By Ryan Kester

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

[Q1] The show opened with a video recapping Sting's mind games form last week.

Bully Ray and the rest of Immortal stood in the ring. Bully Ray jawed with the fans and said Immortal doesn't suck. He then went through and put over each Immortal member one-by-one.

When he got to Mr. Anderson, he just called him an asshole. Switching gears, Bully ray said TNA wasn't big enough for Immortal and Fortune. Mr. Anderson took the mic and said Immortal isn't big enough for him and Bully ray. He said Bully ray screwed him in his match against Kurt Angle last week. He said he is a vindictive person, and there would be recompense.

Bully ray asked who Anderson is. He said he'd remind everyone. He said Anderson is the guy that lost the title after one week. He called Anderson weak and then put over his own accomplishments. He said he's in charge when Bischoff and Hogan are absent. He called Anderson a piece of dog crap he stepped in on the road to the TNA title.

Anderson made the point that they aren't on the card for Hardcore Justice, so he challenged Bully ray to a match and started acting obnoxious. Bully Ray spat in his face and they brawled for a moment before Fortune came onto the stage.

Kazarian called Bully Ray "Bully Ray Cyrus." Ugh. He said it sounded like they were going to call them out so Fortune charged the ring. A classic TNA brawl broke out and Fortune cleared the ring. James Storm laid on the mat holding his back.

Backstage, Miss Tessmacher was stretching in preparation for her match, and Taz started howling. Ok, not really, but he might as well have… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Why did Fortune come out? With Storm getting injured that just made them look like idiots. Other than that, I like what we saw here. Another round of excellent work from Bully Ray, passable work from Anderson, and the focus was on the PPV and on the wrestlers. Had Fortune not come out, that would have been perfect.

Mickie James made her way to the commentary booth and joined Taz and Tenay for the next match.

[Q2] 1. Miss Tessmacher beat Madison Rayne in 1:27. Tara came out to start, but was sent to the back. Madison Rayne jawed at tara as she went up the ramp, and Tessmacher took advantage by attacking her from behind.

Rayne did not stay on the defense for long, however, and she quickly took control. Rayne used her legs to smash Tessmacher's face into the mat and then jawed up the ramp at James. The camera panned to the announce booth and during that time, Tessmacher rolled Madison up for the win.

Madison attacked Tessmacher after the match, Mickie went to make the save, but Angelina Love and Winter attacked James before she could get to the ring… [C]

Ryan's Rant: That took longer to type than the match took to take place. Yet again, TNA shows exactly how much wrestling matters by having a match last a less than a minute and a half and the finish happened when the focus was on the announce table. Awesome. Bloody awesome.

Back from the break, TNA made me happy again by showcasing footage for BFGS matches from live events complete with the wrestlers talking about what the series means to them.

2. Devon beat AJ Styles in 3:48 Tons of piped in cheers here as it sounded like the crowd was going crazy and no one was moving. The two went back and forth to start until Styles scored a dropkick.

Pope joined Devon's kids at ringside, so this storyline is apparently still going on. Styles continued to control the action and very sloppily applied a crossarm breaker, but Devon made the ropes. Styles rolled Devon up and transitioned it into a Styles Clash attempt. Devon battled back for a moment, but Styles floored him with the pele kick.

[Q3] Christopher Daniels showed up to ringside to cheer on Styles, but he did not seem pleased. Styles went for a springboard move, missed, and Devon got the pin with a roll-up. The two hugged after the match.

Pope had his arm round Devon's wife and Devon was pissed. Daniels and Styles argued on their way up the ramp… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Too much going on in that match. They should have picked a storyline to further and left the other for another time. MY preference would have been to skip the Pope and Devon storyline as that's going nowhere good and no one cares. Decent action for how long it lasted, but Devon was the wrong man to put over here. I see no money in the man, and I question why TNA is pushing him as hard as they are.

Back from the break, the announcers sent us to a video package covering the history between Sting and Kurt Angle. Angle continued the recent trend in TNA about talking about the quality of match they will have rather than who's going to win.

Backstage, Pope talked about his match tonight with Samoa Joe, which is up next... [C]

Matt Morgan joined the announcers on commentary and his arm was in a sling. Tenay announced that Morgan would join the commentary team for future BFGS matches.

