2013 Discussion

Discuss Impact in 2013.

James Storm vs. Kazarian (Impact, 01/03/13)
Short and sweet taster right here of what things could be like between these two guys. This'll probably lead to a Daniels/Storm match on PPV if anything. The promo beforehand was probably more entertaining than the match which simply had Kaz early, then Storm, distraction fails, Storm wins. The finish was really pretty though with Kaz coming off a springboard and Storm catching him with Super Kick. Nice way to start the show in-ring but nothing worth going out of your way to see.

Kid Kash vs. Christian York (Impact, 01/03/13)
This was an utter botch-fest which really surprised me considering both guys are far from green and usually Kash flares up when a botch happens or he'll stiff the fuck out of you but nope, none of that here. They didn't exactly got a lot of time either but what was there wasn't quality. York is too heavy and shouldn't be trying half the spots he does, that backspring elbow was just horrendous. Also, it felt like York was trying to cram in his spots. Kash definitely looked the better of the two here despite the result of the match.

Joey Ryan vs. Hernandez (Impact, 01/03/13)
This isn't even worth writing about but it counts as a match I guess so I'll include it because there isn't a whole lot on this show. Basically, it's an angle. Morgan refuses to fight, Ryan takes his place. 10 seconds into the match, Morgan ambushes Hernandez. From a storyline standpoint, Morgan's beaten Hernandez plenty of times, why should he need to attack him under dirty circumstances? Oh well, I can't say I care about anyone involved in this whole fiasco in the slightest.

Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe vs. Devon, Mike Knox (Cage, Impact, 01/03/13)
Main event was better than expected with a good story with Angle taken out and Joe fighting for his life. As bad as a singles wrestler Devon is a awesome tag guy and TNA should just use him in a tag team with Knox or Doc instead of having him wrestle singles matches. Angle coming back was fine and getting some offense, but if TNA really wanted to give the Aces and Eights cred they would have had them beat a bloodied Angle and then do the Sting save, but instead they just jobbed them out again and then had them get destroyed by Sting. The whole post match thing was underwhelming though at least the mask removal added progression. Perfectly enjoyable match, albeit a bit short for a cage match.

Jay Bradley vs. Brian Cage (IMPACT, 01/10/13)
Gut check challenge was a fun enough little showcase match. Of course it was far too short and not enough for either man to show everything, but for what it did it was fine. Brian Cage getting to bust out his deadlift suplex from the middle rope was pretty legit. He's a machine. More importantly, he's good. Too bad he lost, although I knew he would as Bradley has been on TNA's radar for quite a while now. Bradley has good mic work. His work in ring isn't bad. Simply has never wow'ed me. If that changes I'll be a fan.

Jeff Hardy, James Storm vs. Austin Aries, Bobby Roode (IMPACT, 01/10/13)
Tag match was decent. Too bad it had such a flop ending. Not surprising with the PPV on the horizon, but Storm could have eaten a cheap loss. It's James Storm. Nobody cares. At this point this decent tag with quality workers involved was the real highlight of the work by TNA. Yeah...

Kenny King & Zema Ion v. Rob Van Dam & Christian York (IMPACT, 01/24/13)
It’s a little late to start calling York “the future of the X Division” isn’t it? Ion gets beat up by the babyfaces to start and York dropkicks him in the neck, followed by a Van Dam monkeyflip where Ion tries to do the Ziggler bump off it. Ion bails while King gets the cheapshot on RVD, and the heels take over. Ion pounds away and goes up, only to miss a 450, allowing York to take the hot tag. He puts King down with a knee for two and it’s BONZO GONZO. King and York fight to the floor while Rob goes to finish Ion, but King drops RVD on the top rope to break it up. Ion sends Rob to the railing, and King hits York with a Buff Blockbuster, giving Ion the pin at 5:04. Standard tag match with a hot finishing sequence.

Bobby Roode vs. Hernandez (IMPACT, 01/24/13)
This was set up by Roode & Aries each passive-aggressively trying to duck out of the match, and Roode losing that battle. Roode attacks and stomps him down in the corner, but Hernandez hits him with a delayed suplex, and it’s a LONG one. Roode comes back to take over and drops elbows and a knee for two. To the chinlock, but Hernandez fights back with the flying shoulderblock and backbreaker drop. The Pounce sends Roode to the floor and Hernandez follows with the dive attempt, but Aries runs down and pulls Roode out of the path of destruction. This prompts a brawl on the floor and somehow Roode gets a bulldog on Hernandez for the pin at 5:48. Roode & Aries continue bickering after the win, and Roode LEAVES HIM HANGING on a high five. Not cool, bro. Match was alright.

