Friday, April 20, 2012

4/19/12 Impact

Ratings:
Bully Ray & Crimson vs. Austin Aries & Matt Morgan: *3/4

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles: *1/4

Velvet Sky, Mickie James, Tara, & Miss Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, Sarita, & Rosita: *1/2

Devon vs. Gunner (TV Title): *1/2

Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson: *1/2
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Lockdown highlights of the World Title match. I still like Roode's fluke win. It provides even bigger buildup for Roode to finally lose the belt. Hopefully it will be Storm to knock RR off the perch.

RR out to celebrate his win, but he's limping to the ring. Roode has a short haircut now, and I like it. No security this time? Crowd all over Roode: "shut the hell up!" Mr. Anderson steps up to the plate to be Roode's next challenger. Then Jeff Hardy comes out. Amusing arguments between Anderson and Hardy, with Roode encouraging the fighting. Hogan on the screen. He wants all the champs to convene later tonight. Hardy and Anderson in the main event to be #1 contender.

Crimson and Bully team up tonight; opposing them are Aries and Morgan. Crimson now officially billed as "The Undefeated Crimson." No wasted time here. Morgan and Crimson go at it immediately. Bully and Crimson work on Morgan's leg. Crowd is standing and supporting MM. Nice legbar from Crimson. Aries gets the hot tag, and the crowd loves it. Quickness and kicks from Aries. Crimson accidentally takes out Bully. Morgan takes Crimson out. Suicide dive from Aries to Crimson. Aries tries for the brainbuster, but Bully with a rollup plus a handful of tights for three. Typical heel finish.

Garett Bischoff comes out to a nice pop. His Lockdown team (minus Aries, who just wrestled) is in the ring to help celebrate. Flair's music hits. Did the censors accidentally bleep "Bischoff"? Good job. I guess Flair says it like "Bitch-off" too much. Anyway, there's some celebration Flair's throwing for Eric next week, and Garett isn't invited. WTF, even Tenay got censored. Maybe it's intentionally done to comply with storyline that he can't be officially known as "Eric Bischoff" anymore.

Kaz (with new buzzed hair from Lockdown) and Daniels. The whole deal with Kaz and Daniels was never about Kaz, it was about AJ. They have some evidence. Cool. This is one of the storylines I actually care about anyway.

Joe, Magnus, and Devon briefly meet and will see each other in the ring later because Hogan wants all champs in the ring for an announcement.

Angle and Styles next. Too bad about Angle having to pull out of Olympic trials. Fun match. These two know how to work. Kaz and Daniels are at ringside. Angle Slam countered, but Daniels and Kaz get involved. AJ snatches whatever that evidence is from Daniels. Angle rolls AJ up for three. Daniels and Kaz say they've got copies of whatever AJ just took. Meanwhile, Angle's still in the ring and looks dumbfounded. Awkward.

Gunner and Joseph Park again? Park's getting more physical now. Next up, Bully Ray. Just spill it. Joseph Park is Abyss, dammit.

All the champs come out. First, Joe and Magnus. Next up is Gail. Then Devon and Aries. Roode is last.

RVD and Hogan in the back? RVD gets in the main event tonight. It'll be a 3-way main event to be #1 contender.

Hogan's announcement is "open fight night." A person off the TNA roster will come on the show and wrestle. Some person comes in with their story and then gets a tryout match. If Hogan and three judges like what they see, that prospect gets an Impact wrestling contract. Anyone on the TNA roster is fair game to get picked, and must fight if chosen. Roode's opposing that, of course. Now Gail voices her opinion. Devon wants to be a fighting champ, and Hogan agrees. TV Title now defended every week!

It's an 8-Knockout tag match. Taz finally gets to say "let the pigeons loose." Everyone got their time to shine, which was nice to see for a change. Vintage everyone-gets-involved spot at the end. Wow, they let Tessmacher get the pin (with Velvet-ference) on Gail.

EY and ODB, the honeymoon. EY just has to strip down to his underwear. I lost brain cells on this one.

Devon and Gunner in what is now a weekly TV Title match. Gunner attacks from behind and we're off. Gunner tries for the quick pins, to no avail. Devon spinebuster wins it after a few minutes.

Devon's sons are nowhere to be found these days. Then again, Pope isn't on TV, either. I guess that's supposed to explain it all.

Storm promo. He's sorry to his fans didn't win the title. Very passionate promo. Storm confirms he beat himself at Lockdown. Storm teases maybe his luck has run out and abruptly leaves. Good cliffhanger.

Triple threat main event time. Love these three-ways because there's more action. RVD with a good run at the end. Five-star on Anderson and a backslide pin on Hardy to win it. Pretty short match, but it accomplishes its purpose. All of a sudden, RVD emerges as the #1 contender. Yay? I guess so. RVD deserves the shot, but I'm just higher up on a guy like James Storm winning the title. He's paid his TNA dues a lot more, and it would encourage other long-time TNA guys to stay loyal and not jump ship to places like WWE.

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