IMPACT Wrestling 08/02/12

Austin Ares and Kenny King vs Zema Ion and Bobby Roode
This was a good little TV match that sets up Kenny King is on par with Zema Ion as he challenges for the X-Division title at Hardcore Justice. I wish WWE would change their TV format around more often as Impact starting off the show with a 20 minute match is a breath of fresh air in today's wrestling. It was literally 20 minutes of non-stop action, the minute Impact came on the air they were brawling in the aisle. WWE seems content to setup a big match at the beginning and becomes very predictable over time. I enjoyed the match and it did its job as King pins Ion clean after an awesome maneuver that I wish I had a name for.

 We get a recap of the Aces and 8's story so far. My problem with this group is that they need a face to really make an impact. They are very NWO-ish in nature, but the NWO had Hall, Nash and later Hogan which gave the group a solid foundation. A&8's have nobody yet. Before the break Sting promises us that he will get to the bottom of who is the leader and why. Great minds think alike no? 

Sting brought out Storm who gets interrupted by Angle. A&8's never touch Storm but the cowboy cannot be associated as it would make sense. It will surely be a convoluted road to find who is at the heart of A&8's. Storm's basic claim is that everyone knows how tough he is and are scared when he hits the ring. My guess (purely speculation of course) is that Roode is at the heart of the group and does not want anyone to touch Storm until he puts him out of action for good. Angle is fighting Storm in a BFG series match tonight and challenges A&8's to show up so he can wipe the mat with them. At least we are promised a good main event match. Sting declaims he will be ringside for this one.

I have been a huge Christopher Daniels fan for a very long time. He knows how to make his heel character believe he is doing the right thing at all times. Daniels and Kaz are throwing a baby shower for Claire in the ring tonight. Daniels pulls an Appletini from his locker which made me laugh. His claim that AJ is running from the situation by promoting Impact in Australia is a nice touch. Having one of the players in this feud out of the picture for a week gives the other time to run wild on Impact.

Bully Ray vs Robbie E- BFG Series Match
Easy win for Bully as the result of this match was never in doubt. Ray needed the points and Robbie is the jobber in the series. Bully adds himself to the ringside contingent for the main event match. 

Madison gets gifts from Earl and she says he would NEVER screw anyone in a wrestling match. I have a feeling Madison wins the #1 contendership to the Knockouts Title tonight. Gail is right to be suspicious.

Tara vs Madison Rayne vs Gail Kim vs Mickie James - #1 Contenders match
Match was very storyline driven and of course Madison prevails. Earl screws Tara after she rolls up Madison yet one of her shoulders is on the mat. Earlier Madison had a contact that needed to be replaced or dirt in her eye and apparently, in this day and age, a referee must take care of these things because Hebner was right there to assist. This screwed Gail out of a sure victory and breaks her partnership with Madison. The match was entertaining but some of the work was rough, especially from Madison. I wish Gail were still the champ as she rules.

 Roode and Ares join the frey at ringside for the main event. Might not be the great match I was hoping for, will be all storyline for sure.

I hate Brooke Hogan, she is not pro wrestling. She shows no emotion even with her father broken down in the hospital. She gets an A&8's package and she is gone. Apparently Hulk is in a bad way and we might now see him for awhile.

I love EY and his bride. They need to defend the KTT titles since they haven't in 2 months. EY takes his and runs, she want fried chicken. I love this.  

Kid Kash vs Chavo Guerrero
Kash has really hit the gym since I last saw him, he also lost a lot of hair. This was okay for what it was, Chavo showing that he can still wrestle. I wish Chavo wouldn't continually throwback to Eddie, as he used the triple super sot and the frog splash. I mean I guess it is fine as a tribute but at some point a man has to step out of the shadow of the more famous family member and stand on his own right? I am not sure if bringing Chavo back is a good move, but we will see what they do with him from here.

Dixie slightly turning on AJ is interesting, she needs him to step up and set the record straight. Dixie is now in the middle of this whole deal since AJ and Claire are at odds over what is going on. I hate to say that I am enjoying what they are doing here. It started out rough when they first brought Claire in but she has stepped up in her role and has made things interesting. We have seen much much worse in wrestling than this storyline.

Devon and little Biscoff offer their services to Angle. Whatever happened to the TV title being defended every week?

Saying all of the above about the Claire storyline, this baby shower fell flat with me. The crux of the whole thing is to get AJ to do the right thing which I assume means accept and support the new baby. Why Kaz and Daniels care, besides shaming the Styles clean name, is beyond me. The crowd was very apathetic towards this segment.

 I love Joseph Park but have no idea where this is going.  

James Storm vs Kurt Angle -BFG Series match
This match was exactly what I thought it would be and that is a pedestrian match where everyone is concerned when the A&8's would show. It turns out they do not show and Roode points the finger at Storm. The crowd was dead in this match which absolutely did not help things, Storm overcomes the injured ankle and superkicks his way to victory. If anything happened after this my DVR cut it off. Usually Impact does not overrun its two hour time slot.

Over the last few months I have really enjoyed Impact and this show was no exception even if not a lot was accomplished. Hopefully things will pick up with Thursdays show.

An introduction

Hello, my name is Alex and I go by Brisco on the DVDVR message board. I have loved Pro Wrestling since the age of 5 when viewing The Rockers and The Ultimate Warrior on WWF Superstars got me hooked. I have a nice collection of DVD's and complete sets from which to write about. I also have a subscription to Classics on Demand which fills in gaps of WWE programming I missed pre-1987 and post 2002. Furthermore I use dailymotion and YouTube to fill in any gaps or break the WWE stronghold on my wrestling viewing.

 I do not give a play by play but provide a summary of thoughts for each match or segment. I used to be a technical wrestling only smart fan, but have really broadened my horizons in the last few years realizing even the bad can have a place in the pro wrestling world. There are times I make giant lists of match rankings if I feel the need to keep up with such. I am not the foremost expert on wrestling, just a fan blogging about my favorite sport in my little corner of the Internet. Thank you for reading and welcome to the Brisco Wrestling Blog.