10-18-12 Impact results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the October 18, 2012 episode of Impact   

  The show starts with Aces & 8s coming to the Impact Zone. They come out from the entrance in the crowd and hit the ring. Then they show more of them on the Tron. The guy says that Sunday they beat Hulk at his own game and that they have1 guy to thank for that. Devon. Then out comes Devon. Devon tells the fans to shut the hell up. The fans chant you sold out. Devon says these guys in this ring, Aces & 8s are the guys that have head his back since day one. These are the guys that picked him up when he was down. Then he calls the fans pieces of crap. Then Devon thanks Aces & 8s because without them he wouldn’t be in the ring testifying. If it wasn’t for the guy who patched him in he thanks that guy. This is the group that will destroy TNA. Devon tells the fans to shut up again. Then Devon says that Bubba, Sting & Hulk asked why. Devon says he hasn’t forgotten when Ray turned on him and when he put Devon’s son through a table. Cue Sting’s music and out come Sting, Ray, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, Hernandez, James Storm, Ken Anderson, AJ Styles and Garrett Bischoff. Sting says the made into the Impact Zone ok. That’s perfect because he wants to introduce them to the TNA roster. Then the TNA guys hit the ring and a brawl starts. Then Hulk Hogan’s music hits and he comes out with a bat. Commercial time. I’m not sure why Devon is the heel when Ray turned heel on him a couple years ago. Back from commercial and the other Aces & 8s guys come out. Hulk says lets do we got to do. Hulk tells Devon that at BFG they got full access into TNA but with that access that means they have to fight. Then Sting says that he wants to fight Devon. Hulk tells Devon that he’s either all the way in or all the way out. He tells Devon to fight Sting or get out of there. Devon says he’s in. Devon then says they need to make sure that SOB shows up because if he doesn’t they will personally find him. This was a weird segment. Aces & 8s win at Bound for Glory and have full access to the building but they have to fight to remain there? This whole storyline hasn’t made sense at all. Also can we finally have these guys unmask? This whole mystery identity thing has been going on for too long!

They show clips of the Jeff Hardy-Austin Aries match from Bound for Glory. There will be a celebration for Jeff Hardy tonight.

They show Austin Aries watching the monitor backstage. He says that the party for Jeff Hardy isn’t a party unless the greatest man that ever lived is there.

Hulk Hogan and Ken Anderson are in the GM office. Hulk says Jeff Hardy will defend the World Title against 1 of 4 guys next week. He says that James Storm is already in. Then Hulk says that he is making a 3 way for tonight for the second spot. He says that Ken Anderson is in the match. Then Joseph Park comes in and Hulk is all shocked to see him. He asks him if he’s alright. Hulk asks him what he saw (he was blindfolded and in a basement for about a month Hulk! How can he see anything?) Joseph asks if he can talk to Hulk alone. Hulk tells the camera men (they actually acknowledged them) to get out of the office. This was your typical hokey backstage Hogan segment. It looks like Park got a new suit too. Whatever. This is really illogical.

TV Champion Samoa Joe vs. Robbie E for the Title. Joe wins by submission. This was a squash. Afterwards Rob Terry comes in. Joe ducks a clothesline and gets Rob Terry in the Coquina clutch.

Jessie Godderz is bench pressing Tara (Who has the Knockouts Title around her waist) for a photo shot. Jessie says that he’s from big brother and tells the camera man to get lost. Tara says they’re the hottest couple on the planet. Then they make out. This was idiotic. Does anyone even care who this guy is?

ODB is backstage on her phone with Eric Young. She says he better be wearing his ring. Then she says that she’s gotta face the champ now.

Knockouts Tag Team Champion ODB vs. Knockouts Champion Tara. ODB gets the pin. This was a comedy (and not funny) match. ODB got back on her phone. Then Jessie got on the apron and ODB roughed him up. Then she got back on her phone and Tara hit her from behind. A bit later ODB took a drink from her flask. Jessie got on the apron. ODB knocked Tara into him. Then she picks Tara up on her shoulders and spits her drink at Jessie. Then ODB hit the TKO for the win. Afterwards Brooke Tessmacher was on the ramp applauding Tara for losing and waves at her.

