Review: Impact Wrestling 13/06/2013 Hour 2

Opening the second hour of this week's Impact Wrestling was another BFG Series qualifying match, Austin Aries vs Eric Young. Naturally, Young's chances of beating 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived' were slim to none, but all credit to him, he knows how to entertain a crowd. Both he and 'wife' ODB are infinitely entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the spot where after Aries had spun around on Young's back, ODB entered the ring and allowed Young to spin around on hers. They're a quality double act and it's a shame Young has to spend so long away from TNA shooting his nature show. Exemplified by the video package bringing to attention the pair are still the Knockout Tag Team Champions and have failed to defend their titles in over six months! Austin Aries was his usual cocky self, dominating proceedings and even getting a healthy crowd response. I did worry slightly however, as Aries looked even more pissed off than usual. This is a star who easily grows disenchanted with the wrestling business and I fear he's still reeling from the Christy Hemme incident last month. I trust TNA appreciate what a world class athlete they have in Aries and he's treated well in the coming months. Sufficed to say, entrance into the BFG Series bodes well, as he nailed Eric Young with a devastating Brainbuster and moved into the tournament with ease.

Next up was the Aces & Eights' Battle Royal. Set up by Hogan at the top of the show, designed to divide the group, it almost did just that. Mr Anderson, being the new VP of the group, was clearly their pick for winner and entry into the BFG Series. Most members had no problem with this, being eliminated from the match in a variety of silly ways. He finger-banged Brisco (that just sounds wrong), spun Bischoff around in an exaggerated manner, had Knox backing away in fear and "convinced" Devon to get the tables. I'm not usually a fan of Aces & Eights, but this segment was pretty funny. The only fly in the ointment was when Anderson attempted to "magically" throw Doc over the top rope and the big man merely looked at him in disgust. After a few more tries, Anderson grew weary of Doc's defiance and the former Luke Gallows exploded on the Asshole. That had to have been the defining segment of Doc's career and the biggest face pop he'll ever likely receive. He looked good rebelling against his brothers, perhaps planting the seeds for something more down the line. Unfortunately, Anderson dumped his ass out of the ring and achieved the desired result regardless.

To close the show, we had another amazing installment of AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle. What's left to be said about these two top tier talents and their combined magnificence. A few months ago, Angle even admitted Styles was the reason he came to TNA in the first place (Samoa Joe must be hanging his head in shame and walking away like Charlie Brown right now). We've seen this match a thousand times now and yet somehow they still find ways to make it different and entertaining. Hell, they only just worked Slammiversary together, giving yet another possible Match of the Year candidate. Where a TV main event would usually get the short end of the stick, seeing far less innovation than their PPV counterpart, I don't think either man is capable of giving it less than their all. AJ's new tweener character being nicely reinforced with several terrifying moves to Angle, namely his new Calf-killer submission and a nasty looking snap DDT into the corner. Eventually, AJ won the match by taking advantage of a distraction from Aces & Eights to roll Angle up from behind, but at this point it didn't matter who won, we'd already been thoroughly entertained and there will always be another encounter for the loser to gain his heat back.

However, rather than ending on Styles' celebration, the Phenomenal One was quick to hightail it out of there, leaving Angle to take the brunt of Aces & Eights' fury alone. But the Olympic Gold Medalist wasn't alone for long, as TNA's latest acquisition, Rampage Jackson, ran down to the ring and chased off the Sons of Anarchy wannabes with his chain (which you'll never actually see connect with anyone, despite swinging it here, there and everywhere ala Abyss' Janice). This nicely played into the pair's confrontation from last week and hyped their eventual match together. Not that it's going to be any time soon, mind you. Rampage still has months of work to be done down in developmental at OVW before he can even think about getting in the ring with the best worker of our time. In hindsight, it's a little strange to devote two weeks of shows to building to a match that won't happen for the foreseeable future, but I suppose if the opposition can book their main events a year in advance, anything is possible in this business. Fingers crossed the MMA star will be ready for something by Bound for Glory in October.

8 out of 10

A show that started off poorly, but slowly rebuilt our trust over the course of an hour and amazed us with it's second.

Review: Impact Wrestling 06/06/2013

Opening the show this week was the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Bully Ray. He cut a fantastic heel promo celebrating his win against Sting at Slammiversary and claimed TNA had "no more heroes left" for him to face. The crown jewel of this segment being Bully demanding to be put into the Hall of Fame. Which is such a gutsy display of arrogance, I have to applaud him. Unfortunately, he's soon interrupted by a rambling Hulk Hogan, who had a number of big points to announce, yet he fumbled almost every one. His explanation of the main event ladder match was damn near incoherent. Worse still, his over-reliance on cheap pops for fans in the audience was grating to those of us at home.

Our first match of the evening was Chavo Guerrero vs Hernandez for a spot in the Bound for Glory Series starting in two weeks time. Being former Tag Team Champions, there was a pre-existing friendship at work throughout the match. As such, at times Hernandez was pulling his punches, going easy on his partner. However, the same could not be said of Chavo, who was bordering on a heel turn with his tactics. His cockiness as he entered the match was apparent and every hit he landed on Hernandez was full force. The bout became somewhat of a David and Goliath battle, with Chavo attempting to use his speed as a cruiserweight to outwit the giant, but any time Hernandez finally got ahold of the smaller man, the results were devastating. Eventually, Hernandez used his brute strength to roll up Chavo and force a pinfall, which the Guerrero was none too happy about. I was saddened to see him finally relent and shake Hernandez's hand at the end though, as their Tag Team has grown stale and a heel turn could easily see one of their careers revitalised.

Aces & Eights' Sergeant at Arms, Devon, had an eventual night, as he spent the best part of two hours attempting to track down the new Television Champion, Abyss. Determined to win back the Title he lost at Slammiversary, Devon's first port of call was the Champion's "brother" Joseph Park. As per usual, Park was easily overpowered and found himself bloodied by the cowardly bikers, who fled to the back. We periodically got updates as to Devon's search for Abyss, but it rarely intrigued, usually just being he and Mike Knox staring at a door, convinced their target was inside. By the time Abyss finally did jump them, it was putting them (and us) out of our collective misery. With Park switching between identities so frequently and often on the same show, you'd hope the purpose of the angle would've become a little clearer, but it's failing to resolve itself. At least have the Monster and his brother face off against a threat worthy of their attention, something Devon simply is not.

For the second Bound for Glory Series qualifying match of the night, we had Robbie E vs Samoa Joe. I really enjoyed Robbie's pre-match promo, touting his "success" in last year's Series. I downright sniggered at his boasting of having won FIVE WHOLE POINTS! Robbie continues to be a solid comedy midcard act, something that's increasingly hard to pull off convincingly in this day and age, but the Jersey wannabe pulls it off with aplomb. However, as soon as you heard Samoa Joe's music hit the arena, his chances of a repeat performance in this year's Series dropped to absolute zero. The Samoan Submission Machine made quick work of him, locking in his patented rear-naked choke hold for a quick tap-out. Joe is a quality addition to this year's BFG Series, which so far only listing Jay Bradley and Hernandez, is lacking in any big names. Here's hoping a few more heavy-hitters find their way into the back nine.

