Hardcore Justice - TNA Impact Review

Bully Ray gets World Title Justice

By Phil Allely

Bully Ray became the TNA World Heavyweight at TNA's most recent HardCore Justice themed Impact Wrestling broadcast.

The Aces & Eight's president beat champ Chris Sabin (who beat Ray at the recent X Division themed Impact show, where Sabin's X title was forfeited for a shot at Ray's gold). On that occasion Ray fell to a hammer shot from Sabin.  Here Sabin had not only a cage match to contend with, but some cunning tactics by TNA's resident biker gang.

The match itself was a solid affair and saw Sabin (for the main) hold his own against the formidable might of Ray. However it is still hard to watch Sabin take serious bumps after his serious leg injuries of recent years. The key spots worked well and the ref bumps etc. added to proceedings well. The interference by A&8's Mr. Anderson (a cage door shot to Sabin) and run-ins by Rampage Jackson (Main Event Mafia) all led up to the title change.

Jackson easily removed Anderson from the equation, but the appearance of fellow MMA icon Tito Ortiz proved to be his undoing. As Ortiz pulled a swerve and struck Rampage with a hammer to eliminate his interference.

Ray was then left in a position to power bomb a prone Sabin to nail a three count and his second TNA World Title.

Elsewhere on the show Kazarian overcame Austin Aries, AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy in a very impressive  ladder match with 20 Bound For Glory series points at stake.  Kaz was aided in his win with an appletini wielding Daniels however.

Mickie James, Gail Kim and ODB then faced off in a triple threat scrap. As knockouts encounters go this was above average and worked well for the slightly underused ODB (who pulled off the win).

The BFG series tables match then saw Bobby Roode, Magnus, Samoa Joe and Mr. Anderson. This was a match that was face heavy for the most part. There were also some nice spots too. Roode netted himself a nice 20 point BFG score after yet another spot of interference from Daniels.

TNA Impact Wrestling: HardCore Justice also saw company president Dixie Carter acknowledge Kurt Angle entering rehab, the Main Event Mafia offering Austin Aries his spot in the upcoming team encounter with A&8's and much more.

The big news is that Bully Ray is now champion again and whether Sabin was purely a transitional champion rather than a genuine threat to the belt.

As many fans worry about TNA's cost-cutting and talent shedding matters, the flip side is that by doing so the company are ensuring they are a viable competitor to the WWE and will remain it as well.

TNA Live Review: TNA 10

TNA stars old and new take to the ring for the company's 10th anniversary.

By Phil Allely

In another of TNA's ongoing 'One Night Only' series of PPV style events the stars of Impact wrestling were able to step outside of the world of storylines and have some pretty decent matches. This time we were presented with a glimpse into the company's ten year history. The idea being we get to see many highlights form the the past ten years and maybe even se some old faces along the way. 

Kicking things off were Kenny King, Sonjay Dutt and Petey Williams in a nice X Division scrap. This should have been better, but it did do its job to build up momentum and interest in the show. King pulled off the win to a mild response.

Next up the Knockouts elevated things well with what became a well-paced scrap. Gail Kim did what she does best and took Velvet Sky to one of her best matches in ages here.  The ladies pulled out all of the stops as well. Velvet Sky's win really didn't harm Kim's reputation at all wither.

The 'Gauntlet Match' that followed saw some new faces and some old ones too. This was held under over the top rope rules and the the final two would be down to pinfall/submission  conditions. Shark Boy worked very hard throughout here, his fan base evidently are still out there. Jonny Devine made a monumental mistake in a rope based assault and caused his own ejection early on. The now gone Matt Morgan became the star of the show though and played his big man role well.  His win was not a surprise at all.

On the tag team front TNA have been lacking as of late. So when you are offered Bad Influence, LAX and Team 3D we viewers are not going to complain. All three teams raised their game here, 3D were in fine form and Kaz/Daniels were as expected as sharp as ever. The nice touch was Lax's reunion and the fact that they never lost a step. Supermex flew, Homicide risked his life as always and the team were on fire. 3D pulled off the win though after a well placed 3D.

Austin Aries and Jeff Hardy then went on to have a pretty decent encounter. The exchanges were crisp, well worked and much more here. Both men shared the stage here nicely and built the night to the level we expected.  Hardy's win was a favourable one we believe.

As tensions and the atmosphere grew former tag team partners James Storm and Bobby Roode took to the ring. What was nice here was that both me  knew each other so well and could counter almost every move. Roode may have pulled off the win, but he did have his feet on the ropes to achieve it.

The main event saw (now Main Even Mafia members) Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe embark on a wonderful in-ring  tale. As expected Kurt and Joe took things to a while new level here and both had their work boots on too. A well placed 'Angle Slam' saw Joe put way however.

The TNA 10 Year special was a fun addition to proceedings. The matches were for the main above par, the roster stepped up and we loved seeing events unfold. However many of us did hope to see more old school/veteran TNA stars appear.