AJ Styles tells Kurt Angle that he enjoyed being in a tag team with him but he wants to be World Champion just like Angle does. AJ then says no disrespect but he will Angle see him out there. After AJ walks off Angle says, “Yes you will”. This was a decent segment. I hoping this doesn’t happen, but I feel like Angle will turn heel.

They show the Aces & 8s guys outside the arena.

They show clips of the 3 way tag title match from Bound for Glory. Daniels says that Hernandez & Chavo can’t beat them. He then says that when the rematch takes place they will kick the dog s**t out of them because they’re the only world tag team champions of the world.

TNA World Tag Team Champions Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero, Jr. vs. Gunner & Kid Kash. Hernandez & Chavo win when Chavo pins Kash. This was a solid match.

Jeff Hardy is backstage and is on his way to the ring for his celebration.

Back to the GM office. Joseph Park tells Hulk & Sting that he wants a piece Aces & 8s. Hulk & Sting say they’re too many of them. Then Bully Ray comes in. He asks to speak to Hulk alone. Hulk says no because they’re all on the same team. Ray thanks Sting for letting him team with at BFG. Then he says he’s sorry for letting him down. Sting says that he wasn’t let down. Then Ray says he knows Devon and wants to be the guy that gets the answers out of Devon. He asks Hulk to take Sting out of the match. Hulk says Ray thought he knew Devon. Then he tells Ray that he will be in a 3 way for a title match (I guess next week) and should focus on that. Hulk says that Sting will take care of Devon. Ray says Hulk should trust him more. This was decent. Ray was the star of this segment.

They show more clips of the Jeff Hardy-Austin Aries match at BFG.

Jeff Hardy comes to the ring with a new title belt. Pyro goes off and confetti comes down from the ceiling. The fans chant Hardy. Then Jeff gets the mic and says it’s good to be back in the Impact Zone. He says he has chased this moment for more than a year and the fans have been there for him. He thanks his creatures. Then the fans chant thank you Hardy. He says that he can’t wait to defend his title next week. Then Austin Aries comes out singing and asks where the party is. He has a tray of cookies and balloons. He says this is supposed to be a celebration. He says that doesn’t want to minimize what Jeff did at BFG. Jeff did was no one could do. Beat Austin Aries when it mattered the most. He hands Jeff a balloon but he lets it go and it hits the ceiling. Then he offers Jeff a cookie. Jeff says he doesn’t eat cookies. Then Aries says that now that Jeff is champion he will have a target on his back and that not everyone can handle the pressure. Aries says that he can invoke his rematch clause any time he wants but he wants Jeff to feel the pressure before he does. Aries has a look at the belt. Jeff says he is the guy Aries can’t beat. Aries takes the belt and spits on it. Then Jeff goes after Aries. He goes for a Twist of Fate but Aries bails. This was a good segment. I don’t get why Jeff has to have his own version of the title however.

Daniels says it looks like he & Kazarian are down and out. He mentions having to face AJ & Angle by himself. He says that he will show Hulk that he can beat them.

AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle vs. Christopher Daniels in a “Hulk Hogan might pick me to challenge for the TNA Title if I win this” match. Angle wins when he pins Daniels. This was a good match. Afterwards Angle offers AJ his hand but AJ walks off. They’re turning AJ Styles heel? Why? He’s much better as a baby face.

Joey Ryan & Matt Morgan bump into hulk Hogan backstage. Joey tells Hulk who he is. Hulk says that he’s a fan of Ryan’s work. Then he tells him to turn the 87% into 97%. Then Hulk asks Morgan why he would ruin the biggest PPV of the year. Morgan tells “Terry” that it’s because Hulk promised to make him a house hold name. Hulk says that he fought for Morgan. Morgan tells “Terry” to take everything that’s been said about him and he will shove all the comments straight up their ass. Morgan & Ryan walk off and Hulk smiles for some reason. This was a bit weak. I don’t get why they had Morgan call Hogan “Terry.” Is Vince Russo back?

