4/11 Shore's TNA Impact Wrestling live coverage: Adam Pearce and Magno get Gut Checked, Jeff Hardy vs. Bully Ray for the World Championship in Full Metal Mayhem

By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Aired live from Corpus Christie, Texas.

[Q1] The opening video started to recap Impact and my computer completely locked up. When I got it restarted, Booby Roode and Austin Aries attacked Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez before the bell. They knocked Hernandez out by throwing him into the stairs…

1. Booby Roode and Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez in a two out of three falls match for the Tag Team Championships. If Chavo and Hernandez lose, they can never team together again. Roode and Austin rolled Chavo in the ring and covered him for the first fall. Roode and Aries won the first fall at 0:27.

The ref gave a 30 second rest period and rang the bell again, but I kept the timer running. Aries tagged in and went for the frog splash, but Chavo moved and rolled him up to win the second fall.Chavo and Hernandez won the second fall at 1:26.

The heels worked over Chavo for a moment and Hernandez pulled himself back onto the apron. He got the hot tag and knocked both men down with his dive from the ramp back into the ring. Inexplicably, the show went to break there…[C]

Shore's Slant: Why would you go to break there? That's so odd. It was the big babyface comeback and the heels were still in the ring with Hernandez. What an oddly timed break.

[Q2] Back from commercial, the heels were in control of the match. Aries hit his flying forearm shot for two. Chavo got the hot tag and hit three Amigos on both men. He went to the top rope and pointed to the sky, but Aries pushed him off Roode rolled him up for a great near fall. The match broke down and Hernandez accidentally hit his spear on Chavo, but Chavo kicked out.

Hernandez ran in and hit a double suplex on both men, and Chavo followed with a double frog splash to win the third fall and the titles…

Chavo and Hernandez defeated Bobby Roode and Austin Aries to win the TNA Tag Team Championships in a two-out-of-three falls match by a score of 2-1 at 15:06.

Backstage, Joey Ryan apologized to Brooke Hogan for things getting out of control last week. He said the women loved him. He offered to ref again, but Brooke told him he had a match and they would see who the bigger man was. Ryan asked who was bigger than him…[C]

Shore's Slant: I don't get the title change. Chavo and Hernandez are terrible together. The crowd in Texas loved them, but I doubt that continues for long in other cities. Hopefully this means Austin and Roode are going back to singles. If not, this move is even more confusing.

Backstage, the Aces and Eights all showed up on their bikes. OK, only Garett Bischoff was on a bike. Not sure why he was allowed. Anyway, they were all very happy to see Bully Ray…

[Q3] Joseph Park made his ring entrance and said he wanted to deal with some issues and the crowd booed him. Park said he wanted to talk about Bully Ray. He said what Ray had done was felonious and it ended tonight. He said he had justice on his mind and justice would begin when Jeff Hardy took the title back.

He said justice didn't end there. He said he was a lawyer with divorce experience and he had taken it upon himself to file a writ of annulment to end the Ray and Brooke Hogan marriage. Devon stormed out and took the mic. He warned Park to stay out of the family business. He started to leave, but then took a chain, wrapped it around his hand, and punch Park in the gut…

A video recapped the feud between Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell and both women were shown getting ready backstage…

Shore's Slant: No question in my mind now that Brooke is turning. Park taking it upon himself is a dead giveaway.

Christie Hemme handled ring introductions for the Knockouts match. She then announced the special ref as ODB. ODB made her entrance and Kim said she was out. ODB put Kim on the apron and Taryn dragged her in the ring to start things.

2. Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell with ODB as special guest ref. Kim bumped around for Taryn a little and then pulled her off the second rope. Kim methodically took Taryn apart and rolled her up with a handful of tights. ODB broke the count and Kim argued. Taryn rolled Kim up from the distraction for the win…

Taryn Terrell defeated Gail Kim at 2:29.

Post-match, Kim jawed with ODB until ODB chased her to the back. Hemme asked Taryn about her win and Taryn said she was happy to get physical. Or something. I don't think I'm supposed to be paying attention to her words anyway…

Shore's Slant: Good win for Taryn, but is this the climax of the feud? That seems odd to me, but we're all getting used to the new PPV schedule wreaking havoc on storytelling. Maybe there's more coming…

[Q4][C] Bruce Prichard, Al Snow, and Danny Davis discussed Adam Pearce and Magno in the pre-tape. Live backstage, Prichard cut Pearce from consideration. Pearce shook his hand and said, "Damn fool," before walking off…

Shore's Slant: Total work. I'm convinced we see Pearce and Ivelisse in Aces and Eights very soon.

A video recapped the AJ Styles story line. Backstage, Hulk Hogan raved about finding out Styles's loyalty and the invisible question guy asked about Sting. Hogan glared at the camera and stormed off. In another part of backstage, AJ was asked by IQG if he was joining Aces and Eights and AJ shoved him away. Mr. Anderson ran up and handed AJ another cut and said he made him an offer last week and he shouldn't pass it up…[C]

A video hyped Jeff Hardy and the Full Metal Mayhem match…

[Q5] Hulk Hogan came out to a monster pop. Hogan did the cheap pop line and said he wanted to get down to business. He called out AJ Styles, who made his entrance, and demanded to know which side AJ was on. AJ snatched the mic out of his hand and said he didn't respond well to ultimatums.

James Storm music hit and he came to the ring cutting a promo. He said he wasn't there to give him an ultimatum or even drink beer. He got in AJ's face and said he was there so they could fight. Christopher Daniels and Kazarian made their entrance. Kazarian said they were there to mend fences and to stop the poop they saw in the ring.