Quentin "Rampage" Jackson made his TNA debut this week on Impact and we're still waiting to see what all the fuss was about. The MMA giant was guided through a bare-bones promo by Jeremy Borash, but failed to grasp the art of speaking to the crowd, at least in this outing. He started out exceedingly quiet and talked over the audience, giving the segment an awkward feel. But what did work was Kurt Angle's involvement. Upon Jackson mentioning needing to beat the best to be the best, Angle's music hit and the Olympic Gold Medalist made an impressive claim to being that man. The two stared off for a couple of minutes, switching between respect and intimidation. A mix I'm not sure Jackson entirely grasped, instead switching between blank face and flaring his nostrils. We know for a fact that this new acquisition has chops in the ring, but maybe he'd be better suited to having a manager ala Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. Even with months of training to come in OVW, I'm confident that Jackson is in capable hands with Kurt Angle. Who better to guide a rookie through a half decent match than the greatest in-ring talent of the last twenty years.

Look for a measure of revenge against their Slammiversary opponents, we're greeted with Austin Aries, Bobby Roode & Kenny King vs James Storm, Gunner & Chris Sabin. The faces being newly minted Champions, this was always going to be their victory lap, showing it was they that truly deserved the gold. The MVP of the match was Chris Sabin, who was anywhere and everywhere all at once. For a man that just came back from two ACL tears, he sure is fast. At one point, taking out all three of his opponents with a well placed dive over the top rope to the floor. Sabin is well and truly making a solid case for his guaranteed World Championship match in the future. Sold all the more by his winning combination of a devastating spinning DDT followed by his signature Hail Sabin cradle driver.

Switching gears to the Knockouts Division, there was a more than healthy appreciation of what Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell achieved at Slammiversary with their Last Knockout Standing match and rightfully so. Taryn herself appeared only briefly on this show, being congratulated by Brooke Hogan and awkwardly prodding her boss for details of her love life. Way to take a compliment Taryn! Instead, the in-ring portion of the night went to Mickie James vs Taeler Hendrix. A brief backstage segment set up the match, with Velvet attempting to get her rematch for the Knockouts Title, only to be rebuffed in favour of a contender Mickie claimed had been forgotten during Velvet's reign. Sufficed to say, even with the heel tactics, Mickie had a point about Taeler, who has been missing in action for the best part of a year, off plying her craft in the developmental territory of OVW. Taking full advantage of the opportunity, Taeler was keen to lock up with the Champion. Unfortunately, her attempts at taking control were universally shot down by James, who despite obnoxiously applauding Taeler's efforts, clearly preferred dominating the rookie. Even with momentum on her side, the Champion resorted to cheap heel tactics to get the win, faking a knee injury before surprising the challenger with a stiff uppercut and kick to the head. Mickie's journey towards being an out and out villain continues, becoming more obvious with every passing match. Just what Velvet Sky will have to do to get the Champion's attention makes for an intriguing element going forward.

Finally came the main event of the evening, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray vs Jeff Hardy in a ladder match. However, not for the Title, but instead the first to claim and use a hammer dangling above the ring. It's a fairly odd stipulation in itself, made all the stranger by Hulk Hogan's mangling of the explanation earlier in the night. Even after having watched the match, I'm not entirely sure who was meant to have won and how. Simply retrieving the hammer didn't seem to have any effect on who won and both men attempted to land blows on the other with the foreign object to little avail. The bout itself was their usual bag of tricks, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the sheer ferocity that Hardy began the began the match, leaping over the top rope to meet his unprepared nemesis and followed it up by damn near flying around the ring. Bully and Hardy have an undeniable chemistry in the ring, having beaten each other with various ladders and other implements over the years. The mark of a good match between the two appears to be an excruciatingly painful shot to Bully Ray's balls, this time coming after he fell into the corner of the ring and Hardy dropkicked the fallen ladder into his opponent's crotch. Unfortunately, TNA's bad habit of non-finishes reared it's ugly head once again and saw both men flee the arena, much to the crowd's annoyance. This was to set up a backstage segment whereby Hulk Hogan was about to hit the ailing Bully Ray with a hammer of his own, but was stopped by his daughter Brooke, who's feelings for the Aces & Eights leader continue to be in question. Sacrificing an otherwise good match for a terrible backstage soap opera which no one could see is simply unacceptable and I'm saddened they'd go that route for what is potentially the blow-off to Bully and Hardy's feud. Nine times out of ten a main event should have an ending, we were unlucky to have to watch that one time.

6 out of 10

Preview: TNA Slammiversary 2013

TNA Television Championship

Joseph Park vs Devon (c)

I don't know what kind of dirt Devon has on Dixie Carter, but his stranglehold on the Television Title continues! Having defended his Championship only a couple of times since winning it back in December, this is a rare reappearance for the formerly weekly title. His latest contender is none other than Abyss' "brother", Joseph Park. He has been circling Aces & Eights for several months. Initially wanting revenge for his captivity leading into last year's Bound for Glory, before stepping in to defend Brooke Hogan's honor by attempting to annul her marriage to Bully Ray. That naturally got the group's attention and who better to enforce Bully's will, than his brother Devon. I don't expect much out of this confrontation, as Devon has never had the most entertaining move set and Park is still playing the role of freshly-trained rookie. As with most of Park's matches, I'm predicting a prolonged beatdown by the heel Champion, followed by an accidental spillage of blood and the friendly giant sees red, putting Devon down with an impromptu Black Hole Slam.

Prediction - Joseph Park defeats Devon via pinfall to win the TNA Television Championship.

Six Man Tag Match

Wes Brisco, Garret Bischoff & Mr Anderson vs Magnus, Samoa Joe & Jeff Hardy

What do you do when you have six notable talents without a match on pay-per-view? Throw them all together in a tag match of course! Since their debut, Aces & Eights have randomly attacked members of the TNA roster. The victims have spent months at a time on the injury list, reduced to watching their attackers ruling the proverbial roost. At last comes their revenge, as each of them have worked their way back to health and their first opponents couldn't be clearer. The biggest of these names is none other than the Charismatic Enigma, Jeff Hardy. Having been forced to the sidelines after a nasty blow to the head during his World Title rematch with Bully Ray, Hardy's return has been highly anticipated. However, with him not actually appearing on Impact to set up this match, it feels largely like TNA had a big name who needed to be on the show and this was a convenient place to put him with minimal build. His return will no doubt overshadow all others in the match, so I'm expecting a few minutes back and forth before the Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo for the win.

Prediction - Magnus, Samoa Joe & Jeff Hardy defeat Wes Brisco, Garret Bischoff & Mr Anderson via pinfall.

TNA X Division Championship

Ultimate X Match

Suicide vs Kenny King (c) vs Chris Sabin

Continuing the current trend of triple threat X Division matches, Kenny King once again defends his Title against two high-flying challengers. This time out he faces the renewed efforts of Chris Sabin and the returning Suicide. I was hugely impressed by the verbal confrontation King and Sabin had several weeks ago on Impact in a rare X Division promo and would love for the pair to continue playing off one another in the coming months. The real question is whether TNA are looking for a shock title change to Sabin or sticking with the still-finding-his-feet King. As undeniably talented as King is, he hasn't set the division on fire as expected. Instead, he's having a reign more akin to Zema Ion's. Sure he's there and he's defending his Title, but he's not owning it yet. Austin Aries set an impossible standard with his epic reign last year and all subsequent Champions have paled in comparison. With Sabin's momentum at an all-time high, it's literally now or never for the guy. Either he takes the ball and runs with it or he slinks back into obscurity. As for the second challenger, Suicide, I don't think anyone ever truly got behind the gimmick, knowing for a fact that the man behind the mask changes on a nightly basis. However, his resurgence has provided a nice series of paychecks for much vaunted ROH alum, TJ Perkins. His time will come eventually, but for now it's all about the inspirational story of Chris Sabin coming back from multiple ACL tears. If they're smart, they'll have Sabin get the pin on Suicide, giving Kenny King the perfect excuse to drop the belt and yet stay in contention.

