5-16-13 Impact results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the May 16, 2013 episode of Impact

 The show starts with Hulk Hogan coming to the ring (Having him start Impact all the time is way too predictable & reminds me of Nitro). He says he is shocked that Hulkamania is this crazy in Tupelo brother. He’s also just as shocked with the way AJ walked away from Angle & Sting last week. When AJ walked away Angle took the fight right to him. Hulk tells AJ to join Aces & 8s if he wants. Kurt Angle will be chasing him right to Slammiversary. Hulk says at the PPV it will Angle vs. AJ. Also tonight we’ll have the contract signing for the world title match. He says TNA has been under the microscope & last week Abyss saved the day. He tells Abyss to come out so he can shake his hand. Abyss’ music hits but he doesn’t come out. Hulk says if Abyss is out there he wants to thank him man to man right in front of all the Tupelo maniacs brother. Abyss’ music his again but out comes the alter ego Joseph Park. Park says he sat at home last week & he watched in shock as Abyss returned. He couldn’t believe it. All this time he was looking for him & he was there last week. Hulk’s not playing. He needs Abyss now more than ever. Cue Aces & 8s music & out come Devon & D’Lo. Devon says they’re not after Hulk. They want Abyss because he stuck his nose in club business. Abyss was the legal guy in the tag match last week & Hulk needs to get Abyss out here right now. Park asks Devon who he thinks he is. Devon tells him to back out of his face. Park says if it weren’t for Aces & 8s he never would’ve had to look for Abyss. Park’s had it with Aces & 8s & wants to get it on with Devon right now. Devon says he is the TV Champion. Who’d Park ever beat? Park has to prove himself. D’Lo wants to face Park. Hulk says tonight Park will face D’Lo. Devon’s ok with that. Devon then says to tell Abyss that when he finds him he will take a chunk out of his ass. Hulk says after Park beats D’Lo he will give him the ok to tear Devon apart whenever he wants. So testify to that my brother. This was the same kinda opening segment we get from Hogan. It wasn’t too bad, but not great. I really wish they’d start the shows with a match. The 15- 20 minute promos at the start of the shows are really stale.

Backstage camera guy asks James Storm about last week & what are his plans for revenge. Storm says to watch.

They show a video package on Christian York. He talks about winning gut check & that he’s never stopped learning after all these years. He got into the business to be world champion & he is looking to get a chance to earn that starting tonight.

Tag Team Champion Chavo Guerrero vs. Bobby Roode. Roode wins by DQ. James Storm comes out, gets in the ring & spits beer in Roode’s face. Then Storm stares down Roode & then Roode rolls out of the ring and then Storm heads for the back. This was a decent match but I wasn’t into the finish.

Kurt Angle comes to the ring. He says this Aces & 8s thing has been going on for about a year & has gotten to the point where you can’t trust anyone. Last week AJ walked out. Angle never backs down from a fight. AJ walked away when Angle brought the fight to him & that pissed Angle off. He says that at Slammiversary it will be Angle vs. AJ. He doesn’t wanna till then & tells AJ to come out. Cue Aces & 8s music & out comes Ken Anderson. He says Angle sounds like a woman. Angle needs to get through his thick skull that AJ’s not his boy. Anderson then says that next week live from Tampa, FL everyone will see AJ become an Aces & 8s guy. He dares Angle to show up. Angle will get destroyed. Angle doesn’t wanna wait till next week to fight. Then he punches Anderson and then pounds on him. Then AJ Styles comes out through the crowed and gives Angle a Pele kick. This was ok but it’s so obvious that AJ is going to be on the TNA team.

Time for a video package on Jay Bradley. He lives & breathes pro wrestling. He will do whatever it takes to get the job done. He’s here to make an Impact. His time is coming.

Christian York vs. Jay Bradley in a Gut Check Tournament/Bound for Glory series qualifying match. Bradley gets the pin. This was a solid match. So Bradley will face either Sam Shaw or Alex Silva at Slammiversary. Afterwards Christie asks Jay what it would mean for him to move on to the BFG series. Jay says moving on means he’s 1 step closer to winning the series, & 1 step closer to being the next world champion. This was a decent promo.

Backstage James Storm says that Roode told him that his actions will have repercussions. Storm guys that it is a joke that his actions are the only ones that seem to have any. Camera guy asks what Storm will do. Storm says to keep watching.

Cut to Aces & 8s. Ken Anderson says there’s no question that AJ’s loyalty is with Aces & 8s. He can’t wait to patch AJ in. Then Anderson asks D’Lo what he’s gotta do tonight. D’Lo says he’s gotta & will kick Joseph Park’s ass tonight.

Velvet Sky & Gail Kim make their ring entrances and then they go to break.

