3-14-13 Impact results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the March 14, 2013 episode of Impact

 

The show starts with Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez coming to the ring. They’ll be challenging Austin Aries & Bobby Roode for the tag titles. Then Aces & 8s storm the ring and beat down Hernandez & Chavo. Then Devon gets the mic and says this is the group that’s gonna take over TNA. This is the club that will dominate from now on. So without any further ado, Devon introduces the new TNA World Champion, his brother Bully Ray. Ray comes out from the Aces & 8s entrance & he & Taz hug. Then Ray gets in the ring and D’Lo puts an Aces & 8s vest on him. Then Ray says, “Do you know who I am?” He is Bully Ray, the president of Aces & 8s and the TNA World Champion. He’s the guy that used Sting. He’s the guy that screwed Brooke. He’s the guy that made a fool out of Hulk Hogan. He’s also the guy who made fools of the fans (Everyone knew this was coming so I doubt the fans “bought it”). For 9 months he pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes and the fans bought it. He tells Devon how proud he was of them when he saw them climb the cage, come in and give him the hammer. When Ray drilled Jeff in the back of the head with the hammer he never felt so proud. But it wasn’t supposed to go down like that. He was going to leave the cage when Wes & Garrett came out but that didn’t happen because of Hulk. He says that Hulk had to sit him down for a “father-son in law” talk. Ray says he doesn’t care about Hulk’s advice. He did something memorable in 1 night that the NWO couldn’t ever accomplish. He dares Hulk to come out and fire them. It won’t happen. When you ride with Aces & 8s you’ll never walk alone. This was a great way to start the show. Ray’s promo was really good as usual.   

Backstage Sting says that Ray is digging a grave for TNA. He’s gonna get his hands on Ray and he needs to start by talking to Hulk.

The have the Goldman box and Gail Kim says that her heart goes out to Brooke Hogan, but she’s glad that Brooke placed Taryen Terrell on probation for putting her hands on Gail.

Knockouts Champion Velvet Sky & Mickie James vs. Gail Kim & Tara. Velvet & Mickie win when Velvet pins Tara. This was ok. Gail Kim shoved Taryn to the mat and then T double slapped Gail. Then Mickie gave Gail a top rope Thez Press. Then Tara gave Mickie the Widows Peak and then Velvet gave Tara in your face for the pin. The match was ok but I don’t get why T double didn’t call for the bell when Gail shoved her.

At the Aces & 8s clubhouse Ray says he doesn’t think Hulk has the balls to fire them. But if Hulk does Ray wants proposes a toast to Aces & 8s. Then Ray says that he hasn’t heard from his wife in awhile. He calls her up and leaves a message asking why she doesn’t return his calls. Then he puts the cell on speaker. The guys all say hey to Brooke.

Camera guy asks Hulk if he’s firing Aces & 8s tonight and asks what about Brooke. Hulk says not now and shuts the door.

Before the next match Robbie E gets the mic. He says what happened at Lockdown was a fluke “bro”. Tonight Rob Terry isn’t gonna be so lucky.

Rob Terry vs. Robbie E. Rob Terry gets the pin. This was a squash. Then Rob Terry fist pumps and gets the fans to chant bro and then he does the robot and a 1 handed push up. They had this match Sunday on PPV. Why did they have it again tonight? Also the post match bit from Rob Terry was terrible.

Sting goes into Hulk’s office. Break time.

Back from break and we go back to the Aces & 8s clubhouse. Ray is pissed that there isn’t any Aces & 8s merchandise. Doc opens a book and they find someone’s pic. That person is gonna get an Aces & 8s beating apparently.

Back to Hulk & Sting. Hulk says Sting thought he knew Ray but he didn’t. Hulk says he knew Ray. Now Aces & 8s holds TNA hostage and Ray has the world title. This might not mean anything to Sting but Ray is also is married to his daughter. He says. Sting tells Hulk it does mean something to him. He tells Hulk not to fire Aces & 8s so they can set things right. Hulk says this is the end of the movie. Ray has the world title and Brooke’s in a marriage she doesn’t wanna be in. Hulk tells Sting to get out. This was a typical Hogan segment.   

Time for an AJ Styles video package. We’ll hear from AJ next.

Sting is walking backstage and Austin Aries & Bobby Roode come up to him. They say what happened Sunday is Sting’s fault. Everyone told Sting Ray was no good but Sting wouldn’t listen. They say that they don’t get to see them in a match thanks to Sting. Aries says that they were gonna give Sting & Hulk a title shot. Sting shouts enough and he wants to fight. Aries says Bobby will take on Sting, but Roode walks off. Sting says Aries will do. Sting walks off and Aries looks for Bobby. This was decent. Aries & Roode were good here.

AJ Styles’ music plays but he doesn’t come out. Then Daniels & Kazarian come out dressed like the Road Warriors. Daniels is Hawk & Kazarian is Animal. Kazarian says tonight isn’t just the first live Impact on the road and it’s certainly not the first tome AJ Styles has disappointed his fans. Tonight they’re bringing back throw back Thursday and they’re paying tribute to the second best tag team in wrestling. “Tell ‘em Chris.”, Daniels says “Well” those legends of the past were fake tough guys like AJ Styles and like all the fans. They’re the real deal, the original ring warriors and are the Legion of Boom. Kazarian says, “Ohhh what a tush.” Then Daniels says, “And on that note you have permission to worship us now.” Then out comes James Storm. He says they don’t have to run. He was sitting in the back listening to them talk about AJ Styles. He’s sure AJ will come out and say what he thinks of them. Storm says the Road Warriors were taller and more over than Daniels & Kaz will ever be. Storm says he will let which 1 of them decide who wants to get the living crap kicked out of him right now. Storm brings Daniels in the ring and the match is on. This was really good. Daniels & Kazarian are very funny.