Prediction - Chris Sabin defeats Kenny King and Suicide to win the TNA X Division Championship.

TNA Tag Team Championships

Four Team Elimination Match

Daniels & Kazarian vs Storm & Gunner vs Hernandez & Guerrero (c) vs Aries & Roode

When eight of Impact Wrestling's best come together, will too many cooks spoil the broth? I like Bad Influence, I like the Dirty Heels, I tolerate TexMex and I'm even a little curious about Storm & Gunner's new team, but all together in one ring? I can't help but think it's too much of a good thing. Three teams competing for the Tag Team Titles was already insanely busy, adding a fourth is just asking for trouble. With eight different talents vying for the spotlight, it's not a spotlight at all. If this week's Impact was anything to go by, Austin Aries' heel tactics and double-teams with partner Bobby Roode will prove to be the most entertaining. Ultimately, the random pairing of Storm and Gunner will be the main focus and probably even get them the win. I mean, when was the last time you saw a man team with a mystery partner and lose? Frankly, there are so many talented singles stars in this match, I'm left to wonder why the main event scene has been left to a brawler and a broken down old man. 

Prediction - Storm & Gunner defeat Daniels & Kazarian, Hernandez & Guerrero and Aries & Roode via pinfall to win the TNA Tag Team Championships.

Gail Kim vs Taryn Terrell

The curious case of the women's pay-per-view match that ISN'T for the Knockouts Title. Despite all the attention of the division falling on Velvet Sky's ailing knee and Mickie James' teased heel turn, we're asked to revisit this feud from last month which I assumed was already over. Ironically, it was the focus on Taryn Terrell's in-ring debut that tanked Velvet Sky's latest run as Knockouts Champion. This feud was reignited several weeks ago when Gail Kim attempted to cripple her opponent through wrapping her leg around the ring post. She's done this routine several times since and Taryn gets the honor of being the one to seek revenge. I suspect the pattern of Gail's recent matches to hold true and she attempts to injure Taryn, bringing about an instant disqualification. A technical victory for the 'Hot Mess' Terrell, but one that may leave her back on the shelf for a few more weeks.

Prediction - Taryn Terrell defeats Gail Kim via disqualification.

AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle

It may be booked as the semi-main event, but any true wrestling fan will know this will be our bread and butter for the evening. While storylines point towards the World Title and Aces & Eights, the real meat of the show will be in the masterclass of Styles vs Angle, especially with Styles aggressive new move set. The feud itself has been a bit hit and miss, with Angle coming off as annoyingly pretentious, while supposedly playing the hero. His entire reason for wanting a match with Styles is because AJ didn't want to play with him. Playground logic almost. But I'll be damned if Styles' new persona hasn't grabbed all our attentions. The Impact-closing segment whereby he seemingly sided with Aces & Eights, taking out his opponent Angle, whilst still remaining a man unto himself, was utter genius. As for the match itself, we've seen hundreds of variations of this bout, yet they've still managed to find a new spin on it. When Angle faced a heel AJ Styles before, he was much more of a cowardly villain, cheating with a snide grin. But this new tweener Styles, who is no one thing, is tough to judge. He's beating on the villains just as much as the heroes. Styles is well and truly out for himself and his character has never seen such innovation. Meanwhile, the Olympic Gold Medalist appears to be in the twilight of his career and if recent months spent jobbing to the likes of Wes Brisco and Garret Bischoff prove anything, it's that Kurt is trying desperately to get the younger talents over. I believe this attitude will hold true for his bout with Styles, giving AJ's new persona the much needed seal of approval.

Prediction - AJ Styles defeats Kurt Angle via submission.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship

No Holds Barred Match

Sting vs Bully Ray (c)

Aces & Eights have run roughshod over TNA in recent months, ever since the reveal of Bully Ray as their President back at Lockdown in March. The person who's taken most flack for this is the Icon, Sting. The Hall of Famer had taken Bully under his wing and given him his stamp of approval to General Manager Hulk Hogan. While Bully continues to feud with Hogan and his "wife" Brooke for the most part, the true soldier of the piece has been Sting, facing down the threat of Aces & Eights at every turn. Despite several fantastic promos from the pair and a wonderful backstory leading into the match, I don't expect anything approaching technical wrestling from either man. Bully is a renowned brawler and rarely plies his craft, meanwhile Sting, formerly a master technician, has found his age catching up with him and adjusted his in-ring style accordingly. As such, you can call most of Sting's big spots in a match from a mile away. Brawl around the outside for a few minutes, take the majority of the beating in the ring, followed by a Stinger Splash and the Scorpion Deathlock/drop. The man has a routine and it wore out it's welcome about two title reigns ago. Regardless, Sting has a phenomenal record for winning Championships on TNA's biggest shows. No matter his opponent, he usually walks out with a new belt over his shoulder. Which is why I'm intentionally bucking the trend and advocating another few months of Bully Ray as our World Heavyweight Champion. His run with the Title has only just gotten started and he's truly becoming a legit main event player. If Ray can hold it until Bound for Glory in October, his spot in history is guaranteed as a singles star. With every passing day, his time as a Tag Team wrestler fades from memory and is replaced with something far more grandiose. Let's see what the Bully has in store for us over the summer.

Prediction - Bully Ray defeats Sting via pinfall to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Preview: TNA Slammiversary: Before The Bell

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Preview: Impact Wrestling: The Aces welcome AJ Styles, Velvet vs. Mickie, Suicide returns - LIVE from Tampa

Preview Thursday's IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast on SpikeTV at 8/7c as the road to the June "Slammiversary" event continues! Reminder: Beginning May 30, IMPACT moves back to its old time at 9/8c on SpikeTV! Thursdays at 8/7C until then!

- Has a TNA Original finally turned his back on the company and the fans? The Aces and Eights have announced that on Thursday's IMPACT from Tampa, they will hold a "Patching In" ceremony to officially welcome AJ Styles to the group!

- How will TNA General Manager Hulk Hogan react to the news that AJ is joining the Aces? Hogan will be on IMPACT in Tampa to address the situation!

-In a huge match Kurt Angle will take on Mr. Anderson from Aces and 8s renewing their rivalry.

- The final countdown is on to Sting vs. Bully Ray for the World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary! Both champion and challenger will be in attendance on Thursday's IMPACT - will Bully Ray and The Aces attempt to eliminate Sting before their title match?

-James Storm announced last week on IMPACT that he will be in the Tag Team Title Match at Slammiversary. Who will "The Cowboy" select to be his partner? Find out this Thursday on Impact!

