1.10 Impact Wrestling
by Jeff Hamlin ( hamlin37@hotmail.com) Twitter: @hamlin37
The Big News: Cramming months of angles into one show, Bully Ray proposed to Brooke Hogan. She accepted and they're getting married next week on Impact. Joseph Park will make his official debut as a wrestler on Sunday against Devon. Mr. Anderson is a full-fledged member of Aces and Eights now, for reasons I'm not clear on. Kurt Angle was laid out by Mike Knox, which may take him out of a cycle due to various injuries. And the rest of the Genesis card for Sunday was announced.
Sting, Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle came out as the new face group to feud with Aces and Eights. Sting challenged them for a match tonight. Joe vowed to choke them out. Angle called down Mr. Anderson, who watched on the main event last week from A&8's corner. Anderson brought up an angle from October when he was about to be named as Sting's partner at Bound for Glory, but was jumped by A&8s just as he was about to be named. Then he got dropped from the match and replaced by Bully Ray, then forgotten altogether. Then shouldn't Anderson be going for revenge with them instead of fighting his teammates? No video flashbacks from October for any of this, and the crowd was quiet because they couldn't remember what Anderson was saying. Angle said either Anderson was with them or they were going to fight. Crowd wanted to see them square off. Anderson got in the ring and had a staredown with Angle, and said he doesn't have to answer to Angle, and he never liked him. Angle said the feeling was mutual and punched Anderson, who got out of there.
There were two Gut Check contestants on tonight's show. The first of them was Jay Bradley, who was profiled as a hard-nosed Chicago native. In a change, this time the Gut Check contestants will face each other, as opposed to a TNA regular.
Brooke Hogan told a backstage interviewer that he wanted to talk to her father about the suspension to Bully Ray. Just then, "Mark" called Brooke, who left.
Kenny King defeated Zema Ion in the X Division tournament in 3:05. King will now face Christian York on Sunday at Genesis, and the winner faces Rob Van Dam for the title that night. King was the face here. Zema Ion got out of the way of a corkscrew tope, then hit Kenny King with a somersault tope. Ion came through the ropes and hit a DDT, but King barely sold it before going for the Royal Flush, but King turned it into a small package. Ion then hit his Hostile Makeover, where King damn near got killed. King looked OK. Ion missed a 450 splash and King caught the Royal Flush for the pin. **
Robbie E. lamented his luck about getting shown up in his Bro Off against Jesse Godderz two weeks ago, and having Jersey Shore canceled. Now, here's been challenged to a mixed tag and wanted Miss Tessmacher to tag with him. Tessmacher refused, but Robbie E. promised her anything. Tessmacher agreed on the condition she could tag with Robbie T. So they're teasing Robbie T. breaking from the partnership.
Joseph Park is done with training at Ohio Valley Wrestling and will go into Hogan's office tonight as a wrestler. He was all set to walk into the building, but the door was locked.
2. Robbie T. and Miss Tessmacher defeated Jesse and Tara in 1:47. Jesse and Robbie T. were kept to a minimum thanks to an act of God. Tessmacher gave Tara the old Rikishi spots. Robbie T pinned Jesse after a power bomb. 1/2*
Postmatch, Robbie E. came in to raise the hands of the victors, but Robbie T. refused. Instead, Robbie T.'s dance music played and he started dancing with Tessmacher as Robbie E. watched on in disblief. It ended when Robbie E. kissing Tessmacher, who sold it like she passed out.
Brian Cage talked about missing an opportunity to become a pro wrestler, so he went home. He was referring to being in WWE developmental for years, which included stints in Deep South and FCW. He was released in February 2009. His family encouraged him to try something else, but he said there was nothing else.