Jeff Hardy vs. Christopher Daniels (IMPACT, 01/24/13)
Finally, a match on TNA tv to really get behind. I wished I just rewatched it for my write up here can be as fresh as possible, but it isn't. All around good performances by both. Hardy's face work right now is really quite top notch, imo. And if there was a worker to get the impact zone to make noise, it is Hardy. Daniels continues to rule. Both those elements combined to give us a fun good, albeit, predictable TV World Championship match. Go out of your way to give it a watch.

Magnus vs. Devon (IMPACT, 01/31/13)
This was alright for a short 6 minute affair. Pretty basic really. Magnus starts off hot, Devon gets a little heat, Magnus comes back and then...RUN IN. Magnus looked good here and was insanely over, he always looks like a star at these UK shows. He busted out a sweet Michinoku Driver which got him points from me. Devon stuck to the 'ol reliables and didn't really do anything special. The A&8's need to start looking stronger because they're being booked like faggots in these types of matches. Solid, but nothing special.

Joseph Park vs. Robbie E (IMPACT, 01/31/13)
Another short 5 minute affair but this was quality for what it was. Joe Park is such a good character, originally I wasn't fond of him but he's grown on me now. The way he looks like a guy who literally just got a crash course in wrestling and got thrown into the ring is perfect. Robbie is always a reliable squash guy who'll take a fall no matter what, good to have those around. Looks like Park's gonna start using the second rope splash on a regular basis, little goofy but I'll take it. Sweet-ass "squash".

Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. (IMPACT, 01/31/13)
This was quality. At first, It looked like this would be your usual shitty Chavo match, but Aries being Aries, he brings out the best in everyone so this turned out to be excellenté, The beginning of the match wasn't great but it was pretty much just holding out until the commercial was over. The suicide dive spot was neat but it looked like Aries got an accidental knock to his shoulder. Frog Splash mocking was cool too, Aries' frog-splash looks weird though. Couldn't have expected any better from this than what we got. Actually looking forward to a Mexicrap/Raries match now.

James Storm, Velvet Sky vs. Tara, Jesse Godderz (IMPACT, 01/31/13)
This was odd, considering Storm has literally nothing to do with the Velvet/Tara storyline but whatever. It was only 3 minutes, and pretty harmless. Pretty much just a way to make the babyfaces look good, Storm looked easily to most capable out of everyone here, whereas Jesse wrestles like a chump. However, Storm shouldn't be floating around aimlessly like he seems to be. But yeah, nothing worth seeing here anyway, that's for sure.

Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson (IMPACT, Cage, 01/31/13)
Despite Tenay calling this "a classic", I'm gonna have to beg to differ. I thought this wasn't exactly dreadful, but it certainly had some gaping holes and could've been much better. Granted, for a 10 minute Cage match on TV, you really can't be expecting much, but seriously, both of these guys can do better than running out a rehearsed finishing stretch and pass it off as a main event. It doesn't even take 3 minutes until the big moves are being pulled out, which made everything after it feel a little lackluster. Super Angle Slam was a great spot, but it was ruined by Anderson getting up almost immediately and hitting his finish. Passable match, but it definitely looks better on paper than it actually is. Although the Bischoff/Brisco heel turn afterwards was pretty neat, I did actually enjoy that. Surprise surprise!

Kenny King vs. Zema Ion vs. Rob Van Dam (IMPACT, 02/07/13)
I hate these sort of little sprints, they're so worn out by now. It kinda comes across as a showcase of "Oh hey, I'm athletic" and that's it. No real sense of there ever being a contest. Psychology was completely thrown out the window, but Ion still managed to look good here. The ending was really shitty, to put it lightly. Throwaway match, don't watch this.

James Storm vs. Jesse Godderz (IMPACT, 02/07/13)
Once again, we find Storm floating around the mid-card, infact this actually below the mid-card. Fuck sakes, and this time last year he was in the main event? Damn, he fell fast, and quick. I dunno why TNA seems to be really hesitant with actually pushing him full throttle, I guess the Aries push derailed him last year and he really hasn't recovered since. The match was shit, Godderz is greener than a bag of kush and has no business wrestling Storm. Yaaawn. Squash city.

