Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Impact Wrestling comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Thurs., June 28, 2012) from the Impact Wrestling Zone in Orlando, Florida, for yet another live show in the summer series that will run through the next eight or nine weeks.
On tonight's episode, the Bound for Glory Series continues. James Storm still has a commanding lead following all the house shows of the past week (check all that by clicking here) but at least Samoa Joe is within enough distance to make it interesting.
For now.
The main event of the show will feature a tag team championship match, as Kurt Angle and AJ Styles will put their belts on the line against the men they took the straps from, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian.
Gut check also makes its return, with Bruce Prichard, Al Snow and Tazz making their decision on Taeler Hendrix, who wrestled Tara last week. Word on the dirt sheet streets is TNA was unhappy with her performance and not only that, they were reportedly upset at Snow for even suggesting her. But she's one of the best in OVW, so we'll see what happens.
All that and more.
The show has a brand spankin' new start time at 8 p.m. ET on Spike TV, so be sure to get here nice and early to join in with all your favorite Cageside commenters. Impact Wrestling live blog after the jump.
TNA IMPACT WRESTLING RESULTS LIVE BLOG JUNE 28
Geno here.
Broadcast is live.
Video replay airs of current storylines, mostly of last week's show. Unbelievably enough, they actually showed a bit of that terrible actress.
They open this show with a pre-tape of Dixie Carter telling AJ Styles she's happy everything is over. He says he is too and he's going to stomp a mudhole in Christopher Daniels' ass. Kazarian's too.
She nods along aimlessly.
They show Carter walking in the back with the terrible actress from last week and reveal she will tell her story tonight "all throughout the evening."
Joy.
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We'll get the matches going with the BFG Series.
Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam -- Before the match gets going, Mike Tenay says "breaking news from our General Manager Hulk Hogan" then proceeds to say Hogan tweeted something earlier today.
That's not breaking news, Tenay.
Anyway, all BFG Series matches now have a 15-minute time limit instead of 10. Whatever.
Couple of reversals to start. Suplex into a roll up, into another one, into another. They're trying to work a fast paced match with a lot of quick pinfall attempts but that's stupid because you're not going to get a surprise roll up when you've already teased 600.
Despite this, Anderson goes for yet another pinfall off only a clothesline. And then goes for another off a suplex. This is the shits.
Now it's Van Dam's turn to go for pinfalls off tiny moves, like a drop toe hold. Naturally, Anderson kicks out and whoever tuned in for this show has now seen the addict angle and a match between two of the worst in TNA right now.
So, basically, good bye to all those viewers.
Another roll up from RVD that gets two. Van Dam works a stretch on the mat that Anderson gets out of with a headlock. Ugly as shit. Oh god, now they botch an inverted atomic drop.
This is officially the worst match I've seen in the last year.
Suplex into a bridge for a two count from RVD. There have been 68 pinfall attempts in this match. While I type that, RVD goes for number 69 and doesn't get it. He goes up top and gets the split leg off the top but Anderson brings his knees up. He tries to pin RVD but gets two. A neckbreaker after they get back up leads to ANOTHER pinfall attempt that gets two.
Anderson grabs a sleeper and RVD breaks it by backing him into the corner and dragging him across. RVD rolls him up once again and this time gets the pin on pinfall attempt number 71.
That's seven points for RVD.
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Austin Aries hits the ring with his X-Division championship still on his shoulder. Which is kind of funny, since it's not actually his. But I guess they have to keep house show business going with it already being advertised and all.
"Who is ready for a little dose of greatness?"
You might be it, dude.
He brings up his big decision spurred on by Hogan. It wasn't easy, he says, but he felt like he beat enough big names, including heavyweights, to earn a shot at the world heavyweight title. That's when he came up with "Option C" and once Hogan agreed to it, his decision was easy.
Dude, you just said it wasn't easy.
Aries says he knows folks are wondering what's next for the X Division and we're all in luck because TNA is going to hold a tournament at the Destination X pay-per-view (PPV) to crown a new champion.
I thought they were doing an Ultimate X match like they announced earlier today on the company website?