3. Jay Bradley defeated Brian Cage in 3:22 in the Gut Check match. Bradley did a good job exuding arrogance and intensity, all at once. He worked as the heel, and built the entire match around trying to land his finisher, a lariat. Cage made his comeback with a spin kick and a suplex back into the ring. Bradley hit his finisher out of nowhere, the lariat for the three count. They both face the judges next week. Have to like Bradley's chances. *3/4
Aces and Eights were in the back when Anderson spoke up. Everybody was partying with girls except him, and Anderson said he wasn't happy about what happened earlier with Angle. The masked leader said Anderson was right and they gathered together in a meeting room. The masked man pointed to Mike Knox, who was scolded for losing his mask. The leader said when Doc lost his mask, Doc went out and earned his spot back in the group by taking out Sting in November. So Knox would have to do the same thing tonight.
Park was in the ring, saying he had survived wrestling camp and it was harder than passing the bar exam. He asked Hogan to come out. Hogan looked upset about other matters, but Park thanked him for suggesting going to OVW and also thanked Danny Davis. Park begged Hogan, not as an attorney but as a wrestler, to sign him to a match. Hogan brought up having to wrestle for two years under Hiro Matsuada before he got going full time. Park pressed him for a match against Aces and Eights, which Hogan agreed to, largely just to shut him up. Hogan didn't say so, but it was later announced that Park will face Devon on Sunday.
So Park left, then Brooke appeared on the big screen. Brooke said that her father had not returned her phone calls or answered her texts, so she was going to sort out the business with Ray tonight in front of everyone. It wasn't like Brooke was in prison and Hulk was going to say something stupid that would wind up everywhere. That was in 2007. Brooke wanted to know if he was going to reinstate "Mark." He said no and walked off to a mixture of cheers and boos. Brooke tried to cry, but she is barely ahead of Dixie Carter is terms of facial expressions.
Austin Aries and Bobby Roode were comparing robes and tried to get their clothing tonight. They started arguing, until Aries said they had to be professionals tonight. Then they started arguing about who would go out first.
4. Jeff Hardy and James Storm defeated Austin Aries and Bobby Roode by DQ in 13:31. The faces got off to a hot start with Jeff Hardy hitting Poetry in Motion on Aries with James Storm providing a springboard. Aries was left hanging upside down on the ropes, and Storm stood there cutting a promo on him instead of helping him out. They nearly came to blows. As Hardy was about to attempt a plancha, Roode jumped him, and Hardy took a nasty bump off the ropes. Hardy had Roode pinned after a sunset flip, but Aries distracted referee Brian Hebner. Aries and Roode looked like they were trying to top each other by each performing inverted splashes on Hardy. Then they try to outdual each other by doing elbow drops off the ropes. Hardy caught Roode, who attempted a double stomp off the top ropes, and Storm got the hot tag. Storm gave Aries the Alabama Slam and a running neckbreaker on Roode. Storm delivered Closing Time on Aries, and teased the Last Call on Roode until Christopher Daniels ran on the apron to distract Hebner. Storm sent Kazarian to the steps. In the ring, Hardy gave Roode the Twist of Fate, but Aries hit Hardy from behind with the title belt to the back of the head. Both Aries and Roode posed with the belt, and were exchanging nasty looks throughout. **1/2
Brooke talked with Mark Ray on the phone and urged him not to come to the arena. He was headed over anyway.
Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan did a promo on Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez when Chavo and Hernandez ran in for a brawl. Chavo pulled Hernandez back telling him to save it for Sunday. Then why did they run in in the first place?
Anderson announced himself as a Golden Glossorarius. Beats me too. Anderson stalled, and as Angle waited, Knox ran in with the ball peen hammer and leveled Angle four times across the spine. Garrett Bischoff, Wes Brisco and Joe ran down for the save. Todd Keneley and Taz brought up Angle's past neck problems, and pondered how it could affect his career. Angle in a stretcher job. As he was carried away, Sting charged down and challenged Knox to a match.