Back from break & backstage we see Brooke Hogan & Mickie James. Brooke plugs Mickie’s new CD. Then Brooke says she knows how much Mickie wants to be on top of the knockouts division. Next week Mickie will face Velvet for the title. Then Bully Ray comes in & Mickie bails. Then Ray tells Brooke to tell “dad” that the contract signing will not be a signing but more like a negotiation. Brooke says he has to negotiate their divorce. Ray says he will never divorce her. Till death do they part. The Mickie-Brooke part of this bit was weak but Ray was good here. I hated that they showed this bit after Velvet & Gail came to the ring for their match.

Knockouts Champion Velvet Sky vs. Gail Kim. Velvet gets the pin. This was solid too. Afterwards Gail puts Velvet in the turnbuckle figure 4. ODB eventually pulls Gail off.

They show a Chris Sabin-Kenny King video package. Chris Sabin says Kenny King is the king of male strippers, but not the best wrestler. Kenny says he’s the X Division champion & is royalty. Sabin says that Kenny has been winning his matches by “steeling” them.

 Time for the video package hyping Suicide’s return.  

Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams vs. X Division Champion Kenny King for the Title. Kenny wins when he pins Petey. This was a solid match but having all X Division matches be 3 ways is really not doing the division any favors.  

Backstage Daniels & Kazarian are worried that Storm is going for them next. They mention what a jerk Storm is for costing them their shot at the tag titles. They also talk about Daniels’ match with Hernandez. Kaz says Hernandez is Super Mex & he is Super Kaz. Then Kaz says Storm is terrified of Daniels & horrified of Kaz. This was a solid backstage segment.

Backstage D’Lo thanks Anderson for stopping Ray from hitting him with a hammer. Anderson says that he did it for the club. D’Lo messed up & everything has spiraled down because he buried Wes & Garrett or whatever. Anderson is pulling for D’Lo.

TNA World Tag Team Champion Hernandez vs. Christopher Daniels. Hernandez gets the pin. This was ok. James Storm comes out again & stands on the ramp. That distracts Daniels & Hernandez was able to get the pin. Then Storm says that at Slammiversary there will be a tag title match. Chavo & Hernandez vs. Aries & Roode and also Daniels & Kazarian but also another guy who knows something about tag team wrestling, being Storm & a partner of his choice. So we have a 4 way elimination tag title match for the next PPV. 

Joseph Park vs. D’Lo Brown. Joseph gets the pin. This was decent too.

Time for the contract signing. JB is in the ring. Tonight they make the PPV main event official. Out comes Bully Ray & he shoves JB down. Then Ray asks if we know who he is. He’s Bully Ray & from NYC. He’s the president of Aces & 8s and the TNA World Champion. He’s the guy that beat Jeff Hardy & took him out at his own game, full metal mayhem. He’s also the guy who will beat Sting. He knows Sting’s back there & he knows all of Sting’s fans can’t wait for him to come out, but like he told Brooke before this is going to be a negotiation. Sting probably has a few stips. He tells Sting to come out. Sting makes his way to the ring. Ray tells Sting not to take another step. Ray wants this to be official. Hulk might wanna hear this. He tells “dad” to come on out. Out comes The Hulkster. Ray just realized this is the first time he & Sting are face to face since he screwed Sting & Hulk over. If Sting’s looking for an apology he’s not getting 1. Sting says when they get to Boston Ray should snap his arm in 2, pull his knee cap off, dislocate is elbow, gouge his eye out & make him bleed. Ray asks what’s wrong with Sting. Sting says if Ray doesn’t to that it to him then he will to it to Ray. Sting doesn’t care if it’s in the ring, the crowed or the rafters he will make Ray bleed in Boston. Sting didn’t have any demands but he has 1 now. He wants the match to be no holds barred. Ray says the fans would love to see him bleed at Sting’s hand. Ray says Sting’s got the match on 1 condition. When Ray beats him Sting never wrestles for the world title again. Hulk wants to say something but Ray cuts him off. Ray says he doesn’t want Sting to retire. He wants him to have to wrestle till the day he dies knowing he can never be world champion again. Hulk says he’s running the show & tells Sting not to do it. Ray says Hulk is running Sting’s life & tells Sting to man up. Sting agrees. Then Ray shoves Sting and then they exchange punches to end the show. This was ok. Ray was awesome on the mic as usual. Sting was ok here too.

I thought this was a mediocre show overall. The opening segment was a typical opening 15-20 minute promo that we get at the start of a lot of shows. The closing segment was decent. Ray was great with his promo as usual & I thought Sting was decent on the mic here too. Chavo-Roode was decent but I wasn’t a fan of the finish, Hernandez-Daniels was ok but I thought James Storm cut a good promo afterwards. Joseph Park-D’Lo was also decent. Velvet-Gail & York-Bradley were solid matches. The 3 way X Division title match was solid too but having all the X matches be 3 ways doesn’t do the division any favors. The Angle-Anderson back & forth and then AJ coming out & kicking Angle was ok but it’s really predictable that AJ will turn face. The Brooke Hogan-Mickie James backstage bit was weak, but Ray was good when he came in. Aces & 8s are getting really old & I wasn’t into their backstage segments. The Daniels-Kazarian backstage segment was solid though. So on the whole I thought this was mixed bag show.