Bobby Roode, Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr, Hernandez (IMPACT, 02/07/13)
I'll give TNA credit for giving this match loads of TV time. Helps put emphasis on a championship that needs it. What the problem was though...it had Chavo & Hernandez in this match. And they're not even good nowadays in going 5 minutes. Let alone 13. Even with Roode & Aries as their opponents. So, it drags for a while. Eventually Roode & Aries win and become the new TNA Tag Team Champions. Excellent moment. Match is something I'll never want to see again, but hey. At least it ended with a major positive. The finish was easily the highlight of all of this.

Sting, Bully Ray vs. Devon, DOC (IMPACT, 02/07/13)
Great little tables match, probably on par with their match at BFG. I know a lot of people don't like Bully Ray playing up to the Hogan-isms but I like it, it's fun. Wrestling should be FUN. Sting is always great as the partner that doesn't have to carry the workload, makes him look a less exposed. That superplex on DOC had the crowd ready to bust, I couldn't believe it. Inside the IMPACT Zone, this wouldn't have been half a good, or even a quarter as good. Thank fuck for English crowds.

Magnus vs. Daniels (IMPACT, 02/14/13)
This was quite a bit of that ever whored out word of FUN. 5 minutes, they made it work. Magnus could be a star in 2013. It's a shame it had to be at the expense of Daniels. The only negative I could find here. At least it's going to further push Magnus so lets hope in a month or two these men are both relevant in the championship picture. **

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe (IMPACT, 02/14/13)
Match #2 in the Hulk Hogan Open Invitational. Joe pounds on Angle in the corner and we get audio comments from Angle about the IOC’s bullshit decision, which still pisses me off. Angle comes back quickly with a suplex and stomps away in the corner, then adds a suplex for two. We take a break and return with Joe tossing him and then missing a suicide dive. Well, hence the name. Back in, Joe recovers with the senton for two. Angle gets the rolling germans, but Joe escapes the Slam and hits him with the uranage. Angle comes back with a missile dropkick and Angle Slam, but Joe no-sells it and gets the choke. Angle reverses into the anklelock, but Joe powers out and they clothesline each other, and that brings the Aces & Eights into the ring for the beatdown at 12:00. Usual good Joe-Angle match before the non-finish. ***1/4

Party Marty & The Blossom Twins vs. Gail Kim, Tara & Jesse (IMPACT, 02/14/13)
Apparently the babyfaces were the winners of TNA’s Tough Enough type show. You’d think one of piece of advice would have been “Get a better name than Party Marty”. Marty headfakes Jesse in the corner and hits a moonsault press for two, and we take a break. Back with one of the Blossoms controlling Tara with hiptosses, and the twins hit a double sideslam for two. Hannah gets a back elbow for two, but runs into a clothesline from Gail that allows the heels to take over. Tara with a hairtoss and Kim gets a backbreaker for two, and hits a leg lariat in the corner for two. Tara pounds her down for two, but the jigglesault misses and it’s hot tag to whoever the other twin is. They’re running wild and one gets dropped onto Gail for two, but Tara saves. Jesse stops to pose because there’s always time to pose, but sadly the twins are unimpressed and Marty comes in with a missile dropkick to boot. Jesse bails and Marty grazes him with a suicide dive, and Kim finishes one of the chicks with Eat Defeat at 11:18. That dive looked totally clownshoes because he completely overshot the target, but he was probably just excited. The Brits got a ton of offense and this was a totally competitive showcase for them. **1/2

James Storm vs. Rob Van Dam (IMPACT, 02/14/13)
Match C in the Hulk Hogan Tournament of Champions, and they exchange hiptosses as the announcers recount Storm’s glorious six day reign as TNA champion. Rob gets the monkey flip and Rolling Thunder for two. They slug it out and Rob goes up, but Storm powerbombs him for two. Rob blocks the codebreaker, but a second try hits. Rob blocks the superkick with a spinkick and goes up, but Storm was faking and puts him down again. Storm gets kicked into the opposite corner and Rob tries the Van Terminator, but that misses as well. You’d think waiting until the guy was a bit more hurt would be a good idea. Storm hits him with the superkick for the pin at 5:45. RVD looked totally unmotivated here. **

Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries (IMPACT, 02/14/13)
Genius match. Their antics were gold. Very entertaining. Chavo & Hernandez distract them to leave the ring in the latter portion of the match. They both realize they were going to get counted out so they (pro-noun crazy here - Aries & Roode) ran back towards the ring only trying to stop one another before getting counted out. Didn't work. Double count out. Lots, and lots of fun. Watch this match. ***

Bobby Roode, Austin Aries, Bad Influence vs. James Storm, Joseph Park, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Hernandez (IMPACT, 02/21/13)
Opener has all 5 of the top workers worth seeing weekly involved. So naturally it had to be AT LEAST decent. Which it was. Joe Park moments were good. Too bad being in such a massive tag environment his worked didn't get to shine as much as I would have hoped. He should have been the FIP or man to earn the hot tag. It would have upped the content of the match. Didn't help when the sides were so uneven. All four heels are excellent, while the faces are terrible pardon Mr. Park.

Samoa Joe vs. Garrett Bischoff (IMPACT, 02/21/13)
This was honestly a surprise. Pretty standard short TV match earns the whatever mark up, yet Garett actually proved something here. Proved he wasn't some green kid who had no business on TV. Heel turn has worked for now. He even pulled his weight in the ring. Working with Joe was a big aid, yet to his credit I liked what I saw. Really, this match wasn't any form of "bad" in a single bit. Ending was bleh with the run-in DQ finish but whatever. Garett pulled his weight. Looked better than Ken Anderson. Lolz.

DOC, Devon, Mr. Anderson vs. Sting, Bully Ray (IMPACT, 02/21/13)
Decent handicap tag here. No complaints whatsoever. I liked it. D.O.C. pinning Sting = Aces needed to look strong here. Thank sweet science they did. And won clean too. Well a bit of a distraction. There were no weapons coming into play. So, clean enough. Still, cheap advertising tactics used by TNA here by promoting Hogan's return here and not following through. That could piss some people off.

Ivelisse Velez vs. Lei'd Tapa (IMPACT, 02/28/13)
Ive comes to TNA apparently. Looks solid too. Her opponent - who is the niece of Barbarian - didn't look as good. I've dubbed her TNA's Tamina. Hideous to look at and apparently mediocre in the ring. To her credit, this is only one match I've seen. So maybe she was nervous. A possibility I will not rule out. So yeah, Ivelisse uses her MMA motif to lend itself to a win. She'll get the contract. That much is obvious.

Jeff Hardy, Bully Ray vs. Bad Influence (IMPACT, 02/28/13)
Ohhh yeah. Main event was solid. Entertaining match. Kept it upbeat, fans ate it up, and all 4 looked good. Yeah, end result was seen a mile away but whatever. The build for Hardy vs Bully only has one more impact to try and hit a fever pitch but the match has me hopeful regardless. This was match pretty good. Give it a watch if you remotely enjoy any of the 4 involved.

Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy (IMPACT, 03/07/13)
Aries jumps Hardy and dominates the early going in a ruthless manner, completely dumbfounding Hardy, which is just perfect for his character. Hardy's slow to build any momentum and Aries cuts him off when he can. Aries pretty much controls the match as we go to break, and I'm certainly not complaining. After the break, Aries is still incredibly dominant, having an answer to everything Hardy attempts. Crowd are getting very pro-Hardy at this point, Aries gets more and more frustrated that he can't put Hardy away. Soon enough, Hardy is on fire and hits a lot of his signature stuff, mixing it up a bit too with a lot of splashes. He does have some really terrible strikes though, possibly the worst kicks to the gut I've seen in a while. Just as Hardy is about to put Aries away, Morgan runs in and boots Hardy right in the face. Odd, considering his booking since his return. Good little match though, doesn't hold a candle to either of their PPV bouts but still, certainly a good way to start the show.

Sting vs. Devon (IMPACT, 03/07/13)
Devon starts off hot with a spear, gaining some nice heat right from the get-go. But he slows things right down with some taunting and rest holds, and it's only about 90 seconds in. After a big "Let's go Sting" chant, Sting of course, gets going. I really don't like Sting wrestling in a t-shirt, it looks lazy, regardless of shoulder problems or not. In a really strange turn of events, a fan grabs Sting and throws a drink in his face. And for some reason, Sting is now bleeding profusely. WHAT?! Devon picks up a cheap pin, and that's that. Shitty match with a mind-boggling finish. Very formulaic, that's Sting!

