5-2-13 Impact results and thoughts

  Coverage and thoughts on the May 2, 2013 episode of Impact

The show starts with Hulk Hogan coming to the ring (I’m having flashbacks to Monday Nitro here). The fans chant Hogan. He says after what happened last week things almost came to blows between him & Sting. He tells Sting to come out & tell everyone what’s up. Out comes Sting. Hulk says last week didn’t end with a pretty picture. Hulk knows when he’s right and he knows when he’s wrong. Hulk mentions everything that’s happened and says when it came to making some choices he was wrong. He tells Sting he made a huge mistake when he pushed Sting away. Hulk says they should’ve been taking care of Aces & 8s together. Sting says they’re together and all is good. Sting asks Hulk to find to guys to face Aces & 8s in a 6 man tag next week. What Hulk needs to do tonight is find out who will face Ray at Slammivesary. Out comes Matt Morgan. Morgan says this is the part where he just hands Sting another title shot. Hulk says Morgan runs his mouth before he knows what’s going on. Hulk says there will be no more mistakes or handouts. Anyone who gets a spot will have to earn it. Sting won’t be handed the title shot & neither is Morgan. The winner of the Sting-Morgan match tonight will challenge for the world title. This was a typical Hulk segment. This starting the show does have that old Monday Nitro feel to it and not in a good way. I wasn’t into this.

They show Chris Sabin talking about how long he was out with 2 ACL tears. He got in this business to be the world champion & that will be his goal from hear on out. This was a good video.

Backstage Kurt Angle says Aces & 8s come in every week. They try to take over the company & they took the TNA Title. He has challenged anyone in Aces & 8s to face him tonight. They can hurt him & they can beat him but they won’t stop him.

Chris Sabin vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Zima Ion. Sabin wins when he pins Ion. This was a solid match & it is nice to see Chris Sabin back.

Backstage Robbie E & Jessie are talking about how to handle Rob Terry. Jessie has a third guy to help them out. He shows him a pick of Joey Ryan. Robbie says Joey’s sleazy. Jessie says he’s easy, Robbie says easy & sleazy don’t rhyme. Whatever, this was lame.

Backstage we see Bully Ray and Aces & 8s. Ray says Hulk & Sting mocked him & the rest of the stable. No one mocks them. Now he has to worry about Sting vs. Morgan. He’s not worried about either 1 of them because he will get the job done. Then he says that Kurt Angle has been a problem for Aces & 8s since they showed up. He says for someone to take care of Kurt the same way he took care of Jeff Hardy. Wes wants to face Angle. So does Garrett. Then D’Lo says that he will face Angle. Ray says D’Lo’s fired up & D’Lo swears on his colors that he will get the job done tonight. This was a bit weak.

Rob Terry vs. Robbie E, Jessie Godderz & Joey Ryan. Rob Terry wins when he pins Joey. This wasn’t much & it was no surprise that Rob Terry got the win.

Austin Aries & Bobby Roode come to the ring. Roode says Kazarian & Daniels played their mind games last week & they got into his head a bit, talking about reforming Fortune. Roode says Daniels & Kazarian cost them the tag titles last week & says that they’re jealous because Aries & Roode being a better team. Aries says not for 1 second did he believe a word that was coming out of their mouths. Aries says Daniels & Kazarian might be best buds but he & Roode aren’t friends & they barely like each other. They’re a team of world champions. Something Daniels & Kazarian don’t know & will never know anything about. Then out come Daniels & Kazarian. Daniels says Roode is right when he said it was about the tag titles, but Aries & Roode aren’t the best tag team. Everyone knows that Aries & Roode are an imitation of the best tag team. The next tag champions are in the ring right now. Roode says that he is the guy who broke a beer bottle over his best friend’s head to win the world title. Then he says that he & Aries will do whatever it takes. Kazarian says Aries & Roode can’t out beat, out cheat or out “us” them. Then out come Chavo & Hernandez. Chavo says talk time is over. Now it’s time for action. Chavo says that Hulk has named a special referee for the tag match. Chavo says it’s not him or Hernandez. This referee likes to count 6 packs. Out comes James Storm. This was ok. Daniels, Kazarian, Aries & Roode were all solid on the mic like usual.

Backstage Sting finds Angle. He asks if Angle’s ready for this match. Angle says he’s ready. Then Sting asks Angle if he has a minute. Then Sting tells the camera guy that he needs a minute and closes the glass door, as the camera man films Sting & Angle but we can’t hear what they’re saying. What was the point of this bit? Sting lets the camera guy come with him to walk to the weight room that Kurt Angle’s in and then he shuts the door with the cameraman outside? I’m not a fan of these backstage segments but this one was really dumb.

