By JSO
October 11, 2012
Orlando, FL
James Storm vs. Austin Aries
Feeling out process to start the match. Aries rolls out of the ring briefly and comes back in. Storm knocks down Aries with a forearm and nails some punches on Aries. Back and forth sequence on the ropes with Aries hitting the running dive to Storm on the outside. Storm hits some punches on Aries and irish whips Aries into the corner. Both men exchange strikes by the corner.
Aries with a flying dropkick to Storm’s back for a two count. Both men then exchange corner mounts. More back and forth punches until Aries knocks Storm down. Aries misses the Missile Dropkick and Storm goes for the Last Call, but Aries counters again. Storm with a go behind but Aries rolls through and both men collide heads. Bobby Roode comes out and throws Storm into the steel post and back into the ring. Aries hits the Brainbuster for the pin.
JSOpinion: Right out of the gate with a hot match! Great back and forth action. It gave Aries some momentum heading into BFG and set up more heat for Roode-Storm.
Backstage, Wes Brisco asks Kurt Angle to travel with him to Bound For Glory in Phoenix. AJ Styles comes in and questions Kurt’s priorities to their tag match. Kurt tells AJ that Daniels and Kaz are manipulating the situation as AJ walks away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Hulk Hogan and Sting come out for an in-ring promo. Hogan says he’s looking forward to watching Sting go up against the Aces & Eights at Bound For Glory. Sting notes that the Aces & Eights took out Anderson last week and they had to go with Bully Ray instead. Hogan says they might as well call it making a deal with the devil.
Christopher Daniels and Kazarian interrupt. Daniels questions why Hogan and Sting picked the most untrustworthy bastard in the TNA locker room, Bully Ray, to be Sting’s partner when they could have picked the #WTTCOTW. They’re not offended though, and Kaz asks Hogan to cancel their scheduled title defense at BFG and instead pick Kurt Angle as Sting’s partner for BFG.
Bully Ray interrupts and says Kurt Angle would’ve been a great choice, but this is not going to be a wrestling match. It’s going to be a fight and Bully Ray is the perfect guy to pick to go into a fight. Bully says that he needs to team with Sting so he proposes a tag team match for tonight – Bully Ray and Sting vs. Daniels and Kaz. The #WTTCOTW immediately flip out while Hogan makes the match official.
JSOpinion: Entertaining segment. God I love the #WTTCOTW. They totally shined here like they usually do. Interesting tag match for later tonight as we get a glimpse of Bully Ray and Sting as a tag team for the first time heading into their high-stakes match at BFG.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Hernandez vs. AJ Styles
AJ uses his speed to get some quick strikes on Hernandez in the early goings. AJ goes for a sunset flip but Hernandez brings up by the neck. Hernandez misses a clothesline and AJ hits the Pele. AJ then has some words with Chavo Guerrero at ringside. Hernandez whips AJ hard into the corner and clubs AJ in the back a few times. Hernandez puts AJ in a bear hug. AJ fights out but gets knocked down by Hernandez.
AJ hits a dropkick followed by another that sends Hernandez to the outside. AJ with a slingshot onto Hernandez on the outside. Back in the ring, AJ goes for the springboard forearm but Hernandez gets out of the way and hits the Pounce like shoulder move on AJ for the pin.
JSOpinion: Decent match for what it was. They've been building up the tag title match at BFG the same way they did with the SmackDown Six in 2002 by emphasizing the wrestling aspect more than anything else (aside from the little mind games from the champs).
The Aces & Eights are shown in their clubhouse with Joseph Park. A henchman gives Park some food while the VP speaks. He questions again whether Hogan locked them out or locked them in. But one thing is for sure, they will be at BFG on Sunday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
X Division Champion Zema Ion comes out for an in-ring promo. Zema says he doesn’t have a match at Bound For Glory because he’s wiped out everybody in the X Division. Rob Van Dam interrupts and says Hogan has allowed him to choose his opponent for BFG and RVD challenges Zema to a match. RVD goes for a punch but Zema puts the X Division title by his face to block it. So RVD hits a spin kick to knock down the champ and send him to the outside.
