My TNA Sacrifice 2012 Recap

Christopher Daniels and Kazarian defeated Samoa Joe and Magnus (c) to obtain the TNA Tag Team Championship. It was a good opener to the show and a solid effort from all four men. Although this match wasn't maybe as exciting as I was predicting it was still entertaining from start to finish and worth checking out. I was expecting Joe and Magnus to retain myself, I feel a really long title reign would've been the right step for them but they could very well win the titles back soon and their run was a decent one even if they don't. 

Gail Kim (c) defeated Brooke Tessmacher to retain the TNA Knockouts Championship in a passable contest. Brooke actually looked slightly better here then I was expecting. Kim managed to score the win after pinning Tessmacher with her legs up on the ropes.

Devon (c) defeated Robbie E and Robbie T in an average Triple Threat match to retain the TNA Television title. It was quite a missable match for the most part to be honest, much like most of Devon's Television title reign. the only thing worth noting is that after some arguing during the bout and making up after, it looks as though Robbie T will be turning on Robbie E or vice versa fairly soon. 

Mr. Anderson defeated Jeff Hardy in a fair match up. Both men looked solid enough in the ring, although it wasn't going to live up to Hardy's great matches with Angle recently on pay-per-view it was still decent. This was probably one of the better efforts I've seen from Anderson in TNA too. 

Crimson came to the ring and bragged about defeating Matt Morgan by count out on last weeks Impact, he also once again brought a referee into the ring to count to ten, even though he had issued an open challenge and no one had stepped forward yet. Then Eric Young's music hit and he accepted the match up with the undefeated Crimson, which seemed like a popular choice with the fans.

Crimson defeated Eric Young in a mediocre bout. It had a mix of EY's comedy and his wife ODB getting involved in the match, where she was pushed down in the ring by an irritated Crimson. This of course provoked Young to make a (short lived) comeback, only to then be spinebustered by Crimson for the one-two-three.

Austin Aries defeated Bully Ray in a highly enjoyable encounter. Early on AA took a nuts bump as he was big booted from the top rope onto the railing on the outside, you could certainly see the effects of it on his back afterwards. As the face, a role which I believe Aries has taken on brilliantly, he made his heroic comeback and managed to even Brainbuster Bully for a great near fall after Joseph Parks (who'd been in attendance in the crowd for Sacrifice) distracted Ray. As it then looked as though Bully, who I also give a lot of credit for in this match for his role as the aggressive heel, was about to win with a bomb Aries also managed kick out of the nice near fall. Finally AA forced 'Calfzilla' to tap after applying a .

For me the match exceeded my expectations, and these are both two of my favourite things about the company right now. Giving Aries the win was also a smart move I felt, it's already clear how talented he is in the ring and on the mic, but he's also embraced this new persona better then I was expecting and I hope they keep this momentum of his going. As for Ray, I don't think the loss will damage him too much, a feud with Abyss will follow next I reckon.  

Kurt Angle defeated AJ Styles in a superb wrestling match, would you expect any less from these two? In the best match of the night and quite possibly the best PPV match TNA have put on this year these two men went back and fourth with smooth and crisp action, with effective near falls a plenty. I honestly struggle to find any issue with this bout, just do yourself a favour and check it out. Angle forced AJ to tap to the ankle lock after Daniels and Kaz distracted him at ringside. 

Afterwards Daniels and Kazarian continued the attack on Styles until Angle beat them off and out of the ring. So I guess he's face again.

Bobby Roode (c) defeated Rob Van Dam in a Ladder match to retain the World Heavyweight title. For a main event ladder match I found it a bit underwhelming to be honest, like most RVD bouts in TNA. Don't get me wrong it was decent at parts, with some hard bumps taken on the steel ladders, it just didn't feel like a main event for a World Championship to me personally. Here's hoping at the much hyped Slammiversary we get a better title bout.

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.