My Impact Wrestling, May 10th 2012 Recap

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode boasted about taking out Mr. Anderson, Jeff Hardy and RVD on last weeks Impact Wrestling. As Roode was then claiming that no one could stop his "world title domination" Rob Van Dam made his way out and began brawling with the champ. Roode managed to escape the ring, only to have Mr. Anderson block him off and beat him down with RVD. Jeff Hardy also predictably joined in the on the attack for some retribution, only to also begin fighting with his opponent at Sacrifice, Anderson. All four were eventually separated by staff and officials.

Hogan made his way out and booked a Fatal Four Way match between the wrestlers for that night, with the added stipulations that if either Hardy or Anderson win then they get RVD's spot as number one contender on Sunday, and if Roode wins then he gets to choose his opponent between the three, but if Van Dam is victorious then he gets to choose the stipulation for the World title bout. Interesting start to the show.

Brooke Tessmacher defeated Velvet Sky in a passable, if no particularly memorable contest. Let's face it, putting these two together is never going to produce anything incredible is it?

Bully Ray fortunately attacked Matt Morgan before he was about to face Crimson in a match no one wanted to see. He struck him in the head with a steel chair, causing 'The Blueprint' to be stretchered off. Bully was strangely calm and quiet as he warned Aries that this would be him, it was some nice work by Ray who's become one of my favourite things about TNA as of late.

Crimson grabbed a mic after and mocked Morgan, who he stated was never going to defeat him anyway. He went on to request that the referee give Morgan till the count of ten to get back to the ring, of course Morgan didn't make it and Crimson was declared the victor.

Austin Aries (c) defeated Zema Ion to retain the X Division Championship in a superb title match. Aries and Ion went back and fourth with smoothly executed and impressive maneuvers, as you'd expect from them. Both men put in a solid display and gave even more proof as to why the X Division, something WWE don't have an answer or equivalent to, should be pushed far more then it is. The fans were also really into it, showing their appreciation for the efforts of both talents.

My only very slight gripe with it would be that the talented Ion wasn't made to look like he would ever dethrone Aries as champ here. Previously he'd been made to look like the future champion, and has the credentials to do so. If it were up to me I would've had Ion be the one to finally win the X Division title from AA, leaving Aries to be able to move further up the card with his new and deserved push. 

Christopher Daniels, accompanied by Kazarian, gave AJ one last chance to confess publicly the big secret that Daniels has been blackmailing him with. AJ Styles sure enough came to the ring and warned both men that they are about to make a huge mistake by revealing the secret. But nonetheless Kaz and Daniels then presented a series of photos of AJ with TNA President Dixie Carter, including one of them kissing. Oh my!  

Devon (c) defeated Robbie E to retain the TNA Television title in a short and drab match up. Afterwards Robbie's bodyguard Robbie T took out the champion, supposedly setting up another rematch or a bout between himself and Devon. 

We were shown a VT of James Storm at his ranch, talking about his loss to Roode at Lockdown, how if deflated him and his possible exit form pro wrestling due to it. It was as usual a nice promo from Storm and a smart way of keeping him in the fans minds still. I'm hoping he'll return for Slammiversary. 

Joseph Parks, Abyss's brother, came to the ring and explained that his search for his missing brother over the last few months had brought up one common name, Bully Ray. H e went on to say that he might just buy a ticket to Sacrifice to have more words with Ray, but there might not be any need as Bully then made his way out. 'Calfzilla' claimed that Parks had no business being in a wrestling arena and threatened him if he stayed. Joseph retorted by reminding Ray of his recent losses in TNA and his beat down at the hands of Aries last week, asking him "how's that bullying thing working out for you?" This mickey taking obviously didn't please Bully who then pushed Parks over and left the ring.

The logical thing to do here is build up to a match between Bully Ray and Parks (who will be revealed to also being Abyss after Sacrifice I'm guessing) at Slammiversary. Which  would make sense and be a nice, slowly built feud as apposed to most rushed ones you get in WWE and TNA nowadays.     