- The TNA Knockouts championship will be on the line on Thursday's huge broadcast as Velvet Sky will defend the gold against her friend (and former titleholder) Mickie James!

- The GutCheck Tournament continues  on Thursday for a spot in the upcoming "Bound For Glory Series", as Sam Shaw battles Alex Silva

- The mysterious masked X-Division superstar SUICIDE makes his return IMPACT WRESTLING on Thursday as well!

Review: Impact Wrestling 16/05/2013

Following last week's surprise return of the long lost Abyss, the Aces & Eights suffered their first real defeat and were out for the Monster's blood. But when their target couldn't be found, they had to settle for the next best thing - Abyss' brother - Joseph Park!

Opening this week's show with a standard Hulk Hogan promo, Impact Wrestling got off to a slow start and struggled to pick up the pace. At first, the Hulkster's focus was squarely on the indecision of AJ Styles. He ran down the Phenomenal One's recent actions in a snarky tone and quicky denounced them with a particularly brutal "who cares". Frankly, with the way the supposed faces are treating AJ, it's no wonder he doesn't want to work with any of them. Both Hogan and Angle have taken such a confrontational attitude, they'd struggle to win their number one fans over.

Attention soon turned to the return of Abyss and just how happy Hogan was to see the Monster once again. Trying to coax him out from the back, his music played, but the General Manager was greeted by none other than Abyss' brother, Joseph Park. The fact these guys are legitimately treating Abyss and Park as separate entities is laughable and just as we think we're back to the gimmick that's worth a damn, TNA sticks us with the tame lawyer with impulse control issues. I could've happily seen the back of Park at this point and welcomed Abyss with open arms. But that'll have to wait for another day, as the promo is quickly interrupted by Devon and D'Lo Brown from Aces & Eights looking for a measure of revenge. Both Park and Devon want to lay into one another, but due to a timely comment from D'Lo, we find ourselves with a main event of Park vs D'Lo instead, with the promise of another match at a later date. I don't understand why Park has to jump through hoops to get what he wants when he has the face General Manager on his side. Surely Hogan could've just made the match both men wanted.

Our first match (of many) came in the form of 'The It Factor' Bobby Roode facing off against Tag Team Champion Chavo Guerrero. It began with a substantial amount of offense on Roode's part, but everything he threw at the Mexican superstar found itself reversed in kind. The leader of the Selfish Generation finally made  some traction once the action spilled outside of the ring, taking advantage of the harsh surroundings. Unfortunately, the match never really clicked or came alive, as the pair seemed oddly mismatched. Roode worked a much slower methodical pace, while Guerrero would spring to life and bounce around the ring with as many high-flying moves as he could muster. The finish came after 'The Cowboy' James Storm entered the ring and spat beer in the face of his former tag team partner, giving Roode the win, but only via disqualification. An unsatisfying ending to an unsatisfying match.

The Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle, continued the Styles-bashing for the evening with a brief in-ring promo. Speaking about how his former friend's indifference and penchant for walking away from confrontations has seriously pissed him off, Angle has arranged a one on one contest between the pair at Slammiversary. This is another one of those unfortunate situations whereby the top face of the company wants to start a fight with someone, but they don't really have a good reason. Styles hasn't actually done anything wrong up until now and even then, most of his actions can be construed as self-defense. I can't exactly blame AJ for wanting to kick Angle in the head. The man was badmouthing him on national television and picking a fight, who wouldn't want to put him in his place. With the late addition of Ken Anderson to the segment, the prospect of Styles being "patched-in" to Aces & Eights was teased for next week, making for a wonderful cliffhanger. I don't for a second believe AJ will end up in the Job Squad that is A&E, but I have to admit it's a brilliant way to build tension between he and his true opponent, Kurt Angle.

Several former Gut Check winners reared their heads this week, returning after numerous months training down in Ohio Valley Wrestling.The lucky winner of Christian York vs Jay Bradley would advance in a four man tournament to determine who gets a spot in this year's Bound for Glory Series. Both men were pushed hard in the first hour of Impact with several video packages hyping their appearance and reminding us just who the hell they are. York has clearly had the better start with the company, boasting matches with Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam, whereas Bradley was forced to rely upon the usual platitudes and cliches of an aspiring wrestler, looking pig ugly whilst doing it. Given their respective momentum of late, I truly expected York to take the spotlight, but Bradley's superior size and devastating array of power moves left the golden boy wanting. The match was nothing to write home about, ending abruptly, with Bradley landing a Boomstick clothesline out of nowhere.

The Knockouts Division suffered some strange editing this week, with ring introductions taking place before five minutes worth of adverts and several more featuring a backstage segment. Thank god the show was taped last week, because there's no way in hell even pretty girls like these can entertain a crowd by doing absolutely nothing for ten minutes at a time. Once Gail Kim and Velvet Sky were allowed to continue, the focus of the match became the Champion's recently injured knee. Sky hit all her signature moves early on, allowing Gail the rest of the match to work on the Beautiful Person's ailing leg. Huge credit goes to Gail for the inventive submission maneuvers she implemented against Sky. Of particular note was a Texas Cloverleaf, which is rare at the best of times, let alone in the Knockouts Division. Equal applause must go to Sky, who sold the worsening injury like a pro. When she tried to run the ropes and collapsed in pain, she crumpled to the floor like she'd just lost the knee entirely. The Champion held on by the skin of her teeth with a last minute surprise roll-up giving her the pinfall. I'll be extremely interested to see where Velvet's injury angle is meant to lead, sure to have been hastened by Gail's usual post-match beating.

The X Division Championship was once again on the line as Kenny King defended his Title against the combined might of Petey Williams and Chris Sabin. In doing so, he often took a backseat to his challengers, allowing them to duke it out in the ring, while he skulked around outside, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Williams once again justified his return to TNA with a stunning performance. His moves having lost none of their pace and are as crisp as the day he began. He's clearly been relegated to being the third wheel of the X Division matches, but with displays such as these, he'll quickly deserve a spotlight of his own. Similarly, Chris Sabin kept up his side of things, offering an insanely quick offense, giving no hint as to his formerly torn ACLs. The only downside was the finish, which saw Kenny King sneak another victory from the jaws of defeat. These triple threat matches, while always entertaining, are falling into a set pattern and becoming a little too predictable for my taste. The format has it's own in-built limitations and the competitors will have to work harder to innovate in the future.

Continuing James Storm's one man mission to be the buzzkill of the entire card, 'The Cowboy' made another appearance at the close of Daniels vs Hernandez. Having an obvious bee in his bonnet about heels being allowed to interfere and cheat, whilst he finds himself reprimanded, Storm distracted 'The Fallen Angel' just as he was about to hit his finishing maneuver, allowing Hernandez to sneak the pinfall. No offense to Storm, as I'm sure he has a point, but this whiny behaviour was extremely unbecoming and left me craving honest to god clean finishes. The match was immediately followed by a promo setting up a four way Tag Team Championship match at Slammiversary. The real intrigue being who Storm will team with to take on Chavo/Hernandez, Daniels/Kazarian and Aries/Roode. Which faces are floundering on the card and are in need of something to do on pay-per-view? I'm stumped. This is probably really obvious and it's going to bug me all the way up until June 2nd.

