off, he has no doubt been in the gym, and slimmed down quite a bit. He was tanned, built and looked like a ready made champion. Well done James Storm, and hopefully we see the belt around you waist after BFG. By the way, how good was the mans promo afterwards?

- The ending was great, and leaves a bit of continuity heading into next weeks episode. People are going to want to tune in to see just what happens with the three people who attacked Sting. That's solid booking.

- Aries is the man right now. He probably wont win the title but he'll probably be cheated out of the Destination X match, and then gain a rematch at the next PPV to leave Roode with a feud while the BFG series is taking place. More smart booking.

- Look forward to Impact more so than any other time being a mad fan. Life after Russo has really seen this company blossom.

 

[Arashi]

Amazing show, one of the best of seen in a while from them. James Storm is so good right now, as is the Bobby Roode, these two are really bringing it.

And AA? He's one of the best in the business right now. No one can realistically touch him in the X division and I actually love this angle where he's going for the TNA title.

The Ending segment is why Live TV is the best thing for any product. No one sees things like this coming and without spoilers it keeps the surprise alive.

Amazing show, loved it and it seems like TNA really has stepped up. Hopefully they get some good ratings because at the moment they deserve it.

 

[GrandSword]

Great show from TNA. They followed up last week's and the ppv with an even better show. They are really doing a great job at the moment.

Some things I would have liked to have happened to give a little bit more continuity...

1. Gail Kim maybe attack Tessmacher after her being on the ramp

2. Crimson to go after Storm, be it physically or in a promo. One of the longest winning streaks in the biz just can't be swept under the carpet can it?? Then again the whole streak was really under the carpet to begin with.

3. Roode to comment on how Sting Deathdropped off him off the stage and throuugh a table...

Things of stuff which was great...


1. Ult X on tv, to open the show, with AA in it! Awesome stuff. In wish this was done on ppv as his reign up until then hadn't featured one and he had been the longest reigning without having to go through one..

2. Hogan's proposal.. now this is new and intriguing. One it kind of says that the X title isn't worth as much as the Heavyweight title is.. and he is right. But having the entry fee to a World title match being your X title really is a cool idea. Soemthing different indeed. I just wish ADouble was in the BFG Series

3. The Gauntlet match showcased all who's going to be in the series and we've got some great wrestlers in there. Shocked Crimson isn't one of them... maybe he is being swept under the carpet. Daniels in made my day, Magnus makes my day also, and the Pope returning is great news! With the news that Pope is in The Dark Knight Rises, we might see a major push for him. JH, you say that the bllom is off the rose, but with Pope possibly becoming a star outside of wrestling due to being in one of the most anticpated films of the decade he could be pshed to the moon!

3. Tessmacher is hot, really really hot... and Madison is too! Too hot hard bodies rocking in the ring. JH says N/A I say ratings!

4. Roode makes Anderosn tap out. Awesome. Roode is the man.

5. Sting gets attacked. The Icon, during his Hall of Fame speech. The audacity I can hear JR screaming about it now! I tried to see if there were any tattoos or recognisable marks on the guys or their body types, thinking it maybe Jarrett hating the fact that he wasn't the first. But they all seemed to be big (some pudgy) white dudes. Maybe one of them was Isiah Cash (Luke Gallows). I don't know but very cool to see something like this happen.

Great episode TNA keep it up. Head and shoulders above Raw and SD this week.

edit: Shit, almost forgot James Storm. He is a star! He gets better and better, and he has obviously used his time off to slim down and hit the gym. Although it maybe obvious that he is winning this thing.. we all knew Austin was going to win the rumble and go on to Wrestlemania and win the title two years in a row... this is all good, and can be seen as a two year long program... well done!! Go Storm go Roode go TNA!!!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA Impact Wrestling - June 21, 2012

Opening Segment - A solid opener with Hogan & Aries in the ring. I wish they'd have saved this segment until later in the show and hyped it throughout, thus giving it a bigger feel than what it ultimately got. Ultimately, Aries decided to go after the TNA WHC at Destination X, obviously, and Aries option that he introduced could be interesting. Aries told Hogan that he had an idea and he ultimately did a good job of putting over the X Division Championship & the X Division as a whole, even though the X Division as a whole has flat out sucked for the last several years. Aries idea was that if he gave up the title, he wanted to make it a tradition in which the X Division Champion gets a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Champion at Destination X going forward. Hogan likes the idea and agrees to it, so Aries gave up the X Division Title. Roode comes out and does his livid heel act of being outraged that Hogan would do this. They brawl for a bit before getting broken up. On one hand, it sounds interesting and could mean that TNA will put more focus on the X Division in the future. At the same time, TNA could wind up shooting themselves in the foot unless they're able to build up someone within the ranks of the X Division over the course of the next year that's on a similar level as Austin Aries in terms of ability & talent, resulting in a lame throwaway title match at a ppv. Thumbs Up

1. Mr. Anderson vs. Christopher Daniels in a BFG Series match - The match was ok while it lasted, nothing especially interesting. To me, Anderson just doesn't have that spark that he once had and his reasons for challenging Daniels didn't make sense to me. Anderson called Daniels out because he wasn't feeling him trying to ruin someone's family, referring to the Dixie & AJ angle. I found myself wondering why Anderson would feel that way as it's what an "asshole" would do right? I thought Anderson was an "asshole". Anyhow, the match was ok for what it was. Anderson gets the win via the Mic Check at the 3 minute mark. I'm not wild about the 10 minute time limit on these matches as it gives me the feeling that the VAST majority of them are going to be extremely short and not get anywhere close to the 10 minute limit. Anderson wins and gets 7 points. *1/2

Brooke Hogan & The Knockouts - They did a couple of these segments throughout the night in which Brook "eliminates" one of the potential challengers for Tessmacher's title. Hogan has done the same thing on Open Fight Night in the past. For me personally, these segments ultimately reinforced why Brooke Hogan is a lousy choice for this role. Listening to her criticize some of these women, lecturing them on what they should be doing & what they should be focused on almost made me sick. She has ZERO credibility and the idea of her judging these women & deciding who should be the best choice to face Tessmacher later on in the night is laughable. All those women are former TNA Knockouts Champions, some of which are multiple time champs & have had long runs with the title. I know we see "executives" with no in-ring experience dictating such choices all the time but up until a month or so ago, Brooke Hogan had NOTHING whatsoever to do with wrestling in any way, shape or form other than being born to Hulk Hogan. When it was all said & done, Brooke gave the title shot to Mickie James. The segments weren't badly done in general, it's just that Brooke Hogan is not the person for this role and that just made them all come off as a little ridiculous to me. Thumbs Down

2. Kurt Angle vs. Robbie E in a BFG Series match - The match lasted all of 30 seconds with Angle scoring an easy 7 points. Robbie E should not be in the BFG Series at all and, to me, the fact that he is only drags down the concept to some degree. N/A