JSOpinion: Quick and effective segment, although they could’ve just done this with a quick backstage pre-tape. Keep in mind that RVD is undefeated in the X Division.
Backstage, Hogan and Sting were talking about their doubts concerning Bully Ray. Sting says they don’t have a choice. Bully Ray comes in and says they’re up next. Hogan tells Bully that he doesn’t trust him and that Bully is a con. Bully retorts that Hogan has been no different throughout his career. As they continue to argue, Sting says that they have a big bad bully on their side and walked away with Bully.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Backstage, Brooke Hogan is talking with Taryn Terrell. Tara interrupts and gives Brooke a list of demands for her and her Hollywood boyfriend. Brooke tears up the list and tells Tara she has to earn it by winning the Knockouts title at BFG. Tara remarks that Kim and Khloe were right about Brooke and walks away.
The #WTTCOTW and Bully Ray & Sting make their entrances as we go to a commercial break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Christopher Daniels & Kazarian vs. Bully Ray & Sting
Bully starts things hot with some punches and hard chops to Daniels. Bully starts a “Sting” chant and tags in The Icon. Sting takes over with a bunch of clotheslines. Kaz tags in but Sting hits him with a backdrop. Bully tags in and they deliver a double arm drag to Kaz. Bully hits a sideslam for a two count. Sting tags in and hits a suplex for a two count. Bully tags in and they double clothesline Kaz. Bully hits another suplex on Kaz.
Sting tags in and hits the Stinger Splash. He goes for another but Daniels pulls Kaz out of the way. Daniels crotches Sting in the steel post and the champs take over the offense by isolating Sting in their corner. Kaz tags in and hits a slingshot legdrop and puts Sting in a hold with Sting’s own arms wrapped over his neck. Daniels tag in and knocks Sting down. He goes to the top rope but Sting throws him down.
Bully cleans house on the champs and hits a backdrop on Kaz for a two count before Daniels breaks up the cover. Sting comes in and throws Kaz to the outside. Daniels tries to hit from Sting from behind but Bully hits him with a big boot. Kaz comes off the top rope but Sting hits him in the gut to knock him down.
In Team 3D-esque fashion, Sting tells Bully to get the tables. Sting hits Kaz with the Scorpion Death Drop while Bully sets up the table in the ring. Sting feeds Daniels to Bully, who powerbombs Daniels through the table. The referee calls for the bell, declaring the #WTTCOTW the winners via disqualification.
JSOpinion: Sting and Bully looked freakin’ awesome as a tag team. Their chemistry was flawless tonight and it should be interesting to see how they do against presumably much larger opponents at BFG. I really hope they don't go with the obvious Bully turning on Sting direction on Sunday night.
A video package airs hyping up the World title match at BFG. Afterwards, Jeff Hardy is shown in a pre-tape saying he will win the title for himself and his creatures at BFG.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
A video package airs hyping up the Al Snow-Joey Ryan match at BFG.
Backstage, Samoa Joe talks about facing Magnus at BFG. Magnus interrupts and says that he will win the TV title because he's a TV star unlike Joe. Joe tells him they can do this right now but Magnus says he’s a businessman and they’ll wait until the PPV where he can make history.
Gail Kim vs. Miss Tessmacher
Gail attacks Tessmacher as the champ poses on the turnbuckle. Gail takes it to Tessmacher with some strikes until Tessmacher counters with a headscissors. Gail retreats to the outside as Tessmacher goes for the Asstastic. Gail stuns Tessmacher from the outside and takes control back in the ring. Gail hits a clothesline for a two count. Gail hits a backbreaker and follows up with a running charge in the corner. Tessmacher tries to fight back but Gail shuts her down.
Tessmacher counters another charge by Gail and slingshots her into the corner. Tessmacher hits a clothesline followed by a slam. Tessmacher goes up top but Gail cuts her off and goes for a firemans carry. Tessmacher counters with a rollup for a two count. She goes for a hurricanrana but Gail counters with a powerbomb. Gail goes up top but then jumps off and Tessmacher hits the Tess-shocker for the pin.
