Coverage and thoughts on the March 21, 2013 episode of Impact
The show starts with Bully Ray saying it took 9 months for this plan to come together. Things didn’t go perfectly with plan A but that’s when he put plan B into affect. He destroyed friendships, people’s trust but most of all he destroyed the Hogan family. Brooke & Hulk have never been as low as they have now. He doesn’t care about he had to do to Sting to get what he wanted. He tells everyone to enjoy as he tells us how the most hated guy became world champion. They showed a video package recapping the whole Aces & 8s angle as he spoke. This was a good video package to start the show.
Hulk Hogan comes to the ring. He says that he’s been around a long time. He and the maniacs have been through hell and back together but he’s never had the wool pulled over his eyes like this. Not only did Aces & 8s fool the fans, they fooled him, Sting & everyone in TNA. Hulk says this isn’t just a battle; this is a war of survival. Out of all the guys who were left lying in the ring last week there were 4 guys who took the bull by the horns. He wants to bring them out. First is Samoa Joe. The next guy who fought like true warrior was Magnus. The next guy doesn’t have a weak bone in his body, the cyborg Kurt Angle. The last warrior has been the leader for the last 9 months and as far as Hulk’s concerned he’s their champion Jeff Hardy. Hulk needs these 4 guys to put Aces & 8s out and take the world title back to TNA. He asks Jeff if he’s ready for a rematch. Jeff says he’s in bad shape, but Ray stole the title and he and the creatures need it back. Then Jeff suggests they have a 4 way match to determine the number 1 contender for the world title. Hulk likes the idea and says that the last time he named the number 1 contender it was the worst decision of his life. So Hulk makes the 4 way for later. Tonight the best man in this ring will become the number 1 contender. This makes no sense. Jeff is the guy that Ray beat for the title. Jeff should get a rematch. Why is he in a 4 way to see who the number 1 contender will be?
More comments from Bully Ray with a video package. He says plan A was simple. Win the BFG series and then win the title, but coincidentally that was the night Aces & 8s first appeared & they attacked Sting. Then he needed to let the thought of James Storm being in the faction slip into Bobby Roode’s head. Storm played right into his hands by deciding to face Ray at BFG. Then Ray called Roode again to fill his head with more ideas about Storm being in Aces & 8s. Hulk locked down the building & Ray would wind up losing to Jeff Hardy. They made sure every single sign pointed to James Storm. Ray was racking up points in the BFG Series & Storm was the scapegoat. Then he says after he lost to Jeff Hardy at No Surrender he came up with a new plan & Hulk brought it right to him.
Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero, Jr. vs. TNA World Tag Team Champions Austin Aries & Bobby Roode for the Titles. Aries & Roode win when Aries pins Chavo. Chavo was on the top rope and then Daniels & Kazarian come out. Kazarian distracted the referee as Daniels pushed Chavo off the ropes. Then Aries pinned Chavo. Afterwards Daniels & Kazarian beat on Aries & Roode for a bit. This was a good match and I liked Daniels & Kazarian coming in and beating on the champs.
Time for a video package on the X Division.
Kenny King says he should mad about that video package, but if that’s how TNA wants to be so be it. It doesn’t matter if he’s facing 1 guy or 2. Since he’s facing 2 guys he will need some 5 hour energy. This was decent but did they have to use this promo to plug the 5 hour energy?
Sonjay Dutt vs. Zima Ion vs. X Division Champion Kenny King for the Title. Kenny wins when he pins Sonjay. This was really good.
They show earlier in the day when Brooke Hogan came into the arena. Camera guy asks if she’s talked to Ray & what Hulk thinks. Brooke says she’s here as the Knockouts VP.
More of Bully Ray. When they got locked out Plan B went into affect. Jeff won the title at BFG so Ray had to come up with a new plan & it was standing right in front of him. Joseph Park was the bait when they took him hostage. They show more of the video package as Ray talks. Ray says Hulk turned his back on Devon . No one turns their back on his brother. Ray was gonna be the hero to save TNA. They show Sting endorsing Ray. Ray says shaking Hulk’s hand is when he knew he had Hulk. That’s when Hulk signed Impact’s fate. Ray & Sting became buds. He mentions being put through a table by Devon . Then 1 by 1 each TNA roster guy got taken out. He got caught in his next attempt and that was when he made the play for Brooke. The more Hulk said no the more Brooke said yes. That was when Ray knew that he was in. These video packages are really good.
They show Sting standing backstage outside Hulk’s office door.
Hulk is in his office and Sting comes in. Sting says he doesn’t care about the title. He wants a piece of Ray. Hulk tells Sting to do what he does best. Hang out in the rafters when things get heavy because Sting always causes problems. Sting says this is about revenge. This was a typical hokey Hulk-Sting segment.