5. Sting defeated Mike Knox in 3:26. Is there an invading group with a worst won-loss record than Aces and Eights? I'm not asking for TNA to deride themselves like WCW did in 1996 with the NWO, but take care of the heels somewhat. Referee Earl Hebner took away Knox's hammer and Sting's baseball bat before the match started. Curiously, he put Knox's hammer in the corner, while the bat was discarded far away from ringside. Largely a fight outside the ring, where Sting hit the Stinger Splash against the guard rail. Sting pinned him quickly after a Scorpion Death Drop. *1/4
Sting picked up the ball peen hammer and drilled it into Knox's hand. He threatened to do more damage, until Aces and Eights came out. They had kidnapped Brooke, and promised that if Sting laid another hand on Knox, he wouldn't recognize Brooke the next time he saw her. This brought out a furious Ray, who hit two members with a chain until Brooke was released. Aces and Eights aren't exactly the best hostage takers. Hogan then stepped out to the ramp to upstage everyone.
Hogan said he guessed he was supposed to thank Ray for putting his daughter's life in harm's way. But Brooke showed up to the building on her own as a front office executive. And wasn't Ray supposed to be suspended? Hogan said Ray wasn't the man for his daughter, which got him booed much more. Sting tried to intervene on behalf of Ray, but Hogan wasn't hearing it. Ray said wrestling was his life, and all he ever wanted to do was perhaps be as great as Hogan and Sting. He never thought he would love anything more than pro wrestling, until Hogan's daughter came into his life. Ray said Brooke came into his life because she was apologizing for her father for not trusting Ray. Then Ray grabbed Brooke and addressed her face-to-face, and the crowd was buzzing. Ray said when he's with her, things are different. She makes him laugh. Ray got down on one knee, pulled out a ring, and slipped it on her finger. Ray said he loved her and she wanted her to marry him. Brooke nodded her head and they kissed. Ray wanted the ceremony next week on Impact. Hogan was livid and Sting looked speechless. Ray made some very subtle facial expressions as they were hugging, which indicates either a heel turn on Hogan or just mixed emotions.
SUMMARY: As always, I smell trouble at a wrestling wedding. Particularly this one. Amazing that the most popular active wrestler in the company is third in the program pecking order, and he's the world champion. As long as Hogan makes himself the top star in the company, TNA will take the same steps toward growth as WCW did in 2000. Which is to say, they're on a treadmill.
by Jeff Hamlin ( hamlin37@hotmail.com) Twitter: @hamlin37
The Big News: Cramming months of angles into one show, Bully Ray proposed to Brooke Hogan. She accepted and they're getting married next week on Impact. Joseph Park will make his official debut as a wrestler on Sunday against Devon. Mr. Anderson is a full-fledged member of Aces and Eights now, for reasons I'm not clear on. Kurt Angle was laid out by Mike Knox, which may take him out of a cycle due to various injuries. And the rest of the Genesis card for Sunday was announced.
Sting, Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle came out as the new face group to feud with Aces and Eights. Sting challenged them for a match tonight. Joe vowed to choke them out. Angle called down Mr. Anderson, who watched on the main event last week from A&8's corner. Anderson brought up an angle from October when he was about to be named as Sting's partner at Bound for Glory, but was jumped by A&8s just as he was about to be named. Then he got dropped from the match and replaced by Bully Ray, then forgotten altogether. Then shouldn't Anderson be going for revenge with them instead of fighting his teammates? No video flashbacks from October for any of this, and the crowd was quiet because they couldn't remember what Anderson was saying. Angle said either Anderson was with them or they were going to fight. Crowd wanted to see them square off. Anderson got in the ring and had a staredown with Angle, and said he doesn't have to answer to Angle, and he never liked him. Angle said the feeling was mutual and punched Anderson, who got out of there.
There were two Gut Check contestants on tonight's show. The first of them was Jay Bradley, who was profiled as a hard-nosed Chicago native. In a change, this time the Gut Check contestants will face each other, as opposed to a TNA regular.
Brooke Hogan told a backstage interviewer that he wanted to talk to her father about the suspension to Bully Ray. Just then, "Mark" called Brooke, who left.
