By Ryan Kester

TNA "Impact Wrestling" on Spike TV
Taped in Orlando, Florida in the Impact Wrestling Zone

[Q1] Kurt Angle opened the show by heading to the ring. Once there, he called out Hulk Hogan, who quickly obliged.

Angle talked about how Hogan had been harassing him all week to join Immortal. Kurt said there was nothing appealing about joining a bunch of ass-kissers led by the two biggest scumbags in the world. He said he would beat Sting for the TNA title on his own.

Hogan took his turn on the stick and punked Angle for asking him if he knew what it was like to be the best. Hogan talked about when there was no one around that's currently in TNA, he was there. He spoke about taking the territories on his back and turning wrestling into an international phenomenon. He said he knows exactly what it's like to be the best.

Hogan said he wanted Angle to join Immortal because he could function on a higher level and for higher pay. He said Angle's kids can't eat Olympic medals. He yelled at Kurt for disrespecting him.

Angle said he didn't want to disrespect anyone but he joined TNA to be the best. He spoke about being a fan of Hogan and how Hogan's legacy was so tarnished today. Hogan cut him off and warned him not to try and challenge him because he was never going to wrestle again. He put over all the pain and surgeries he's been through throughout the years. He talked about his family and said he would prove to Kurt he's no fluke.

Hogan went on a rant about how Angle's accomplishments have all been flukes. He said they were getting really close to a fight right now. Angle took his turn again and talked about how the older they get, the more the fire burns. Hogan asked him to cut to the chase and wanted to know what Angle wanted. Angle asked Hogan why he doesn't step up to take out Sting. He told Hogan to prove to everyone that he can still go. Angle then left the ring to his music.

Bischoff was backstage and received a letter from the Network... [C]

Ryan's Rant: I went on a little rollercoaster there of being elated that Hogan was finally hanging up his boots to being dismayed that they are actually building to another Hogan match. This isn't even about whether or not I enjoy TNA's product and their focus on older individuals. I just do not want to see this man break on my television. I don't want to order a PPV and get a snuff film because Hogan takes that one bump that just shatters him completely. For the love of all that is holy, please don't go through with this TNA.

TNA showed the leaderboard for a few seconds while talking about how this match will feature two of the top 4 in the BFGS.

[Q2] 1. Rob Van Dam beat Gunner in 5:53 in a Bound For Glory Series match. Gunner took an early advantage by manhandling RVD in the corner. RVD tried to make a comeback, but was thwarted by an awkward-looking Oklahoma Slam.

RVD tried making several comebacks only to get cut off by Gunner each time. Eventually, RVD got some distance from Gunner and hit the Van Daminator. Gunner regained control, however, until RVD hit a springboard kick and nailed Gunner with his Rolling Thunder senton.

Gunner rolled to the floor and RVD followed, only to eat a powerslam. Gunner started going to the top for some reason but was cut off by RVD. Gunner again prevented RVD from capitalizing and hit a slingshot suplex for a near fall. Gunner hit a powerbomb into a roll-up for another near fall.

After several more back-and-forth exchanges, RVD hit a dropkick on Gunner and was able to get to the top and hit the Five-Star Frog Splash for the win and earned seven points.

Sting was show backstage in a red suit for about two seconds before the show cut to commercial… [C]

Ryan's Rant: If you're going to have a short match between two guys in the BFGS, that's how you do it. Gunner looked strong throughout the match and RVD sold well for him. The constant back and forth made them look like they both belong in the top four of the BFGS, and the loss didn't hurt Gunner's push. Solid match. Now, TNA needs to focus more of their attention on this series. Right now they're treating it like some obligation they are just trying to get out of the way, and it's really damaging the series as a whole.

Bischoff was backstage with Immortal and he read a letter from the Network about how he has to build up the X-Division. Bischoff was pissed but Hogan cut him off and said he wanted to cut Angle's throat tonight. Bully Ray volunteered Anderson to take Angle out.

Sting showed up in his suit holding a cage covered in a cloth. He gave Karen Jarrett a hug. Sting took a seat and talked about his expensive suit. He informed Immortal that he's now the Network executive. Sting said Anderson's match against Kurt will be in a cage.

[Q3] Sting said Fortune will be around the cage tonight and then he left the office.

In the ring, Brian Kendrick cut a Brian Kendrick promo. Alex Shelley was with him and he thankfully translated for us. He called Austin Aries a jackass that they needed to talk to and he called him to the ring.

Double A did just that and Shelley jawed at him the entire time he was walking to the ring. Shelley went through a long list of former X-Division stars and talked about how they all respected each other and painted each other's toenails.