Taeler Hendrix - This was a brief video package/interivew segment with the first Knockouts Gut Check participant. All in all, pretty bland stuff. Nothing about her stood out and, much like Alex Silva, it looks like they're trying to go the sympathy route with this girl to some degree. Silva lost his father & Hendrix was diagnosed with cancer at age 21. They showed some footage of her competing in some matches while she talked about her goals and what she wanted, how much she loves wrestling, etc. There wasn't anything necessarily bad here but it's the same sort of boring, repetetive & one dimensional type of story/promo I've heard from indy wrestlers a thousand times. I'm not belittling her as a cancer survivor at all, I've had an aunt die from it and another whose beaten breast cancer three times, but it's just another one of these promos in which the wrestler injects some sort of story regarding personal tragedy or hardship. While it does give us something of a look at the real person underneath, as I said, it's something that's been done to death and was done in such an uncharismatic & uninteresting way. Thumbs Down

3. AJ Styles vs. Magnus in a BFG Series match - Magnus calls out AJ Styles as he has a problem with him sleeping with the boss and all. The match was ok for what it was and while it lasted. Again, much too short in my opinion. It did do a good job in telling a story, however, with Styles being distracted during the match. Taz & Tenay did a good job of pointing that out a few times during the match. When Styles seems to have things going his way, Daniels & Kazarian walk out carrying yet another envelope or paper or something. Magnus catches Styles in the Michinoku Driver for the win at the 2.5 minute mark and 7 points. *1/2

4. Tara vs. Taeler Hendrix in a Cut Check match - Pretty standard 2.5 minute match. As with Alex Silva, I'm not seeing anything at all from this gal. There wasn't anything particularly memorable about her look or her ability. Just a flat performance with Tara scoring the win via the Widow's Peak. 1/2*

5. Cowboy James Storm vs. Samoa Joe in a BFG Series match - For the most part, this matched bored the snot out of me. The pace was extremely slow & plodding, partially because Joe was booked as going for a submission win instead of a pinfall, which would give him 10 points rather than 7. This match just seemed to crawl by and, for the most part, it made little sense with Joe try to score a submission win when his submission offense consisted of basic stuff like chinlocks & armbars. The timing seemed to be off a bit as well as, at one point, Joe locks in the rear naked choke, except he didn't wrap his legs behind Storm's waist & pull him to the mat. I'm thinking Storm has a bit of ring rust and the timing was off, which is why he didn't break out of the hold sooner, as Joe stood there with the hold locked for a good 10 seconds maybe. The end comes a little before the 4 minute mark with Storm hitting Last Call. I find myself wondering why Samoa Joe is suddenly such a happy loser that congragulates everybody that beats him. Storm gets 7 points, giving him a total of 27 points and retaining a strong lead. 3/4*

6. The Pope D'Andelo Dinero vs. Bully Ray in a BFG Series match - Again, not really much to say here. Ray calls out The Pope, figuring to get an easy win as Pope's been gone for so many months. That immediately told me that Ray would probably lose before the match even started. Nothing overly memorable about the action in the ring, a lot of punching from both guys amounted to much of the action. At one point, Ray is knocked out of the ring & Abyss comes walking down. He grabs Ray by the shirt before Ray runs off with Abyss chasing him. Ray rolls back into the ring and Pope hits him with a clothesline for the win & 7 points at the 3.5 minute mark. *

7. Brooke Tessmacher vs. Mickie James for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship - Pretty decent match all in all with Mickie carrying Tessmacher through one of her better matches. While there was no real sense that Tessmacher's reign was in danger, the gals still did ok. The match told a pretty decent story that looks to be heading with Mickie James turning heel. She sold her frustration during the match a few times. As she goes for her jumping DDT finisher, Tessmacher countered with a modified sunset flip for the win at the 5 minute mark. **

8. Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy in a BFG Series match - Easily the best match of the night. That's not really saying much, but this was a fun effort from both men. Like the other matches, this one was pretty short but they managed to pack a lot of fun, fast paced action into the 3.5 minutes they were given. Hardy winds up missing the Swanton Bomb at one point. Van Dam winds up missing the big splash, which he might've hit had he not stopped to do the RVD thing where he points to himself. Hardy winds up getting the win via the Twist of Fate and 7 points. **1/2

AJ Styles & Dixie Carter - Pretty lousy segment to close the show with in my view. It's revealed that Styles & Dixie aren't having an affair, a revelation that I think we've all seen coming for a few weeks now, after a woman named Claire comes down to the ring. Claire gets on the mic and informs the crowd that an affair wasn't going on. She looked like she had a bun in the oven and I thought she was going to say that Styles was the baby daddy. She reveals that she's an addict and that AJ & Dixie are helping her. As all three embrace, Daniels runs out to the ring but gets beaten up by Styles. The angle that won't end just keeps on going. I'm assuming that we're going to get more info on who this woman is, how she's connected to Dixie, how Dixie & Styles ultimately came to "help her", etc. in the weeks to come. In other words, they're going to keep dragging this thing out. The live crowd wasn't really digging it, she was even subjected to the "What?" treatment from a good portion of them. I'd have rather they just said they were having an affair if this is what they're planning to do. Thumbs Down

Final Thoughts - Last night's show was ok for the most part. The opening segment with Austin Aries & Hulk Hogan was the highlight of the show. It did a good job of hyping the X Division, even though there's nothing to hype without Aries, and they pushed things off between Roode & Aries in a solid way. The BFG Series matches were pretty forgettable and otherwise unimportant overall. I think the 10 minute time limit thing is certainly going to hinder more than help. All of the BFG Series matches were extremely short and I have a feeling that's how it's going to be for the vast majority of them. Anderson vs. Daniels was ok for what it was. If Daniels is supposed to be a featured player in the top storyline in TNA right now, he shouldn't lose so much in my eyes and he loses easily here. Robbie E showed that he shouldn't even be in the BFG Series after losing to Angle in 30 seconds. Magnus vs. Styles was, again, ok. It was much too short but it told a decent story of Styles' current situation distracting him from his work inside the ring. Taeler Hendrix delivered a very generic introductory promo and a very generic, forgettable match. She'll probably get a "yes" vote because she's a sympathetic face that's beaten cancer. Storm vs. Joe felt like it dragged on forever with a sluggish pace and what the frig is up with Joe congragulating everyone that kicks his ass lately? To me, Brook Hogan demostrated why she shouldn't be in the role she has. The girl has no credibility or experience whatsoever, yet she's lecturing these former women's champions & wrestlers with years of experience on what they should be doing or focusing on doing? Lame. Pope vs. Bully Ray was also short & forgettable. Also, if Ray is being hyped as this great heel, they need to stop having him lose so much. The guy hasn't won a match in about 3 months now. The Knockout Title match was pretty decent and the RVD vs. Hardy match was solid that packed a lot of action into a short amount of time. The closing segment was pretty damn lame in my eyes. It would've been more interesting to say they were having an affair rather than say that they were "helping" or sponsoring a drug addict.