Kenny King defeated Zema Ion in the X Division tournament in 3:05. King will now face Christian York on Sunday at Genesis, and the winner faces Rob Van Dam for the title that night. King was the face here. Zema Ion got out of the way of a corkscrew tope, then hit Kenny King with a somersault tope. Ion came through the ropes and hit a DDT, but King barely sold it before going for the Royal Flush, but King turned it into a small package. Ion then hit his Hostile Makeover, where King damn near got killed. King looked OK. Ion missed a 450 splash and King caught the Royal Flush for the pin. **
Robbie E. lamented his luck about getting shown up in his Bro Off against Jesse Godderz two weeks ago, and having Jersey Shore canceled. Now, here's been challenged to a mixed tag and wanted Miss Tessmacher to tag with him. Tessmacher refused, but Robbie E. promised her anything. Tessmacher agreed on the condition she could tag with Robbie T. So they're teasing Robbie T. breaking from the partnership.
Joseph Park is done with training at Ohio Valley Wrestling and will go into Hogan's office tonight as a wrestler. He was all set to walk into the building, but the door was locked.
2. Robbie T. and Miss Tessmacher defeated Jesse and Tara in 1:47. Jesse and Robbie T. were kept to a minimum thanks to an act of God. Tessmacher gave Tara the old Rikishi spots. Robbie T pinned Jesse after a power bomb. 1/2*
Postmatch, Robbie E. came in to raise the hands of the victors, but Robbie T. refused. Instead, Robbie T.'s dance music played and he started dancing with Tessmacher as Robbie E. watched on in disblief. It ended when Robbie E. kissing Tessmacher, who sold it like she passed out.
Brian Cage talked about missing an opportunity to become a pro wrestler, so he went home. He was referring to being in WWE developmental for years, which included stints in Deep South and FCW. He was released in February 2009. His family encouraged him to try something else, but he said there was nothing else.
3. Jay Bradley defeated Brian Cage in 3:22 in the Gut Check match. Bradley did a good job exuding arrogance and intensity, all at once. He worked as the heel, and built the entire match around trying to land his finisher, a lariat. Cage made his comeback with a spin kick and a suplex back into the ring. Bradley hit his finisher out of nowhere, the lariat for the three count. They both face the judges next week. Have to like Bradley's chances. *3/4
Aces and Eights were in the back when Anderson spoke up. Everybody was partying with girls except him, and Anderson said he wasn't happy about what happened earlier with Angle. The masked leader said Anderson was right and they gathered together in a meeting room. The masked man pointed to Mike Knox, who was scolded for losing his mask. The leader said when Doc lost his mask, Doc went out and earned his spot back in the group by taking out Sting in November. So Knox would have to do the same thing tonight.
Park was in the ring, saying he had survived wrestling camp and it was harder than passing the bar exam. He asked Hogan to come out. Hogan looked upset about other matters, but Park thanked him for suggesting going to OVW and also thanked Danny Davis. Park begged Hogan, not as an attorney but as a wrestler, to sign him to a match. Hogan brought up having to wrestle for two years under Hiro Matsuada before he got going full time. Park pressed him for a match against Aces and Eights, which Hogan agreed to, largely just to shut him up. Hogan didn't say so, but it was later announced that Park will face Devon on Sunday.
So Park left, then Brooke appeared on the big screen. Brooke said that her father had not returned her phone calls or answered her texts, so she was going to sort out the business with Ray tonight in front of everyone. It wasn't like Brooke was in prison and Hulk was going to say something stupid that would wind up everywhere. That was in 2007. Brooke wanted to know if he was going to reinstate "Mark." He said no and walked off to a mixture of cheers and boos. Brooke tried to cry, but she is barely ahead of Dixie Carter is terms of facial expressions.
Austin Aries and Bobby Roode were comparing robes and tried to get their clothing tonight. They started arguing, until Aries said they had to be professionals tonight. Then they started arguing about who would go out first.
