My TNA Victory Road 2012 Recap

Before his match up Bully Ray came to the ring and announced himself "the talk of the wrestling world" due to him taking the pay-per-view hostage. This was because he demanded that his match with James Storm later that night to be changed into a number one contenders match to the TNA World Heavyweight Title. James Storm joined Ray and said that he never had to waste the peoples time and he gave him that number one contenders match right there and then.

James Storm defeated Bully Ray in a very brief bout after Ray sipped some of Storm's beer and then received a Last Call Superkick for the one-two-three. I think this could have been quite a decent match if they'd given it a bit more time.  

Austin Aries (c) defeated Zema Ion to retain his X Division Championship in a thrilling and all round solid match up. Both men went back and fourth with their impressive display of moves throughout and Ion had a nice near fall towards the end after spraying Aries in the face with his hair spray, which also blinded Aries for the remainder of the bout. Before the match Aries stated that it doesn't matter where he appears on the card it's always the main event. On another night, he would've maybe been right, but tonight there was a special match to come involving an Olympic Gold Medallist and the 'Charismatic Enigma'.

Magnus and Samoa Joe (c) defeated Matt Morgan and Crimson to retain the TNA Tag Team Titles. The majority of the match was quite dull with the average Crimson involved, it at least picked up a bit in excitement once Joe got into the action and picked up the pace. After arguing throughout the tag bout, Crimson eventually had enough and speared his partner Morgan, leaving him to be finished off and pinned by Magnus and Joe. Well at least we won't have to watch them as a tag team any more, but unfortunately this also means we'll have to endure them going into a singles feud.

Robbie E opened up his first ever 'Robbie E Invitational' for the TNA Television Title to any fan in the crowd. But after much deliberation Robbie decided to cancel the invitational and start posing with his manager/bodyguard Robbie T until Devon made his way through the crowd and accepted the challenge.

Devon defeated Robbie E (c) to win the TNA Television Title in a rather short but action packed contest. The win was very well received with the fans and Devon did look pretty decent between the ropes, with a fast pace and solid maneuvers.

Gail Kim (c) defeated Madison Rayne to retain her TNA Knockouts Championship in quite an average bout that played before a largely indifferent crowd. And I don't blame the fans there, with the build up to the match it was never made clear who you were really meant to be cheering on. Now the action wasn't bad, in fact Rayne's moves looked better then they maybe ever have, it just didn't draw you in like every title match should.      

AJ Styles and Mr. Anderson defeated Kazarian and Christopher Daniels in a solid tag team contest that started off a little drab but certainly pulled you in with a blistering finish. Styles and Daniels were the top performers of the match up with a good effort by both wrestlers, Kaz and Anderson also looked decent. 

Kurt Angle defeated Jeff Hardy in a thrilling match up that even exceeded my expectations. Both men put on a superb display, with plenty of effective near falls and crisp action. If you only watch one match from this pay-per-view (although not sure why you would) then watch this one. 

Bobby Roode defeated Sting in a surprisingly engrossing No Holds Barred match. I can't remember the last performance from 'The Stinger' that was this entertaining, he gave a great effort here and deserved the fans applaud. Fortunately there weren't too many weapons used in the bout either (which is what I usually expect from a TNA in these kinds of contests) I believe that may have tainted it a bit and taken away from the enjoyable wrestling on display. Roode gained the winning pin after Sting accidentally knocked himself out on a steel chair he was unaware was there as he applied a Scorpion Death Drop.

Afterwards the World champ threw the referee out of the ring, dragged Dixie Carter (who'd been at ringside) in and forced her to look at the beaten Sting. As he then prepared to strike 'Stinger' with a steel chair 'The Icon' made a comeback, but this was short lived as Roode managed to KO Sting with the chair and tape his hands to the ropes. Dixie pleaded with him to stop as Roode almost struck her with the chair, but instead he just left with the World title. It was an effective finish, but also a bit absurd, as if no one would come to a defenseless woman like Dixie's aid?   

Overall Victory Road was a bit of a mixed bag, but was fortunately saved by a few matches which definitely gave the fans their money's worth and a very memorable one in Angle versus Hardy.