Aries is interrupted by Bobby Roode, who comes down to the ring in a suit and tie with his title around his shoulder. He tells Aries to take a good look at the belt and Roode calls it "the real world championship."
I think we knew that already.
Roode continues putting the belt over as the most important thing in this industry. Says he did it all on his own, to which Aries mocks him by repeating him. Roode brings up the BFG Series and then says Aries is only getting his shot is because of Hogan.
Aries goes to speak but Roode continues doing his "shut up, I'm not done talking yet" schtick.
Roode says "Option C" is nothing but a failure because Aries is setting himself up for failure, he's setting the X Division up for failure and at Destination X, Roode will make sure he fails.
Not a good promo.
"So do me a favor, kid, get the hell out of my ring."
Aries says he thinks this is his ring and if Roode wants him to leave, he's going to have to make him.
The two start undressing and screaming at each other. If you're feeling froggy, jump. Roode, as the cowardly heel champion, grabs his belt and bails saying Aries isn't worth his time.
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They show another replay of "Claire," the drug addict and terrible actress from last week.
Cut to backstage and someone off camera is asking about the situation with her. She says she's known Styles and Carter for a long time. Things got bad once Daniels and Kazarian came into the picture and found out about it.
She says she never knew either of the two.
This leads to a cut away to Kazarian arguing with Daniels. Kazarian is pissed that he turned his back on his best friend thanks to Daniels bullshit and it stops tonight.
He walks away while Daniels shouts at him about the rematch they have tonight.
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Sonjay Dutt vs. Rubix -- They announce during entrances that this is a qualifying match for the tournament at Destination X for the X Division title. Rubix works a few arm drags and a drop kick before Dutt comes back with an elbow and a hurricanrana.
Rubix makes a comeback of his own and hits a suicide dive on the outside. He throws Dutt back in the ring and comes off the top but gets hit with a dropkick in mid-air. This leads to a T-N-A! chant.
Dutt springboards off the top rope with a splash that gets two.
Rubix hits a few reversals into an elbow and a head kick. Suplex gets a two count. He gets Dutt's back but eats a few elbows and then a big spinning DDT.
Dutt goes up top and hits a moonsault double foot stomp that gets the pin. That was nasty. And awesome.
He stumbles a bit in his post-match interview, tripping over a few words, but whatever, that was a good match.
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Time for the Gut Check segment.
They start with a pre-tape of Prichard, Snow and Tazz talking about Hendrix. They say Tara sent a message to her last week and they say she might be a bit undersized.
Now they move on to her experience vs potential ratio, and what's important. They finally acknowledge that she was misdiagnosed with cancer, when last week they were just running with the story that she had cancer early in life and it led to her getting into wrestling.
For whatever reason, they're claiming she's got an attitude on her but hey, if she can work and she's a draw then they'll just deal with that.
At no point did they reference her looks, so I guess that's good.
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Time for another BFG Series match.
Bully Ray vs. Samoa Joe -- Joe's trunks going all the way up over his belly button always trips me out. It just looks weird, like he's wearing his shorts way too high.
Ray gets in his face early but Joe walks him down and Ray acts afraid while still yapping. So he's working like a good heel should.
The crowd starts chanting something and Ray climbs out of the ring and looks around. Tenay says they'll announce the location for Bound for Glory this year on next week's episode of Impact. They give a clue that it's a city they've never been to before.
Meanwhile, back in the ring, Ray and Joe go with back to back collisions off the ropes with neither man getting the better of the other until Ray hits an elbow to put Joe on his ass.
Joe tries to make a comeback but gets raked in the eyes.
Suplex from Ray into an elbow and he starts playing to the crowd. TNA goes to commercial at this point, which is actually pretty good timing, considering Bully started working a rest hold.
They come back while Joe is making his comeback but he gets clipped coming off the ropes and takes control once again. Really, we're all waiting for Abyss to show up.
Ray starts chopping at Joe's exposed chest and it sounds nasty. Joe responds with forearms.
They go off the ropes and hit a nice double clothesline. Chop and a punch from Joe before he fails on a suplex and Ray once again takes control. This crowd is unusually hot for tonight, despite the product being mostly shit.