Chavo Guerrero, Hernandez, Velvet Sky vs. Bad Influence, Gail Kim (IMPACT, 03/07/13)
Hernandez really dominates the early going of the match, but none of it's engaging, although it's neat to see that after nearly a year of tagging, him and Chavo and are actually creating double-teams now. There is literally no heat behind this match, it's quite boring if I'm perfectly honest. The tide turns in favor of Bad Influence and they knock out some neat double-team moves whilst Chavo works a very flat FIP, don't appreciate the audibles from Daniels and Chavo either. The girls get a little go-around and towards the finish, the faces just hit a lot of big moves. When nobody is paying attention, Gail picks up the win with her first move of the match. Not a great tag match, instantly forgettable really.

Magnus, Samoa Joe vs. DOC, Garrett Bischoff (IMPACT, 03/07/13)
Things start off with Garrett getting treated like a rag-doll, and there's signs of some lingering mistrust between Joe and Magnus from a few months back. GB goes on the offence and gets some "You Can't Wrestle" chants for his trouble. Things pick up a bit once DOC gets tagged in and starts dissecting Magnus, some sweet elbow-chest strikes included. All roads lead to a double clothesline spot, where the faces make a comeback despite there being very little heat behind the heels. Magnus and Joe look great and are working as good as ever as they break out their sweet finish from last year. A nice little tag match, in terms of entertainment rather than quality. I liked the little story of Magnus/Joe slowly learning to trust eachother again throughout the match. Good stuff.

Mr. Anderson vs. James Storm (IMPACT, 03/07/13)
Whoa, Anderson looks like a right jobber in his white-tee complete with leather vest. He starts the match off with some dirty tactics and then just phones it in until Storm builds towards a comeback. There's times where he looks like he's tryng and times where he looks like he couldn't give two shits. Storms comeback is nice and fiery, and builds towards a superkick nicely. However, Aces distract Storm allowing Anderson to pick up a cheap win. Nothing match, Anderson didn't even break a sweat.

Robbie E vs. Robbie T (IMPACT, 03/14/13)
So, this is happening because Lockdown was a 'fluke'. Naturally, this match's only purpose is to prove that Robbie T's win wasn't a fluke and it did just that. Robbie E doesn't even get a look in, so this is entirely a squash. One can't help but laugh at the "Feed me more" chants at the finish. I don't quite get what they're trying to do with Robbie T here but it's not getting much of a reaction anyway. He's a freak, he shouldn't be dancing around, especially not to funky trumpets.

Daniels vs. James Storm (IMPACT, 03/14/13)
Bad Influence come out dressed as LOD and admittedly, it's comedy gold. So yeah, Storm bumrushes Daniels only for Kaz to sway things the opposite way, which is an awfully common occurence in Daniels matches these days. Things were going pretty formulaic until the finishing stretch, but Daniels completely oversold the knees to the chest. Thankfully, the knees to the back looked a lot worse and actually won Storm the match. Although it's really annoying that Daniels completely ignores all that and jumps back on his feet the second the bell rings. It's very one-step-forward, two-steps-back stuff. The AJ stuff afterwards screams Sting a.la 1997, although I'll reserve judgment until it's played out a bit more.

Sting vs. Austin Aries (IMPACT, 03/14/13)
Things start off interestingly as Aries looks to be one-step ahead of old man Sting, and it gets a nice reaction. When Sting does go on offence, Aries sells everything like he's being hit with a car, in a cartoonish manner more than anything. Roode's involvement gave all this a nice Sting vs. the World feel, but that lasts for just a second. Infact, this is probably the best Sting's looked in quite some time, a lot of that is down to Aries being selfless. Don't get me wrong, Sting's actually trying! After the break, the heels are getting upto no good and Sting reverts to FIP. He takes a suicide dive like a champ, something I never thought I'd see old man Sting take. When Aries is in control, he does a sweet job of building up towards a Sting comeback with some nice cutoffs, and THAT sell on the clothesline. The entire finishing stretch is a treat and the crowd know it. Sting takes an absolute beating here and it genuinely surprised me that he gave that much to Aries, but what surprised me more was the fact that Aries kicked out of the Death Drop before the dirty finish. PPV quality bout. Just what the show needed this it was lacking in the in-ring department. Aces' finish wasn't exactly desirable but it made sense storyline-wise.