Rob Van Dam defeated Bobby Roode, Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson in a Fatal Four Way match, thus giving him his match of choice against Roode on Sunday which he already announced as a Ladder match earlier in the show. It was a fair match up, they weren't given as much time as I was expecting but it was entertaining enough and helped build towards the matches at Sacrifice.

Afterwards Abyss then made his surprise return to TNA and warned his younger brother to "back away from the fire before you get burned." So maybe I was wrong? I didn't see the sense in bringing back Abyss this soon, it could've waited until next week.

My TNA Genesis 2012 Recap

Austin Aries (c) retained his X Division Title in the Fatal Four Way Elimination Match against Zema Ion, Kid Kash and Jesse Sorensen. It was a fast paced and entertaining enough opener to the pay-per-view, just let down a bit by the ending sequence. As you expect from the talent involved the action was pretty much non stop throughout, with a healthy dose of near falls and your typically entertaining X Division maneuvers. Austin Aries won after Sorensen (who was on top rope) had been distracted by an sore Zema Ion who had refused to leave after being eliminated by Jesse. This allowed Aries to apply his patented Brainbuster to Sorensen from the middle rope for a nice finisher to the match.
I personally felt it was a big mistake having Ion remain hidden at ringside from when he was eliminated, it just made it obvious to everyone (well if you're a wrestling fan you should've realised) that Ion was going to interfere and cost Sorensen the match. They should've had Ion go to the back after he'd been pinned, then had a lengthier period of Aries and Sorensen going at it with each of them pulling out their signature moves for near falls. Then when it looked like Jesse was going to the top rope for the win, Zema could've raced out to distract him as more of a surprise.      
Devon defeated D'Angelo Dinero in an average but occasionally heated bout. During the match up 'The Pope' called in Devon's two sons Terrence and Terrell and asked them to look at their beaten down father on the ground. They both clearly looked uncomfortable at the sight of this (even though they'd previously attacked their Dad with a steel chair with no quarrels strangely) so Dinero threw one of them out (I forget, they're twins remember?) and slapped the other. This gave Devon time to recover enough to make his heroic comeback and avenge his sons by defeating 'The Pope' one-two-three. Afterwards Devon also made up with his twins sons.
To quote The Miz, really? Really? I just feel like this storyline was ended far too soon. Dinero could've had Terrence and Terrell as his backup for a long while before they eventually turned on each other. All the build up to them turning on their own Father, only to have them then suddenly turn back once again this quickly. Cheers, Russo.  
Well that makes two finishes that were pretty weak in my view, let's see how the rest panned out then...
Gunner defeated Rob Van Dam in a passable but ultimately forgettable (usual for these two nowadays) bout. The match was back and fourth until Ric Flair (who'd accompanied Gunner) distracted the referee towards the end, allowing Gunner to DDT Van Dam onto some flooring he'd exposed on the outside and roll him back into the ring for the pinfall victory. It's quite a big win for Gunner, maybe TNA have big future plans for him? Not sure why, Gunner isn't bad, I just don't see anything particularly spectacular about the wrestler to be honest. But hopefully he'll prove me wrong. Afterwards RVD had to be stretchered out.
Okay, this ending I could get behind a bit more then the previous two if they really sell this RVD injury for a realistic length of time. It'll certainly make the fans take Gunner more seriously to take out a big name like Van Dam and only enhance his character.
Gail Kim (c) won via disqualification against Mickie James to retain her Knockouts Championship in a solid enough bout that just felt a little sloppy at places and an ending that gave it a bit of a tainted feel. Before the match began Velvet Sky had suggested to Sting backstage to add what she called a 'Velvet Touch' by having Madison Rayne locked inside of a cage for the duration of the title match to halt any interfering she may have planned, which 'The Stinger' agreed to. But towards the end Rayne threw down some knuckle dusters for Kim to use which the referee spotted. When he left to discard them Madison threw down another pair for the champ, but James thwarted the attempt and kicked her in the gut. Then, for a completely stupid and baffling finish (welcome to todays TNA folks!) James decided to use the knuckle dusters herself on Gail Kim right infront of the ref. Once again, really?
Abyss defeated Bully Ray in a surprisingly awesome Monsters Ball Match. The action and hardcore spots were constant but unlike many TNA hardcore match ups where they're just spot after spot for the sake of it, the action here was well planned out and not too over the top. The crowd in attendance certainly voiced their appreciation for it also. Abyss pinned Ray after Black Hole Slamming him onto a barbed wire table, although that wasn't as bad as Abyss being sandwiched between two barbed wire tables and then having Bully Ray come crashing down on top of him earlier on.
Matt Morgan and Crimson (c) defended their TNA Tag Team Titles against Samoa Joe and Magnus. The match up was mediocre for the most part, although there were moments of solid sequences in there. The most entertaining part for me was when the crowd began to chant  "We want Morgan!" with other fans then responding back with"No we don't!" Very funny. During the match we were also shown backstage footage of Bully Ray attacking Abyss.      
Kurt Angle defeated James Storm in the match of the night. From start to finish the bout was enthralling and technically superb. Certainly their best match together too in my opinion. The finish came after Angle low blowed Storm after using the referee to protect him from a Last Call Superkick, and applying his own superkick for the pin.
Tenay in his trademark move sent us backstage where someone queried a bloodied Bully Ray to Abyss' whereabouts. Ray answered with "I don't know. Where's he at?"
Jeff Hardy won via DQ against Bobby Roode (c) in a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. This was very almost match of the night, the structure and pace were brilliantly executed. Both men put in a very good effort and worked hard to provide a worthy main event. For the finish Roode purposely low blowed referee Hebner to avoid loosing his World Title.
The crowd, which had been thoroughly into the bout, chanted "We want Sting!" after the finish. I don't blame them, it did feel like a bit of a let down after such a solid match. I can excuse one or two finishes of this fashion on a TNA pay-per-view card (it's come to be expected from that muppet Russo) but for the majority of the matches to end on screwy finishes is just inexcusable really. It's a shame, but I'd add that the last two matches are still worth checking out along with the Monsters Ball. 