Shelley put over the X Division and complained that Aries's actions didn't fit the rest of the division. He told them to play by their rules or don't play at all and called him a douchebag. Aries punked Kendrick for showing up in street clothes and punked the entire Division for playing with themselves. Aries talked about his history with five-star matches, but said he wanted a five-star bank account.

Aries put himself over as the greatest man that ever lived, he said the end justifies the means,, and he would be the X-Division Champion. Kendrick took the stick and started to cut another Kendrick promo that Shelley translated as telling Aries to shove his five-star matches up his ass.

Shelley announced a three-way dance at Hardcore Justice for the X-Division Championship. Abyss's music hit and he headed to the ramp to inform everyone that they wouldn't make it to Hardcore Justice. He said he gets his rematch for the X-Division Championship tonight. He said he'd kill the X Division tonight once and for all.

Sting showed up via the big screen and he made the rematch and Ultimate X match… [C]

Ryan's Rant: That idea couldn't suck more if it tried. Excellent work by Shelley and Aries here, not so much with Kendrick. I wish we could leave the fourth-grade insults in fourth grade, but you have to pick your battles with TNA. The one I choose to pick is the expensive terribly-colored suit Sting's in. This is yet another facet of his character he's ripping straight from Ledger's Joker, and the shear amount of shamelessness displayed by his new gimmick is really beginning to astound me. It's unfortunate, as I was seriously getting behind Sting right up until the point he pulled this persona out of thin air. Now I can't stand to see him on my TV, and I get the feeling the worse is yet to come. Still, Aries and Shelley proved that a meaningful feud between babyface and heel could do wonders for the X-Division, so here's hoping Aries walks out of hardcore Justice with the strap.

Matt Morgan was interviewed backstage about his recent pectoral injury. He said he had to pull out of the series and this was his first injury in nine years.

[Q4] The announcers recapped the BFGS adjustments from recent house shows and thankfully gave us some footage to back up the changes.

Bully ray was on the Hervey cam talking about how he wasn't worried about Crimson. He then moved on to A.J. Styles and their upcoming match in Houston.

Crimson was shown walking backstage… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Thank you, TNA. Little things like that video package about how the live events affect the BFGS is all I need.

2. Crimson beat Bully Ray in 3:15 in a Bound For Glory Series match. Bully Ray pounced on Crimson as he was stepping through the ropes and Ray instantly started going to work. Bully ray ripped Crimson's shirt and used it to choke him.

Bully ray targeted Crimson's knees and removed Crimson's knee brace and threw it to the floor. Bully Ray continued to target the leg with kicks and punches.

Bully Ray went for the Bully bomb and Crimson reversed it into the Red Sky for the win… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Well, that fell apart fast. I was enjoying the match and then Crimson beat Bully ray in one move. That's not a way to get Crimson over at all, and it really hurts Bully Ray. This would have only worked if Crimson nailed that move off of some momentum, but he literally broke out of the set up for the Bully Bomb and then just hit his finisher without any issue and without any surprise. That's not how the top contender in the BFGS should be getting his points.

[Q5] Bischoff was backstage yelling at someone on the phone because he wanted to talk to the Network. He was getting the runaround, however, and he was in full jerk mode with the poor sap that had to take his call.

Madison Rayne was backstage jawing about Tara until Sting showed up to scare her off with what was in his cage.

3. Winter beat Tara in 4:12. Angelina Love and Miss Tessmacher were at ringside, but earl Hebner sent them to the back.

Tara took early control after wrapping Winter up in the Taranula. Winter quickly took control after Tara landed on her rump when she missed a springboard attempt. Winter went to work on Tara's back and hit a backbreaker for a two-count.

Tara eventually came back with a body slam and a standing moonsault. She set up for the Widow's Peak but Winter reversed and hit a very botched tilt-o-whirl backbreaker for the win.

Ryan's Rant: The finish to that match was very sloppy. Winter supposedly mule-kicked Tara in the crotch to set up for the win, but she clearly kicked her leg. Is that a DQ in a women's match? If you know the answer to that, let me know. Winter needs to drop the tilt-o-whirl as her finisher because she just doesn't have the strength to hit that from a standing position. She could easily use a Northern Lights Suplex for her finisher as the name fits her character and she's hit it picture-perfect every time I've seen her use it.

[Q6] 4. Brian Kendrick defeated Abyss in 5:23 an Ultimate X Match to retain the X-Division Championship. Kendrick took the fight to Abyss in the early going. Abyss just couldn't get ahold of the little guy.

Abyss finally floored Kendrick. He tried jumping, if you can call it that, from the canvas to grab the title, but was unable to get anywhere near the belt. Abyss made a play for the title but Kendrick cut him off. Abyss swatted the fly away and tried to figure out how to get to the title.