Bobby Roode, Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr, Hernandez (IMPACT, 03/21/13)
This was alright, but nothing too memorable. Roode and Aries were their usual “dirty heels” selves doing all the same shtick they’re been doing for a while now, and it’s as good as ever. Chavo and Hernandez really bring nothing special here, and they have absolutely no heat for “the big babyface team”. The 3 amigoes spot got a nice pop, but that was about it for them. Hernandez’s big jump from the ramp into the ring wasn’t all that great since he’s done it a million times already. The dirty finish with Bad Influence gives me hope for a Dirty Heels/Bad Influence feud, which would be a hell of a lot fresher than anything with Chavo. I can’t see myself watching this again, they’ve got better in them though.

Kenny King vs. Zema Ion vs. Sonjay Dutt (IMPACT, 03/21/13)
This wasn't great, actually it was pretty sloppy for the most part. The first half of the match was a disaster, nothing was pulled off convincingly or crisply and that definitely took me out of the match. Towards the end, things did improve. Of course, it was all spots, spots, and spots but they were a bit more impressive than earlier in the match and actually got the crowd going a bit. King is really lanky and it's like he doesn't even know it, because a lot of the stuff he tries just doesn't work for his height. Zema was fine here, he's probably the most consistent guy in the X-Division at the moment. Sonjay was a botch-monster but I enjoyed his double-stomp spot, too bad he fucked up the moonsault to the floor. Very average affair, the new rules are interesting but I don't know if I'll like the constant three way matches.

Matt Morgan vs. Joseph Park (IMPACT, 03/21/13)
This was fun, but nothing more. It's neat seeing a veteran like Park running around like an amateur, he plays it up so well. There's not a lot to this other than Morgan being a dick and not taking this seriously, but the second that Park starts to gain momentum, Morgan puts an end to it, with a botched Carbon Footprint of all things. It was great seeing the crowd get behind Park as it looked like he might actually hit the splash and get the win. There may be some replay value in this for fun over quality.

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Magnus vs. Samoa Joe (IMPACT, 03/21/13)
Fun stuff in the four-way as Joe and Magnus worked together, and Joe and Angle's interaction led to some discussion of their classics, and then Joe wiped out everyone with a suicide dive and followed it up with a huge smirk. I love Joe in main events - never thought he'd get to them again, even if it's only fleeting. Tenay put Magnus over huge as a young gun out to win the world title for the first time in his career, while Todd added that it would mean even more to take it from Bully since the Aces took him out. Loved the dueling Let's go Joe/Angle chants leading to Taz saying they were for the Aces, then one guy chanted LET'S GO DIX-IE! Rough landing for Hardy's knee on the buckle when the swanton was avoided by Magnus. Joe powered out of the ankle lock, but shoved Angle into Magnus, leading to a swanton and a win. Great finish there. Really fun match, and the show as a whole was driven by the world title, its holder, and a fairly strong line of contenders. There's definitely some replay value here.

Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr, Hernandez (IMPACT, 03/28/13)
This wasn't close to being the best encounter between these two teams, but it served it's purpose fine here. Things were a little sloppy at the start on everyone's part, which surprised me since Kaz and Daniels are usually crisp enough. The double-dive from the ramp into the ring was a neat spot that hasn't been used like that before, fair play. Chavo's FIP wasn't great but neither were the heels' concentration on the arm-work that they were doing. But still, they paced everything nicely and built up to a satisfying finish with the faces winning, despite how undeserving I see them when contrasted with Kaz and Daniels. Decent, but certainly not memorable. These two along with Roode/Aries have had that many matches now that I find it hard to tell which is which.

Kurt Angle, Eric Young, James Storm vs. DOC, Garrett Bischoff, Wes Brisco (IMPACT, 03/28/13)
I liked this quite a bit, which caught me really off guard. Angle was held in the role he suits best, as the cyborg that makes quick bursts with hot tags. That got the crowd to pop nice and big for his normal suplex shtick. Young was quite reserved here and didn't do an awful lot, but whatever he did worked fine. He was more or less the dummy for the heels to work over. Storm had a nice bit of heat going in because of the AJ segment and that worked to his advantage. Brisco was much better here than he's been in previous showings, same goes for Bischoff. They're starting to find their feet a little bit, moreso Garrett because he's working as a decent enough heel now, it must be the beard. DOC was the star of the show here, he wasn't necessarily in the ring for the longest time but whatever he did, it felt like it mattered and it looked like it hurt. Really good TV tag match, I can see some replay value in this. The crowd were dying for a match since OFN has been a lot of talking so far, and sure enough, they got one.

Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson (IMPACT, 03/28/13)
This sucked. Hardy looked motivated and ready to have a decent match but Anderson sucked the life out of everything. The only decent thing Anderson did was have a nice Alabama Slam out of a headscissors. His arm work was entirely unconvincing and it clearly didn't work too well since Hardy was able to fight him off with his other arm just fine. This didn't last too long anyway, it went about 6/7 minutes before the interference of Bischoff handing Anderson a hammer. Of course, Hardy uses the hammer and gets himself DQ'd because he's XTREME and doesn't care and shit. I don't want to see this again anytime soon. Keep Anderson to a minimum until he gets some motivation, because he's a waste of space in this role. Hardy's doing just fine though.

Magno vs. Adam Pearce (IMPACT, 04/04/13)
This was poor, quite poor. Magno's a luchador, but he's really tall and well-built so he ends up botching a lot of his stuff simply because he's too big for half of his move set. There were a few times here where I was just like "ah now Magno, really?". Pearce was decent, but I've a feeling there's much better matches in him. He didn't really do anything of note other than a decent spinebuster and steal a quick pin. One of the more forgettable Gutcheck matches, which saddens me because this had a lot more potential than what actually transpired.

Petey Williams vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Mason Andrews (IMPACT, 04/04/13)
So, this is Petey's comeback match and he easily looks the best out of the three here. Sonjay is just annoying by this stage, is he on the roster or not? He seems to come and go every so often. Mason didn't shine too good here, so I don't expect him to be back anytime soon. He's another guy that they just seem to bring in as they please. I can't name one move that I'd associate with him, whereas at least with the other two guys, I can associate certain moves with them. Petey hasn't lost a step in the past 4 years, thankfully. It's great to see him back, more Canadian Destroyers please. This was short and much better than the previous match, but it was just the Petey show. Certainly nothing I'd actively go out of my way to see again unless I was doing a Petey project or something.

Kurt Angle, Eric Young, Magnus, Samoa Joe, Joseph Park vs. Devon, DOC, Knux, Garrett Bischoff, Wes Brisco (IMPACT, 04/04/13)
Big 10-Man tag-team main event. I thought it would've been a lot more cluttered than it actually was, this worked quite well actually. Yeah, it only went around 10 minutes or so but they managed to fit in some nice babyface shine periods as well as a nice FIP from Eric Young. The heels looked a little too pussyish for my liking in the early stages but once DOC got going in the match, that all changed and the Aces' looked like the threat that they should be. He's got it all in terms of being a good heel in these sort of situations, believable offence, a bad-ass look, good psychology, I love DOC. Things did break down into the havoc that you expect in these kinda matches with everyone doing stuff at the every angle but I was fine with that since it didn't last that long. The finish was pretty neat, the Aces' needed a win and looked like absolute cunts by the final bell. Good stuff, certainly one of the better tags so far this year. I doubt TNA could've done this any better if they tried.

Chavo Guerrero Jr, Hernandez vs. Bobby Roode, Austin Aries (2/3 Falls, IMPACT, 04/11/13)
This was great in one sense and not so great in the other. The beginning of the match caught me off guard, I was loving it up until they pretty much eliminated the stipulation right away, it's like why bother making it 2/3 falls if you're gonna eliminate 2 of the falls within the first 5 minutes. But from there on out, things were pretty fucking good. Roode and Aries are such great heels and get the crowd rightly riled up. Chavo and Hernandez are in their home state and are over by default, which is no bad thing in this instance. Things flowed nicely as the heels couldn't put 'em away over and over again, some nice cutoffs too. They paced it well and built up to the finish perfectly. By the end, you felt satisfied that a job was done, and that it was done well. This wouldn't have looked out of place on a PPV, perhaps if they had PPV time they could've implemented the stipulation of the match but that's merely hypothetical talk. Certainly some good replay value here, TNA's been producing quite a few decent tag matches lately. I approve.