James Storm vs. “Hawk” Christopher Daniels. Storm gets the pin. This was solid. Then Kazarian comes in and he & Daniels double team Storm. Then out comes AJ Styles. He hits Kazarian and then Daniels bails. Then AJ clotheslines Storm (I knew that was coming). This was solid too and I had a feeling AJ would attack Storm here. It looks like AJ is a tweener for right now.

Time for a video package on the Kurt Angle-Wes Briscoe match from Lockdown.

Kurt Angle is backstage and Wes shows up. Then Wes & the rest of Aces & 8s beat down Angle.

Joseph Park comes to the ring. He says he’s thrilled and honored to be standing before the fans. It’s been a crazy past few months for him. Over in the UK he got his first “W” against Robbie E and he won at Lockdown. With this early success it’s made take a look back on his life. He graduated from law school and he finally made partner ship at Park, Park & Park. The highlight of his life is right now standing in the ring in front his hometown of Chicago. He grew up sitting along the first base line in all the “Cubby” games (The fans booed that) and was at the Black Hawks games but nothing has been as exciting as his time in Impact Wrestling and he can’t wait to see what’s next. Out comes Matt Morgan. Morgan says to say at this point Hulk makes 1 mistake after another is an understatement and there’s no bigger mistake Hulk’s made than this walking joke standing in front of him. The fact that Hulk signed this clown to a professional wrestling contract is an abortion to the sport of wrestling. Morgan will start eliminating Hulk’s mistakes one by one starting with Park. Morgan tells Park to get out of his ring unless he wants his teeth kicked down his throat. Then he tells Park to leave this dump city and never come back. Park says in Chicago we never back down from a fight. If Morgan wants to fight they can right now. Morgan says things aren’t done on Park’s time, they’re done on his. Morgan makes like he’s gonna leave and then gives Park a Carbon Footprint. Then Morgan says that his time is next week. This was a solid segment. I thought both guys cut good promos.

Back to the Aces & 8s clubhouse. Ray feels good about taking out an Olympic Gold medalist. Ray says that Hernandez, Chavo & Angle have been taken out and he dares Hulk to fire them. If he won’t come to them they might come to him. He destroyed Hulk’s family and he will destroy Hulk’s show.

Time for a video package on the Hulk-Brooke-Ray story and a look at Ray beating Jeff for the world title after turning heel.

Sting vs. TNA World Tag Team Champion Austin Aries. Sting wins by DQ when Aces & 8s come in. During the match Roode yanked Sting out of the ring but Sting sent him into the guard rail and gave him a Stinger Splash. Then Aries came off the top rope with a double axe handle but he wound up hitting Roode. Then Sting threw Aries into the guard rail. Later in the match the referee sent Roode to the back. Sting got Aries in the Scorpion Death Lock and then Aces & 8s came in. Ray tells the Aces & 8s guys to hold up Sting. Ray tells Sting that he used him. Ray asks Hulk if that’s what he meant by doing something memorable. Will Hulk remember Aces & 8s now? He asks where everybody’s hero is. Will he fire Aces & 8s? The match was good and I was ok with the finish too.

Back to the show and Ray says they’ve taken over Impact. Then Hulk’s music plays and he comes out on crutches. Hulk says firing them would be too easy. For everything they’ve done to TNA, the fans, Sting, Hulk and his family Aces & 8s isn’t getting it easy. From this moment forward he is empowering everyone in TNA to fight Aces & 8s. Cue Jeff Hardy’s music and he along with Kurt Angle, Joseph Park, Magnus, Rob Terry, Chavo and others come out. They get in the ring and brawl with Aces & 8s. Ray punches Angle outside the ring. Jeff gets laid out. Then D’Lo took out Joe but the cameras decided not to show it. Angle gets back in the ring and Anderson punches him for a bit. Then Angle goes after Wes and Doc grabs him. Angle attacks Doc but Devon hits him from behind. Ray throws Magnus over the top rope onto the ramp. Then Ray asks “dad” if this is what he meant by something memorable. Then Ray says how about this for memorable and Aces & 8s lay out the TNA guys. Then Ray says that was Hulk’s cavalry and his cavalry was just taken out by Aces & 8s. “What are ya gonna do now? Dad?” This was a great way to end the show. The brawl was enjoyable.

I thought this was a solid show on the whole. The opening segment was good and so was the end. Ray is tremendous as a heel and having him as the leader of Aces & 8s gives that stable credibility. Daniels & Kazarian dressed like the Road Warriors was good too. I thought the Legion of Boom was comical. The Storm-Daniels match was solid too and I knew that AJ was going to attack Storm. The backstage segment with Sting, Aries & Roode was good too. Aries & Roode pretty much said that Sting has always been the sap for years. The clubhouse segments were ok too and I thought the Park-Morgan segment was solid too. The knockouts tag match was ok too but I don’t get why Taryn didn’t call for the bell when Gail shoved her to the mat. Taryn is the referee and Gail shoving her should have been a DQ. Rob Terry-Robbie E was a squash that we saw Sunday on PPV. I’m not sure why they had this again tonight. The Sting-Hulk backstage segment was a typical Hogan segment that I wasn’t a fan of. Aces & 8s attacking Angle backstage was ok too. There was a lot of talking but they did a good job continuing the TNA vs. Aces & 8s feud. Overall I thought this was a solid show this week.