Abyss tried to shake the foundation of the structure and it barely moved. Kendrick dove on Abyss and some lone jackass started chanting 'This is Awesome!" I officially hate that guy. Kendrick hit a beautiful tornado DDT on Abyss but failed to capitalize.

Abyss powered back and punched Kendrick's lights out. Abyss set up the corner splash and missed, which allowed Kendrick to hit Sliced Bread. Abyss wasn't down for long, however, and he quickly squashed Kendrick in the corner.

Abyss set up for the chokeslam but Kendrick grabbed the belt on the way up to get the win.

Velvet Sky and Traci brooks were shown walking backstage… [C]

Ryan's Rant: We just had an unannounced Ultimate X match that barely passed five minutes in length. I don't even know where to begin how asinine that is. That's not even counting the fact that we had Abyss involved and they barely even used the structure. TNA needs to stop doing this, or their entire gimmick match list will be useless and draw no attention when they go to them.

An Eric Young video package played.

[Q7] Velvet Sky and Traci Brooks called out ODB and Jackie. Traci cut a quick promo about how she had to come back to defend Velvet. She put herself over as the original Knockout and talked about how she was let go and didn’t do what ODB and Jackie did. She said this feud ends tonight.

ODB took the mic and cut her trashy-filled promo about Velvet and why ODB was fired. Velvet took the mic and talked about how she was bullied as a kid and how she never told anyone because she didn't want them to worry. She said those days are over and now she's going to defend herself.

ODB continued to make crappy and trashy jokes as Velvet spoke. Velvet tried to appeal to Jackie and she told Jackie and ODB to ask for their jobs back and to showcase their skills in the ring versus attacking her. She said she was done being anyone's punching bag and she left to her music… [C]

Ryan's Rant: I am tired of ODB and Jackie. Get them off of my television. Velvet is laying her sob story on a bit too thick, and I don't understand what Traci adds to this whole mess. These women have a long way to go in winning me over about this feud, and they did nothing tonight to try and convince me to invest in it whatsoever.

Backstage, Fortune were talking about Comic Con. I seriously think one of them talked about C.M. Punk. That's the last thing you want to be doing boys. Sting showed up and rallied the troops.

Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson headed to the ring for their match... [C]

[Q8] Bischoff was show again railing against someone on the phone. This time he actually got ahold of one of the members of the Network. He found out that the Network hadn't talked to Sting in weeks. Sting showed up and freaked out. He admitted to lying about being the Network executive. He then showed what was in the cage all night, a crow.

Ryan's Rant: There is never any reason to cut to a commercial with a match about to start and then return to a backstage segment. Please say this bird means he'll go back to Crow paint and knock this Joker crap out. Please?

5. Kurt Angle defeated Mr. Anderson in 9:00 in a steel cage match. We came back to the match in progress and Angle was in control. Tenay questioned if this was even a real match now, but the referee was still monitoring the match, so I guess it is.

Anderson came back and locked a chinlock in on Angle. Angle broke free but Anderson managed to prevent him from gaining any momentum. Angle started making a comeback and the two exchanged strikes. Kurt hit a belly-to-belly overhead suplex for a near fall.

Angle hit his rolling German suplexes for another near fall. Angle locked in an ankle lock, but Anderson quickly rolled through. Anderson hit the Mic Check for a near fall. Anderson made a break for the top of the cage but Kurt caught him and hit an Angle Slam from the top rope for a near fall.

Immortal charged the ring and fought with Fortune. Mexican America showed up and joined Immortal in attacking Fortune. Anderson asked Bully ray to give him a chair but the two ended up brawling. Angle hit the Angle Slam again and got the pin.

Sting's music hit, the lights went out, and Sting was in the ring with Kurt. They stared down for a moment before Sting led the celebration for Angle's victory.

Ryan's Rant: God, that was so overbooked it's insane. They started off putting a bad taste in my mouth by opting to do some crow garbage backstage rather than show us ring introductions or the start of the match, and then Tenay questioned if the match was even happened before calling the action two seconds later. Why couldn't that have been edited out in post-production to save some damned confusion?

I thought we were getting through and entire show without a convoluted brawl, but then sure enough we had all three factions locking horns to close the show. Then there's tension between Bully ray and Anderson that got lost in the shuffle. On top of all of that, they could have ended on a hot note with Sting and Kurt staring each other down, but they had to have Sting play up his new quirky persona instead.

This show was good in the first hour and was highly entertaining. Then it all started falling apart in the second hour leading up to an overbooked and convoluted crescendo to close the show. It's always one step forward, two-steps back with this company. I'll have more to say tomorrow in my Rundown of this show. See you then.

Questions, concerns, comments, or criticism? Feel free to send me an email at ryan.kester@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @TheRyanKester. Have a good week.

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