2012 Discussion

Discuss Impact Wrestling in 2012.

AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode - iMPACT 05/24/12
This was really good actually, a lot better than I'd expected for some reason. I wasn't a big fan of their two PPV matches at the tail end of last year but this one felt a lot different. You've got the really neat dynamic of Roode needing to win to be crowned the longest reigning champion in TNA history and then you've got AJ who currently holds that record, takes pride in it, and would love to have the title back. So yeah, great little setting. It's executed nicely too and they play up both guys knowing eachother so well from the Fortune days. Couple of nice counters here and there, tidy armwork, can't complain really. I thought it was a great little touch that Roode clamped on a crossface a second after getting a nearfall, not giving AJ any time to breathe. Little things like that always tick my boxes. In an ideal world, I'd love to have seen the match without the two commercial breaks but whatever. Roode's celebration afterwards with his confetti flown in from Canada and bottles of champers was top notch.

***3/4

Rob Van Dam vs. Magnus - iMPACT 08/09/12 (BFG Series)
Yeah, this was too short to really become anything memorable. These guys don't appear to have the best of chemistry either. Magnus has a good look, and normally he comes across much more charismatic than this. His offence is normally better too, he looked a little lost besides the crossbody/suplex spot. I don't know what was up with him here. RVD didn't exactly have to do much, but what he did do was pretty average. Forgettable match, shame.

Daniels & Kazarian vs. Devon & Garrett Bischoff - iMAPCT 08/09/12
This is the same TV tag-match that everyone's seen a million times. Devon/Garrett probably got a little bit too much offence in on the champs, especially Garrett. I feel like Kaz and Daniels shouldn't even have to resort to dirty tactics to beat these jobbers. The match wasn't even 5 minutes long, these short matches could get old quick. The best part of this was Daniels thrusting the air after beating Devon.

AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle - iMPACT 08/09/12 (BFG Series)
Well, this was something. I actually enjoyed this more than their match back at Sacrifice. I didn't appreciate the lack of context in the early going as they went to a commercial right after the bell and we were never told/shown what happened. However, that annoyance soon faded away. The match feels like it was lacking a nice legthy middle section to REALLY develop but for a TV match, this was more than fine. The nearfalls came a plenty here but I didn't mind. Infact, I expected it. It is Styles/Angle after all. This is certainly a "SPOTZ" match but that's perfect for me right now, I just want to sit back and be entertained without having to analyse a whole lot. Both guys had the crowd in the palm of their hands. They went out, sang the hits and sent the crowd home happy. On a side note, it's refreshing to see Kurt actually win with the Angle Slam for once.

Bully Ray vs. James Storm - iMPACT 08/09/12 (BFG Series)
There wasn't a whole lot to this, but the chemistry is there. These guys have had that many matches that they've got a routine down by now. Bully's size was really put across here as Storm had trouble getting him off his feet. Storm didn't really seem to find his flow until the end, but that flow was cut short since it's a short match. Bully's offence was all really impressive, it'd be shocking if TNA doesn't make every effort to re-sign him. The Bully Bomb, Urinagi and Bully Cutter are all credible finishers. He's worked so hard in the past year and a half, he actually deserves a run at the top by now. Whether or not that'll come is hard to tell, but I'd have no complaints with him winning the BFG series.

AJ Styles vs. Daniels & Kazarian - iMPACT 03/01/12
A fine little contest but this wasn't a whole lot more than storyline progression. AJ's control segments were good, his attack before the bell was a little out of character considering the feud wasn't THAT personal yet. But Daniels had a single fit of offence and it was was way more engaging. His punches are really unique, I don't think he's done them like that before. The constant distractions from Kazarian left you waiting for his interference, rather than being invested in the match. Daniels spitting on AJ was probably the highlight of this, the crowd was like 'Ohhhh, no he didn't!!!'. A handicap match might've worked better but I suppose the gauntlet stipulataion played nicely into creating possible dissention between Daniels and Kaz.

James Storm vs. Rob Van Dam - iMPACT 08/30/12 (BFG Series)
I quite liked this. I can't recall these two having too many matches but there's certainly some nice chemistry going on here. There was never any clear-cut leader and things were pretty much 50/50 all the way through. Storm's pretty athletic here too, or maybe I'm only noticing that since he's in there with the human slinky himself. There's been complaints of RVD lacking motivation whilst in TNA, but he seemed on-game here. The finish was really neat-looking, TNA are doing a good job these days with regards to coming up with unique finishes.