Grade: C

 

[Ovaltine]

My main problem with Impact this week was the lack of wrestling. If they want the BFG series to mean something the matches have to be competitive. Not just one sided squash matches or matches that last two minutes. If they cut down on the unnecessary backstage garbage (Brooke Hogan and the knockouts, AJ and Dixe, etcetera) they would have more time to display the inring talent. It use to be that the stories were told in the ring, there seems to be this belief among wrestling bookers that they have to overexplain ever facet of an angle via backstage skits. It's like they don't think that we would be able to see that Mickie James is slowly turning heel without bludgening us over the head via backstage segements of her slow transformation. Her matches lately have been enough for the audience to see that the change is coming. A nasty look, a cheap shot, things like that are enough to explain it or send subtle hints that it is happening. The opening segment was good. I like the fact that the X division title is a gateway to the world title, but I don't think it is necessary for the X division champion to give up his title. Back in the day when a wrestler won the Intercontinental Title (WWF) or the US Title (WCW) I meant that they were the number one contender to the world title. However, they didn't give up that belt unless they won the World title. This angle will make it so every year whomever has possession of the X Title will relinquish it prior to destination X. How in the world will that make the title worth more? It wont. It's a good idea, but not well planned out. Having said all of this I still think Impact is headed in the right direction. Although, I still think that they need to drop the TNA name altogether and pick a three letter name like WWF, WCW, AWA, ECW etcetera. TNA still sounds like Tits N' Ass wrestling. It makes them seem third rate. The longer they hold onto that title the worse it will be. When Brooke Hogan (I wish she and her father weren't there at all) was on Fox news the news people had to not laugh everytime she said TNA. They asked her what it stood for and when she told them they said sarcastically "Well, that is the first thing I think of when someone says TNA." The name is a hinderance and it needes to be dropped right now.

 

[Jessie Lynn DivaGirl]

So tonight was a pretty decent show I thought. We got a new Knockout signed tonight, included with a return of the stupid reject (can you say awkward?). Until it came to the whole Aj/Dixie/Claire thing. Now I'm really confused.

Daniels said Claire was "obviously pregnant" but you seriously wouudn't have noticed unless you were looking. I saw it, and I thought "Oh good, steady boyfriend/husband and a baby. She's getting her life back together." But now Daniels is saying the baby is Aj's.

And Kazarian had my head going in two different directions. One goes with thinking he was faking the pissiness at Daniels the whole night while the other has me thinking Daniels fed him more bs before the match to get Kaz to go with him again. I think the fued was really good and Claire showing up to spill the beans was awesome but now it's starting to edge towards "gonna get messy". And not in an awesome ass-kicking way, I mean the bad storyline way. Let's hope they can keep this steady and come up with a good explanation to Kaz's better than average acting and Daniels' knowlage of the unborn child's (if there is one [stomach flab; pain in the ass and makes one wonder what's really in the belly]) father.

Not liking Brooke Hogan as controller of the Knockouts. They tried this with Miss Tessmacher a while back and I don't think it worked out to well, and this isn't going considerably better. In fact, it's already looking bad. Brooke, instead of booking decent Knockout match ups, is instead selling the Knockouts to marketing outside of Tna on screen. I don't personally like it.

RVD vs Anderson match was pretty good. Nicely sized, both guys got in good shots. Good match for the BGS, and that moves up RVD on the series total.
Austin Aries is fantastic on the mic. He's probably the only tweener in Tna and he rocks it like a boss. Heel or face, this guy delivers what's expected. He introduced the X-Division tournament for a shot at his soon-to-be-vacated title in a fashion that sold not only the tournament but his move towards the Tna Heavyweight title. When Bobby Rhoode came out, that only made the promo better. Here in the ring you have two amazing preformers with better than average mic skills, both cutting promos for their match. Aries showed off his tweenerness by being CM Punk-like by acting unsurprised and somewhat bored with Rhoode's rambling. Rhoode, being the great back-stabbing heel he is, ignored this and proceeded to show off his certainty that some how, he will find a way to keep this title and by God he would keep it. Good promo, gonna be good hype for this match.

The X-Division matches were very good. These guys were out of the blue talent that only the hardcore, forum posting, wrestler searching fans (you know, the guys who run this site) knew about. But they were good and it looks like this tournament is going to have nice X-Division talent on it's hands and possibly a future Tna star.

Somoa Joe vs Bully Ray was more or les a hype for the Bully vs Joesph Park feud. It was good to see Joey Park actually act more like a big, tought, giant man than some wimpy lawyer. Mostly since it's kind of sad to see Ray whoop his ass when he's the bigger man (both literally and figuratively). But, it was pretty decent in Samoa Joe's favor. Good to see those two compete against each other.

Gonna be honest, the Madison Rayne and Garrett Bischoff segment was cheesey, but it was funny. It's weird seeing Madison not high-pitched bitchy but giddy and giggly about something. And Garrett acted like we'd expect him too. No confidence given and obvious amusement. But I get the feeling "he" is acutally Eric Young.

Tonight was interesting and was actually fun to watch. It had it's "tickle-me giggle" moments but it was mostly serious and had a good twist at the end to either piss you off or make you roll your eyes. I can't wait to see next week and see where some of these storylines go. Unfortunately for the Knockouts, I can't wait for that storyline to drop like a brick. Hopefully it gets better.

 

[suttree]

Great show from impact wrestling this week! Probably wont be recapped by jack hammer though, as he likes to tackle the bland shows(like last week).

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA Impact Wrestling - June 28, 2012

Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam in BFG Series Match - I thought this match was kind of mixed. There were a lot of times in which the match was slow & clunky, it especially showed with RVD as he's known for his smooth pace & coordination but it just wasn't there with this match. Things did get better during the second half of the match and they pulled it together somewhat better. The end comes with Anderson going for the Green Bay Plunge but RVD reverses it into a modified crucafix for the win a little before the 6 minute mark, giving him 7 more points in the BFG Series. *1/2

Austin Aries & Bobby Roode - This was a good segment overall, but it wasn't what I was hoping it would be. For the most part, Aries promo consisted of recapping what happened last week and what Option C potentially means for the X Division going forward. Again, Aries did a good job of putting over the X Division as well as the X Division Championship itself before Roode's music hits. He slowly makes his way into the ring before cutting his standard "I'm the It Factor of professional wrestling" speech while belittling Aries a bit here & there simultaneously. Ultimately, Aries shows some fire and challenges Roode to get it on right then and there. Roode teased that he was going to oblige before smirking arrogantly and left the ring. The crowd was pretty hot for the segment, but it felt a little tame to me in some ways. Aries has loads of personality but, to me, he seemed to really be coasting on cruise control here. We didn't see much of the cocky "I'm the greatest man that ever lived" guy that's been carrying the X Division single handedly for close to a year. I'm hoping they can jack this up a little before Destination X because, in my eyes, they didn't really radiate the chemistry last night that I think they're capable of delivering. Thumbs In The Middle

