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10/25 Shore's TNA Impact Wrestling live coverage: Championship Thursday features Zema Ion vs. Rob Van Dam for the X-Division title, TNA Tag Titles on the line, and Hulk Hogan picks Jeff Hardy's opponent for the World Heavyweight Championship

Posted in: TNA TV Reports, MUST-READ LISTING
By
Oct 25, 2012 - 07:00 PM

By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Aired Live from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.


[Q1] A video recapped the Aces and Eights storyline, and the World Championship storyline…Hulk Hogan spoke to Jeff Hardy backstage and asked him if he was ready to defend his title. Jeff said it didn't matter who Hogan picked, he was ready because Bound for Glory changed him. Jeff left the office to get ready, and all four possible challengers were there. The footage turned to slow motion and we could hear Hardy's thoughts. He said all four men had their weaknesses, he just needed to exploit it…

Shore's Slant: I have never liked these "non-reality" type moments as a fan, but if you don't mind it, this was well done.

Rob Van Dam started his entrance as Jeremy Borash and Todd Kenely started the show on commentary and said Tazz and Mike Tenay would join them for the second hour.

Shore's Slant: Breaking news!

1. Zema Ion vs. Rob Van Dam for the X Division Championship. Both guys started fast and crashed and burned around the ring. RVD missed a dive and flew over the top rope to the floor. Ion hit a dive on him and rolled him in the ring, but missed a corkscrew senton. RVD hit rolling thunder and the frog splash for the win…

Rob Van Dam retained the X Division Championship at 4:32.

Post-match, Matt Morgan ran in and hit the carbon footprint on RVD. Joey Ryan was with him and holding the X Division title belt. Morgan took a mic and said Hulk Hogan wanted to see a different side of him, well this was be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. He dropped the mic and they left…

Backstage, Austin Aries looked in the window of Hogan's office and made fun of the four guys trying to get picked for the title match. He said he was going to get them to dance for him too because he was going to wait in the hall and get their thoughts after Hogan eliminates them…[C]

Shore's Slant: Crash opening. It's too hard to get into a show when it starts this frantic, it's just too much to try and process at once time. That and the stories are still too new to make a lot of sense. Why is Morgan with Ryan? We still don't know why they are together do we?

[Q2] Christopher Daniels and Kazarian made their ring entrance. Kaz said Hogan changed his travel last week so he couldn't be there. He accused Chavo and Hernandez of being illegals. Daniels stopped him and ran down Chavo for using his family name to get cheers. Daniels said Dixie Carter was so intent on courting a Latino audience Chavo and Hernandez should put on sombreros and go as "Dos Sterotypicos."

Kaz went to the floor and tried to get fans to sign a petition to give them a rematch. Chavo and Hernandez made their entrance. Chavo said they would give them a rematch any time they wanted so he and Hernandez could shove the titles down their throats. A shoving match broke out and the babyfaces won. The heels rolled to the floor and Chavo and Hernandez signed the petition…

Backstage, Hogan asked all the guys why he should pick them. Anderson said he didn't understand what Hogan wanted. Hogan said he didn't have the fire everyone else had so he made it easy and cut Anderson. Anderson left the office and Aries started messing with him. He said when he got the title back he would give Anderson a title shot.

Anderson said he didn't need handouts. Aries said it would be a handout because Anderson would be easy to beat. He said he was a better wrestler, dresser, and bigger asshole. He threw a cup of water in Anderson's face, and Anderson decked him. They brawled all over the hall way until Anderson hit him with a poster in a frame. Aries said they would meet later…

At the very end, right before they went to commercial, you could hear a director yell, "Cut!" and then the screen flipped to a split second of video of Hogan and Hardy from earlier…[C]

Shore's Slant: As long as Kaz and Daniels are still involved, the tag division has a chance. Daniels was great here with the Dos Sterotypicos. Good brawl with Aries and Anderson. They set that up nicely. I have no idea what happened before the commercial kicked it, but that's bush league central. It's inexcusable.

[Q3] D-Von was shown talking with the Aces and Eights and said the President told him that their masks are not to come off or they would lose their cut. He said he had some women for them to celebrate with, but they needed to take someone out first. A guy got up and threw a dart at a board with pictures of the TNA roster on it. We didn't see where the dart hit, but everyone celebrated and D-Von said they had their victim…

2. Robbie T (w/Robbie E) vs. Samoa Joe for the TNA Television Championship. Robbie no sold several of Joe's chops and then powered Joe around. Joe came back and hit his flurry of slaps. Robbie E tried to distract the ref, but Joe locked in a choke hold and Robbie tapped…[C]

Samoa Joe defeated Robbie T at 2:15.