In our wrestling main event of the evening, we had Dumb vs Dumber, as Aces & Eights' whipping boy D'Lo Brown took on the forever sweating buckets Joseph Park. To D'Lo's credit, he dominated a fair portion of the match, demonstrating a rare agility in the otherwise stocky backstage agent. However, he made a key mistake when he busted Park open in the corner of the ring. Thus the usual process of Park losing his mind kicked in, as the Lawyer jabbed and clotheslined his opponent into oblivion before finally hitting "his brother's" Black Hole Slam for the win. Surprisingly, there was absolutely no interference from the Aces & Eights tonight. They all stayed backstage and refused to come to the aid of their prospective member. D'Lo's losing streak would be funny, if it wasn't so sad.

Last but not least, we had the contract signing for the World Heavyweight Championship match at Slammiversary between Bully Ray and Sting. The supposed press conference was initially hosted by Jeremy Borash, but his presence was deemed unnecessary by the World Champ, who ran him out of the ring like a rat out a door. Little mannerisms such as this, really go a long way towards Bully earning his name. He goes on to boast about having beaten Jeff Hardy in his own specialty match and promises to do much the same to Sting come Slammiversary. One after the other, both Sting and Hogan come out from the back to confront their nemesis. Hogan was there mostly to worry about his make-up laden best friend, however, Sting cut a truly inventive promo offering up suggestions to his opponent as to where they should injure him. The tactic was more than a little terrifying and freaked the hell out of the Bully. This naturally led to the suggestion of the Slammiversary match being changed to a No Holds Barred contest, a Sting staple due to his ever-decreasing move set. But in return, the Bully wanted a stipulation of his own. Should Sting lose, he'd never be able to compete for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship ever again. In a fantastic twist of the proverbial knife, Bully reiterated this was nothing to do with retiring the Icon, this is simply a way to make him suffer. To have him wrestling to the end of his days, knowing he'll never hold the top prize in professional wrestling once more. Pretty ingenious if you ask me. And a fantastic way to exclude Sting from any future main event matches. Because, let's face it, he's ridiculously old at this point and should've been shuffled off long ago. The episode ends with Sting and Bully exchanging blows, each landing their fair share, with no true victor coming out on top. A fitting, if indecisive, close to the show.

This week's Impact Wrestling was packed to the rafters with content and yet never showcased a damn thing. There were six matches in total, each suffering from a short runtime and competitors going through the motions, showing us the same old shtick we had last week and the week before that. Wrestling will always feature a degree of repetition, but I felt as though it was particularly acute in this instance, with most stars running on autopilot. Also, the show failed to adequately follow up on the promise of Abyss from last week's cliffhanger, making proceedings feel hollow at best, time wasted at worst. The high points were the X Division match for pure athleticism and the closing exchange between Sting and Bully Ray for a clear display of passion and intensity. Not a bad episode necessarily, but not a good one either.

6 out of 10

Review: Impact Wrestling 09/05/2013

Since General Manager Hulk Hogan granted Sting a six man tag match against three of Aces & Eights' best, the race has been on to find the Icon his ideal partners. The Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle, made the first decision easy by volunteering. The second spot seemed destined for the recently returned AJ Styles, but the Phenomenal One is out for one person only - himself.

Addressing the issue right off the bat, we arrived in Tupelo to find Sting and Angle making their way to the ring. Cutting impassioned promos about the evil of Aces & Eights, the pair effectively push both the main event tonight and the centerpiece of Slammiversary. Sting was his usual dependable self, while Angle came across as borderline irrational. In calling out AJ Styles once again and forcing the issue, Angle's rash behaviour made the situation ten times worse, leading to the pair exchanging vicious blows on the walkway. Frankly, I don't blame Styles for not wanting to team with Angle if this is the treatment he'd receive. While this is going on, the three members of Aces & Eights scheduled for the main event (Bully Ray, Devon and Mr Anderson) pull off a perfectly timed sneak attack on Sting, planting a rare 3D on the Icon.

Acting almost as a breather after the frantic opener, the Knockouts tag team match of Velvet Sky & Mickie James vs Gail Kim & Tara was a complete change of pace. Literally. No sooner had the four ladies made their way to the ring and the bell had rung, the match was over. It's impossibly short bouts such as this which lead to outbursts in the media *cough*MickieJames*cough*. The country singer found herself dominated by the heel team for the majority of the match, only to make a hot tag to Champion Velvet, who rushed the ring and had the match wrapped up in a matter of seconds. The only redeeming feature of the segment was Gail's post-match beatdown of partner Tara. Seeing the first lady of the Knockouts division snap and try to end the careers of her competitors is hugely intriguing and almost worth sacrificing the match time for. But not entirely.

Finally getting around to the matter of Aces & Eights' D-Lo Brown submitting to Kurt Angle "last week", the band of outlaws are led to the ring by World Heavyweight Champion, Bully Ray. Continuing his impressive body of work on the mic, Bully strips the Vice President of his colours, leaving little chance of redemption for his former right hand man. Neatly leading into D.O.C. vs Magnus, D-Lo must ensure his brother's victory over the British titan. The match itself was treated as entirely throwaway, the first half not even making it to air in favour of commercials. Both men were a few paces off their game and it made for several sloppy maneuvers. The finish came as a visually-impaired Brown cost his own man the match in a refreshing change to the usual Aces & Eights M.O. Sufficed to say, this didn't go down well with the rest of the club, who promptly held D-Lo down for a beating. Bully swore he simply wanted to cave the man's skull in, but the whole thing took on a creepy prison rape vibe. I really don't want to know what happened after they cut away.

Now, in what I would refer to as the TRUE main event of the evening, we have Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian taking on Austin Aries & Bobby Roode for the number one contendership to the Tag Team Championships. I make this very clear, as announcer Christy Hemme didn't have the slightest clue what she was talking about, announcing one team as the other and forgetting another man entirely. Thank god for Austin Aries' covering by bullying her into doing it correctly or I'd say fire her on the spot. As it transpires, the key feature to the match was James Storm acting as referee. Having been bribed with alcohol by both teams and each cheating to their heart's content during the bout, the Cowboy was forever at a loss as to what to do, wanting neither of them to win. The body of the match was fast paced and fun, with equal focus on wowing us and making us laugh. The opening salvo of flips and reversals by Austin Aries and Frankie Kazarian were of particular note. Only to be topped by their double eye-rake, leading to both men retreating to the opposition's corners and tagging the wrong men in. The conflict quickly devolved into a sequence of power moves, until Aries was left the victor. However, not wanting to count the pinfall due to so many despicable tactics, it's superkicks all around, courtesy of James Storm. While I can understand the hero not wanting to make the count for the villain, simply having him leave to his music, with no clear end to the match was confusing and frustrating. Taking into account the resulting backstage assault later in the night, I would hope Storm is itching to find a tag team partner and inject himself into this reinvigorated division.

In somewhat of an unusual move for them, TNA decided to give the X-Division a little bit more attention than usual this week. Not only were there video packages promoting the returns of both Suicide and Chris Sabin, but Kenny King was allowed to walk to the ring and cut an honest to god promo. I can't for the life of me remember the last time this division's competitors were allowed to speak in front of an audience. To the Champion's credit, his promo was downright entertaining. It turns out that not only can these men perform crazy videogame-like moves, but they can talk as well! The bait and switch with King flipping from respectful to snide was predictable, but hard-hitting. The sheer sincerity with which he greeted his challenger Chris Sabin had to have been genuine, otherwise King is a far better actor than I gave him credit for. After the killer insult that was "Frail Sabin", I can't wait to see these two lock-up next week. Poor Petey Williams is nothing but an afterthought.