4. Jeff Hardy and James Storm defeated Austin Aries and Bobby Roode by DQ in 13:31. The faces got off to a hot start with Jeff Hardy hitting Poetry in Motion on Aries with James Storm providing a springboard. Aries was left hanging upside down on the ropes, and Storm stood there cutting a promo on him instead of helping him out. They nearly came to blows. As Hardy was about to attempt a plancha, Roode jumped him, and Hardy took a nasty bump off the ropes. Hardy had Roode pinned after a sunset flip, but Aries distracted referee Brian Hebner. Aries and Roode looked like they were trying to top each other by each performing inverted splashes on Hardy. Then they try to outdual each other by doing elbow drops off the ropes. Hardy caught Roode, who attempted a double stomp off the top ropes, and Storm got the hot tag. Storm gave Aries the Alabama Slam and a running neckbreaker on Roode. Storm delivered Closing Time on Aries, and teased the Last Call on Roode until Christopher Daniels ran on the apron to distract Hebner. Storm sent Kazarian to the steps. In the ring, Hardy gave Roode the Twist of Fate, but Aries hit Hardy from behind with the title belt to the back of the head. Both Aries and Roode posed with the belt, and were exchanging nasty looks throughout. **1/2
Brooke talked with Mark Ray on the phone and urged him not to come to the arena. He was headed over anyway.
Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan did a promo on Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez when Chavo and Hernandez ran in for a brawl. Chavo pulled Hernandez back telling him to save it for Sunday. Then why did they run in in the first place?
Anderson announced himself as a Golden Glossorarius. Beats me too. Anderson stalled, and as Angle waited, Knox ran in with the ball peen hammer and leveled Angle four times across the spine. Garrett Bischoff, Wes Brisco and Joe ran down for the save. Todd Keneley and Taz brought up Angle's past neck problems, and pondered how it could affect his career. Angle in a stretcher job. As he was carried away, Sting charged down and challenged Knox to a match.
5. Sting defeated Mike Knox in 3:26. Is there an invading group with a worst won-loss record than Aces and Eights? I'm not asking for TNA to deride themselves like WCW did in 1996 with the NWO, but take care of the heels somewhat. Referee Earl Hebner took away Knox's hammer and Sting's baseball bat before the match started. Curiously, he put Knox's hammer in the corner, while the bat was discarded far away from ringside. Largely a fight outside the ring, where Sting hit the Stinger Splash against the guard rail. Sting pinned him quickly after a Scorpion Death Drop. *1/4
Sting picked up the ball peen hammer and drilled it into Knox's hand. He threatened to do more damage, until Aces and Eights came out. They had kidnapped Brooke, and promised that if Sting laid another hand on Knox, he wouldn't recognize Brooke the next time he saw her. This brought out a furious Ray, who hit two members with a chain until Brooke was released. Aces and Eights aren't exactly the best hostage takers. Hogan then stepped out to the ramp to upstage everyone.
Hogan said he guessed he was supposed to thank Ray for putting his daughter's life in harm's way. But Brooke showed up to the building on her own as a front office executive. And wasn't Ray supposed to be suspended? Hogan said Ray wasn't the man for his daughter, which got him booed much more. Sting tried to intervene on behalf of Ray, but Hogan wasn't hearing it. Ray said wrestling was his life, and all he ever wanted to do was perhaps be as great as Hogan and Sting. He never thought he would love anything more than pro wrestling, until Hogan's daughter came into his life. Ray said Brooke came into his life because she was apologizing for her father for not trusting Ray. Then Ray grabbed Brooke and addressed her face-to-face, and the crowd was buzzing. Ray said when he's with her, things are different. She makes him laugh. Ray got down on one knee, pulled out a ring, and slipped it on her finger. Ray said he loved her and she wanted her to marry him. Brooke nodded her head and they kissed. Ray wanted the ceremony next week on Impact. Hogan was livid and Sting looked speechless. Ray made some very subtle facial expressions as they were hugging, which indicates either a heel turn on Hogan or just mixed emotions.
SUMMARY: As always, I smell trouble at a wrestling wedding. Particularly this one. Amazing that the most popular active wrestler in the company is third in the program pecking order, and he's the world champion. As long as Hogan makes himself the top star in the company, TNA will take the same steps toward growth as WCW did in 2000. Which is to say, they're on a treadmill.
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