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe - iMPACT 08/30/12 (BFG Series)
This was good, real good. When these two are together, it's pretty hard to go wrong. Joe was just an absolute beast here, that kick on the outside was just vicious. This is the Samoa Joe that I've missed for a long time and it's only now that he's been showing a resurgance in these past few months. AJ was real good here, obviously he took the majority of the bumps because well, it's just not believable that AJ could dominate a man of Joe's size for an entire match. He does get his shots in though, like he would target the arm in order to build upto his armbar finish because that's seemingly the only submission he knows. There was plenty of signs of familiarity between these two that they played off a little bit and the additional points for winning by submission certainly added to this dynamic. Something fresh just.

Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle - iMPACT 08/30/12
This was just real typical of these two. The match starts out well and feels like a big deal because the stakes are high. Only one of these two can progress in the BFG Series and this decides it. So with a good competitive start, things begin to unfold and before we know it, the match has gone full-on power move extravaganza. Okay, maybe that's a bit over the top. It's more like any psychology that was there, was immediately chucked out the window. Which kinda works here I guess because they're there to score a win and what's a better way to do that than busting out all your big moves. Hardy was just responsible for it here, whereas Angle the usual culprit, was relatively on-point. It's more of a match where you'd need to sit there and just enjoy it for what it is rather than analysing it, because once the magnifying glasses come out, flaws are excruciatingly evident. Still a good TV-style main event in itself.

Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode, Bully Ray - 09/27/12
For a 10/11 minute tag, this was pretty nifty. Hardy and Aries are incredibly over, and the iMPACT Zone is actually providing a decent crowd for once. The pairing of Roode and Ray brought me back to the beginning of the year where they were an alliance of sorts, if you could even call it that, but either way, they teamed pretty regularly. As for the match, this is your typical TV tag with two FIP's. Aries one is considerably stronger, but that's expected. It feels like Roode is just there, and he's a spot dummy for a lot of the match. But Ray? RAY! He doesn't do AS much but what he does is really strong, badass, believable, the guy is a fucking Bully. The chemistry between Ray and Aries is undeniable and there were glimpses of it here, just in small doses though. Hardy does annoy me with his ring work a lot of the time, but he did what was required of him here, make the crowd hot and pop, simple as. I won't watch it ever again, but I'm happy I did.

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm - 11/15/12
Yeah, this was good and all, but fuck me, the crowd is absolutely DEAD. It just goes to show the difference between these taped and live shows. Storm looked like an idiot for even putting his chance on the line, let alone losing it. Roode centres all of his offence on Storm's arm/shoulder area and it built up nicely to the crossface. Storm has a few comebacks here and there but he's getting his ass kicked for a lot of the match. Their BFG match was so much better than this, Storm looked like a million bucks in that. Here, he looks like a sack of shit. I would've preferred if the arm/shoulder work came into the finish a little more rather than a bare turnbuckle shot to the head, but that's just a minor complaint. I'm happy enough with Roode being in the title hunt again.

Bobby Roode vs. AJ Styles - 11/08/12
This was a nice contrast in styles, no pun intended. AJ's fast paced methods vs. Roode's slow and methodical stylings made for an interesting bout. I liked how they worked a lot of the match around how Roode studies tapes and knows his opponent's weaknesses. He makes some great use of the top rope too. There's plenty of instances here where Roode dodges stuff that AJ would hit 99% of the time. Although Styles still manages to get the Pele over nicely, time and time again, with the idea of it can hit you anytime, anywhere. But at the same time, Roode won't fall for the same trick twice. A lot of the match, it feels like they're evens stevens. Once again, much like their 05/24 match, Styles gets too easily distracted and it costs him the match. Great stuff, definitely worth a re-watch down the line.