Kaz said Hogan was trying to convince AJ to join his team which made sense, just like Aces and Eights wanting him made sense. Daniels took the mic and said no matter which one AJ picked, he was going to get used up and spit out. He said they wanted AJ on their side. He said he knew AJ thought the Claire Lynch thing was bad, but asked him if it wasn't worse when Hogan, Dixie, and the fans turned on him. Daniels encourage him to stand with his brothers.

Storm gave Styles a little shove and Styles puffed up. He finally left the ring and walked past Bad Influence. Hogan said since AJ couldn't make a decision, he was going to decide something. He booked Styles vs. Storm for next week…[C]

Shore's Slant: I like the added wrinkle of Bad Influence in this. The angle was treading too close to the old Sting gimmick with the NWO and this is different enough to hopefully stop those murmurs. Strong has been poor in these altercations, but he kept it simple here.

Kurt Angle cut a promo and said he had asked Hogan to give him a handicap match against Bischoff and Wes Brisco and Hogan had agreed…Joey Ryan made his entrance. His mystery opponent turned out to be Rob Terry…

3. Rob Terry vs. Joey Ryan. Terry tossed Ryan all around the ring and finally pinned him with his spinebuster finisher…[C]

Rob Terry squashed Joey Ryan at 2:31.

Hulk asked Brooke to join him in a luxury suite with a new marketing team to watch the title match, but Brooke said she had to sit ringside and look Mark in the eye. She said she had security and Hogan wished her luck. She walked off as Matt Morgan came walking up and said it had become all about Brooke for Hogan. He said Hogan keeps making mistakes and one day, it's all going to come crashing down on him…

Magno made his ring entrance and Danny Davis gave him a no. Magno started his promo in Spanish and then said he had been in battles around the world but that wasn't enough for him. He put over Texas and said he wanted to be known as a luchador on Impact. Prichard said Magno had his career in front of him and had a marketable look, but needed some more seasoning. He gave Magno a no. Snow didn't get to comment at that point…

[Q7] Backstage, the gang got hyped up by revving their bikes and then Ray told them he needed to beat Hardy alone and shove it up Hardy's and Hogan's asses. Hardy was shown heading towards the ring…

Shore's Slant: Magno's dismissal solidifies my thoughts from earlier. Good intensity from Bully. I like this gimmick with them on the bikes acting an ass outside the arena. It gives it a "real" feeling to the gang.

Christy Hemme handled ring introductions for the main event and Brooke Hogan sat at ringside…

4. Jeff Hardy vs. Bully Ray for the TNA World Championship in a Full Metal Mayhem match. Hardy hit a Twist of Fate almost immediately. He ducked a corner splash and Ray crashed onto the ladder. Hardy hit him with a kick and tried climbing the ladder, but Ray stopped him. Hardy hit a mule kick, but when he charged at Ray, Ray back dropped him onto the ramp. Ray climbed the ladder. But it was all out of place. That allowed Ray to hit a superplex off the ladder to leave both men down into the break…

[Q8][C] Ray sat on the top turnbuckle and Hardy hit him in the chair. A table was setup in the ring, and Hardy setup the ladder upside down beside it. He tried to superplex Ray onto it, but Ray fought down, and after pausing to set the ladder back up when it fell, front suplexed Hardy into the ladder. Brooke Hogan yelled at him from ringside as Ray realized that ladder was destroyed.

Ray repositioned the table in the ring and then brought another ladder into the ring. Ray yelled that first he was going to put Hardy through the table, then climb the ladder, then Earl Hebner would raise his hand, then he would slap Brooke in the face.

That allowed Hardy to recover and Hardy knocked Bully from the ring with a chair. Hardy tried to dive on Ray, but Ray moved and Hardy crashed right in front of Brooke. Ray yelled at her and Brooke literally flipped him off. Ray got in her face again and Brooke slapped him. That allowed Hardy to come back a table broke at ringside but I think it was a mistake and I don't have DVR to check.

Hardy grabbed another table and brought it to the floor. He hit Twist of Fate again and Bully politely laid on the table. Hardy hit the swanton from the top rope through the table. Hardy set the ladder up in the ring and started to climb. Taz showed Ray a hammer at ringside on the announce table and Ray took it and ran into the ring. He climbed up and hit Hardy with the hammer. Hardy bumped through the table in the ring and Ray grabbed the title for the win…

Bully Ray defended the TNA Championship in a Full Metal Mayhem match at 17:10.

Post-match, Bully took a mic and asked the crowd if they knew who he was and who they all were (since the gang had joined him in the ring). He repeated the "never walk alone" line and closed by posing in the ring with the gang to end the show…

Shore's Slant: Hell of a match and a good win for Bully Ray. Yeah, Taz helped him, but that's a clean win for all intents as purposes. Hardy's final table bump looked scary as it appeared he hit the back of his neck on the bottom ropes. The medics were out putting him in the neck brace and TNA didn't make a big deal about it, so while I'm pretty sure it’s just a stretcher job, it's possible it could be anything from precautionary to bad. The replay didn't look as bad as the live shot, but still. The neck is nothing to be messing with.

A fair to good episode of Impact this week. Some of the decision making still confuses me, but there wasn't anything I hated. The tag match was well done, even if the title change is a head scratcher and the main event was money. Jason Powell will have ore tomorrow on the Hitlist and Will Pruett will be by with an 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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