6-28-12 Impact results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the June 28, 2012 episode of Impact

The show starts with AJ Styles & Dixie Carter backstage. Dixie says she’s glad the secret’s out and is ready to move on. AJ says he’s going to pound the crap out of Daniels & Kazarian. Whatever.

Then they show Dixie & Claire Lynch walking backstage. Mike Tenay mentioned that we will hear the Claire story throughout the night. Goody!

Ken Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam in a Bound for Glory Series match. RVD gets the pin for 7 points. This was a good match.

Austin Aries comes to the ring. Back to the show. Aries says that last week he was in the ring with Hulk and had a major decision to make. One that would change TNA as whole. He says that relinquishing the X Title wasn’t easy. He then says that he’s beaten everyone and now wants to challenge for the World Title. Aries says that when Hogan agreed to Aries option it made easier form him. Then he says there will be a tournament at Destination X to crown a new X Division Champion. He says that he saw some old and X guys. He says that every X Division guy will have the same chance he has every year thanks to him. Then Bobby Roode comes out. Roode says that Aries sounds pathetically overconfident but that right up Aries’ ally. Roode says that his title is the real World Title because he made it that way. He says he made the World Title the most important belt in the industry. He says he is the most dominant champion in Impact Wrestling. Roode then says that there’re 12 guys clawing for a title shot against him at Bound for Glory. Roode then says that Aries got a chance at his title because of Hulk Hogan. Roode then says that “option c” is a failure. Roode says that Aries is setting himself and the X Division up for failure and Roode will see that Aries fails. Roode tells Aries that he isn’t in his league, calls him kid and tells him to get out of his ring. Aries says that it’s his ring and that if Roode wants to him to leave, then he should make him. Roode walks out saying it isn’t worth his time. This was a good segment. Aries & Roode both cut great promos.

Claire & Dixie Carter are backstage. Claire says that she met AJ through Dixie. Then she says that the story got bad when Daniels & Kazarian found out. She says she never met them before and she can’t believe they blackmailed them. This was a crappy segment and I’m sure the rest of these will be just as bad.

Kazarian & Daniels are backstage and Kazarian tells Daniels that he turned on his best friend because he bought into Daniels’ crap. Kazarian walks out and Daniels mentions they have a Tag Title match. This was idiotic!

X Division Title Tournament- First Round: Sonjay Dutt vs. Rubix (Jigsaw). Sonjay gets the pin. This was a good match too. Afterwards Christie asks Sonjay how it feels to be back in the Impact Zone. He says there’s one thing he never accomplished and that was win the X Division Title. He says that he will win the title at Destination X. Sonjay cut a good promo.

They show Bruce Pritchard, Al Snow & Taz from “Last Thursday.” They discuss Taeler’s match next week. They say that she has potential. Pritchard asks if she’s too green. Taz talks about her being misdiagnosed and would make her humble but also hungry. Taz says that she doesn’t have a sense of entitlement. Taz & Al say that she isn’t gonna be handed anything. Pritchard doesn’t think she’s got it. Taz thinks she does. Al isn’t sure. Whatever. I’m not into these gut check segments.

Samoa Joe vs. Bully Ray in a Bound for Glory Series match. Joe wins by submission for 10 more points. Joseph Park comes out. Ray gets in his face but Park slaps him. Then Samoa Joe locks on the Coquina Clutch for the submission win. This was also a good match. Then Joseph gets the mic and says that he knows who Ray is but does Ray know who he is. He says he’s Joseph Park and Ray is nothing but a jackass bully. Then he mentions that he was bullied his whole life but that ends tonight. He then says that it’s no longer about Abyss. He says that he was watched Ray bully everyone around long enough and he’s sick of it. Then Joseph says in 2 weeks he will fight Ray again. This time he’s bringing the fight right to Ray. This was a really good promo. Chris Park is really doing a tremendous job at this new character.

More on Claire & Dixie. They talk about who shocked they were with Daniels’ & Kazarians’ actions. Dixie says that she & AJ going into a hotel room was to see Claire. She also says that the phone call was to plan a birthday party for Serge. Claire says she wasn’t there. Dixie says she was having problems then. This was crappy too. Who cares about any of this? None of it makes any sense!

