7-25-13 Impact results and thoughts

 Coverage and thoughts on the July 25, 2013 episode of Impact

 The show starts with the Main Event Mafia coming to the ring. Sting says last wee MEM experienced the best night ever because they got to see Sabin beat Ray for the world title. MEM wins battle number 1 against Aces & 8s. Angle says the pain Aces & 8s caused will come back to haunt them. MEM is here tonight for a celebration. MEM was formed to destroy Aces & 8s & to make sure Ray loses the world title. The second was accomplished. The wrestler that accomplished this had the greatest match of his career. Angle brings out the TNW World Champion Chris Sabin. Sabin thanks MEM. If it wasn’t for them he might not be world champion right now. He can’t believe he’s standing there as world champion. It feels like a dream, but it’s a reality. Also the reality is that he has what everyone wants. Sabin made history when became champion last week & will make history next week. He challenges the winner of the Ultimate X match to champion vs. champion match next week. Out comes Bully Ray with a “lawyer.” He says this is his attorney. The lawyer says that he is the legal council for Ray. Because of the huge injustice that Ray has suffered they’ve been forced to file a law suit against Impact Wrestling. The guys in the ring can solve that by having Sabin hand the title over back to Ray. He tells them that he fights & wins for his client & he wins well. The clock is ticking & Sabin has till the end of this show to hand the title back over to Ray. This was a weird opening segment. Sting & Angle were good here & Sabin was too. Ray was good too but the lawyer guy’s promo was kinda odd.

Time for a video package on Greg Marisciulo (Trent Beretta.)

Backstage camera guy asks Hulk if TNA has any response to Ray’s legal actions. Hulks on the phone & then tells camera guy that comment on legal stuff. Who cares?

Time for a video package on Manik AKA TJ Perkins. They had him talk without the mask. Manik is his alter ego.

Greg Marisciulo vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Manik in an Ultimate X match to crown a new X Division Champion. Manik wins to become the new champion. This was a good match.

Backstage we Ray & Anderson. Ray says Hulk doesn’t know what to do. They got him right where they want him. He’s proud of the new VP. He didn’t vote but if he had he would’ve voted for Anderson. Being VP is important but what’s even more important is Anderson winning the BFG Series. He wants Anderson to do what he does best & get the job done. This was a decent backstage bit.

Hernandez vs. Ken Anderson in a Bound for Glory Series match. Anderson gets the pin for 7 more points. This was a solid match. Anderson now has 14 points in the Bound for Glory Series.

Backstage camera guy asks Dixie for her take on the Ray situation. We’ll know when she does & then she & her assistant walk off.

Then we see Joseph Park & Eric Young. EY shows Park his BFG series match where he bled & cost himself 10 points. Park doesn’t remember any of this. EY says he will help out Park with his “bleeding & not having any memory of going bonkers” issue. Whatever. This gimmick is old.

Velvet Sky comes to the ring. She says that she made a mistake by letting Mickie know that she was injured. She trusted Mickie & Mickie took advantage of her situation. She won’t make that mistake again because she will keep things closer to the vest than ever before. Then she says that she is here to see Gail & Mickie tear into each other. 

Knockouts Champion Mickie James vs. Gail Kim for the Title. Gail gets the pin. Gail got into a scuffle with referee ODB & then Mickie rolled up Gail for the pin. This was a solid match. Then ODB & Gail stare each other down & out comes Brooke Hogan. She thought Gail learned her lesson last time. Maybe she will learn this time. ODB is an active wrestler so Gail has that on her plate now. Whatever. Brooke is terrible. ODB vs. Gail could be good though.

Backstage we see Hulk & Dixie. Hulk doesn’t get how he got boxed in by Ray. Ray suckered everybody in. Dixie says when layers get involved these things happen. Dixie was next to Sabin backstage after he blew out his knee. Hulk says maybe they should do things the way Aces & 8s does. Dixie won’t play it that way. Sabin deserves to be champion but sometimes you have to make these decisions. Hulk mentions the politics (who knows politics better than the Hulkster) & asks Dixie if she wants him to tell Sabin. This was awful. Dixie let a number wrestlers go & then she puts herself on camera! What a mark!

Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels in a Bound for Glory series match. Daniels gets the pin for 7 more points. Ken Anderson came out & distracted Samoa Joe. That allowed Daniels to get the advantage. Then Daniels gave Samoa Joe 2 BMEs for the pin. This match was solid too.

Backstage Sting tells Angle they gotta be on the same page. Angle’s concern is the legal bit with Ray. Sting says Ray has nothing. Angle asks what if Ray gets it. Sting says Ray can be beaten, it happened last week. Angle says Ray’s vulnerable when he’s alone. Sting says the goal is still the same. Take out Aces & 8s. This was weak.

Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles in a Bound for Glory Series match. AJ wins by submission for 10 more points. This was a good back & forth match. Then Jeff offers his hand to AJ but AJ walks away. AJ now has 22 points in the BFG Series.

Backstage camera guy asks Hulk if he has made a decision. Hulk doesn’t wanna do this but he will do what needs to be done.

Bully Ray comes to the ring. He has been wronged & has suffered a major injustice. He is highly offended that everybody in the wrestling world can praise Sabin for he did to Ray. The guy hit Ray in the head with a hammer. What kind of man, athlete or wrestler would sink to such levels to hit someone in the head with a deadly object like a hammer? Sabin has no choice; Ray will sue him & everybody in TNA. Ray will do whatever it takes to right the wrong. He wants Sabin to walk out here & hand the world title over to him. Out comes Chris Sabin. Ray isn’t gonna say anything negative towards Sabin. Then the fans chant Sabin. Ray says Sabin is out there because Ray told him to & because Sabin is intimidated by him. Ray says that Sabin will do the right thing & hand the title over. Sabin wanted to see for himself what a cry baby he’s become. Sabin almost had his career ended but he never sat home & complained for 2 years. He got motivated to come back better than ever & now he is the world champion. The only way Ray is getting the belt is if it pries it from Sabin’s dead hands. Ray says he will get the title back by suing him. How can Sabin call himself a man after using a hammer? If Sabin won’t do the right thing he demands that Hulk comes out & gives him back the title. Out comes Hulk. Hulk’s been going back & forth with his lawyers looking at the contract. Hulk gets & he has a counter for Ray that comes with no negotiation. Then Hulk rips up the papers. Ray says Hulk can’t do that. Hulk says he is the law around here brother. Chris Sabin will remain TNA World Champion. Hulk then says that fair is fair, Ray does have a rematch. Hulk gets Ray wants no outside interference from MEM. Ray will get his rematch on 8-15 at the Impact themed “Hardcore Justice.” MEM & Aces & 8s won’t be involved because the title will be on the in a steel cage. Ray is all pissed as Sabin holds up the title to end the show. This was a good closing segment. Both Ray & Sabin were good on the mic.

I thought this was a solid show for the most part. The opening segment with MEM, Ray & the lawyer guy was a bit odd. Sting, Angle & Ray were good on the mic here but the lawyer guy, not so much. The closing segment was good. Ray & Sabin both cut good promos & even Hulk was ok here too. I wasn’t a fan of the Hulk-Dixie backstage bit or the backstage bit with Sting & Angle. The Hulk-Dixie one was just terrible & the Sting-Angle one felt weak. AJ Styles & Jeff Hardy had a good match & the Ultimate X match was good too. Velvet’s promo was good too. She’s really been entertaining to watch. The Mickie-Gail match was solid too. I liked Gail & ODB having their scuffle but Brooke Hogan was her usual awful self. Joe & Daniels also had a solid match & they mentioned that Daniels hadn’t pinned Joe before, so now he has. Anderson coming out to distract Joe was ok for what it was. I wasn’t into the Joseph Park-Eric Young backstage segment. Park not realizing he’s Abyss has gotten way beyond old. Hernandez & Anderson also had a solid match & the Anderson-Ray backstage bit before that was decent too. Overall I thought this was a solid show.