My Impact Wrestling, January 5th 2012 Recap

Sting called out Jeff Hardy and congratulated him on his progress since his return to the company and remarked on the similarities between them both, with the 'Stinger' mentioning a time when he was "dealing with my own demons," too. He also gave Jeff his own "personal endorsement." As he said that the TNA World Champion Bobby Roode made his way out with Kurt Angle and Bully Ray. Roode queried Sting as to why he doesn't endorse himself, Ray or Angle rather then Hardy. As Roode continued to abuse Hardy, James Storm, accompanied by Abyss then joined them. 'The Cowboy' commented that Angle wasn't the same man he was a few months ago, and that he was looking a "little scared." Abyss then snatched the mic off of Angle and told Bully Ray that he and Immortal used and exploited him, and that they still need him but "I don't need Immortal anymore." In the same vein as Teddy Long, Sting made a main event for the night pitting all six men against each other in a six-man tag team bout. 
Gail Kim and Madison Rayne (c) defended their TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles against Mickie James and Traci Brooks. The match up itself was quite average for the most part, although it started off pretty excitingly and heated. I quite like the idea of Kim and Rayne holding on to the titles for a little while longer, they're a believable unit to me.
Gunner versus Rob Van Dam ended in a double count out. The action wasn't bad but as with most of these two wrestlers matches in TNA the bout was ultimately quite forgettable. After the bell rang Gunner attempted to piledriver Van Dam onto some exposed flooring (his trademark as of late) but was thwarted on both his attempts. First by RVD himself then by members of the backstage staff. 
Jesse Sorensen and Zema Ion defeated Kid Kash and Austin Aries in a solid and fast paced tag team bout. There seems to be a rivalry brewing between Ion and Sorensen so I wouldn't be shocked to see them tangle over the title in the near future.  
Backstage we witnessed AJ call his tag partner Kazarian for their match up next. As they left, Christopher Daniels (unknown to Styles) appeared from a hidden spot in the dressing room where he'd been obviously talking to Kaz.  
Samoa Joe and Magnus defeated AJ Styles and Kazarian after Kaz abandoned AJ during the match and joined Christopher Daniels on the ramp, leaving him to be attacked and pinned by Joe. The final match of the Tag Team tournament to determine the number one contenders for Genesis was entertaining at parts, although maybe a slight disappointment considering the calibre of talent involved. AJ's time in the ring was the definite highlight for myself. 
Abyss, James Storm and Jeff Hardy versus Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle and Bully Ray ended in a no contest after all six men began brawling with one another. Up until that point the match had been strong at times with a heated (if not a bit baffling) ending to the match and the show.  