2. Sonjay Dutt vs. Rubix - I'm sure a lot of people were into this match but, to me, it's an example of some of the worst of the X Division. The match was so fast paced and packed with so many spots piled on top of each other that it ultimately felt meaningless. I know that this match was mostly just a means of sort of reintroducing people to some of the athletic ability the X Division wrestlers are capable of, but the match was a mindless spotfest. The Impact Zone audience seemed pretty hot for the match, but the fact that they chanted "TNA", after every suicide dive or other spot indicated that this is a crowd that'll cheer for damn near anything. The end comes with Dutt hitting a very good looking tornado DDT before doing a moonsault from the top that resulted in a Warrior's Way stomp to the stomach. It looked impressive and gave Dutt the win at the 3 minute mark. *1/2

Gut Check Segments - There were a couple of segments devoted to the Gut Check concept. The first one, as usual, shows Taz together with Al Snow & Bruce Pritchard back in the trailer discussing Taeler Hendrix. This segment came off better than the last few, in my eyes, as they didn't spend the segment trying to knock down the fourth wall. They kept their focus on Taeler and her abilities rather than trying to see how much wrestling slang they could cram into the segment. The in-ring segment took place later on that night with all three of the judges in the ring, Taeler standing across from them and JB handling the mic. Taz didn't have much to say about it, though he did give her a Yes vote. The tone of his voice and the fact that he didn't have much at all to say suggested, to me at least, that he wasn't all that hot for her abilities. The live crowd kept chanting "Yes", which only further suggests that there were a lot of fans in the audience last night that would cheer for anything because I just don't see this girl as being anywhere near ready. Al Snow is up next and he did his usual routine in which he either starts out by pointing out the good or bad before following up. The judges are interrupted at ringside and Taz & Snow jump out of the ring. I thought a fan had jumped the railing or something but it was Joey Ryan, who was yelling and talking trash to Taz for a bit before security escorted him out. Upon getting back into the ring, Snow ultimately passed on Taeler and said he didn't think she was ready. Pritchard was next and went on for a few minutes about how green she was and how he wasn't sure about her in the long run. He pointed out that she did have heart and conducted herself like a pro, so he could work with that. He said yes as well. So out of the three Gut Check competitors so far, TNA "signs" two green, underwhelmingly talented wrestlers but doesn't sign the one, namely Joey Ryan, that actually seems to have good overall ability. The sympathy factor definitely played a part during this angle because of Hendrix's cancer situation earlier in her life, which I'm sure also won over the crowd a bit. The girl just doesn't have it though, in my eyes. There's just nothing at all special about her. Thumbs Down

3. Samoa Joe vs. Bully Ray in a BFG Series Match - Again, I'm sort of mixed on this match. On one hand, it was a good long match that went to about the 13 minute mark. On the other, it lasted about twice as long as it should have in my opinion. The match was extremely slow and outside of a hardcore environment, Bully Ray just isn't strong enough inside the ring to go this long in a standard match. Ray is someone that's great to listen to on the mic but his in-ring work isn't anywhere close to the same level 99% of the time. Still, I will say that both guys did work hard and did their best. Also, it was a little hard to get into this match because neither of these two have any realistic chance of winning. Joe is pretty much irrelevant and has been for years and Bully Ray gets beaten by everybody these days. The end comes shortly after Joe is knocked outside the ring with the ref checking on him. Joseph Park waddles his way down to ringside & climbs up on the apron. He delivers a slap to Ray before getting off the apron just as Joe climbs back into the ring. He slaps on the rear naked choke and Ray quickly tapped. Joe wins & earns 10 points for the submission victory. After the match, Park gets on the mic and goes on a bit about how he & all the fans are sick of Ray's actions. He talks just a little of how he was bullied and challenges Ray to a fight in two weeks. I'm over this situation and wish they'd just move on. I've no real interest in seeing another match where Ray beats up the "lawyer" only for "Abyss" to come out and save the day. As for the match itself, it wasn't great but they worked hard. *3/4

AJ Styles, Dixie Carter & Claire - Throughout the night, they did some backstage segments in which more of the story as to how Dixie & Styles became involved with Claire. The segments weren't badly done all in all, but the whole story is filled with logic holes. As I feared, this storyline is something that's really been dragged out far too long and it's beyond stale at this point. This week, it became clear that Claire is indeed pregnant and it wouldn't surprise me at all if her pregnancy somehow becoems part of the angle. Thumbs Down

4. Mason Andrews vs. Rashad Cameron - This was another X Division match and, all in all, I thought it was better than the first one. The match wasn't filled with one mindless spot after the other, but both guys definitely had some timing issues. Cameron has a unique look and he carries himself well as an aggressive heel. Andrews seemed like a standard, one dimensional babyface. As I said, they had some timing issues and Andrews seemed a little clumsy at some points. For instance, at one point in the match, Andrews performs something of a corkscrew suicide dive and one of his feet gets hung up a little on the top rope, so Cameron had to move so as he'd be sure to take the hit. Andrews goes for a springboard high cross body a bit later in the match and Cameron is way out of position and has to rush forward in order to meet Andrews. The end comes about the 4 minute mark with Cameron hitting R-Truth's finisher for the win. *3/4

5. AJ Styles & Kurt Angle vs. Chrisopher Daniels & Kazarian for the TNA World Tag Team Championship - Prior to this match, earlier on in the night, Kazarian went into Hulk Hogan's office and asked to be let out of the match as he was led astray by Daniels' accusations. Hogan lectured him for a bit and said this was a chance to prove what kind of guy he was since he basically drank Daniels' Kool-Aid. As for the match itself, a solid overall match that actually had something of a surprise ending. I figured that Kazarian would ultimately leave Daniels high & dry here, but that didn't come about. All four guys looked good & worked hard to put on a solid tv main event. The end comes with Styles setting Daniels up for the Styles Clash. Kazarian slides in and whacks him with a steel chair before grabbing the ref. Daniels makes the cover and scores the win. He & Kazarian are once agan TNA World Tag Team Champions. Afterward, Daniels gets on the mic and claims that Claire, who is sitting in the front row with Dixie Carter, is pregnant and that she's carrying AJ Styles' bastard child. I knew it, I just friggin' knew it. **3/4

