My Impact Wrestling, May 3rd 2012 Recap

Ric Flair ordered Hogan out, stating that he was far from pleased about the treatment Eric Bischoff had received last week. Hulk Hogan sure enough came out and told Flair that as General Manager he plans to "step the game up" in Impact Wrestling, it'd be nice to see that some time soon then. He went on to ask 'The Nature Boy' to be a judge on the Gut Check Challenge, after some more exchanged words which included Flair accusing Hogan of not asking him to be a judge but telling him, he agreed to do it.

Brooke Tessmacher and Velvet Sky defeated Gail Kim and Madison Rayne. It was a fairly average tag team bout, not particularly memorable. Tessmacher used Kim's own finisher Eat Defeat on her for the third straight pinfall victory over the Knockouts Champion.

The always confident (or cocky) Rob Van Dam bragged on the mic about his skills and accomplishments in wrestling and added that he's sure he'll defeated Roode for the World title. RVD came across as more of a heel here than a face, he didn't seem remotely humble at all. Bobby Roode sure enough joined him and also bragged, but instead about his title reign and informed Van Dam that he'll be facing Jeff Hardy (they each got to pick each others opponents for the night) while RVD told the champ that he'll be facing Mr. Anderson. 

Devon (c) won via disqualification versus Rob Terry to retain the Television title in a dull match up, did you expect much different? Terry was DQ'd after Robbie E smacked the champion with Terry's board with 'the list' on. 

We were shown backstage footage of the Gut Check judges Flair, Al Snow and Bruce Prichard discussing the potential of young wrestler Alex Silva. I personally quite enjoyed the segment, it was something a bit different and came across quite real.

Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy in a solid and entertaining, if unfortunately a bit too short (for my liking anyway) contest. For the finish Roode snuck down (how no one spotted him I don't know, but hey, who needs logic in TNA right?) and struck Hardy in the back with his title belt, allowing RVD to kick him in the head and grab the one-two-three.

Bully Ray grabbed Jeremy Borash from backstage and dragged him to the ring, asking him about his part in the Eric Bischoff sendoff last week (where he helped put him into a portable toilet which turned it over). He went on to threaten JB, calling him a "little bitch" and such until Austin Aries interrupted. Aries turned the tables on Ray and reminded him that for years he was the far chubbier 'Blubber Ray'. Bully once again berated AA for his size and spat at him until the X Division champ finally snapped and began beating on him until security pulled him away.  

AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Magnus defeated Kazarian, Christopher Daniels and Kurt Angle in an exhilarating and fast paced tag team match. The action really didn't let up here with a variety of styles from submission to high flying, definitely worth checking out. AJ got the pin on Kazarian for the win after applying a Styles Clash.

After the bout Christopher Daniels gave Styles an ultimatum, either he come out next week and admit the truth about this secret evidence Daniels and Kaz have on him, or they tell everyone anyway. Just end this storyline already, it's already been far too drawn out.

Alex Silva was given the chance to sell himself on the mic in front of the three Gut Check judges after receiving a "No" from Flair and "Yes" from Prichard, why didn't they do this before they'd both voted? Silva gave a drab and cliche-reality show speech about how he'd worked so hard to get where he was and mentioned his deceased father, it didn't go down well with the fans or the judges as Flair asked him to start again. Silva then gave a far better promo where he showed some emotion and confidence, apparently convincing Flair to change his vote to a "Yes," thereby giving Silva a contract with TNA. Alex seemed genuinely emotional after the result, and I believe it.

Bobby Roode defeated Mr. Anderson in a No Disqualification match which was quite average and uninspiring. Hardy ran in during the bout to Anderson's aid but was accidentally Mic Checked by him who mistook him for the World Champion. Roode began striking both men with a steel chair after the bell until RVD also came out and chased him off. But as he was checking on Hardy, Roode raced back to the ring and also beat him down with the chair.