Chavo Guerrero, Hernandez, Samoa Joe vs. Daniels, Kazarian, Magnus - 11/08/12
This was a real fun little tag match, a great way to spend 10ish minutes. Yeah, it's one of THOSE matches with two FIP sequences but it comes across better than usual here. All 6 of these guys appear to mesh well together, never thought I'd say that about Hernandez but I suppose his best matches generally involve Daniels (LAX/Staniels series in 2006). Kaz and Daniels were born to tag together, Hernandez and Chavo are starting to mesh well together whereas a few weeks ago they felt like a random Mexican pairing. Magnus getting the win on Joe means a lot, especially for him. He was looking like a bitch in this feud, but that gives him a much needed bit of momentum without taking any from Joe due to the style of the win. Enjoyable shizz right here.

Jeff Hardy vs. Robbie E - 11/01/12
Basic enough match but a lot of fun at the same time. Robbie E is still bragging about those 5 points he earned off Hardy during the BFG Series, it's crazy. There's all of his usual shenanigans here, some interference from Robbie T too, but there was never a chance in hell of him winning. Hardy is fresh off his title win, and this was pretty much just an excuse to get another 'W' on the cards for him. The post-match Aries/Hardy promo was real good, quick and to the point. Hardy's suddenly gotten 10x more over in the space of a few weeks than he's been all year. I don't get it.

Kurt Angle vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Daniels - 09/27/12
This entire match just felt like a finishing stretch. Some dissension was created at the beginning of the match, and as soon as the other tag-partners were thrown out, things just went fucking haywire. Big move after big move after big move, not just from Angle either. It made the match more of a popcorn fun sort of affair more than anything, which was disappointing since I got a sort of Smackdown-6 feel from these three teams. Oh well! Won't be rewatching this.

Austin Aries vs. Joey Ryan - 05/24/12
As far as Gutcheck matches go, this wasn't too bad. Ryan was never expected to win, but he got a nice bit of offence in, certainly more than I would've imagined. Aries was on a roll coming in here match-quality wise, but this sort of dwindled that a little bit. There's some unique stuff like Aries tugging on Ryan's chest hair to gain an advantage, but there's also a lot of mistakes from Ryan that bring the match down a bit. I'm not the biggest fan of his Ron Burgundy-esque character, but it's certainly not the worst gimmick out there. This was a routine win for Aries, he doesn't bust out anything too fancy and lets Ryan get his shit in. Both guys can do better, but it's certainly not the worst effort.

Austin Aries, James Storm vs. Bully Ray, Bobby Roode - 03/29/12
Yeah, this was great. Fucking great storytelling going on between Aries/Ray and Roode/Storm. Best part of the entire match was Aries' elbows on Bully proceeded by Bully annihilating Aries with a single boot. However, the rest of the time, Bully runs from Aries pretty much. Roode? He's scared shitless of Storm and does anything within his power to avoid him. Aries FIP is bossy and Storm's hot-tag gets a super-duper reaction. Tenay and Taz did a good job here actually, putting over just how hot Storm and how hated Roode is to the extent that even Bully doesn't wanna tag with him. Too bad this didn't close the show, Hogan just HAD to accept the GM role in place of a ME.

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy - 04/05/12
Jeff dominates the early going as Angle nasty a couple of sore looking bumps to the head, Angle actually gets busted open from the top of the head, the hard way. Ouch. There's a little continuation before the break of Angle cutting off Hardy every time he gets some momentum going. All of Hardy's offence is focused on the bloody head of Angle, who gets more fired up as time goes on. Angle goes into RAGE MODE and tosses Hardy about like a rag doll for a while and uses nice heel tactics to prevent a Swanton occuring. Hardy gets some great heat as the match goes on and just as it reaches it's maximum, Angle ditches the match. Great way to get Angle some heel heat, as this leads to their cage match with the idea that Kurt won't be able to just get fed up and walk out. I love goofy heel Angle. Great stuff, the match was missing a decent middle portion but as far as TV preview matches goes, this was top stuff.

AJ Styles vs. James Storm - 04/05/12
This was good, real good. Right from the outset, they already put over how dangerous the Superkick is. Both guys show their familiarity by dodging eachothers moves. Neat stuff, really. I love little things like this, where familiarity plays such a factor that we don't end up seeing a routine match. It's like both guys have to bust out that little something extra to bag a win. Neither guy gets a clear distinctive lead at any point, which gives this a nice competitive feel. The whole match is pretty much revolving around whether or not Styles can avoid the Superkick, Styles tries to be smart by working the leg at certain points and busting out kicks of his own, but it's all useless as the unpredictability of the Superkick strikes AJ right in the mouth. A real pretty finish to an excellent match. 8 minute matches rarely get better than this. Definitely essential watching for Impact in 2012.

