10-4-12 Impact results and thoughts

      Coverage and thoughts on the October 4, 2012 episode of Impact

The show starts with Hulk Hogan & Sting in the GM office. Hulk says everything they’ve worked for will go away if Aces & 8s win. Sting he will have his eyes on everyone to find out who is ready to team with him at BFG. Hulk says everyone on the TNA roster wants Aces & 8s done. They both say that they have to find someone with killer instinct tonight. This was a decent segment. Thankfully it was short.

Ken Anderson comes out on the stage. He mentions that Hulk & Sting needed help in taking out Aces & 8s. Then he says Hulk & Sting might want to gather around the monitor for this one. Then he gets in the ring. He will be facing Gunner next.

Ken Anderson vs. Gunner (With Kid Kash). Anderson gets the pin. Afterwards Kash comes in and pounds on Anderson for a bit. Then he waits for Anderson to get up but Anderson gives Kash the Mic Check. This was decent but short. They showed Sting watching backstage.

Backstage Tara is on the phone with her “boo”. She says that she doesn’t know why George & Stacy cancelled. Then Gail Kim comes in and tells her to focus on their match. Then she tells Tara that if she wins the Knockouts Title she better watch her back because Gail will be coming for it next. Gail walks off. Then Tara wonders what A-Rod & Torrie are doing. This was weak. This whole thing with Tara “dating” a “Hollywood guy” is hokey. Gail Kim was good here though.

Knockouts Champion Brooke Tessmacher & ODB vs. Tara & Gail Kim. Tara & Gail win when Tara pins Brooke. This was decent but short too.

Bruce Pritchard & Al Snow are backstage. Pritchard has some paper that Al needs to sign. Then Pritchard tells Al to show the papers to D’Lo too.

They have a video package recapping the Al Snow-Joey Ryan rivalry.

Al Snow comes to the ring. He brings out Joey Ryan. Joey Ryan comes out. AL says several weeks ago he let his emotions overcome his better judgment and he took an action that put TNA in a bad position. As a result he would like to apologize for hitting Joey Ryan. Ryan tells Al to say he’s sorry. Ryan says he knows Al’s an office stooge, but he doesn’t want to hear an apology on behalf of TNA. He wants Al to say that he is sorry. Al says he’s sorry. Ryan says that he manipulated him just like he did the 87%. He says tonight is about him. He tells Al to share with everyone the other agreement their legal council came to. Then AL takes out a TNA contract for Joey Ryan. Ryan tells Al to turn around so he can sign it. Al doesn’t. Ryan says Al doesn’t trust him. Then Al turns around and Joey signs the contract. Then he jabs Al in the back with the pen a couple times Then AL says that Ryan should have read it more closely. He tells Ryan that the contract is only for 1 night. The biggest night of the year, Bound for Glory and he will face Al. Al says he is going to beat Joey’s ass and will see him in Phoenix. This was a solid promo.

Kurt Angle & Sting are backstage. Angle says that he wants to be Sting’s partner and that he doesn’t have a problem being in 2 matches. Sting says he needs to have someone who has their mind and plate clear. He tells Angle he will think about it. Then Bully Ray comes in. He tells Sting that he should be in the World Title match at BFG, but he isn’t because of Aces & 8s. Ray asks Sting what he has to do to make Sting pick him to be his partner. Sting says he needs a Bully and tells Ray to go prove something tonight. This was a solid bit.

Rob Van Dam vs. TV Champion Samoa Joe for the Title. Joe gets the pin. This was a solid match.

AJ Styles is talking to Chavo & Hernandez backstage. He asks if they talked to Sting about being his partner against Aces & 8s. Then Chavo tells AJ not to change the subject because AJ stuck his nose in last week’s match. Then Daniel & Kazarian come by. They say that Angle told Sting that he doesn’t need AJ and can win the tag titles by himself. Then AJ goes to find out what’s happening. There’s more bickering and Chavo tells AJ to bring it. This was all over the place. Daniels & Kazarian were good here but the “everyone talking over each other” bits don’t work for me.

They show Jeff Hardy & Austin Aries backstage. Aries looks to bury the hatchet with Jeff, even if Aries did most of the work in the tag match last week. Then Bully Ray comes in and says he will punch 1 of them in the face later tonight because he has to prove himself. Then Ray says that he will prove himself to Sting by beating Jeff Hardy. Aries tells Ray that beaten Jeff won’t prove anything because he is the World Champion. Ray says he’s already beaten Aries and mentions that Aries couldn’t beat him without the chain. Then Jeff mentions a triple threat match for tonight. Ray is ok with this and he & Jeff walk off. Aries asks what’s up with Jeff. This was ok.

Chavo Guerrero, Jr. vs. Kurt Angle. Chavo gets the pin. This was a solid to good match too. Afterwards Angle & Chavo shove each other. Then Hernandez & AJ get in the ring and all 4 stare each other down. Then Daniels & Kazarian show up on the stage taunting them.