Final Thoughts - All in all, last night was a decent show but nowhere close to great in my eyes. The overall wrestling action on the show was ok, most of it was nothing to write home about. It was noteworthy in that some new faces popped up for the X Divisiion. The two BFG Series matches were alright. Anderson vs. RVD had some issues with timing and both guys just seemed a little off. Joe vs. Ray had an extremely slow pace and went longer than it should have, Ray's just not got the goods inside the ring, but they worked hard and squeezed out an ok big guy match. The X Division matches were kind of mixed. Dutt vs. Rubix was your typical, old school X Division spotfest. Andrews vs. Cameron was the better of the two and had some actual wrestling, though both guys were off a little here and there. Cameron was the only guy that really stood out in any way to me. The promo segment with Aries & Roode was pretty decent, though not nearly what I was expecting. Aries seemed almost subdued compared to how he usually is and the fire just didn't seem to be there. The Gut Check segments are getting extremely repetetive now and, yet again, TNA "signs" a talent that doesn't seem to have any real talent. Taeler Hendrix is completely unimpressive and bland, but the crowd bought into the sympathy factor. The ongoing AJ/Dixie/Claire storyline continues to drag on and now the element of Claire being knocked up by Styles has been brought into it. The main event was a fun, strong match to close things out with resulting in a title change. TNA's tag team picture is on life support right now, so the idea of keeping Daniels & Kazarian as a team works at this time just because of that alone. I thought the show was a bit better than last week's. The main storyline of AJ, Dixie & Claire continues to drag the show down but they did a good job of further hyping Destination X throughout the show.

Grade: C+

 

[Pera]

Underrating the show in my opinion Jackhammer.

The two X-Division matches were good television matches. They are exactly what you need. Just fast hitting, aerial action that doesnt have to go longer than 5 minutes. Crowd was impressed with the high flying and it surely would have entertained people at home.

What is wrong with the whole Dixie/AJ/Daniels storyline? Why are people so critical of it? Last week, people were moaning about how Kaz had followed the lead of Daniels all this time, but had turned on his best friend for no reason (presuming he knew about the false intentions of Daniels). TNA actually followed through with that, pretending Kaz knew nothing about Daniels lying on the matter, and bang, effective swerve. Sure, there is a bit of Jerry Springer about it, but twist and turns, good ratings and very good matches in between, week after week can't be all bad. I for one am enjoying it.

Finally, Gutcheck just looks like it's going to panned by you every time it happens just because you don't like the concept. I thought they effectively threw Joey Ryan into the spotlight if that's indeed a work. His face to face with Tazz looked awesome and Gutcheck has also allowed TNA an avenue into another decent storyline. Thumbs up.

We all have opinions though, so good write up.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Underrating the show in my opinion Jackhammer.

The two X-Division matches were good television matches. They are exactly what you need. Just fast hitting, aerial action that doesnt have to go longer than 5 minutes. Crowd was impressed with the high flying and it surely would have entertained people at home.

But that's what holds the X Division back in a lot of ways. Those kind of matches are what gets wrestlers labeled as spot monkeys. Guys who can't tell a story, don't know the first thing about in-ring psychology and have no personality. I'm just not at all impressed by guys like that. You know why Austin Aries has been the only stand out guy to come out of the X Division in several years, especially the past year? Because he can do all those things. He does some high spots sometimes as well, but that's just part of what he's got rather than all he's got. The indy scene is absolutely crammed with guys who have spots and nothing else and most of them tend to have their own followings proclaiming them the greatest thing ever. The one guy that I saw a little something in was Rashad Cameron. He's the only one of the four last night that even remotely stood out at all.

What is wrong with the whole Dixie/AJ/Daniels storyline? Why are people so critical of it? Last week, people were moaning about how Kaz had followed the lead of Daniels all this time, but had turned on his best friend for no reason (presuming he knew about the false intentions of Daniels). TNA actually followed through with that, pretending Kaz knew nothing about Daniels lying on the matter, and bang, effective swerve. Sure, there is a bit of Jerry Springer about it, but twist and turns, good ratings and very good matches in between, week after week can't be all bad. I for one am enjoying it.

For me, the entire angle has been dragged out MUCH longer than necessary. It's been going on for six months, it's been badly written and, worst of all, I think it's dull. One thing that's bored me about it has been the Styles vs. Daniels feud in and of itself. They're quality in-ring guys, but I've seen them feud and wrestle so many times that the spark just isn't there for me. As for Kazarian, I thought he came off as a witless tool. He bought into Daniels' spin on what Styles was doing without bothering to find out for himself. That's part of the logic gap with this whole thing. If Kazarian suspected something, why not try to find out all the facts rather than merely relying on what a jaded, bitter rival of Styles was telling him? I wouldn't really say it has a Jerry Springer vibe, that would make it completely unbearable, but it's just not interesting. I just think TNA could've done something more interesting than having Styles & Dixie helping out a junkie, who is now alleged to be pregnant with Styles' kid. Since we now know that Daniels was lying through his teeth about the affair, he has zero credibility so why should fans or anyone believe his latest batch of allegations? It doesn't make any sense and is just being used to keep the angle going.

Finally, Gutcheck just looks like it's going to panned by you every time it happens just because you don't like the concept. I thought they effectively threw Joey Ryan into the spotlight if that's indeed a work. His face to face with Tazz looked awesome and Gutcheck has also allowed TNA an avenue into another decent storyline. Thumbs up.

Actually, I do like the concept. I can't pretend to be at all excited about seeing lame, talentless hacks like Alex Silva & Taeler Hendrix signed, however. Joey Ryan has been the only bright spot to come about from the concept in the three months that it's been going on. There's just nothing at all special about Silva or Hendrix whether it be their abilities on the mic, inside the ring, their look or their personality. I know the fans responded to Hendrix last night but, honestly, there were fans there last night that'd cheer for everything. They started a "this is awesome" chant during one of the X Division matches just because a guy did a plancha over the top rope as they'd just been watching a 30 minute clinic between Styles & Angle. The concept has promise, but I see nothing at all interesting about the talent they've "signed" while the only one of interest is the one they didn't "sign".

 

[thesquaredcircle]

It seem as though jack hammer is one of the most biased writers here. He seems to have nothing positive even when the show is pretty good and he mostly only grades the bad shows. Just one man's opinion.

 

[Pera]

I disagree with the above. I think he gives credit where credit is due. His ratings are sometimes low for matches that I think deserve a higher rating but he's consistent with his opinions, so you can't really complain. I enjoy reading his write ups so if you don't like it, don't read it.

Jackhammer, with regards to the Gutcheck segment, I see what you're saying. I suspect all of the talents that go through Gutcheck are already signed, sealed, delivered and are then sent to OVW to work on their craft. You then have the odd talent like Joey Ryan who is going to use this segment as a segway into a much bigger storyline, like his feud with Tazz. I personally like the concept as well, and as long as they keep things fresh, it should pull a few viewers in the future.