3. The Pope beat Samoa Joe in a Bound For Glory Series match in 2:40 Samoa Joe kept trying to get a hold of Pope but Pope was too quick and slippery.

Pope hit an inverted atomic drop and floored Joe with a shoulder block. Devon started making his way down the ramp. Pope tried for a roll-up but Joe rolled through and locked in the rear-naked choke for the submission win. Joe never let go of the hold, however, so referee Jackson James reversed the decision and DQed Joe.

[Q4] Joe teleported backstage and was going mad about how the officials are holding him back because he's a threat. Joe said he will not go silently and the ensuing blood will be on someone else's hands.

Bobby Roode tried to get James Storm to come down to their street fight, but Storm couldn't stand. Roode said he will take Storm's place so he's fresh for their Tag Title defense at Hardcore Justice.

Ryan's Rant: That was a very brief match, but Joe's seamless transition from a roll-up into the RNC was enough to make up for that for this viewer. Adding Matt Morgan to the booth for BFGS matches was a bloody brilliant move and it paid off wonders in this match as everything he said added to the action. Beer Money just did an excellent job of putting over their belts. I just wish TNA seemed to be giving those belts as much respect as they are.

Backstage, Bully Ray was on the phone with Hogan and was getting his butt chewed out for instigating the situation with Anderson. He was told to apologize to Anderson, and he reluctantly accepted.

4. Hernandez beat Bobby Roode in a Street Fight in 7:06. Roode took control early with an explosive clothesline from the corner. He sent Hernandez to the floor and grabbed a chair. He worked over Hernandez's midsection with the chair.

Roode tossed some weaponry into the ring and tried to whip Hernandez into the steel ring post but Hernandez reversed and sent Roode crashing into the steel. Hernandez put Roode back into the ring and floored him with a shoulder block. Hernandez started to whip Roode with a belt and then began to choke him with it.

Roode tried to get some separation but was met with a clothesline for his efforts. The action spilled back to the floor, and Hernandez threw Roode into the steel steps. When the action returned to the ring, Roode grabbed a trashcan lid and hit Hernandez with several unprotected shots to the head.

[Q5] Roode went for and hit a superplex on Hernandez. Roode smacked Hernandez with a kendo stick several times. Hernandez began to bleed from the top of his head, and Hernandez hit a shoulder block. Hernandez tried to Border Toss Roode to the floor. Roode got out and locked in the fujiwa armbar and Hernandez tapped but Sarita was distracting the referee.

Hernandez rolled up Roode for the win.

Backstage, Bully Ray tried to apologize to Mr. Anderson and offered his hand. However, Anderson didn't oblige, so Bull Ray apologized again. Anderson finally accepted, but Bully Ray punched him in the groin and asked, "Who's the asshole now?"… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Unprotected headshots make me sick to my stomach because every time I see one I think of Benoit. Can we all please learn from that tragedy and move on? The match was actually fairly good up until the overbooked finish. Questions like, "why would the ref try and stop someone when there's no chance for a DQ" come to mind. I continue to enjoy everything Bully Ray does, and he sounded completely genuine with his apology before nailing Anderson with a groin shot.

5. Austin Aries beat Alex Shelley in 6:04. Aries pounced on Shelley from behind to start the match. Aries played to the crowd early and that allowed Shelley to gain the upper hand.

Shelley rolled Aries up for a two-count. He then worked over Aries' chest with some flair chops. Shelley hit a mic check into the second turnbuckle for a near fall. Shelley hit a dragon screw and locked in an inverted figure-four leglock. Awesome hold. Aries quickly made the rope.

Aries battled back and Shelley ran to the floor. Aries followed in style by jumping on him from the top rope. Aries put Shelley in the corner and went for a superplex.

[Q6] Shelley battled back and hit Aries with a kick from the top rope and then followed up with a suicide dive to the outside. Aries put on Shelley's jacket and jawed at the crowd. He took it off and tried to hit him in the head with the studs but Hebner took the jacket from him.

Shelley attacked and tried to hit Sliced Bread but Aries shoved him into the corner, apparently kicked him in the crotch, and hit a brainbuster for the win.

After the match, Aries kicked Shelley a few times and jawed at him on the mic. Kendrick ran out to make the save… [C]

Ryan's Rant: This is not a good night to have a set in TNA. This was an excellent match, but I'd like to see a truly clean win for the heel version of Aries. I question the wisdom of giving away one of the key reasons to order the PPV this Sunday.