Shore's Slant: You know, I appreciate the "Championship Thursday" gimmick, but they shouldn't do it if it means two minute title matches. It devalues the titles.

Brooke Tessmacher said she was thrilled to see ODB beat up Jesse last week. She said she would win the Knockouts title back tonight…Hogan asked the others how serious Bully Ray was about the title. Storm and Angle both said he was concentrating on D-Von and they would be too. Ray said if he isn't chosen to face Hardy he's calling out D-Von for answers. Hogan said that made his decision easy and told him to go take care of his brother…Mr. Anderson made a tech person go get Aries so they could fight…

Shore's Slant: No real surprise that Bully Ray is going after D-Von tonight. What is surprising is how little wrestling there has been on Championship Thursday. Forty-five minutes of show, seven minutes of wrestling. I'd hate to think what this place would look like if wrestling didn't matter.

[Q4][C] Austin Aries stormed to the ring where Anderson was waiting…

3. Mr. Anderson vs. Austin Aries. They brawled around to start and then Anderson pulled a pair of brass knuckles out of his tights that Aries sneaked into them. The ref snatched them away and Aries attacked off the distraction. He dumped Anderson to the floor and hit a suicide dive…[C] Back from commercial, Aries worked Anderson over in the corner and hit a sick chop. Anderson fired back and hit a clothesline to start his comeback.

[Q5] Anderson went for a Finlay Roll, but Aries escaped and raked the back. Anderson hit a Trouble in Paradise and Aries went to the floor. Anderson hit a dive over the top rope and rolled Aries back in. He went for the Finlay roll again, but Aries grabbed the ref and pulled himself down. In the process, he took the brass knucks from the ref and tried to hit Anderson.

Anderson ducked the blow and hit Aries. He picked up the knucks and the ref again took them away. In the process, Aries took another pair out and knocked Anderson out. He caught him and faked a pin on himself, but kicked out at two and hooked the last chancery for the win. The ref looked confused at the end…[C]

Austin Aries defeated Mr. Anderson at 12:35.

Shore's Slant: Well, that was an interesting ending. I guess this is the feud for these two for now. It could be fun, but this was uninspiring. We'll see where it goes.

Backstage, Tara and her boo begged Brooke Hogan to do something about ODB. Brooke blew it off and told Tara to get ready for match. She stopped Jesse and said ODB had her eye on him. She told him to have good luck with that…Up in the booth, Tenay and Tazz took over on commentary…

4. Brooke Tessmacher vs. Tara (w/Jesse) for the Knockouts Championship. Tessmacher knocked Tara off the apron to start. Tara spent most of the match making kissy faces at Jesse after he interfered. Brooke tried to hit the ropes, but Jesse pulled the middle rope down and she fell to the floor. He rolled her back in and Tara hit the Widow's Peak for the win…

Tara retained the Knockouts Championship at 3:50.

Post-match, Tara and Jesse checked each other's tonsils until Brooke Hogan came out. Brooke said next week was Open Fight Night and she had just gotten off the phone with ODB, who had challenged Jesse. She wished him luck with that again and called him by his pet name that Tara uses. Jesse cried and hugged Tara…[C]

Shore's Slant: So now 100 percent of the Knockouts Championships are comedy skits? Women's wrestling: Yea! I guess I shouldn't complain. At least they have stories. WWE has Eve and that's it.

[Q6] Joseph Parks walked into Hogan's office and said Hogan didn't answer his question from last week. Hogan said he thought about it, but it was too dangerous. They argued back and forth and Park handed him a legal document that waived all liability from all parties if Hogan will let him fight Aces and Eights. He asked Hogan to stand behind him or get out of his way. Hogan said he would think about it, and then threw him out…

Shore's Slant: That was an odd ending. I don't understand what Hogan has to think about, and then the sudden "Get out," caught me off guard.

Bully Ray came out and said nothing surprised him in wrestling anymore, but he was surprised at BFG when he saw it was D-Von under the mask. He said D-Von came out last week and said nothing, so he wanted his brother to come out and face-to-face tell him why he did what he did. D-Von came out with five of his partners who stood between the former Dudleys.