 

[thesquaredcircle]

It seems when WWE does something bad he puts a N/A. I just think he's really biased so I'm just gonna stop reading his reviews.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I consider myself more of a general viewer. I don't watch for the in ring wrestling, I watch to be entertained. one of the negatives about the 2 X Division matches where they involved 4 guys I've never heard of. I would think that type of thing is what makes people change the channel. however they were entertaining to watch on TV. I don't think you have to have a great wrestling match to be good and entertain the viewers on TV. "spots" could work great and get your audience excited.

this AJ/Dixie thing is just ridiculous. I'm all for story lines. I've often said/felt like wrestling is like a soap opera for men. but this is just too much. are males really interested in some alleged affair angle with twists and now a pregnant lady with a bastard baby? or is TNA trying to draw in female viewers?
I would be much more interested in who the 3 men were who attacked Sting, but that seems to be a dead end and going nowhere.

 

[Pink Hole Slam]

I consider myself more of a general viewer. I don't watch for the in ring wrestling, I watch to be entertained. one of the negatives about the 2 X Division matches where they involved 4 guys I've never heard of. I would think that type of thing is what makes people change the channel. however they were entertaining to watch on TV. I don't think you have to have a great wrestling match to be good and entertain the viewers on TV. "spots" could work great and get your audience excited.

this AJ/Dixie thing is just ridiculous. I'm all for story lines. I've often said/felt like wrestling is like a soap opera for men. but this is just too much. are males really interested in some alleged affair angle with twists and now a pregnant lady with a bastard baby? or is TNA trying to draw in female viewers?
I would be much more interested in who the 3 men were who attacked Sting, but that seems to be a dead end and going nowhere.

supposedly the Sting angle is going to be revisited. currently they're using it as a way to keep him off TV so there is a reason for him not to compete in the Bound For Glory series.

i agree about the AJ/Dixie thing. at first i really liked it but now its getting preposterous. if TNA was smart they would have turned AJ heel and had him embrace that he was banging Dixie to get a top spot in the company. that would have let AJ and Angle feud over AJ misleading Angle and making him look like a fool. that took me two seconds to think of. how come they can't see that waiting for them?

 

[GrandSword]

Another solid episode of impact this week. Working towards the all X Div ppv has put stuff and talent on the back burner but at the same time Roode has delivered once again. His promos just keep going from strength to strength and well ADouble just could be the greatest man that ever lived. This feud may have made a late run but until BFG we could see these two feud for a while, they have great chemistry.

Johan gets something that I assume is from Sting's attackers do we could see this new faction as early as next week.

So Destination X has some great matches, and the Daniels/AJ promo may have just put all the silliness up bed and made it just about Daniels' jealousy. Which brings it back to the wrestlers which it should always be about. So for me it was great and we might finally have a big end to this feud of feuds.

Oh and please can Joe beat Angle at D-X that would be awesome for me but we all know that's not going to happen.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA Impact Wrestling - July 12, 2012

1. Joseph Park vs. Bully Ray - For all intents and purposes, this was very similar in set up and overall execution to their ppv match not that long ago. Ray dominates the match with Park getting in an occassional flurry of offense, including being constantly taunted by Ray. Ray hits Park with the chain for the 3 count at the 8 minute mark. Park sees his own blood, freaks out a little and hits Ray with the Black Hole Slam. I'm just checked out of this feud and have been for a while. It hasn't sucked but it hasn't been at all captivating for me. It'll ultimately culminate with Park realizing that he's Abyss and just some sort of alternate personality rather than Abyss' brother. Meh. *

2. Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe in a BFG Series Match - An ok match, nothing really to write home about, but ok for what it was. It was a little clunky at times, which seems to be par for the course these days for RVD matches as he just isn't as fluid as he once was, but the match told a decent story of Joe getting a bit greedy with his submission attempts. Joe locks in a heel lock late in the match that, for some reason, he releases before getting back up and going for, what I'm assuming, is either a figure four leglock or he's going to reapply the heel lock. RVD counters with kind of a sloppy looking small package and scores the three count at the 4.5 minute mark. RVD earns another 7 points in the BFG Series. **

AJ Styles, Claire, Daniels & Kazarian - Everyone involved tried to make this work but I'm EXTREMELY tired of this angle and this feud that simply will not die. It's just been a mess and it's only gotten even messier. Daniels tells Claire to tell the truth, she acts outraged & angry, Styles comes out to save the day and Claire confirms that Styles is the father. The fact that Styles & Daniels have been dragging this feud out for close to a year has, for me, really just put a huge damper on this. This angle calls for people who need to know how to act but those involved just aren't up to the task. They've done their best and I give 'em credit for that, but they just don't have the ability to make all this drama feel believable or special. Thumbs Down

3. Zema Ion vs. Dakota Darsow - Not really all that much to say here. Darsow dominates much of the match before Ion manages to turn things around in about the last 40 seconds or so. Ion hits a new finisher for the win at the 2.5 minute mark. After the match, Ion injures Darsow's arm before cutting a promo. He addresses Sorensen before saying that he's not just f'n pretty, but he's also f'n dangerous. Sounded a little ridiculous but this confirms that it looks as though TNA is going for Sorensen to sort of make a grand return and ultimately take the title from Ion. N/A

Austin Aries & Bobby Roode - Definitely a mixed segment for me. Aries came out and did a superb job of putting over TNA, the TNA WHC, pro wreslting in general and, of course, himself. The crowd was hot for him and he delivered with intensity and believable passion. Bobby Roode, on the other hand, was so over the top with his anger that it looked quite cartoonish. I understand that he's angry, he's supposed to be angry & outraged, but he comes out walking as though he's almost in a stunned or dazed state before morphing into this Hulk like level anger. He grunts & hisses and stomps around the ring. Eventually, he manages to say that Aries win was a fluke before leaving with Aries taunting him. Aries was great here, Roode wasn't. Roode was completely over the top and it just took away from the whole segment. Thumbs In The Middle

4. Miss Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship - This was a surprisingly solid match, much better than what I was expecting. Tessmacher still has some work to do as she looks a little sloppy but you can tell that she's been working hard to improve in-ring abilities. Kim looked better here, to me, than she's looked in a while and her focus on Tessmacher's left arm told a nice story. The end comes with Kim, for some odd reason, going for Eat Da Feet from the top before getting pushed off. Tessmacher gets to the top and leaps off with a flying elbow. She gets the pin a tad after the 5 minute mark. A solid match, even though you never felt like the title was in jeopardy. **1/2

5. Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson in a BFG Series Match - Solid outing from these two. Not as good as some of their past matches have been, but still a good 11.5 minute tv match. I think They tried a little too hard to give the match an "epic" feel by having both guys kick out of or get out of each other's finishers too often. It gave the match something of a rushed feeling I thought. If this match had gone for about twice it's length, then it would've felt right. There were some believable falls in the match, such as when Angle was hit with the Mic Check and when Anderson was in the ankle lock. The end comes with Angle landing the Angle Slam on Anderson, his second of the night I think, for the clean win and 7 points. **1/2