Rob Terry vs. Joey Ryan (IMPACT, 04/11/13)
Squaaaaaaash. This was never going to be anything else but it wasn't that bad. Terry's a beast and suits these sort of matches much more than competing in an actual contest. Ryan deserves better but there's enough people being pushed right now. Hopefully his time will come and he doesn't stay stuck in this mid-card jobber position for too long. He'd be perfect for a TV Title feud if Devon wasn't making no use of it in the Aces'. Good squash, crowd needed something to pop for and they got it. Short'n'sweet.

Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy (Full Metal Mayhem, IMPACT, 04/11/13)
Well, this was pretty fucking good as far as TV main events go. Could it have been better? Of course, without a doubt. There were a few botched spots here and there, the most awkward being when Bully broke the table just by sitting on it, talk about a gimmicked table. It didn't help that he more or less lay himself on the next table for the Swanton spot, which was a crazy spot and will probably be included in TNA highlight packages for years to come. Hardy's off his nut taking bumps like the ones he did here this long into his career, he deserves some time off but time will only tell if he actually does that. He probably won't. But yeah, a TLC match where Jeff is the one taking all the bumps and Bully is being the bad-ass heel big mouth? You'd have to be pretty stupid to fuck that up. Probably one of the highlights of 2013 on a whole for TNA, and one of the best TV matches this year.

Garrett Bischoff & Wes Brisco vs. Kurt Angle (IMPACT, 04/18/13)
I have to wonder about the safety of the Aces guys working with chains hanging off their gear. Angle stomps on Wes in the corner and invites Bischoff into the match for a further beating. Angle dominates both guys and we take a break. Back with Brisco hitting a nutshot and allowing Bischoff to take over with a suplex for two. Brisco with a corner clothesline for two and we hit the chinlock, but Angle makes the comeback and suplexes the shit out of them with a double german. Angle Slam for Bischoff gets two and he applies the anklelock while the other Aces come to ringside. “Now it’s an even fight!” notes Taz. Bischoff hits Angle with a chain and pins him at 11:00. Pretty simplistic stuff, but that’s wise with the limitations of the heels. **1/2

Kenny King vs. Zema Ion vs. Petey Williams (IMPACT, 04/18/13)
Ion gets dumped to start and the referee is wearing a camera on his head. Finally, the missing piece of the puzzle to get TNA into the big leagues! Petey quickly hits the Destroyer on King for two, but Ion breaks it up and steals a two count himself. Petey with a headscissors takedown for two, but Ion gets a neckbreaker for two. Petey cleans house, but Ion gets a jawbreaker and Petey hits King on the floor with a dive. Back in, Petey makes the mistake of messing up Ion’s hair, and a DDT gets two as a result. Moonsault hits knee and Petey gets a Sharpshooter in a nice sequence, but Kenny breaks that up and pins Ion at 5:47. Felt pretty disjointed, with mostly King on the floor. **1/2

Devon vs. Samoa Joe (IMPACT, 04/18/13)
So with Magnus out, Joe gets the shot instead, which marks the first time he’s defended the title almost since winning it. Joe attacks but Devon turns the tide with a cheapshot and goes to the chinlock, but Joe comes back with the enzuigiri. And here’s the Aces AGAIN, allowing Anderson to knock Joe out and put Devon on top for the pin at 3:30. This was nothing. ½*

James Storm vs. AJ Styles (IMPACT, 04/18/13)
Kind of surprised they brought AJ back to the ring this soon into the storyline. Storm attacks him on the ramp and tries the helicopter slam out there, but AJ escapes and beats on him in the ring. AJ with a clothesline and we take a break. Back with AJ holding a chinlock, and they slug it out, allowing Storm to make the comeback. Storm with an F5 for two and they go up, but AJ escapes a superplex and crotches him. Bad Influence comes out to cheer on AJ and they fight to the floor, but Storm gets the codebreaker on the way back into the ring. AJ blocks the superkick and rolls him up with a rolling anklelock, ala Austin’s old Hollywood and Vine hold, and Storm taps at 10:40. **3/4 Daniels and Kaz offer their congratulations, but AJ turns on them, too. And then it’s yet another Aces beatdown as AJ walks away from the whole thing. NOT BAD INFLUENCE! They’re too beautiful for that kind of treatment!