D-Von said he didn't owe Bully an explanation. He said they weren't a team or family even more. He said Bully did what he did two years ago and now he did what he did. He said it wasn't about Bully in any way. He said it was about Hogan. He said Hogan came out and said he wanted D-Von out, but Hogan, Dixie, and TNA did nothing. He said Aces and Eights were there to pick him up. He said they were going to get even with everyone who ever did them wrong, and Bully should go home and forget what he saw, he wasn't a threat anymore.

Bully said it was over when he told him it was over. He said D-Von knew why Bully did what he did two years ago. He said when they dropped the titles to Motor City Machineguns, D-Von let Chris Sabin kick out of the 3D, which had never been done. He said when they were back in the locker room afterward, D-Von said, "We're rich Ray, screw the fans." D-Von said it was true. Bully said they were talking too much and should fight. D-Von refused and left with his posse.

Bully said D-Von had no balls and always hid behind him when they were a team. Bully said next week was Open Fight Night and he was challenging D-Von and somebody was going through a table. He said D-Von better grow a pair of balls in a week…

Shore's Slant: Good talking segment. I've never been a fan of D-Von on the mic, but I thought he did well here, and Bully Ray just continues to prove how wrong I was about him. This should have good heat next week.

[Q7][C] Backstage, the hidden interview guy asked Matt Morgan and Joey Ryan about why Morgan attacked RVD. Joey asked the guy if it was his first day. I don't really understand what he said, it didn't make sense to me, but he did say he wanted to get some X-Division gold around his waist. Morgan pointed the camera at himself and spoke to Hogan. He said Hogan started this with his petty list of things keeping him down, and now he was going to finish it…

A video hyped Christian York as the Gut Check participant next week…At the entrance backstage, Hogan picked Angle to face Hardy. He told James Storm he had something huge for him and wanted to go back to his office. Angle made his ring entrance…[C]

Shore's Slant: I'm not on a DVR TV right now so I can't go back and hear what Ryan said again, but it didn't make sense to me the first time. Insert random sex tape joke here about what Hogan said to James Storm.

Jeff Hardy made his ring entrance. Christie Hemme handled old school ring introductions…

[Q8] 5. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Angle started strong and the crowd got super-hot with competing chants. Hardy started a comeback, but he ran up the ropes and Angle crotched him on the top rope. He slammed into Hardy, and Jeff took a hard bump on the floor…[C]

Back from commercial, the crowd was still holding competing chants. Hardy started a comeback and dumped Angle to the floor. He dove off the apron with a clothesline and sold the move himself. Jeff rolled Angle in the ring and hit a Whisper in the Wind for two. Jeff went for the Twist of Fate, but Angle slipped around and hit his German suplex string for two.

Angle went for the Angle Slam, but Jeff slipped out and hit the Twist of Fate. He climbed to the top, but Angle ran up and threw Hardy off the top rope for a near fall. Angle hit a powerbomb with a bridge for two. Jeff kicked out into the Ankle Lock. Jeff kicked away and hit another kick. He went for the Swanton, but Angle moved and hit the Angle Slam for two.

Hardy suddenly hit a Twist of Fate. Angle didn't fall, he stumbled back into the ropes and bounced off. Jeff hit another Twist of Fate and then a Swanton from across the ring for a great near fall. Hardy charged at Angle and Angle dumped him over the top rope. Angle started spitting blood from his mouth, and Tazz and Tenay sold it as spitting up blood from an internal injury. Angle rolled Hardy back in the ring and went for a powerbomb, but Hardy flipped over and hooked a sunset flip for the victory…

Jeff Hardy retained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Post-match, Hardy was celebrating when Aries attacked him from behind. Aries said he was announcing his rematch, and it would be at Turning Point. He said he was so confident he would win, he was taking the real title belt with him for safe keeping. Aries left Jeff in the ring with Jeff's signature belt and backed up the ramp…But as he was doing so, Tenay and Tazz jumped in and the cameras went to the back to see Aces and Eights beating up Kurt Angle. They left Angle down with an agent calling for help and a trainer to end the show…

Shore's Slant: So much crash TV tonight. What happened? Hardy gets a win in a good match with Angle that I wasn't all that excited to see in the first place (still a very good match). Then Jeff gets attacked by Aries and they setup the World Title at their next PPV, but while that is soaking in, Angle gets attacked in the back. The show opened just like it closed, chaotically. This was a fair edition of Impact, but they tried to do too much at one time at both the beginning at the end, and it made the show feel very rushed and random. I'll have more tomorrow on the Hitlist, and Will Pruett will be by later with the TNA Audio Review. Thanks for watching along tonight.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

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