Photo credit: impactwrestling.com
Hulk Hogan gave Jeff Hardy a speech in his office claiming that he'd "raised the bar" after obtaining the World Title at Bound for Glory, didn't he say the same thing to Aries when he won the title at Destination X? It certainly would've been more relevant then. We then heard an inner monologue from Hardy on each of the four possible men he could face for his championship next, it was a little different but I didn't mind it.
Rob Van Dam (c) defeated Zema Ion to retain the X Division Title. It was a fair match up. Ion looked decent and RVD as usual seemed to pull out his standard moves, which was fine. Nothing that special but watchable.
Afterwards Matt Morgan, accompanied by Joey Ryan, took out the champ with a clumsy Carbon Footprint. Morgan then warned Hogan that after wishing for a monster from him, he might just get it. Ryan meanwhile held the X Division strap in Van Dam's face, so I presume he's now next in line for a shot. I'm liking the more serious Morgan just taking out people, although once he steps back into the ring it'll be the same old bland wrestler I imagine.
Kazarian complained about the unfair treatment him and Christopher Daniels had received from the GM Hogan, claiming that they'd lost the tag team titles "illegally" at BFG. Daniels then accused Dixie Carter of catering to the new title holders Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez to gain a larger latino audience, saying that they were typical looking Mexicans with their tattoos and poncho. He also amusingly suggested calling them "dos steriotypicos." It was a great promo from both members of one of the most solid overall tag teams going today.
Chavo and Hernandez then interrupted a petition Daniels and Kaz attempted to get going to gain them a rematch for the championship. Chavo stated that he and Hernandez would welcome a rematch anytime, anyplace, and they then chased the former title holders out of the ring and signed the petition themselves.
After Mr. Anderson was eliminated from a chance at the World Title by Hogan, Austin Aries was there waiting to berate the 'Asshole'. This of course led to a brief fight between the two, with AA eventually challenging Anderson to a match that night. Embarrassingly we then clearly heard the director shouting "Cut" at the end of the segment. Not particularly professional looking, eh?
We were then shown footage of Devon announcing to his fellow Aces & 8s members that they had to take out a random victim that night during the show. So they randomly picked by throwing a dart at a wall with photos of the roster, but we didn't see who their choice was.
Samoa Joe (c) beat Robbie T to retain the TNA Television Championship in a passable, if pretty average contest. The limited Robbie T did his usual move set, while Joe worked well with what he had, eventually locking on the Coquina Clutch after a few attempts to force Terry to tap. In an Undertaker-like fashion Joe rose up after being taken to the mat by Robbie to latch on the submission hold for a nice finish.
Austin Aries defeated Mr. Anderson in a worthy effort by both men. I wasn't expecting an awful lot here but it was quite enjoyable really, not the greatest match but fun enough to watch. The only thing that marred it was the strange ending. Aries would knock Anderson out with an illegal object, only to have Anderson then fall on top of him for a near count, then apply a submission hold when he was already clearly out. It just came across as a bit unnecessary.
Tara (c) bested Brooke Tessmacher to retain the Knockouts Title in a passable bout. The action was standard for the most part, but at least there was some heat to the match. Tara grabbed the win after her boyfriend Jesse caused Tessmacher to tumble from the ring and threw her back in to have a Widows Peak applied. Afterwards Brooke Hogan announced that at Open Fight Night next week ODB would be challenging Jesse. His reaction was pretty funny actually.
Bully Ray demanded that Devon come out and explain the real reason that he's joined up with Aces & 8s. So Devon came out and revealed that he joined the gang because they had his back after Hogan and Dixie Carter released him and never contacted him or made any effort to get him back like they had claimed to. He also warned Bully that Aces & 8s plan to get retribution against all of those in the company that have wronged them.
Bully went on to reveal that after their retirement match last year, backstage Devon asked him why he was so worried "we're rich anyway" and that was why he'd turned on him. After Devon then backed out of a fight right there and then, Bully announced that next week he'd be taking him on in a fight, and also added that Devon has "no balls." The segment was okay, I was maybe expecting a bit more from their first encounter after Bound for Glory.
Hogan announced Kurt Angle as his pick over James Storm to face Hardy in the main event for the title. 'The Hulkster' also said to Storm that he didn't pick him because he had something else big planned for him. So why was he in the running at all if he had other plans for 'The Cowboy'? Where's the logic there?
Jeff Hardy (c) defeated Kurt Angle to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a tremendous main event match. Were you expecting anything less from it? Both men put in great efforts and didn't put a foot wrong. Solid stuff that's worth checking out. Afterwards Aries struck Hardy from behind with his title belt and announced that he would be invoking his rematch clause at Turning Point for the World Championship.
We then went backstage to see Aces & 8s members attacking and taking out Angle.
Overall it was a decent enough Impact, my only let down was the quality of most of the matches compared to recent weeks. Fortunately Aries versus Anderson, the entertaining promos from Kaz and Daniels and the brilliant main event helped save the broadcast. Also disappointed in the Bully Ray and Devon encounter, not that it was bad by any means but I was personally expecting more from it myself.
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