Doug Williams vs. X Division Champion Zima Ion for the Title. Doug wins by reverse decision DQ. Ion won by submission but wouldn’t release the arm breaker after the bell and the referee reversed the decision. This was short too. Then Ion gets the mic. He says he knows that he’s first on Hulk’s & Sting’s list to face Aces & 8s. He says they can take his name off that list. He says that he isn’t going to risk his good looks to fight Aces & 8s. Then he says that he’s not just f’n pretty but he’s also f’n dangerous. Decent promo.

Bruce Pritchard & D’Lo Brown are backstage. They watch a clip from a house show of Matt Morgan kicking a referee. Pritchard asks D’Lo where he was. D’Lo says he’s running a live event. Pritchard says this can’t happen again. D’Lo says that it won’t. This was weak too. I wasn’t a fan of this.

James Storm comes to the ring. He says it’s 10 days away from the biggest PPV of the year and the biggest night of his life. He says that it will be 1 year when the issues with him & Roode started. Storm tells Roode that he’s coming to BFG to show that he’s the better man. Then he says that Hulk doesn’t like having the referees pushed around so he brought in a special enforcer. Then Bobby Roode comes out. Roode says he doesn’t care about King Mo. He says that in 10 days Storm has to get in the ring with him. A man he never beat and a man he’s been jealous of his whole career. Roode then says this has been building for almost a year and that at BFG it will explode. Roode then says this isn’t just match. This will be a fight and Roode won’t stop until he stands over Storm’s bloody carcass knowing that he ended his career. Roode says this will be a bloodbath. Then he says if King Mo thinks he can stop him or contain this then he has another thing coming. Roode says there isn’t anything that King Mo can do to stop him. Roode then says that he is the "It" factor of TNA and that if he could he would say this to his face. Then out comes King Mo. Roode taunts him and King Mo shoves Roode down. Then Roode walks to the back and King Mo gets in the ring. He stares down Storm and Storm raises his hand. Then they a couple beers. This was a good segment. Both Storm & Roode cut good promos. I wasn’t really into King Mo however.

Hulk & Sting in the GM office. Hulk says that he has picked his guy. Then Sting says that he saw something in Ray and he wants to see him in the ring before he decides. Hulk says that he will watch the match too.

They show Aces & 8s throwing water on a tied and gagged Joseph Park. The head guy says everyone in the faction is ready to die for their brotherhood. He asks if Hulk can say the same about the TNA guys. Then he says that he doesn’t have to look very far to see who will volunteer for his team (I think that’s what he said). Then they rip Park’s shirt off. This was lame. It’s really hard to make out what this guy says.

TNA World Champion Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Bully Ray. Rey wins when he pins Jeff. This was a solid to good match too. Afterwards Aries yells at Jeff saying that he had Ray. Then Aries poses on the turnbuckle with belt and the fans boo. Then Jeff poses and the fans cheer.

Hulk Hogan & Sting come to the ring. The fans chant Hogan. Hulk says to say Aces & 8s has been running rough shot is an understatement. He says he can’t help but think how personal this has gotten. Hulk says he will watch but Aces & 8s will have to worry about Sting. Hulk says that all night everyone has the same feeling about Aces & 8s. He brings up Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe & Bully Ray. Hulk says they need somebody that can get the ob done when it needs to be done. They decided that Ken Anderson will team with Sting. Then Hulk tells Anderson to come out. Anderson’s music hits but on the Tron they show Aces & 8s beating him down backstage. Hulk says to get Anderson some help. Anderson lays there unconscious, Then Ray comes in and tells Sting to talk some sense into Hulk. Ray says that if Sting is going to war he will go to war with a warrior. Ray then says that no one is more of a warrior then he is. Ray says that Sting and the roster need him to fight for TNA. He tells Sting to convince Hulk that Ray is the guy to go to war with Sting. Sting is in favor of the idea. Ray says Hulk might not like him but he has to respect him. Then Ray offers Hulk his hand. Hulk accepts. Then Ray shakes Sting’s hand. This ends the show. This was a solid promo to end the show.

I thought this was a decent show overall. There were some solid parts on the show. There were some weak ones too. The Aces & 8s storyline is very predictable. They’ll win at Bound for Glory. Ray will most likely turn on Sting. As far as this show, the first segment with Hulk & Sting was thankfully short. Anderson-Gunner & the Knockouts tag matches were short but decent. RVD-Joe was solid. Doug-Ion was too short to be much of a match. Chavo-Angle and the 3 way main event were solid. The closing segment with Hulk, Sting & Ray in the ring was solid also. I thought Ray was good on the mic as usual. The Aces & 8s bit in their clubhouse was lame. The Storm-Roode segment was really good. Both guys cut great promos. They’ve done a really good job building to this match. I could’ve done without King Mo however. The Aries-Jeff-Ray bit backstage was ok too. I also liked the Al Snow-Joey Ryan segment. So overall I thought this week’s show was alright.