After the match, Tara attacks Tessmacher from behind. She goes for the Widow’s Peak but Tessmacher fights out and hits the Tess-shocker on Tara.
JSOpinion: Not too thrilled that they used Gail as the PPV warm-up opponent…. for the third consecutive month! But other than that, this was a pretty standard match like most of their previous encounters this year.
Backstage, Bobby Roode talks about the street fight at BFG. James Storm interrupts and says he knows that it was Roode who attacked from behind earlier tonight. They got into a little scuffle, which is separated by King Mo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Jeff Hardy talks about his favorite BFG moment from 2005.
The announcers run down the card for the PPV.
A video package airs hyping up Sting’s induction into the TNA Hall of Fame this weekend.
Bobby Roode makes his entrance to the ring as we go to a commercial break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy’s entrance is shown as we return from the commercial break. Roode attacks Hardy from behind on the outside. The announcers point out that Roode has the street fight mentality as he whips Hardy into the guardrail a few times.
As the action spills to the inside, the bell rings to officially start the match and Roode stomps Hardy in the corner. Roode poses a little, which allows Hardy to recover and knock down Roode with a bunch of clotheslines. Hardy hits the legdrop to the midsection followed by a dropkick to the face. Hardy whips Roode into the corner and hits a backdrop on Roode followed by a clothesline to the outside.
Hardy kicks Roode from the inside and slingshots onto Roode on the outside. Hardy throws Roode back into the ring. Roode tries to beg for mercy but Hardy punches him. Roode comes back with a decapitation clothesline and throws Hardy to the outside. Roode goes for a suplex on the outside but Hardy counters with one of his own as we go to commercial break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
As we come back from the break, a replay is shown of Roode whipping Hardy into the steel steps. Roode grounds Hardy to the mat. Hardy tries to fight back but Roode shuts him down. Roode hits the Blockbuster on Hardy from the second rope. The action spills to the outside where Roode slams Hardy’s face into the steel steps and rolls him back in. Roode hits a neckbreaker for a two count.
Roode applies a sleeper hold. Hardy tries to fight out but Roode hangs on. Hardy uses the momentum to ram Roode’s head into the turnbuckle and hits the Whisper in the Wind. Hardy hits a boot and a splash from the second rope for a pair of nearfalls. Roode comes back with the spinebuster for a two count. Roode hits the spear for a two count. Roode goes for the Fisherman Suplex but it is countered into the Twist of Fate. Hardy goes for another but Roode does a low blow on Hardy for the disqualification.
Roode grabs a steel chair and tries to hit Hardy but it is taken away by the referee. Hardy then hits the Twist of Fate to send Roode to the outside.
After the match, Austin Aries comes out and says he’s not going to end the night with Hardy victorious in the ring. Aries holds a piece of paper in his hand and says it is a list of things he’s been told to say. Aries tosses the paper away and shoots on Hardy in a heelish tone. He points out that he’s been asking for new entrance music befitting of a champion but TNA is too busy making Jeff Hardy videos instead.
Hardy grabs the mic and says that he’s hurting right now but he will end Aries’ title reign at BFG. Aries says that’s fine and he’ll allow Hardy to soak in the adulation from the crowd for tonight. Aries then tells Hardy to get out of his ring so the champ can have his moment in the spotlight. As Hardy is leaving the ring, Aries kicks the second rope to crotch Hardy and then nails him with the Brainbuster. Aries celebrates as the show goes off the air.
JSOpinion: The match was good but Aries’ promo afterwards was great (pun intended). Aries made some valid points that put everything into perspective and it’s got me excited to see if he will actually retain the title or if they will go with Hardy as the new champ as I’ve heard a lot of people seem to think might happen.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I would say TNA definitely accomplished what they needed to here. We got some fantastic wrestling matches (as is the norm for IMPACT) sprinkled with several entertaining promos, video packages and backstage segments hyping up the PPV throughout the night. I’m certainly looking forward to this Sunday, and I hope most of you are as well.