Austin Aries vs. Daniels - 04/12/12
Wow, this reminded me so much of a better era in the X-Division. A Daniels/Aries feud would rock the world. There's an undeniable chemistry between these two guys and a PPV match could potentially steal the show. There's a super-fast pace like you'd expect and things are a little more 50/50 than most Aries matches during his X-Title reign. Aries actually busts out some stuff that I hadn't seen him do in TNA by this point and only a couple of times since. Daniels was Daniels, quality like you'd expect. Really good stuff, but there's only so much I can say about such a short match.

AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray - 04/12/12
This was another case where time wasn't on their side, but what was there was quality. Again, there's some sweet chemistry here. Bully dominates like you'd expect and is a right prick, AJ provides some nice fire to his hope spots. Unfortunately, the ending was terribly predictable with Bischoff throwing a chain in to Bully Ray. It's too bad that happened because it really brought down the match a few notches, had it not occurred and gotten a few extra minutes without any Garrett Bischoff bullshit, this might be remembered a whole lot better. Either way, it's not essential viewing, far from it really. I doubt they'll ever top their LMS anyway so any future matches they have are always gonna look inferior.

AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle (Impact, 04/19/12)
Before the break, both guys get a bit of offence in and they go to the commercial as both guys are down. However, after the break AJ is firing on all cylinders. Daniels is distracting him with an envelope at ringside which costs him the match. Really simple formula, good guy looks great but gets distracted so the other guy wins. AJ bumped nicely here for Angle, he landed awkwardly on the floor a few times. I don't quite know if Angle is heel or babyface here, he's getting babyface reactions but acting like a tweener. It's all very confusing since I've been FF'ing through all of these episodes. Nice match for 6 minutes all the same.

Bully Ray vs. Devon (TV Title, 04/26/12)
This was the first ever match on Open Fight Night and it's a great way to start it. On paper, this looks quite dull. But it's anything but. Both of these guys know each other like the back of their hand, so their chemistry is obvious. Bully is such a great heel, between trying to decline the match, showboating with the title he hasn't won yet and spitting gum, he's a fucking heat magnet. Devon automatically gets over for this match at least by default because of Bully's good work. The match itself is actually really entertaining, nothing too long either, probably just under the 10 minute mark. Bully gets a little colour and gives Devon his best match in years. DAT CUTTER is a thing of beauty. The finish came out of the blue and brought a nice unpredictable end to a sleeper hit.

Samoa Joe, Magnus vs. Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson (Impact, 04/26/12)
This may as well have been a handicap match without Anderson because he did sweet fuck all to contribute towards anything here. I get what they're trying to do here with all the 'I hate you but we're partners tonight' shtick, but Hardy and Anderson aren't the best guys to do it with. It feels like they're only being paired together because they tagged a few times 2 years ago. Joe/Magnus work great together, I love them as a team and wish they lasted longer. Hardy puts in a good effort here and sticks to his formula that he knows works. Anderson's so shit that the only notable thing he does here is tap out. The team work between Magnus and Joe for the finish was lovely. An okay match, certainly could've been worse but Anderson needs to look at where he's at.

Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy (Impact, 05/03/12)
This started well, but kind of just fell flat on it's feet within a few minutes. Hardy had some nice momentum going, but once the ball was in RVD's park, things got a little sloppy for my liking. Hardy's sell isn't the best and RVD looked like he was phoning it in. It's not like he's normally motivated these days but he usually meshes well with Hardy regardless. In fairness, they don't have an awful lot of time to work with, I don't even think they reached the 5 minute mark. Brian Hebner's LEAP was great at the end, it's as if he was about to run over. The finish was weak, Hardy got hit with the title....so RVD finishes with a plain kick to the chin? I dunno, I guess I would've at least liked a Frog Splash. RVD's too lazy to even frog-splash these days? Apparently so. Forgettable match.

Samoa Joe vs. Mike Knox (Impact, 12/27/12)
This was a plain 2-minute squash special but I do like how it looks like they're finally getting a move on with this storyline and actually showing some progression. I don't think Knox even gets anything in here, but Joe looks like a monster during the match. After the match, he looks like a dummy for not just unmasking the fucker when he had to chance but it's clear that they're saving that for the next show. Not a whole lot of this one folks.

