TNA Impact Wrestling Report
May 17, 2012
Taped in Orlando, Fla.
Report by Scott Turner, PWTorch contributor

[Q1] A video package recapped Abyss’s return, A.J Styles’s secret being revealed, and Bobby Roode’s victory over Rob Van Dam at Sacrifice. The narrator stated the path to Slammiversary begins now.

Roode came out to the ring and said time-after-time he had the odds stacked against him, and that every time he overcame them. He drove home the point that he beat RVD in his own match, the ladder match. Roode built up RVD, calling him Mr. Pay-Per-View, but said he was still better than him. He reminded everyone that in a week he would be the longest reigning Impact Wrestling champion, and that he would be throwing a party for himself under the moniker of “the it factor’s celebration of domination.”

With that in mind, Roode said he had to call out Hogan, and told him to get his “a**” out there. Hogan came out as Roode laid out a list of demands for his party next week that included five bottles of champagne, color specific M&M’s, and confetti from Canada. Hogan cut him off and praised Roode for giving the company direction after winning the Impact Wrestling title. He ripped up Roode’s list of party demands, and told him that next week he would be defending his title as part of Open Fight Night.

Hogan said he held a poll in the back to see who would want to step up to challenge Roode, and asked that the participants in the poll come out, which included the whole Impact Wrestling roster. He announced RVD vs. Bully Ray, Anderson vs. Hardy, Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle, and a battle royale to qualify for a shot to be number one contender for Open Fight Night.

Turner Reax: I was relieved to hear Roode acknowledge that he beat RVD in a match tailor made for him, the ladder match. Being that it was arguably Roode’s first credible title defense, it was important to put a spotlight on the victory. Maybe I missed it, but I’m not sure what is going to happen to winners of the tonight’s number one contender qualifying matches. All in all, that was a strong opening segment where Roode and Hogan played well off each other.

An ad hyped A.J. Styles speaking about last week’s drama surrounding his pictures with Dixie Carter, a three-way Knockouts Title match, King Mo’s TNA signing, and the match between RVD and Bully Ray.

[Commercial Break]

[Q2] A video recapped Abyss returning last week and warning his brother to back-off before he got burned...

1 -- BULLY RAY vs. ROB VAN DAM -- Open Fight Night qualifying match

As the match started, Ray beckoned for the referee to check on the banged up RVD, presumably in case of any foreign weapons being hidden under RVD’s bandages. Ray focused on RVD’s taped-up elbow, but not for long, as RVD came back with a few kicks and a Rolling Thunder for a two count.

RVD missed an enziguri, which allowed Ray to capitalize on RVD’s injured knee. Ray missed a splash, which allowed Van Dam to come back with a series of clotheslines. He went for the side kick off the top rope, but missed which allowed Ray to capitalize with the 3D for the win.

WINNER: Bully Ray via pinfall at 3:22 to qualify for Open Fight Night

Turner Reax: Good match that was given a storyline out for its short length. RVD should be banged up from his hard-hitting ladder match at Sacrifice, making all the bandages a nice touch. Seriously, for anyone who missed Sacrifice, seek out RVD’s ladder botch.

The announcers played up Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe’s epic rivalry and showed footage of King Mo as the show cut to commercials.

[Commercial Break]

[Q3] Backstage, Ray said he was upset about the Kardashians jumping on the anti-bullying campaign. Joseph Park came into the picture and questioned whether Ray was the fire that Abyss warned to stay away from. Ray told Park to stay away from him.

Tenay and Taz introduced a King Mo video package. The video replayed Bjorn Rebny, Carter, and Mo’s appearance on last week’s edition of MMA Uncensored Live. They talked about Mo signing with both Impact Wrestling and Bellator.

Backstage, Kim and Rayne teased tension between each other, and played into the idea that Rayne was caught up on a love interest. Rayne left, and Kim ran into Tessmacher and Sky. They confronted her about cheating to beat both of them in their respective matches.

Austin Aries made his way to the ring as part of the Open Fight Night qualifying series, presumably for the battle royal. Before anyone else could come out, the show cut to a break.

