TNA Impact Wrestling opened with Ric Flair standing in the ring. He called himself “god” and complained about the treatment of Eric Bischoff last week. He called out Hulk Hogan and declared that he will get control again.
Hogan wasn’t there to fight; in fact he wanted Flair to be a judge for Gut Check. Despite Flair thinking it was a trap, he took the job.
When I saw Flair standing in the ring at the top of the show I let out a groan. I’m a huge fan of both him and the Hulkster, but they really shouldn’t be taking up the opening segment.
I figured that Flair would scream and elbow drop the mat only for Hogan to just knock him out again, but I was pleasantly surprised with the result.
Having Flair as one of the judges for Gut Check is a great move in my book. The Nature Boy is considered one of the best to ever grace a ring and it gives the concept some legitimacy.
Whether Flair will be screwing with Hogan and messing with Gut Check, though, is something that remains to be seen.
Backstage, Velvet Sky complained about Gail Kim cheating multiple times to beat her. Brooke Tessmacher then bragged about beating Gail two weeks in a row.
While I like seeing Tessmacher in the title picture, mainly because she’s a new face in the hunt, I don’t think she’s ready for the title itself.
Gail Kim and Madison Rayne vs. Brooke Tessmacher and Velvet Sky
The faces won the match after Tessmacher hit Gail’s own finisher on her. This was a decent match, but I don’t really like how the match played out.
Gail and Madison dominated Velvet the entire match until she was able to tag in Tessmacher, who got the win within a minute.
Tessmacher may be looking strong since she pinned Gail for the third week in the row, but she’s not looking too strong as a competitor. Two of the three victories were in tag matches, where she was fresh upon entering the match.
She looked good in their one-on-one match last week, and that does makes her a threat to Gail. When it comes to the title match, though, Gail will end up wiping the floor with her because I just don’t feel she’s ready for the big match.
Rob Van Dam then appeared in the ring. He bragged about himself the entire time until Bobby Roode made his way out. He went over who he was and bragged about his dominance.
Van Dam then revealed that Roode’s opponent would be Mr. Anderson, and Roode chose Jeff Hardy for RVD’s opponent.
Rob Van Dam should just never pick up a mic. I’ve been a fan of him since his ECW days, but he was never very good on the mic. I liked Roode’s mic work here, though. He had a certain cockiness in his voice that really saved this segment.
Devon vs. Robbie T: TNA Television Championship
Devon retained the title after Robbie E smashed a clipboard over his head. This was another decent match but it could have been better if Rob Terry wasn’t involved.
The man is just too bulky to be wrestling.
With the way the match ended, it seems like Devon’s feud with both Robbie’s is far from over.
Ignoring the match itself, I’m quite happy to see the Television Championship finally get treated like a television title. It’s bringing some legitimacy to the belt and giving it major exposure.
I think this is the most exposure the title has seen in years!
For the title to really take off, though, someone else needs to have the belt. I think that Crimson would be the perfect choice. Not only would wrestlers be fighting for the title, they’d be trying to end his undefeated streak.
The television title could become the perfect stepping stone to the world title if TNA builds it properly.
Backstage, Ric Flair and Al Snow are discussing Gut Check. Bruce Prichard then walked in and was revealed as the third judge.
Back from commercial, Flair is putting Alex Silva down while Prichard and Snow are putting him over. At the same time, they did feel that he choked.
The segment is overall hard to explain. It was a pretty cool process how all three talked about Silva as well as the business today and back in their day. If you didn’t see it, I recommend looking it up on YouTube.
Staying backstage, Hulk Hogan was pumping up Mr. Anderson due to his hatred of Bobby Roode. Hogan then revealed that the match was no disqualification.
I like the new match stipulation; it should make the match quite the intense one.
Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam picked up the victory after Bobby Roode hit Hardy with the belt and RVD connected with a super kick. I thought this was a good match. It featured some nice action and was quite even.
They know each other well and that showed in the ring.
Hardy has improved so much since last year’s debacle and is proving that he deserves this last chance. I don’t think he should ever have the title again, but he can still perform in the ring and should be utilized as such.
RVD was RVD so there’s really not much to comment on here.
What confused me a bit, though, was Roode’s anger after Van Dam won the match. He accidentally hit Hardy? Didn’t seem like it to me; he was looking right at him when he swung the belt.
No matter what happened, the match was an enjoyable one to watch.
Backstage, Joe Parks approached Bully Ray again. He wanted answers, but Bully Ray won’t give him any. Parks knew that he had something to do with Abyss’ disappearance and will prove it.