Rob Van Dam vs. Christian York (Impact, 12/27/12)
This was just sloppy as fuck, or at least RVD was. York wasn't too bad, but it's hard to assemble something decent when you've got an over the hill RVD pre-gaming more than usual. Most annoying thing about all of this was Tazz bullying Kennely on commentary simply for knowing the names of York's moves. What a fucking douche. York looks valiant in defeat once again but it's getting ridiculous now, the guy needs a win already.

Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode (Impact, 12/27/12)
It's not often that you get a heel/heel match, especially of this calibur. TNA's 2012 actually has been of such good quality that even on their final show of the year, I'm still getting match that make me re-think a potential TV MOTY list. This was just too entertaining for it's own good, a whole lotta cheating, so much so that Guerrero's ghost would be proud. The entire match is based around these two guys trying to out-cheat eachother, with the ref getting more and more furious each time. It gets to the point where they just take out of the ref and still go at it. Brilliant stuff, especially from a storytelling standpoint. I could watch this stuff all day long, Roode and Aries are probably the best two workers in the company right now. No joke.

Kurt Angle vs. Devon (Impact, 12/20/12)
This was not very good as Angle is pretty beat up and Devon is a wretched singles wrestler and really can’t carry the load on his own. It is really not his fault as he is a good support player and great tag wrestler, but man once he was revealed as one Aces and Eights well the whole angle has died a slow death not that this whole angle was all that exciting. I mean people were expecting a big reveal at BFG thinking it was a great heel like Bully Ray as the Aces leader, but instead we got a surprise and man did it underwhelm that night and continues to. Devon beating a beat up Angle who was taken out last week and with outside interference does nothing for anyone. Angle really needs to take the next few months off and possibly come back at Lockdown. Angle is both banged up and really stale.

Samoa Joe vs. Devon (Impact, 12/06/12)
An ok match while it lasted. I didn't really expect much out of this and, all in all, I don't think we got much. You had to know that the overall ending of the match was coming. I was expecting interference to pop up at anytime and I figured it'd happen sooner rather than later. Joe locks Devon, or half way locks him, in the rear naked choke when a blonde chick in short shorts jumps up onto the apron and distracts the ref. DOC comes up from behind and slams the hammer into Joe's back, and Joe knocked out by that. Devon makes the cover and scores the win at the 3 minute mark. Devon is the new TNA Television Champion. As I said, ok for what it was but, no matter what, it's generally hard to get excited about 3 minute title matches and Devon really sucks.

Chavo Guerrero, Hernandez vs. Robbie E, Robbie T (Impact, 12/06/12)
Pretty basic warm up tag team match for Chavo & Hernandez heading into Sunday. TNA does try, to some degree, to make the Robs seem like a threat but it just never really happens. The match ends at the 4 minute mark with Chavo hitting the Frog Splash on Robbie E. After the match, they get jumped by Matt Morgan & Joey Ryan. I personally don't really see the chemistry with Ryan & Morgan. Ryan has charisma but this current porn star type of character just makes me look at him as Val Venis lite, especially with all the lame penis jokes.

Kurt Angle vs. DOC (Impact, 12/06/12)
Pretty decent 5.5 minute match. I thought Angle & DOC had a pretty solid back & forth match going on and they put some good action into the match. Angle hit a lot of his signature stuff, including the multiple German suplexes, and DOC got in a pretty decent amount of offense himself. The predicted ending came when Angle pulls down the straps of his singlet and puts DOC in the ankle lock. Aces & Eights run in and cause the DQ. Garett Bischoff & Wes Brisco slowly walk towards the ring as it's surrounded but Samoa Joe hits the ring quickly. Angle gets on the mic & challenges Aces & Eights to an eight man tag at FR.

Kenny King vs. Kid Kash vs. Zema Ion (Impact, 12/06/12)
This was an insanely fast spotfest. There was absolutely no story being told here but there were some exciting spots. All in all, pretty much a signature X Division triple threat match. The match went to about the 5.5 minute mark with Kenny King scoring the win over Zema Ion after hitting what he calls the Royal Flush. So I'm guessing he gets RVD at the ppv. These sort of matches are a nice way to turn your brain off but, for me, they don't do shit about making you care about any of the wrestlers involved.