Hogan & Sting - Prior to the final segment, Roode comes into Hogan's office and declares that he wants Aries before Hardcore Justice. Hogan reminds him that Open Fight Night is next week and that he can have Aries then, but he won't get his title shot until the ppv. To me, that undermines the OFN concept because there've been more than one champ challenged on OFN and the champ has had no choice but to wrestle & defend the title. I get that they want to save the title match for the ppv but, in that case, why even bring up OFN next week? They could've just used next week to have Roode attack Aries, viciously assault him and leave him laying. That way the legitimacy of the OFN format is still in tact, it builds heat for their feud and makes fans wait for their match. After this, Sting heads down to the ring and calls out Aces and Eights, I hope that's not the name of that group. They'd shown brief backstage segments with Hogan & Sting preparing to confront these guys, including one in which Devon & Garett Bischoff offer them their help but Hogan & Sting turn them down. I immediately knew then that Hogan & Sting would get their asses kicked and that's exactly what happened. Hogan's music hits but he doesn't come out. They show Hogan backstage in his office left a little bloody and beaten on the floor with Brooke freaking out. Sting gets out to go back and he's jumped from behind by about 6 or 7 masked guys for the show to go off the air. Meh, pretty standard stuff that felt like it was phoned in. To me, it didn't make sense for Hogan & Sting to turn down help. Here are a couple of 50+ year old men looking to confront probably more than half a dozen guys that they know nothing about but don't want help fighting them? Just didn't fly with me. Thumbs Down

Final Thoughts - All in all, last night's IW was pretty decent. I thought it had it's ups and downs but there wasn't anything terrible on the show. There was decent storyline progression, but that's of little comfort to me personally as the storyline progression mostly took place in a couple of programs I'd love to see come to an end. We had more of the Park & Ray and AJ & Claire nonsense. Hogan & Sting got laid out, as expected, and this is probably all building up to some sort of Hogan match at BFG. I wish I could say I cared about who Aces and Eights are, and whose behind this whole thing, but I'm not. The highlight of the show was Aries' mic work. He delivered a great, passionate promo that put over himself, TNA and pro wreslting as a whole. Unfortunately, Roode's over the top anger was cartoonish and took away from the segment as a whole. Wrestling action was pretty solid all in all, nothing particularly special, but the show did deliver three decent to rock solid matches with RVD vs. Joe, the Knockout Title match and Angle vs. Anderson. As I said earlier, it was a show of ups and downs. Nothing was particularly great, aside from Aries, but nothing was terrible either, except for Roode.

Grade: C+

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

Bobby Roode, on the other hand, was so over the top with his anger that it looked quite cartoonish. I understand that he's angry, he's supposed to be angry & outraged, but he comes out walking as though he's almost in a stunned or dazed state before morphing into this Hulk like level anger. He grunts & hisses and stomps around the ring. Eventually, he manages to say that Aries win was a fluke before leaving with Aries taunting him. Aries was great here, Roode wasn't. Roode was completely over the top and it just took away from the whole segment.

Agreed Roode acted like an absolute ******, why the hell was he all like that. He should've been like how he was in the later segment with Hogan, pissed off but still coherent.

Hogan & Sting - Prior to the final segment, Roode comes into Hogan's office and declares that he wants Aries before Hardcore Justice. Hogan reminds him that Open Fight Night is next week and that he can have Aries then, but he won't get his title shot until the ppv. To me, that undermines the OFN concept because there've been more than one champ challenged on OFN and the champ has had no choice but to wrestle & defend the title.

I'm pretty sure that OFN anyone can call anyone out, but not for the title. I don't remember any instance where someone has called a champion out and then got a a title shot. Otherwise, there is nothing stopping(kayfabe) everyone from just calling out the world champ. Only the belt on the line for that night HAS to be defended. Devon may have defended his on the same night, but he is (supposed) to defend it every week anyway.

To me, it didn't make sense for Hogan & Sting to turn down help. Here are a couple of 50+ year old men looking to confront probably more than half a dozen guys that they know nothing about but don't want help fighting them? Just didn't fly with me.

Hogan and Sting didn't know there were 8 of them at that point. Only 3 guys attacked Sting the first time.

 

[sfury2005]

TNA Impact Wrestling - July 12, 2012


Hogan & Sting - After this, Sting heads down to the ring and calls out Aces and Eights, I hope that's not the name of that group.

I don't see anything wrong with the name but of course that's me I enjoy old west history so the Aces & Eights title is interesting to me.

I think they're going to probably be an old west type group out for vigilante justice most likely coming after Dixie and Hogan to bring justice for what they've done to Jarrett and TNA.

 

[Arashi]

Hogan and Sting didn't know there were 8 of them at that point. Only 3 guys attacked Sting the first time.

I think it's more than that via the name of the group and I don't think double J is the only guy behind this.. It going to be a group that's seems to be way too big imo

 

[GrandSword]

TNA Impact Wrestling - July 12, 2012

1. Joseph Park vs. Bully Ray - For all intents and purposes, this was very similar in set up and overall execution to their ppv match not that long ago. Ray dominates the match with Park getting in an occassional flurry of offense, including being constantly taunted by Ray. Ray hits Park with the chain for the 3 count at the 8 minute mark. Park sees his own blood, freaks out a little and hits Ray with the Black Hole Slam. I'm just checked out of this feud and have been for a while. It hasn't sucked but it hasn't been at all captivating for me. It'll ultimately culminate with Park realizing that he's Abyss and just some sort of alternate personality rather than Abyss' brother. Meh. *

Although the feud has been running for a very long time now, it is refreashing that a company is willing to put time into a storyline for a good pay off. The CM Punk leaving the WWE with the Championsship, a torunament to crown a new champion, only for it to be Cena, and then Punk returns a week later was one of the most dissapointing things for me. The fact that they have now sowed the seeds of Joseph being a multiple personality of Abyss is awesome. Not meh to this fan.

2. Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe in a BFG Series Match - An ok match, nothing really to write home about, but ok for what it was. It was a little clunky at times, which seems to be par for the course these days for RVD matches as he just isn't as fluid as he once was, but the match told a decent story of Joe getting a bit greedy with his submission attempts. Joe locks in a heel lock late in the match that, for some reason, he releases before getting back up and going for, what I'm assuming, is either a figure four leglock or he's going to reapply the heel lock. RVD counters with kind of a sloppy looking small package and scores the three count at the 4.5 minute mark. RVD earns another 7 points in the BFG Series. **

The problem I have with this is that Joe's storyline for the BFG series last year is he was losing because he kept going for submissions. They sort of rehashed this, this week. I hope he simply learns from this and maybe does a backstage promo about it and it doesn't keep happening. As then creative would have just forgotten about last year's series. As for RVD, I agree with you on his performances, howveer this was actually a better outing I have seen from him lately.