Bully tries a few moves on Joe's arm but none of them look even remotely believable, even with Joe selling like they are. They're also working an incredibly slow pace, despite this being the match they're going with into the second hour.
Joe goes to the outside and brings Ray with him. He lands about four of the worst looking punches in history before Ray slams his arm into the steel steps. Back into the ring they go and now Joe gets the benefit of stomping his foot down to make his punches more believable.
Inverted atomic drop and then a back splash from Joe gets a seriously close two count. The crowd is hot and I'm not sure why.
Bully reverses with a spinebuster and that gets a two count. The crowd chants for Joe while Ray goes to the second rope and comes off with a back splash of his own. Unfortunately for him, Joe moved and he took a hard back bump in the middle of the ring.
Joe goes to the outside with Ray and ends up eating a big shot. Ray climbs in the ring and yells for the referee to start the count.
Here comes Joseph Park down the ramp. He climbs on the apron, slaps Ray when he comes over, and Joe comes back in the ring to take advantage with the rear-naked choke for the submission win.
That's 10 points for Joe.
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Park gets on the mic after and says he knows who Bully is but does Bully know who he is? "I'm Joseph Park but you're nothing but a jackass bully."
Good one.
He says he was bullied his whole life, including in law school, but it ends right here tonight. It's no longer about Abyss. It's about Ray and Park. The crowd starts chanting at Ray that he tapped out.
Park continues by saying he's sick of Ray being a bully and so is everyone else. So he wants to settle this thing once and for all. He needs two weeks of prep time but if Ray is cool with it, they should have a match together in two weeks.
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Cut to another pre-tape of "Claire" the drug addict, who is now being called "Crackhead Claire" online.
They ask about the picture that Daniels and Kazarian showed around of Carter and Styles at the hotel room and the elevator where they were holding each other with passion.
Carter explains that it was a hotel room but Claire was there and they were going to see her.
They also reveal the phone conversation was doctored and it was just Carter and Styles talking about planning a birthday party for Serg, Carter's husband.
God, this is the absolute worst angle in the history of time.
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They cut to Kazarian and he's telling Hulk Hogan he's sorry for how he's been acting and it's all because he was lead astray by Daniels.
Hogan asks for him to be accountable and Kazarian says he was deceived and he's a victim here.
Hogan says fine but he needs to be accountable. Kazarian is pushing that he doesn't want to be in a tag team with Daniels tonight but Hogan says he has to and he needs to show what kind of man he is because he's not the same guy Hogan used to know months ago.
Kazarian walks off upset that he still has to wrestle in the main event with Daniels as his tag partner, even though he really wants to win the tag titles again.
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Madison Rayne walks up to Garrett Bischoff backstage and says she has a crush. "What's he like?" she asks.
"What's who like?" he responds.
She whispers in her ear and he laughs it off and says good luck with that.
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Cut to Brooke Hogan telling Miss Tessmacher she's got her a big deal with Direct Auto Insurance. Tessmacher gushes over the deal and Gail Kim shows up to complain about the situation.
Kim says she wants her rematch and Brooke needs to remember "where her bread is buttered."
Brooke responds by saying she doesn't want Kim's butter anywhere near her bread.
Uh ... okay.
Brooke proceeds to yap a bit longer in an attempt to assert herself but she's still coming off painfully bad.
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Mason Andrews vs. Rashad Cameron -- No idea who either of these guys are. Tenay is explaining the style of Andrews, saying he combines "aerial with MMA."
Really, that was just a way for Tenay to plug MMA Uncensored Live later tonight. Meanwhile, Cameron takes control with a knee to the midsection that gets a two count. Front suplex on the top rope. Cameron misses coming off the second rope and that leads to Andrews making a comeback. He gets two on a cross body but misses on the second try and gets dropkicked out of the ring.
Cameron goes running and flips out of the ring on to a waiting Andrews below. That gets the crowd up.
Back in the ring and Cameron goes up top again but gets flipped off. He gets reversed into the corner but has to stop short lest he run into the referee. Once the ref moves, he gets kicked anyway and shortly after Cameron hits a jumping DDT for the win.