Kazarian tells Hulk Hogan that he’s made a mistake falling for Daniels’ crap. He says that he can’t be a tag champion with Daniels. Hogan says that Kazarian knew what Daniels was doing was wrong and that Kazarian isn’t the same guy. Then Hulk tells him that he booked the match and we will find out what Kazarian is made of tonight. Kazarian walks out all upset. This was awful too.

Madison Rayne walks by Garrett Bischoff backstage. Madison tells him that she has this crush and she was wondering what he’s like. He asks who and she says who it is in his ear. Garrett says good luck with that.

Backstage with the 2 Brookes. Hogan got Tessmacher onto the auto insurance ad. Then Gail Kim comes in and says that Brooke Hogan needs to realize that the other Knockouts are cheap imitations of her. Then Brooke says that Gail’s rematch against Tessmacher will be next week. These segments with Brooke Hogan are horrendous.

X Division Title Tournament-First Round: Rashad Cameron vs. Mason Andrews. Cameron gets the pin. This was good too. Afterwards Christie asks him how it feels to be going to Destination X. He says that everyone is looking at the next X Division champion and everyone just saw the beginning of the Rashad Cameron movement. This was a decent promo.

Hulk Hogan is in his with Jeff Hardy & James Storm He puts both guys over and then he says that next week’s Bound for Glory Series main event will be Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm.

Time for the Gut Check segment. Pritchard, Al & Taz are in the ring JB brings out Taeler Hendrix. Taz says that he knows how he will vote. Then JB asks Al & Pritchard if they’re ready to vote. Of course they are. Hendrix says she is hungry for success. Taz votes first. He votes yes. Al Snow next. He says he’s known Taeler for years and has watched her perform. Then they show Joey Ryan in the front row and Taz leaves the ring. Ryan dares Taz to hit him. Security comes in to remove Joey Ryan. Back to Al Snow’s decision. He votes no. Time for Taeler to cut a promo to impress Pritchard. She says that someone somewhere each of the judges were given a chance. She says that is what she wants and she will fight to prove that she can shone. Time for Pritchard to vote. He says she’s green and isn’t sure if she has that mean streak in her. He says he isn’t sure if she’s ready for prime time. He says that she has heart and class. Pritchard votes yes. So Taeler Hendrix gets the TNA contract. This gut check segment wasn’t as bad as the other ones. I liked the bit with Taz & Joey Ryan. The segment itself was good too. I thought Taeler cut a good promo. 

Kurt Angle tells AJ Styles that everything with Dixie is over. Angle says that the AJ he knows is back. AJ says the weight is off his shoulders. Then AJ mentions that he has a last man standing match with Daniels at Destination X. Then Angle mentions their tag title match. They say that they’re united and that Daniels & Kazarian are divided. This was a decent backstage promo.

They show Dixie & Claire sitting at ringside.

TNA World Tag Team Champions Kurt Angle & AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian for the Titles. Daniels & Kazarian win to regain the Titles when Daniels pins AJ. Daniels throws Angle into the referee. Then he gets a chair. He was going to hit AJ with it but Kazarian took it out of Daniels’ hands. AJ was going to go for the Styles Clash but Kazarian hit AJ in the back with chair. Then Daniels pinned AJ for the 3 count. Afterwards Daniels says it’s a great day because they’re the tag champs. Then he turns to Dixie and says that Claire didn’t tell her the whole truth. Daniels mentions that Claire is pregnant. Then he says that AJ is the dad. That ended the show.

I thought this week’s show was a bit weaker than the last few Impacts but it was still solid. I thought all the matches were good. The opening segment with Austin Aries & Bobby Roode was really good. I liked the tag title match too. I wasn’t into Dixie & Claire being at ringside or Daniels revealing that AJ is the father of Claire’s kid. The Dixie-Claire segments backstage were stupid. I wasn’t into the Tessmacher-Kim-Brooke Hogan bit either. Joseph Park cut a really good promo on Bully Ray. Chris Park is really doing a great job with this new character. I wasn’t into the Madison-Garrett segment. The gut check segment was decent too. The Taz-Joey Ryan part was good. I also thought Taeler’s promo was solid too. It was also nice to see Sonjay back. So overall I thought this week’s show was a bit weaker than the past few but I still thought it was a solid show.