Backstage we see Tara & Gail Kim. They both complain about Taryn Terrell. They plan to embarrass her in their tag match with her & Mickie. Tara says they’ll take care of business and then walks out. Then Gail says to herself that she’ll be sure to get the victory. This was kind of weak too.

Chris Sabin says for 2 years he’s been training and it was great to be back in the ring. He was wrestling for 11 years & it was taken from him but it was worth it. He says that being back in the ring is the greatest feeling. This was good.

Before the next match starts D’Lo tells Angle that he told his brothers that he would beat him, but that won’t be enough. Tonight he will humiliate Angle by beating him in an I Quit match.

Kurt Angle vs. D’Lo Brown in an I Quit match. Angle wins. This was a decent match. The Aces & 8s guys watched at ringside & looked displeased with D’Lo.  

Afterwards Christie asks if Angle if this is a measure of revenge. Angle has his mind on AJ Styles. He tells AJ to get out there. Break time.

Back from break. Angle says he needs AJ to come out right now. They need to talk (There’s been more than enough talking on this show). AJ finally comes out. Angle says AJ looks like he wants to take his head off. Before he thinks about doing that, Angle tells him they’re in his home town. Everybody wants to recruit AJ. AJ going with Aces & 8s would be the easy way. Angle says that he has taken the easy way a lot of times but that’s not AJ’s way. AJ is the reason Angle came to TNA & they’ve had a lot of great matches. Angle needs to know where AJ stands. If he’s with TNA that’s cool, but if he’s against them then they’ll have some problems. Angle tells AJ that next week the choice is his. This was more of the same “AJ has to make a choice” crap. How often are they going put AJ “on the spot” about making a decision as to whose side he is going to be on?  

Backstage camera guy says Matt Morgan has been waiting a long time for this chance. Morgan says waiting isn’t the word. He’s been frustrated & has been demanding it. Hulk’s lucky to have him in TNA. He’s no longer waiting for the ball, he’s taking it. Tonight he guts through Sting and then at Slammiversary he guts through Ray & will be the next world champion. This was a good promo.

Mickie James & Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim & Tara. Mickie & Taryn win when Taryn pins Tara. This was a decent match too. Afterwards Gail & Tara beat on Mickie & Taryn. Mickie & Tara go at it on the ramp while Gail beats on Taryn in the ring. Then Gail gives a figure 4 on the post. Then ODB & other referees come out to check on Taryn as Gail walks up the ramp. The post match attack was solid also & I liked Gail doing the figure 4 on the ring post.

Backstage we see Aces & 8s and Ray is pissed that D’Lo said I Quit. D’Lo swore his colors on victory and he said I quit. Garrett says something and then Ray says just because Angle was a douche to him doesn’t mean that Garrett should be a douche back (That made no sense) Ray says he will deal with D’Lo next week. They have a 6 man tag next week and he, Devon & Anderson are stepping up to the plate. Ray’s tired of this crap (So am I). This promo was ok though.

Aries & Roode are backstage. Roode says Kaz & Daniels have never been world champion while he & Aries both have. Next week they will become number 1 contenders for the tag title. Chavo & Hernandez can’t hold a candle to Bobby Roode. This was a solid promo.

Sting vs. Matt Morgan to see who will challenge for the TNA World Title. Sting wins by KO after Morgan passes out from being in the Scorpion Death Lock. Then Bully Ray gets on the apron & taunts Sting to end the show. The match was solid. They had Morgan pass out rather than tapping to the scorpion & Sting had to lock him in it twice. I don’t get why the referee called for the bell after checking Morgan’s arm only 2 times rather than 3. The Sting-Ray stare down was a decent end to this show.

I thought this was a mixed bag show overall. The Hulk-Sting-Morgan segment at the start was a typical long winded yapping bit (Mostly from Hogan) but I thought the Sting-Morgan match was solid. The X Division 3 Way was solid too & it is nice to see Chris Sabin back in action. The video package on him & his post match promo were both well done too. That said there was way too much talking on this week’s show. The Daniels-Kazarian-Aries-Roode bit segment was decent but that’s because those 4 guys are always good with their promos. When Chavo & Hernandez came out it went south. James Storm coming out was ok though. Matt Morgan’s promo backstage was good too, the Tara-Gail Kim bit was weak, I couldn’t stand the “Sting needs to talk to Angle but shuts the door on the camera guy” bit! The Aces & 8s segments were a bit weaker than usual too. The knockouts tag match was solid & I liked the post match attacks. Angle-D’Lo was solid too but Angle calling out AJ & telling him that he needs to decide where he stands was the same old crap we’ve been getting for weeks. The 3 on 1 match wasn’t much & not at all surprising that Rob Terry won. On the whole I thought this week’s show was hit & miss.