During the build-up towards the main event, the commentators hyped that in the coming weeks, four lucky former Gut Check winners will be competing in a tournament to win a spot in this year's Bound for Glory Series. While I like the idea on paper of giving these four developmental talents some much needed TV time, everything I have seen of the winners in question has been worryingly weak. Devoting three entire matches of an Impact Wrestling episode to these no-name wannabes is a surefire way to make viewers change the channel. Even worse, it's a dead-cert that the botch-happy Christian York will be the one to take the spot and torture us with many more matches in the near future. Here's an idea, try cutting the dreadlocks off, maybe losing that extra weight will speed you up and let you hit moves when you're supposed to.

As we reached the main event of the evening, the mysterious third man for Team TNA had yet to be named. This left Sting and Angle walking to the ring, with only the vague hope Hulk Hogan would come through backstage, pulling the proverbial rabbit out of a hat. The majority of the bout was fought as a Handicap match. Not that it mattered, as Sting and Angle effectively held their own for the longest time, without any need of a third man. Unfortunately, the numbers game soon worked against them, allowing Aces & Eights to isolate Angle until the final few minutes. Finally making the hot tag to Sting, the Icon looked worryingly old, tired and haggard. His thinning hairline looking outright comical by the time he was going nose to nose with his Slammiversary opponent. When all looked lost and Team 3D were setting up their trademark table in the corner, the third man was finally revealed. It was none other than the Monster, Abyss! Truly shocking me that they'd bring back the gimmick so soon (Joseph Park RIP), Abyss decimated the heels, sending Anderson crashing through the table and hitting a devastating Black Hole Slam on Devon, making the cover soon after. If TNA can maintain the momentum from this return, they may finally light the fire under the character of Abyss that they've always hoped for.

7 out of 10 

Preview: Thursday on IMPACT: Sting, Kurt Angle and ? vs. The Aces and Eights in a Main Event War

Preview Thursday's all-new IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast on SpikeTV at 8/7c as the road to the June "Slammiversary" event continues! IMPACT will be LIVE from Tupelo, Mississippi! If you can't watch all the action on Thursday, make sure to set your DVR!

Not only is Sting back in TNA to fight the Aces and Eights, but "The Icon" will now challenge Bully Ray for the World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary!

The huge main event of Thursday's broadcast will feature Bully Ray, Devon and Mr. Anderson of The Aces and Eights battling Sting, Kurt Angle and a partner to be determined! The question is, while AJ Styles step up and join Sting and Angle in the match? Will Styles end weeks of speculation and choose a side - is he with TNA or The Aces? Don't miss Thursday's main event!

IMPACT will also feature a #1 Contender's Match for the World Tag Team Championship as Bobby Roode and Austin Aries take on Christopher Daniels and Kaz (Bad Influence) - with the winning team earning another shot the gold! An added wrinkle is the special guest referee Cowboy James Storm. There is no love lost between Storm and either team in this match. Will Storm call it down the middle?


All this and much more on Thursday, plus Hulk Hogan, the high-flying X Division stars, the lovely but lethal TNA Knockouts and so much more - LIVE from Tupelo, Mississippi on SpikeTV at 8/7c!

Review: TNA Xplosion 17/04/2013

Another week and another International-only episode of Xplosion. Sometimes it pays to be in the UK! Beginning proceedings, we have ourselves a singles match between Big Brother's Jessie Godderz (accompanied by the always lovely Tara) and one half of the Tag Team Champions, Hernandez.

May I just say the Impact Zone looks far better from last week. I don't know when exactly they taped that Tara/Tessmacher bout, but it may as well have been an empty arena match. This week the Impact Zone is respectably filled once again and they've even turned the big video screen back on, so they're obviously not embarrassed about a potential lack of audience.

Both talents, who typically lack any real airtime to themselves, start off with somewhat of a pose-down. Jessie, "renowned" for his muscles, showed off his proverbial guns, only to be trounced by Super-Mex's. Jessie tried to take control of the match early, but the momentum was always going to be Hernandez'. There was lots of interaction with Tara on the outside, trying to give support to her boyfriend, to little success. The match mostly came down to Jessie's pathetic offense being swotted away and a retaliatory show of strength from the Tag Team Champion. I'm always a little worried whilst seeing Hernandez dominate so utterly. His feats, while looking impressive to the casual audience, can go wrong exceptionally easily and I've lost count of the times I've seen him drop guys on their head. The finish of the match came after a devastating shoulder block to Jessie, sending him flying across the ring, allowing Hernandez to make the three count for the win.

An interesting quirk of the segment was the addition of Gut Check judge, Al Snow, to the commentary team. I was always a fan of he and Head, so to hear him get a little more airtime is a welcome treat. While commenting on the match, he also gave us an update on recent British Boot Camp winner, Rockstar Spud. Apparently, the little guy has taken OVW by storm, won the Television Title straight out of the gate and is proceeding to dominate the division. Glad to hear Spud is doing well. After spending a month watching his journey from the British Independents to an honest to god episode of Impact Wrestling, it's good to know the success wasn't fleeting.

With this week's exclusive match over with, we move onto another go-around on JB's Spin Cycle! Thankfully, we've moved away from the episodes taped during the Lockdown fan-fest in March. Not that they were bad, it was simply annoying to spend a whole month watching Jeff Hardy paint one single thing. Filmed in Jonesboro, our host is joined by So Cal Val, Jessie Godderz and the returning duo of Sonjay Dutt and "Canadian Destroyer" Petey Williams. Setting his panelists a challenge - for $100, which one of them has the best picture with a celebrity on their phone. Val starts out strong with Micky Dolenz from the Monkees, Petey offers up soap actress Lisa Rinna, Sonjay proudly submits Beetlejuice (from Howard Stern, not the evil spirit), the genuine reality star Jessie fires back with...himself and last but not least, JB himself has a double header of Hulk Hogan and Shaquille O'Neal. A fun little segment, really short, probably could've run longer to no harm.

The real meat on the bone this episode comes in the form of ImpactWrestling.com's match of the week. Replaying Slammiversary 2007's King of the Mountain, it featured Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christian Cage and Chris Harris competing for the newly-created TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

The match begins with Angle and Joe throwing each other from the ring in short order, while Christian and Styles team up to take down Chris Harris. This alliance continues as Styles willingly lays down in the centre of the ring, offering the first pinfall to Christian. However, before the referee can count to three, Angle leaps in to make the save, scuppering Christian's chances of early eligibility. Rather than focus on the heels in the ring, Angle is once again pulled to the outside, continuing his heated feud with bitter rival Samoa Joe. The alliance between Styles and Christian quickly breaks down inside the ring, as Styles attempts a roll-up pin on his supposed ally.

A hilarious spot sees Joe casually waiting to grab Styles' foot in mid-air, pulling the Phenomenal One down hard onto the canvas. The Samoan Submission Machine follows this up with a nasty swinging power-bomb onto the steel railing. Joe goes on a tear around the ring, taking out Christian and even being used as a human cannonball onto Kurt Angle by Chris Harris.