My Impact Wrestling, December 29th 2011 recap

In a rare moment, the Knockouts started Impact off with Madison Rayne (accompanied by tag team partner Gail Kim) informing Tara and Tessmacher that they were both"fired!" Sting decided to intervene in quite an amusing moment when he informed Rayne that she had, in fact "no power," or authority over the Knockout division. He also added that Gail Kim would have to defend her TNA Knockouts title against Mickie James that night. I'm so glad that they gave Sting this role as the GM (or whatever the title is) of Impact, I'm finding him more endearing now then I have for months.     
Kazarian and AJ Styles defeated Abyss and Scott Steiner in the tag team tournament to determine the new number one contenders. The actual bout itself was quite decent actually, considering Abyss and Steiner were on one of the teams. The finish came after Abyss turned on Steiner by Black Hole Slamming him and dragging Kazarian's body over for the cover.
After the match Bully Ray confronted Abyss and claimed that he was sick of him pushing people around, and called him a "bully." Ray carried on to query Abyss by asking "What do you want?" To which 'The Monster' replied "I want you. I want Bully Ray." Abyss then added a stipulation to his proposed match against Ray at Genesis, that if he lost he would once again join the ranks of Immortal. Bully accepted the challenge, that was before Abyss added that their match would be under Monsters Ball rules.  
Zema Ion defeated Anthony Nese in a Contract On A Pole Match to earn himself a spot in the Fatal Four Way Match at Genesis for the X Division title. While the match up was solid enough, it felt a little average compared to their previous two bouts on Impact to me.   
Douglas Williams won via disqualification against Gunner after Gunner had pushed over the referee. Up until that point the match had been quite heated, with plenty of shots shared between the two. It's just a shame it was so brief, especially with a wrestler the quality of Williams competing which we unfortunately don't get to see often enough for my liking. Afterwards Gunner once again applied a DDT to Williams on the outside of the ring to exposed flooring. Why couldn't he at least take out someone average like Anderson?
World Champion Bobby Roode introduced his friend Tracy Koleski, who he'd flown in from Canada, to bring him into his "world" as he put it. Koleski asked Roode why his demeanor had changed so much and queried "Who have you become?" After he had supposedly ignored all calls from his friends and family. Roode laughed at his friend and claimed that "there is nothing wrong with this picture" and called Tracy his "lackey" while they were growing up. Roode then resorted to attacking his ex-friend until Jeff Hardy raced out to his aid.
Samoa Joe and Magnus defeated ODB and Eric Young in another tag team tournament match up. The bout itself was entertaining enough, the moments with ODB in the ring were mainly for comical effect. It's also nice to see the solid Samoa Joe and improving Magnus being made relevant once again in the company.
Kurt Angle defeated Rob Van Dam via DQ when James Storm entered the ring and super kicked Angle. The bout had been decent, although you could tell it wasn't either mans best effort. 
Gail Kim (c) defended her TNA Knockouts Championship against Mickie James. The main event was a superb and intense contest, and proved how entertaining female wrestling can and should be. Both wrestlers clearly take pride in their work and you could see that they wanted to make the most of a rare main event spot for them both. Gail Kim grabbed the one-two-three after a masked woman ran in and attacked James from behind, most likely Rayne, although Tenay and Taz both mentioned Madison so maybe that's too obvious? Melina making her debut perhaps?
For all of TNA's flaws (of which there are many) their women's division far exceeds WWE's. Could you honestly imagine Beth Phoenix facing Kelly Kelly or Eve Torres in the main event of a Raw or SmackDown? Of course not. I'm not saying that WWE doesn't have some talented female wrestlers, just that they're not utilised correctly nowadays. Long gone are the days of Trish Stratus and Lita I'm afraid guys and girls.