They show pieces of the Storm-Roode match from Bound for Glory.

James Storm comes to the ring. He says that he was taught a saying when he was very young, what goes around comes around. He says it’s been a year since he became World Champion. Storm then says that the fans missed it they missed a fight. He says that he bled buckets and has the stitches to prove it. He says that he fought for his family and his fans. Then Storm mentions his “Cowboy bucket list” 10, Kick the crap out of Roode. Check. 9-2 drink beer. Check. Number 1, win back the World Title. He says if Hulk is listening back there…then Bobby Roode comes to the ring. He says that at BFG they made good on a promise. They promised the world they would give it everything they had. Roode says that when it was all said and done they had 1 of the bloodiest battles in the history in the business. Roode says that after a year Storm finally beat him. Roode then says that he carried Storm. He mentions Storm became champion because of him. Roode says that despite losing at BFG Storm knows that Roode will always be the better man. Storm then says, “Nope.” Then he gives him the last call super kick. Then Storm tells Roode, “Sorry about your damn luck.” This was a good segment. Both guys cut good promos. I also liked that this was short too. That says that this feud is done.

They show the video package of Sting’s TNA Hall of Fame ceremony.

Sting vs. Devon. Sting wins by DQ when Aces & 8s come in. They pound on Sting. Then out come Ken Anderson, Garrett Bischoff, Samoa Joe, Chavo, James Storm and AJ Styles and just like at the start of the show a brawl happens. Then Bully Ray comes to the ring with a bat and runs Aces & 8s off to end the show. The match was solid but I knew the Aces & 8s guys were gonna come out. The brawl at the end was very similar to what they would at the end of Nitro every week. Also Bully Ray coming out with a baseball bat and running off the whole group by himself was exactly like Sting running of the nWo.

I thought this week’s show had its ups and downs overall. The opening was a weird. I don’t get the whole Aces & 8s have full access to the Impact Zone but now they have to fight to stay bit. Devon saying that Aces & 8s were the guys that helped him was strange too since we don’t know who they are yet. The end was but predictable. Sting-Devon was a solid match but I knew the Aces & 8s guys would come in. They have to reveal who these Aces & 8s guys are. This whole bit with the masks has gotten old. Ray coming out and running Aces & 8s off with the bat was the exact same bit that Sting used to do in WCW 15 years ago! The Storm-Roode promo was good and short. Both guys cut good promos. I wasn’t into the Tara-Jessie bits. Who has ever heard of this guy? The ODB-Tara match wasn’t much either. Hernandez & Chavo vs. Gunner & Kid Kash was solid also. Joe-Robbie E was a squash. The Hulk Hogan segments in the GM office were typical Hogan segments. Hokey. I wasn’t into the bit with Hulk, Matt Morgan & Joey Ryan. Having Morgan refer to Hulk as Terry was very Russo like. The Jeff Hardy-Austin Aries segment was good. Aries was really good in his role. AJ-Angle-Daniels was good too. It looks like they’re building to AJ vs. Angle. The other thing I can’t stand is that this match wasn’t for a title match. It was a “maybe Hulk will pick me to challenge for the World Title if I win” match. Why does Hulk Hogan get to decide who gets a title match on every “Championship Thursday”? They could have a number 1 contender tournament and have guys earn the title shot. This whole thing where Hogan gets to pick the challenger for whatever title is idiotic! The segments in the GM office were weak too. The segment with Anderson wasn’t much. The second one with Ray was a bit better, but that’s because Ray is a good promo. Him saying he wanted to fight Devon was good. However, why is Ray asking what made Devon turn heel when Ray turned on Devon 2 years ago? On the whole I thought this week’s show was hit and miss.