AJ Styles, Claire, Daniels & Kazarian - Everyone involved tried to make this work but I'm EXTREMELY tired of this angle and this feud that simply will not die. It's just been a mess and it's only gotten even messier. Daniels tells Claire to tell the truth, she acts outraged & angry, Styles comes out to save the day and Claire confirms that Styles is the father. The fact that Styles & Daniels have been dragging this feud out for close to a year has, for me, really just put a huge damper on this. This angle calls for people who need to know how to act but those involved just aren't up to the task. They've done their best and I give 'em credit for that, but they just don't have the ability to make all this drama feel believable or special. Thumbs Down

Agree with everything you've said. I will say though that hjaving Daniels and Kazin this storyline though has at the moent any way elevated them to top mid card almost main event status. Which is well over due for Chris Daniels. The guy is a super talent and hopefully this is a big pay off for him. I can really see some off the charts Aries/Daniels title matches in the future. Although I don't think Daniels will win the belt but I thik building him as a top heel and then feeding him to Aries in great defences would be a wrestling fans delight. In my eyes also it is elevating the tag titles. As Kaz/Daniels don't have any opposition for them at the moment, the afct that the Tag Cahmpions are in a top storyline keeps them looking very relevant.

3. Zema Ion vs. Dakota Darsow - Not really all that much to say here. Darsow dominates much of the match before Ion manages to turn things around in about the last 40 seconds or so. Ion hits a new finisher for the win at the 2.5 minute mark. After the match, Ion injures Darsow's arm before cutting a promo. He addresses Sorensen before saying that he's not just f'n pretty, but he's also f'n dangerous. Sounded a little ridiculous but this confirms that it looks as though TNA is going for Sorensen to sort of make a grand return and ultimately take the title from Ion. N/A

I disagree with you on this. Darsow who we really didn't know, in one promo ties hismelf to Sorrenson and gives everyone a reason to cheer him and creates a small story and a reason for fans to care about the match.

Then Ion had two or three new catch phrases in this segmant, he looked like a cowardly/arrogant/yet competent Champion in a great showing. He was a heel in every sense of the word and he really surprised me! He was great. The old heel gets the win with a finisher from out of nowehere is a great heat magnet. He then breaks out a new submission type finisher as well... which is lethal ... awesome stuff. The call out of Sorrenson is fantastic and made him look like this great Champion of the X Division. I think creative have done a top job here and Zema doesn't feel like he is second best to Aries at all after this.

Austin Aries & Bobby Roode - Definitely a mixed segment for me. Aries came out and did a superb job of putting over TNA, the TNA WHC, pro wreslting in general and, of course, himself. The crowd was hot for him and he delivered with intensity and believable passion. Bobby Roode, on the other hand, was so over the top with his anger that it looked quite cartoonish. I understand that he's angry, he's supposed to be angry & outraged, but he comes out walking as though he's almost in a stunned or dazed state before morphing into this Hulk like level anger. He grunts & hisses and stomps around the ring. Eventually, he manages to say that Aries win was a fluke before leaving with Aries taunting him. Aries was great here, Roode wasn't. Roode was completely over the top and it just took away from the whole segment. Thumbs In The Middle

I'm calling promo of the year from Aries here. As you said he put over everything, including himself. Roode's over the top stuff for me did not take away from how magical that promo was. Aries looks more legit than anyone on the roster, which at 5 foot 8 or whatever I thought was going to be difficult. Man I have been a fan of Aries since 2004, but he just took it up another level.

Hogan & Sting - Prior to the final segment, Roode comes into Hogan's office and declares that he wants Aries before Hardcore Justice. Hogan reminds him that Open Fight Night is next week and that he can have Aries then, but he won't get his title shot until the ppv. To me, that undermines the OFN concept because there've been more than one champ challenged on OFN and the champ has had no choice but to wrestle & defend the title. I get that they want to save the title match for the ppv but, in that case, why even bring up OFN next week? They could've just used next week to have Roode attack Aries, viciously assault him and leave him laying. That way the legitimacy of the OFN format is still in tact, it builds heat for their feud and makes fans wait for their match. After this, Sting heads down to the ring and calls out Aces and Eights, I hope that's not the name of that group. They'd shown brief backstage segments with Hogan & Sting preparing to confront these guys, including one in which Devon & Garett Bischoff offer them their help but Hogan & Sting turn them down. I immediately knew then that Hogan & Sting would get their asses kicked and that's exactly what happened. Hogan's music hits but he doesn't come out. They show Hogan backstage in his office left a little bloody and beaten on the floor with Brooke freaking out. Sting gets out to go back and he's jumped from behind by about 6 or 7 masked guys for the show to go off the air. Meh, pretty standard stuff that felt like it was phoned in. To me, it didn't make sense for Hogan & Sting to turn down help. Here are a couple of 50+ year old men looking to confront probably more than half a dozen guys that they know nothing about but don't want help fighting them? Just didn't fly with me. Thumbs Down

Someone has already spoken about the OFN concept. As for the last segment, maybe there was live problems in getting the prerecorded veideo up because I don't think playing Hogan's music three times was necessary, it was as annoying as Roode's outburst, but Aces and Eights is a cool name for mine, as Sting explained it's the Dead Man's hand. I'm not sure why you're not into this, Hogan and Sting are superheroes, and they are beaten down by this evil gang. Who knows who these guys are and why they are doing it. It's great stuff and although this maybe should have been done a few weeks ago, it is bringing it forward nicely.

Sting is still at the top of his game in kayfabe, much like the Undertaker. With his trusty bat, he doesn't need anyone's help and really only trusts Hogan at this stage of his career. If you have follwed Sting's career, he has been backstabbed by everyone. From Flair to Luger to the Road Warriors to the whole of WCW to Vampiro etc etc etc. Sting only wants Hulk watching his back. Sting has taken on the entire nWo, although it was 15 years ago now, he still beleives he can handle his own business. But Aces and Eights have attacked the Icon. I think it's great. You call it meh, I think it is a good progression. Sting returns only to be beaten down again, after his back up the Immortal Hulk Hogan is now a victim. They have just taken out the two top baby faces in wrestling history!!! Who is next? What is their message? Who do they work for? I'm hoping the payoff will be great!

GrandSword's final thoughts...

I think this was another solid outing from TNA. All storylines are being advanced quite well (a part from the bastard child angle). And my only true criticism can be sort of explained away using the BFG Series and the OFN gimmicks. And this is that TNA doesn't have their premier talent on every episode the way WWE does. When you watch Raw, you get Cena, Punk, Bryan, Big Show, Kane, Dolph etc etc. each show. however when you tune into Impact you don't get Jeff Hardy, or James Storm, or RVD, or Sting, or Angle, or Joe or Styles or Vevlet Sky etc etc every week. Like I said it could be because of BFG etc taking up time, but I think people tune in for the top talent and TNA just need to book it so they are there week in week out.