Eric Young was in his car heading to acting lessons. Once there, he gave his coach a headache and, oh look, he gave me one as well. They showed a preview of him actually getting to face Scott Baio. Oh, joy!

The announcers then sent us to a replay of Sting vs. Kurt Angle in an empty arena match that is apparently a TNA classic. Angle and Borash provided commentary. For some reason, Sting had to take even that match into the crowd, even when there was no crowd. Sting got kicked in the nads, so there's another crotch demolished on this edition of Impact… [C]

Ryan's Rant: That was a great idea in theory, but Kurt couldn’t have seemed to care less. Worse yet, the match did not live up the hype everyone gave it. In fact, it was pretty bloody awful, and I don't understand why TNA felt the need to show it. If anything, they could have taken a few spots from that and edited them together with Kurt talking about them to make the match seem passable. What they gave us was a counterproductive waste of time for this viewer.

[Q7] 6. Rob Van Dam and Crimson beat Scott Steiner and Gunner in 7:04 in a Bound For Glory Series match. RVD and Steiner started the match. RVD went for a roll-up, got a two-count, got cocky, and nearly got decapitated by Steiner with a clothesline. That made me chuckle.

Gunner tagged in immediately lost control to RVD. Crimson tagged in and hit several slams and suplexes on Gunner. Steiner hit Crimson from behind and that allowed Gunner to take control. Steiner tagged in and took the younger wrestler to school, softening up Crimson while Gunner caught his breath. Gunner tagged back in and set up for a double-sledge hammer. Crimson caught him and hit a tilt-o-whirl facebuster and got the hot tag to RVD. That move was awesome.

Gunner tagged in Steiner but RVD was on fire. RVD worked over the big man and hit Rolling Thunder. The match broke down and all four men were in the ring. Crimson hit Gunner with a spear, setting up a Five-Star Frog Splash from RVD, but Steiner broke the pin.

Steiner set up RVD for the Frankensteiner but Crimson hit Steiner with an electric chair drop, followed by RVD's Five-Star Frog Splash for the win.

After the match, Christy Hemme made the mistake of asking RVD a question and RVD mumbled something I couldn't understand. Crimson joined the two and they found out they would be facing each other for at Hardcore Justice for the number-on spot in the BFGS finals.

[Q8] Sting and Angle were show walking backstage… [C]

Ryan's Rant: Excellent action In that match, and Crimson continues to impress with his in-ring work. If only he'd actually try and connect with the fans, he could be a big draw. I don't understand how the BFGS is supposed to work if they're already going to get a spot in the finals, but I stopped questioning this a while ago. TNA seems to be making this series up on the fly.

The announcers ran through the Hardcore Justice card.

Jeremy Borash stood in the ring with the contract signing set-up. He called Kurt Angle and Sting to the ring. Both men signed the contract without incident.

After the signing, Jeremy handed the stick to Angle, who proceeded to spend way too much time talking about how much he respects Sting. After a few minutes of love fest, Angle said he would be coming after Sting on Sunday, and the man walking out with the title would be he.

Sting said he suddenly didn't feel like laughing too much. He thanked him for the respect and said he was happy that he had that much impact on Kurt. He then talked about how big of a fan he was of Kurt and said he tells fans he's the best wrestler he ever faced. He said he was the best technical wrestler he's ever faced, so Sting's apparently forgotten Ric Flair.

After Sting got done with his round of career fellatio, he finally got around to putting over the belt. Sting dropped the Joker accent at this point and spoke normally when he said that Dixie Carter was the true owner of the company, and that he made a promise to protect the company and the championship. He said at the PPV, he would be walking out with the title.

Ryan's Rant: I am so tired of all of these love fests between wrestlers on this show. It kills feuds for me. The minute two guys spend more time talking about how much they respect each other or how much their opponent has done rather than how much they want to beat them, I immediately stop caring. That was a very lackluster end to the best go-home show I have seen from TNA since I started writing for the site.

There was a lot going on this evening, including far too many roll-up finishes, but TNA set several matches in place for this Sunday, and they delivered decent hype for every match barring the main event. I'll have more to say tomorrow in my Rundown, including whether or not I would purchase this show if I was just a regular viewer. See you then.


If you have any questions or comments, or just want to chat about wrestling, then feel free to send me an email at ryan.kester@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.

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