With mask-less Abyss focusing on Bully Ray, I really hope that it means the monster will be returning sooner rather than later.
Staying backstage, Jeremy Borash is putting down Eric Bischoff and bragging about what happened last week. Bully Ray then entered and grabbed his tie, dragging him out to the ring.
Bully Ray was sick of hearing about the anti-bully stuff and wanted to start the “Stop Being A Little Bitch and Stick Up For Yourself” campaign.
He taunted J.B., and that brought out Austin Aries. He called Bully Ray an “unoriginal” bully and believed that he has taken craps and eaten chicken wings bigger than he was. He believed that because for most of his career he was “Blubber Ray.”
The bully then bullied Aries until the X-Division champion went on the attack. Aries went nuts as he pounded away on the bully. Security pulled him off, and Ray kicked him between the legs to end the segment.
Words can’t properly describe this segment. It was filled with great mic work from both the bully and Aries, great actions and just overall strong performances from everyone involved.
I was wondering when this feud was going to pick back up, and I got my answer here. This feud very well could be the feud of the summer.
Backstage, Kaz and Daniels talked of taking opportunity. They’ll humiliate A.J. Styles by winning the tag titles and with the photo they have. Kurt Angle then told them to shut up and walked away.
I frankly don’t care about this photo as I’m just tired of seeing Styles and Daniels constantly feuding.
I’m intrigued by Angle, though. He’s still very much a heel, but he’s acting like a face at times. I think that Angle makes a much better heel than a face, but as long as he’s wrestling I’m fine no matter what he is.
Staying backstage, Roode wanted to know what Hogan’s problem was with him. If he wanted to stick his nose in his business, then he’ll stick his nose in Hogan’s business.
With a Hulk Hogan sex tape on the way, I would think that Roode would want to get nowhere near Hogan’s business.
Kurt Angle, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian vs. A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and Magnus
The faces won the match after A.J. Styles hit the Styles Clash on Kazarian. I thought this was a good match that had a fast pace to it. It was too short, though.
Most of the match featured Angle taking on the entire face team, which was actually great. Styles and Angle never disappoint in the ring with one another and seeing Joe back in the ring with him wasn’t too shabby either.
When Kazarian and Daniels did get in the ring, they ended up losing the match. Seeing them lose quite quickly makes them look a bit week and having Angle yell at them afterward really doesn’t help matters.
The Angle/Styles match at Sacrifice will no doubt be stealing the show, while the Tag Team Championship match should be great as well.
Post-match, Daniels declared that he and Kazarian will be revealing the photo next week. Unless this photo is finally going to end this ridiculously long feud, I really couldn’t care less.
Back in the ring, the Gut Check judges call out Alex Silva. Each judge gave their thoughts on him with Flair denying him employment, Snow giving a vote in his favor and Prichard sealing his fate.
First they wanted Silva to cut a promo. He started talking but Flair told him to not talk to the “marks” but to the judges. He cut a strong enough promo to get Flair to change his vote and for Prichard to say “yes” as well.
Alex Silva is now the newest member of the TNA roster.
The whole process was very corny, but Silva is a good addition to the roster. He’ll fit in very well with the X-Division.
Mr. Anderson vs. Bobby Roode: No DQ Match
Roode picked up the victory after Anderson hit the Mic Check on Jeff Hardy and the champion took advantage of the distraction with a few chair shots and the Payoff. I thought this was a good match that featured some nice back-and-forth action.
There were some nice spots during the opening moments of it outside the ring as well.
I absolutely love Roode as world champion. His in-ring ability and mic work not only make him a great champion, it’s making him one of the best heels in the business today.
While I’d like to see at least one new champion during the summer, a part of me wants Roode to keep the belt until at least Bound for Glory.
Anderson is always entertaining to watch and this was no different. He makes the perfect tweener as he does a lot of heel-like actions but does plenty of other things to keep the fans cheering for him.
I can see Anderson being world champion again, possible this summer, but I think he’d be better suited as television champion more than anything.
Post-match, Roode beat both Anderson and Hardy with a chair until Rob Van Dam made the save. Roode snuck back in, though, and took out RVD.
Roode has every bit of momentum in this feud, and I love it!
Overall I enjoyed this episode of Impact Wrestling but mostly thanks to the second hour. I thought that the first hour was very lackluster and bland.
It’s like TNA intentionally made the first hour not as good as the second hour.
Thanks to the three good matches featured as well as the Austin Aries/Bully Ray segment, the second hour saved this week’s show!
A.J. Burnett Steve Garrison Phil Hughes Damaso Marte Mariano Rivera Kerry Wood
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