Rashad gets his chance to cut a promo and he says he feels like everyone in TV-land is looking at the next X Division champion. And they're also looking at the start of the Rashad Cameron movement.
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Hulk Hogan is backstage and on the phone with James Storm and Jeff Hardy. Storm asks about Sting and what the deal is with him. Hogan says they're trying to figure things out with that.
Hogan then asks how Storm is feeling. He says he's feeling great. They do the same for Hardy, who is also feeling great.
That leads to Hogan calling them both his lead race horses and they will be the main event next week in a BFG Series match.
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Time to find out if Taeler Hendrix gets a contract.
She says she is here to shine and she is hungry for success. She confirms that she did indeed give her best last week.
Tazz first -- Yes.
Snow looks to the outside and Joey Ryan is in the crowd with a sign pimping the 87-percenters. Tazz and Snow go to the outside and Ryan is begging for one of them to hit him. Finally, security shows up and escorts him out of the building.
Ha. That was good.
Snow's decision -- No.
Because they are split, she gets 30 seconds with the microphone. She says someone, somewhere gave them a chance and now they need to give her a chance too and she won't let them down.
Prichard with the deciding vote.
He says she's inexperienced, green, rough around the edges and he's not sure if she's tough enough. Also unsure if she's quite ready for primetime but she's got heart, desire, and class. They can work with that.
Prichard's decision -- Yes.
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Pre-tape of Kurt Angle talking to Styles. Angle is putting Styles over by saying he's got balls and he did the right thing with "Claire."
Styles says he got what he wanted with a match against Daniels at Destination X. But they have a match tonight and Daniels and Kazarian are divided right now, so they should clean house.
"Let's just give it our best and we'll win," says Angle.
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Kurt Angle and AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels and Kazarian -- They have Dixie Carter and "Claire" sitting in the crowd for this match. I cannot believe they are continuing to use this terrible woman.
Styles and Kazarian start the match and Styles just starts choking him with two hands and screaming at him. Snapmere and a kick to the back follows. Angle tags in and Kazarian gets a jaw breaker before he bails over to Daniels to tag him in.
Angle sends him into the corner and charges after him but gets drilled with a boot. Daniels tags in Kazarian and they continuing disagreeing. Meanwhile, Angle takes control and tags Styles in so he can get his licks in on Daniels.
On the outside, Daniels and Kazarian argue once again. They push each other around and then go to commercial.
Coming back from break and the heels are in control. They show what happened during the break, which is just Daniels getting control of the match.
Clothesline trip from Daniels and he gets reversed with an Irish Whip into the corner. Scoop slam and he comes off the top rope but Styles gets his legs up. Styles gets the hot tag to Angle. Daniels tags in Kazarian, even though he wasn't asking for it, and Angle belly-to-belly suplexes him into the ring.
Angle runs wild and now goes into his triple suplex spot. Kazarian freaking leaps into the air for each one.
Now Daniels runs in and Angle hits him with a triple suplex. That sends him out. Angle looks for the Angle Slam but Kazarian reverses with an arm drag and then a neckbreaker that gets a two count.
Angle reverses Kazarian into the Ankle Lock but he kicks out. He sends Angle into his corner, though, and Styles tags in and comes off the top with a dropkick. Daniels in now and Styles works him over. They both end up laid out on the mat with all four men in and down.
Daniels with a big sit down slam. Angle looks for a German suplex and now there's a ref bump.
That leads to Daniels going to the outside to get a chair. He goes to hit Styles with it but Kazarian takes it from him. After Styles lays out Daniels, Kazarian drops the chair next to Styles and goes to leave. Styles goes to powerbomb Daniels but Kazarian runs back in the ring and grabs the chair before popping Styles with it.
He goes out and revives the referee. He comes in and Daniels pins Styles to win the belts.
Daniels gets on the mic and says "Claire" told the truth but not the whole truth. She's pregnant but what no one knew is that the daddy is Styles. "Congratulations, AJ, I'm sure the baby will be phenomenal," he says.
"Claire" starts in with her fake crying bullshit and FINALLY the show ends.
What a screaming pile of shit that two hours was. I'm outta here, Cagesiders. Maybe for good.