The Wildcat becomes the first to be eligible to climb the ladder and place the belt on the hook after a series of impressive power moves on Styles, leading to a quick pinfall. Both Angle and Joe almost became eligible at the same time after applying simultaneous submissions to a pained Cage, but were denied once Styles and Harris came to break up the maneuver.

There's a particularly painful looking spot where Harris has Christian backed onto a ladder bridging the ring and the railings, only for Christian to fall between the steps. A move that is compounded when Styles is thrown over the ropes and lands on the whimpering Cage.

After a flurry of pinfalls, the finish comes as Kurt Angle and Christian Cage battle back and forth atop the ladder, when suddenly Chris Harris flies into frame and takes Christian off the ladder with a perfectly aimed spear. This leaves the Olympic Gold Medalist alone and undisturbed at the top of the ladder, TNA Title in hand, placing it on the hook for the win. Making for an excellent pay-per-view main event from some years ago, well worth tracking down the episode of Xplosion just to watch again.

Ringside Report: TNA Wrestling: Road To Lockdown Tour: Nottingham (24/01/12)

Written by @Robbie_G_CH
Full set of pictures can be seen on Facebook

'TNA in the UK' has taken over Challenge TV this February with four Impact's recorded in Manchester and London as well as a few specials entitled 'Backstage Pass' which will feature backstage footage and matches from the other non televised dates of the January UK tour, so this seems the right time to give my views on the Nottingham leg of the tour.

The show was held in the same venue as last year, Nottingham's Capital FM Arena, with the layout being identical to the point where it felt like I had walked in the next day rather than a whole year later. The arena was unfortunately little over half full; likely a victim of the two dates that are hosting the Impact recordings; with many completely empty blocks around the upper tiers.

Jeremy Borash was the host of the evening, taking over ring announcing duties from the absent Christy Hemme and worked the crowd well with his ever-present enthusiasm. There were a few local independent wrestlers around the ring side area such as Stixx and LCW Champion L.J. Heron, in which I later found out that Nottingham based promotion 'House of Pain' had helped with all of the ring setup.

In the first match of the evening the TNA Tag Team champions Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez beat Bad Influence (Daniels & Kazarian) to retain the Tag Titles. The crowd was very vocal in support for Chavo, who rubbed this in Daniels's face with a 'Who can get the loudest cheer?' contest to start the match. Bad Influence quickly gained the upper hand with Daniels dominating the in-ring action as Kaz showboated to the crowd with his back to the action. Daniels repeatedly gave Chavo's arm to his partner until Guerrero reversed, allowing Kaz to put Daniels in an armbar, only realising his error when the champions appeared in front of him. The action continued back and forth until the heels took control again until the eventual hot tag. One highlighted spot was Hernandez holding Kazarian in a suplex while Chavo bounced Daniels's head off all four turnbuckles. Chavo picked up the victory after hitting the frogsplash. The match did it's job as it got the crowd going ready for the rest of the evenings matches, it's just a shame that the masses view Chavo as a big deal due to his involvement in WWE.

Earl Hebner was introduced to the crowd and there were only a few "You screwed Bret" chants heard. JB then talked up British Boot Camp and brought out the winner of the show, Rockstar Spud, and his fellow competitor, "Party" Marty. Both got good reactions, but Spud took the role of heel as they locked up once again to take each other on.

After a minute of action, Spud got into an argument with Hebner that instigated the "Bret" chant they were looking for. Marty slapped Hebner's hand in a "naughty child" manor and then Hebner revealed his "Yes I Did" t-shirt which is his staple at house shows. The match was very similar to the one they had on the last episode of Bootcamp, but without Marty's dive to the outside and with Spud picking up the pinfall by hooking Marty's trunks.

To carry on the 'Bootcamp' theme the next match featured the Blossom Twin's taking on the tandem of Gail Kim and Tara, but out first was the special guest referee Velvet Sky who 'let the pigeons loose' in Nottingham. The match was fairly back and forth with some impressive spots such as Tara putting one of the Blossoms in the tarantula. The heels soon started to dominate the match with Tara being very vocal making some hilarious taunts at the twins. The Blossoms picked up the victory after switching places behind Sky's back as Tara and Gail had a falling out. After the match, the Blossoms felt the anger of the defeated heels until Velvet stepped in and took both of them out. 

The arena erupted when Rob Van Dam's music hit to bring him out for a defence of the X Division Championship against Zema Ion who got a less favourable "who are ya" chant.  After a back and forth, Zema went to use his hairspray to "straighten up," but the can was taken from him by RVD, who proceeded to do Hebner's "hair" and then random crowd members. RVD hit his signature moves to please the crowd and picked up the victory after hitting the Five-Star Frogsplash leaping over Earl Hebner in the process. RVD seemed fresh in this match which is something that hasn't been said for a number of years but unfortunately that was short lived when it was brought to my attention the two had an identical match the night before. As the two made there way to the back it was announced that it was time for the intermission. 

After the break Austin Aries made his way to the ring to a good crowd reaction while Bobby Roode came to the ring to his old music ("Off The Chain" with lyrics) and accompanied by darts player Paul Nicholson, it may seem like a random pairing but the two met last summer and shared some PR dates. James Storm then came to the ring to a huge reaction and took to the mic, he said the next match should have been a three-way, but after the heels double teamed him last night he wanted it changed to a tag match. Magnus was then introduced with new intro music and video to another loud hometown reaction. 

Storm spent the majority of the match in the ring. Aries and Roode were their usual excellent selfs and to keep up with their recent comedy moments. There was a spot where the heels crashed into one another out of the corner, Roode fell first arse-up with Aries falling on him, and then both exited the ring sharply looking disgusted at one another. The match spilled to the outside on one occasion. Storm brought about the end of the match by hitting the Last Call Superkick on Aries - after a previous failed attempt - and then tagged in Magnus, who hit the elbow of the top rope for the pinfall.

Spot the Wrestler - Storm and Magnus in the crowd

After the match, Storm took to the mic again, working the crowd with "Beer" chants. He then proceeded to run into the crowd while the cage started to be put in place for the main event. After posing with fans in various parts of the crowd and spraying lots of beer, Storm and Magnus then made their way to the back with JB taking over microphone duties. Working the crowd, Borash announced that the show was being recorded for 'Backstage Pass' although not much of the footage actually made it to the show. After doing a couple of laps of the crowd, announcing random 'famous' people in the crowd and asking people who their favourite football teams are, showing that JB has a better grasp of British culture than many Americans, the cage was finally in place for the "Main Event of the Evening." 

The steel cage match was oddly announced as being No DQ. I wasn't sure if you could get disqualified in a cage? Aces & Eights made their way to the ring down the entrance ramp for a change; a fair amount of heat for the pair of Devon and DOC. The arena was then plunged into darkness and exploded for Kurt Angle's entrance with Sting receiving an even bigger pop, clearly the loudest of the night.

Tables and Cages

Mike Knox took out Angle from behind as Sting took to the ring two-on-one, which is where the logic in booking comes undone, as the same happened the night before and Kurt didn't learn unlike Storm earlier in the night. Aces soon overpowered Sting as Angle struggled to get into the ring as Knox kept taking him out. Angle eventually made his way into the ring, but after hitting the Angle Slam another masked member of the biker gang hit the ring with hammer in hand to take Angle out. The Olympian kicked out of a pin attempt and after the introduction of a table, Bully Ray hit the ring to a massive reaction to make the save. DOC was eventually put through a table by Sting and Angle who picked up the pin.