[Commercial Break]

2 -- X Division champion AUSTIN ARIES vs. ERIC YOUNG vs. ODB vs. ROBBIE E. vs. ROBBIE T. vs. GUNNER vs. GARETT BISCHOFF vs. A.J. STYLES vs. MAGNUS vs. DEVON -- Battle Royal -- Open Fight Night qualifying match

ODB, Young, and Crimson were all eliminated in one fell swoop when the momentum of Young and ODB’s tandem clothesline led all three of them to fall out of the ring. Taz brought up Crimson’s undefeated streak, and questioned whether it was in jeopardy due to him being eliminated. Magnus was thrown to the outside, but hung onto the ropes before being kicked off and eliminated.

Madison Rayne came out to the stage twirling her hair, looking on in admiration. In the midst of trying to eliminate Bischoff, Robbie T. was blindsided and eliminated by Robbie E. Devon came up from behind and threw Robbie E. out to Robbie T. as the show went to a commercial break.

[Commercial Break]

[Q4] They came back to Styles, Devon, Bischoff, Gunner, and Aries left in the match. Devon elminated himself when he missed a flying shoulder tackle on Bischoff, who held the top rope down to allow Devon to fly over it. Before he could celebrate, Styles grabbed Bischoff and threw him over the top tope.

Aries and Styles met face-to-face and started to square off, which led to an exciting exchange of counters between the two. Gunner took advantage of the situation and eliminated Aries, but was shortly eliminated by Styles thereafter for the victory.

WINNER: A.J. Styles via over the top rope elimination at 11:05 to qualify for Open Fight Night

Turner Reax: Standard battle royal match with a lot of punches with the exception being the exchange between Aries and Styles. I’m okay with Styles winning, but I was really hoping they would pull the trigger on Aries and at least give off the perception that he belongs in the heavyweight division. Tonight would have been the perfect night to follow up on a stellar platform for him to launch off that was created at Sacrifice.

[Commercial Break]

A video package recapped Daniels and Kazarian revealing the controversial photos of Styles and Carter together.

Back in ring, Styles told Hogan that if he put him in the ring with Roode, then he would win the World Title.

[Q5] Styles brought up the pictures of him and Carter. He said things are not always as they seem, and given the nature of the photos that he understood how things got misconstrued. Kazarian and Daniels came out and said that the whole situation has never been about ruining anyone’s life, and wanted to know what the deal was with the pictures.

Styles tried to deny any funny business, but Daniels cut him off. He said they might have misconstrued the pictures, but that that is why video was created. The video showed Carter and Styles arm-in-arm at a hotel. Daniels wanted him to explain why they walked into a hotel room together. Styles blew up and left the ring as Daniels continued to antagonize him.

Turner Reax: I don’t know what happened, but Daniels has suddenly turned into one of the great talkers of today. Maybe it is because now he has a purpose, and some direction beyond his confounding Fallen Angel character, but all I know is I like it.

A video recapped the history between Joe and Angle highlighting key moments throughout the course of their historic feud.

Backstage, Joe and Angle jawed off at each other until Angle told him it was about who made the first move, in reference to the headbutt Angle gave him when he first met him, and slapped him in the face. Joe retaliated with a series of strikes until the a few wrestlers broke it up.

Anderson was shown talking about the video he was watching being controversial, teasing he was viewing the footage of Styles and Carter, but it turned out to be the awkward pinfall victory he got on Hardy at Sacrifice. He said he was going to qualify for Open Fight Night and win the World Heavyweight Title.

[Commercial Break]

[Q6]

3 -- MR. ANDERSON vs. JEFF HARDY -- Open Fight Night qualifying match

Anderson and Hardy started the match out with a bit of a feeling-out process. They eventually made their way to the corner and exchanged shoulder thrusts into each other’s guts. Anderson eventually got the best of Hardy with a headlock and clothesline for a two count. Anderson caught Hardy on the ring apron, but Hardy came back with a dropkick over the top rope for a two count.