Taryn Terrell comes to the ring ready to pay for attacking Gail Kim last week. She says she knows that she’s on probation. As a referee it’s her job to control the chaos but when Gail attacked her twice she had to fight back. Gail Kim comes out & says she’s glad Taryn learned the same lesson that the other knockouts learned. Not to mess with her. Gail is the greatest knockout ever and Taryn wouldn’t be there without her. Then she pretty much says that Taryn deserves to get the axe. Then Brooke Hogan comes out. She says this was a very tough decision for her to make. She thought long and hard about this. She loves Taryn as VP she has to be fair & fires Taryn. Gail’s happy. Brooke says she’s got good news. She has decided to sign Taryn to the TNA knockout roster (I knew that was coming). Then Taryn attacks Gail and chases her to the back. Then Bully Ray shows up. Ray shows Brooke his wedding ring & Brooke tells Ray that she hates him & then she walks off. This was a bit weak. I’m not a fan of Brooke Hogan and I knew that they were going to make Taryn a wrestler. I thought Gail was good with her promo though & Ray coming out was good too.
More from Bully Ray. They had Doc & Knox who felt like they were wronged. They’re the muscle. Garrett came to Hulk & stood by his side but Hulk brushed him off. Then he says that Hulk made Wes Briscoe beg. Then when Ken Anderson got taken out Hulk never checked on him. Anderson
Kurt Angle says this 4 way is the most important match he’s had in a year and a half because that’s how long it’s been since he’s been world champion.
Joseph Park vs. Matt Morgan. Morgan gets the pin. This was decent. He wants to take out Aces & 8s & the first step is taking the world title back.
Backstage camera guy asks Jeff Hardy what it would be like to get a world title rematch. Jeff says regaining the world title means everything to him, which is why he came up with the 4 way (That doesn’t make sense since Jeff does get a title rematch). He says that if he isn’t ready then Joe, Magnus or Angle can win the title. It doesn’t matter to him if any of the other guys win.
Mike Tenay is in the ring & he brings out AJ Styles. Tenay says he’s known AJ for 10 years. He’s called all of his TNA matches. They’ve been friends. Then Tenay asks about the rumors about drug and alcohol abuse. AJ doesn’t respond. Then Taz gets the mic & tells Tenay he’s handling this badly so Taz will handle this. He has an Aces & 8s vest for AJ. He offers him to jump on board with Aces & 8s. Then James Storm comes out. AJ has his back to him. He asks if this is the new AJ. A guy who can’t face the man he sucker punched last week. Storm says the old AJ was the kind of guy who say what he thought about you to your face and not care what you thought. He can be the new AJ but he’s still the old James Storm. If AJ thinks about sucker punching him again Storm will knock his teeth out and say sorry about your damn luck. The fans chant hug it out. AJ stares down Storm and then walks out. Storm asks why AJ’s leaving. Everyone wants to know why. This was ok. I’m not sure what they’re doing with AJ here but I thought Taz & James Storm were good with their promos.
More Bully Ray. Ray knew that Hulk would never trust him he saw Ray with Brooke. Hulk just drove Brooke deeper into his arms. Ray used Sting to lure Hulk in. The wedding was the perfect chance to do what he wanted. Every good plan has an end game and he wouldn’t pass up the chance to have Taz be in the faction. Everyone saw Devon hit him with a cement pillar. He says that you got to take a few licks for the good of the team. Ray knew if he got his ass kicked right in front of Hulk’s face Hulk would have to trust him. Devon knew his part of the plan too by pretending to injure Ray’s ankle. Brooke had a week to convince Hulk to give Ray the chance. Ray played to Hulk’s biggest weakness. His ego. He wanted Hulk in the 6 man. When they beat down Sting he had to take care of his family. For 9 months Ray pulled off the biggest con in pro wrestling history. He is the president & leader of Aces & 8s. No one can stop them & no 1 will take his world title. This was really good. They did a great job with the video packages & Ray saying how the whole Aces & 8s came to be.
Jeff Hardy vs. Magnus vs. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe to determine the number 1 contender for the world title. Jeff wins when he pins Joe. This was good too. Then Joe shakes Jeff’s hand. Jeff celebrates in the ring to end the show.
I thought this was a good show overall. The opening in ring segment was solid and the 4 way main event was good too, but I’m not sure why they had this match since Jeff should get a rematch. After all Ray beat him for the world title. The Aces & 8s video packages with Ray pealing back the lairs of how Aces & 8s came to be was really good. Ray was tremendous here. The AJ-Storm-Tenay-Taz segment was ok. I liked that Taz had an Aces & 8s vest for AJ. AJ not speaking was ok here but I hope it doesn’t become a recurring bit. Taz & Storm were both good with their promos too. It looks like we’ll be getting James Storm-AJ Styles match. The bit with the knockouts was kinda weak but Gail was good with her promo. Park-Morgan was decent. Hernandez & Chavo vs. Aries & Roode was good & I liked Daniels & Kazarian getting involved. Will they have Daniels & Kazarian vs. Aries & Roode since they’re both heel teams? I think that would be a really good match. The X title match was good too. The Hulk-Sting backstage bit was your typical hokey bit. On the whole though I thought this was a good show.
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