Post-match, the heels soon left as the faces stayed in the ring to close the show, Bully took the mic and hailed both Angle and Sting as legends. After working the crowd into a frenzy, they pulled a kid into the ring and gave him a piece of the table, which they all signed. They left the crowd to go home happy.

Overall, the show was solid, but didn't quite match up to last year with a focus on the British stars at the expense of other roster members, the most notable name missing beside Hardy was Samoa Joe. The Aries/Roode vs. Storm/Magnus match was the match of the night, with Marty vs. Spud claiming second place for me. 

The merchandise being sold didn't make much sense, with numerous t shirts available for wrestlers not at the event such as Jeff Hardy, Hogan,  Mr Anderson and A.J. Styles, I know they are fan favourites but when they edge out any merchandise of wrestlers working the show it seems a bit unfair. 

TNA will return to these shores again the same time next year, but the rows of empty seats are on obvious reason why TNA won't be returning to Nottingham, favoring Birmingham instead.

Review: TNA British Boot Camp Episode 3

Welcome back to our weekly look at the reality show everyone in professional wrestling is talking about! This episode focused on the contestants' journey to Phoenix, Arizona for TNA's biggest show of the year, Bound for Glory. While there, they also bear witness to the induction of the Icon, Sting, into the brand new Hall of Fame. Not to mention, meeting numerous stars of Impact Wrestling in the process.

The sheer scale of these events worked wonders in impressing upon the audience, as well as the contestants, just how important this competition actually is. To have genuine icons wandering the halls and treating the contestants as colleagues, to walk out on that Bound for Glory stage and take in the entire width and breadth of the arena, to know just what is expected of them when they become the newest TNA Superstar. Before this, the contestants had only been to small independent shows and in the case of their "training" with Rollerball Rocco, a single ring in an empty storage unit. Whereas a packed arena, housing thousands of screaming fans, being seen live all over the world...this contest just got real.

In the first of what became a series of meet and greets, the Campers (it's a thing now, go with it) were introduced to long-time TNA Knockout and Ring Announcer, Christy Hemme. Having seen the gorgeous redhead at a live show, I know just how enthusiastic this living-dynamo can be. So you can imagine my surprise when one meeting with Rockstar Spud could send her slinking away in disgust! Rather than politely introducing himself, the joker of the group decided to make an impression by telling Hemme that Party Marty has a poster of her on his wall. If he'd left it there and it was simply a joke about Scurll being a fanboy, everything would've been fine and dandy. Instead, Spud pushed things one step too far and shook his fist in the air, hinting his co-competitor likes to masturbate to said poster! Oh my god. That was so embarrassing, even I felt the shame emanating from the screen. I apologise for my fellow Brit, Christy, we're not all like that, I swear. Saying it out loud, I mean. We're probably all still thinking it.

This bad behaviour continued well into their interaction with the TNA fanbase, bordering on unprofessional. In a rare moment, the boys ire turned towards the Blossoms, who everyone wanted their picture with (and who can blame them). Each time a fan would pass by Spud in favour of the Blossoms, he'd sneer, make rude comments and clap sarcastically. To look at the expressions on the fan's face, he was not impressed and in a distinct rush to get away from the Rockstar! I'm all for solid character work in professional wrestling, but when it comes to the fans, you have to win them over, face and heel alike, and make sure they had a good time. Whereas Spud was making such a stink, he was ruining the mood for everyone involved.

The single success story in Spud's one man charm offensive seems to be none other than multiple-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle! The fan-favourite took time out of his evening at the Hall of Fame ceremony to sit down with the young prospects and weed the future legends from the jobbers. Wouldn't you just know it, Spud impressed him! The miniature menace made a risque joke about having ripped his jacket during a bowel movement and that it was a shame because it was his Dad's favourite suit, which brought Angle out in fits of laughter. I maybe would've saved that material for a couple more minutes into knowing him, but if the best wrestler in the world is impressed, who are we to argue! Although, this is the man that's currently impressed by Wes Brisco, Garret Bischoff and once told Chris Sabin his next gimmick should be Pig-Pen from Peanuts. Mr Angle has his hits and misses, we'll wait and see with this one.

However, some sound advice did come in the form of the man of the evening himself - Sting! Passing the Campers in the hall after his induction, he stopped to wish them all good luck in the contest and that the key to success in this industry...longevity. Deceptively simple answer, yet really makes you think. How many of the greats that we worship at the feet of now, only got there because they outlasted the competition? With both Hogan and Sting standing tall at nearly three decades a piece, it's safe to say they climbed the mountain and they sure as hell aren't coming down!

The MANY photo-shoot segments were most definitely the highlight of the show, as the contestants true personalities began to shine through...and not always in a good way. Away from their icons, the Campers' pretense of civility fell away and in some cases, outright hostility broke out. The Blossom Twins were as professional and mature as ever, but the same could not be said of the boys. We'd already gotten glimpses of their pre-existing problems in episodes one and two, but here, the one-upmanship boiled over. Both Marty and Spud attempted to sabotage the other's shoot, whether it be with a playful pair of fingers over the head or the more drastic mooning (which was more of Spud than I ever needed to see!).

Almost a co-star of the episode, TNA President Dixie Carter's shadow loomed large over our Fab Four. No less than three times in the space of a half hour show, the group were called to meet with her. The repetition didn't do any favours for the structure of the show, but she's such a strong presence, I'm happy to see Dixie taking a firm hand with potential employees. Although, with Jeremy Borash running back and forth fetching them, he's coming off like Jonathan from 30 Rock. Does he have a desk outside Dixie's office and runs around adoringly while she sits inside drinking Scotch? What am I saying, OF COURSE that happens!

Finally, the Campers were escorted to their seats at the ringside of Bound for Glory 2012! Having been promised guaranteed television time by Dixie earlier in the night, all four were on best behaviour and clearly on the lookout for cameras for their big moment. If you can remember from watching the pay-per-view live all those months ago, it eventually came during the entrances for the Knockouts Championship match. Swinging the camera away from Tara and Tessmacher, we caught a quick glimpse of the group. Spud chewed scenery with the best of them, so much so, the Blossoms were mildly distracted and almost missed their cue entirely. They did recover though, blowing the audience at home a pair of kisses, before Marty signed off at the end. It was only a quick moment in the grand scheme of things, but you can tell it's going to be watched back by upper management and analysed ad infinitum, perhaps more harshly than it should.

At the end of the day, this episode exposes an interesting flaw in the premise, commonly referred to as "squeaky wheel gets the oil". The majority of the focus went on Rockstar Spud, but not because he's the better wrestler or the better speaker or the better publicist, simply because he's making the most noise. In drowning out Marty Scurll and the Blossom Twins, Spud could win this competition for all the wrong reasons. Hannah and Holly should most likely win on merit, but by being quiet and not causing a fuss, they're drifting to the back of the pack and not being noticed nearly enough. A problem that could very well be solved next week as the trailer teases potential romance between Fringe-Blossom and Party Marty. Could this be the perfect match in and out of the ring?

Written by Mark Clements

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