Anderson hit a quick neckbreaker for another two count. Hardy hit Anderson with a chopblock that sent both men down. He hit a Russian leg sweep, but before he could capitalize was rolled up for a two count. Anderson tried to throw Hardy into the corner, but was met with a Whisper in the Wind. Hardy tried to follow up with the Twist of Fate, but Anderson countered with an attempted Pittsburgh Plunge that turned into Hardy holding on to get the fluky pinfall for the victory.

WINNER: Jeff Hardy via pinfall at 6:00.

Turner Reax: Fun back and forth match that continued the story of of there being no clean win in the current Hardy and Anderson feud.

An ad hyped the match between Joe and Angle for later on in the night.

[Commercial Break]

A video aired recapping Joe’s victory over Angle at Lockdown 2008 to win the Heavyweight Title, before hyping their match later in the night.

[Q7]

4 -- TNA Knockouts champion GAIL KIM vs. VELVET SKY vs. BROOKE TESSMACHER -- three-way Knockouts Title match

Sky and Tessmacher both went straight for Kim as the champ tried to leave the ring several times. Before they got too chummy, Sky and Tessmacher squared off with Sky getting a quick roll-up for a two count.

Kim got back into the match by pulling Rayne to the outside and clotheslining Tessmacher. She kept Sky at bay, and continued to beat on Tessmacher with a backbreaker. Kim put Tessmacher in a Boston Crab, and Sky joined in and put Kim in a Dragon Sleeper as she held onto her respective submission hold.

Tessmacher and Sky exchanged counters before being met with a double missile dropkick from Kim. Tessmacher reversed Kim’s Eat Defeat, but was caught by Sky with In Yo Face. Kim threw Sky out before she could capitalize and pinned Tessmacher for the win.

WINNER: Gail Kim via pinfall at 4:37 to retain the Knockouts Title.

Turner Reax:I feel like they should have saved this match for Victory Road, but it’s not like I’m distressed about getting it on television. I can’t think of a logical next opponent for Kim so I can see them continuing on with either Tessmacher, Sky, or both.

The announcers once again hyped Angle vs. Joe, up next.

[Commercial Break]

An extended ad for Slammiversary aired before the announcers recapped the happenings of the three Open Fight Night qualifying matches from earlier in the night.

[Q8]

5 -- SAMOA JOE vs. KURT ANGLE -- Open Fight Night qualifying match

Joe quickly got Angle in the corner and took him down after a series of punches. Angle rolled out of the ring to regain his bearings. Back in the ring, Angle caught Joe with a double-leg take down, but Joe was able to get up and land a few shoulder tackles and a kneedrop for a two count. Joe ran at Angle, but was caught with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Roode came out as the show went to a commercial break.

[Commercial Break]

Roode joined Tenay and Taz at announcer’s booth as the show came back from break. In the ring, Angle was stomping on Joe in the corner. He hit him with a suplex and followed up with a sleeper and an elbow strike for a weak pin attempt. Joe hit Angle with a big boot and a back body senton for a two count.

Angle came back with a trio German suplexes and signaled for the Angle Slam. Joe and Angle exchanged signature moves until Angle finally hit the Angle Slam for a close two count. Angle tried to lock in the ankle lock, but Joe eventually kicked him off. Joe went for the Musclebuster, but Angle countered with a sunset flip for the win.

WINNER: Kurt Angle via pinfall at 12:23.

Roode and Angle gawked at each from afar as all the qualifiers for Open Fight Night made their way out to close the show.

Turner Reax: Good match, but it was far from the classics they have delivered in the past. That being said, it was a good television main event, and an enjoyable, small taste of the classic feud that was Joe vs. Angle.

By the end of the show, I thought TNA left viewers confused about the wrestlers that qualify for Open Fight Night. Are they going to have a match to decide which one gets to face Roode, is Hogan going to pick one of them, or are they going to have a five-way match with Roode? Nonetheless, I enjoyed this edition of Impact more than most, and for the most part it delivered in the ring, and on the mic. Thanks again for reading and see you next week.

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