TNA Impact Wrestling: Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle, a Title Match and More

TNA Impact Wrestling opened with world champion Bobby Roode. He commented on how the odds are always stacked against him, but that he always overcame them.

Next week, he is going to throw a party since he’d be the longest reigning champion in company history and that brought out general manager Hulk Hogan.

He stated that next week will be Open Fight Night and that Roode would be defending his title. He set up Rob Van Dam vs. Bully Ray, Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson, a battle royal and Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe to determine possible challengers.

I felt that this was a good way to open the show. Bobby Roode was solid on the mic and I’m loving the fact that he’s about to become the longest reigning champion in company history.

Hogan didn’t drag out his promo this time, so that was certainly a plus. As long as Hogan doesn’t appear constantly throughout the night, he makes a good general manager. When he appears more than once though, it becomes a bit annoying.

This segment was his only appearance this week, so that’s a win in my book!

Bully Ray vs. Rob Van Dam

Bully Ray picked up the victory with a Diamond Cutter. I thought this was a decent  match as I expected more from two ECW alumni that know each other very well in the ring. The match was a bit slow at times as well.

I think RVD’s injuries, real or not, really dragged the match down. If he wasn’t selling his ladder match injuries, this match probably would have been longer and quite good.

I’m glad that Bully Ray won, though. The former Dudley boy has worked hard establishing his character over the past year and a half. He has become one of the best heels in the business and he deserves a run with the title.

I don’t think his reign should be for too long but he should at least be able to hold it.

Backstage, Bully Ray was angered by the Kardashians and their anti-bulling campaign. That brought in Joe Park who felt that the fire Abyss was talking about last week was Bully Ray. The bully told him to stay away and then walked off.

I’m confused—Abyss is back, but Joe Park is still around? I’m interested to see where this will go, but I don’t think it’ll be able to keep my interest for long.

And I really hope Bully Ray complaining about the Kardashians isn’t leading to them coming to TNA.

Footage was then shown of MMA Live where they talked about King Mo signing with Bellator and TNA. I’m not a huge fan of MMA, but if this helps get more exposure for TNA, I’m fine with it. I just hope that all this hype they’re giving to King Mo won’t fall flat.

Backstage, Gail Kim was with Madison Rayne complaining about having to face both Brooke Tessmacher and Velvet Sky. Madison wasn’t listening as she was thinking of her crush and she walked away. That brought in Gail’s challengers who said one of them will win the title.

I’m intrigued by who this crush is, especially since it’ll finally get her away from Gail. Hopefully TNA isn’t trying to turn Madison into A.J. Lee, though.

Battle Royal

With Madison Rayne watching from the stage, the battle royal came down to Austin Aries, A.J. Styles, Devon, Gunner and Garret Bischoff. I guess Madison’s crush is one of those five. I really hope it’s not Garret—she’s way too talented to be stuck with him.

The finish saw Styles eliminate Gunner to win the match and qualify to possibly get a shot at the title. This was your textbook battle royal that wasn’t anything too special until the final three.

That saw Aries and Styles stare each other down before going at it. The fight wasn’t long, but it was great! As far as I’m concerned, it’s destiny that those two fight over the TNA World Championship.

Even if the title’s not on the line, the feud needs to happen.

I was glad to see Styles win the match, though, as he’s way over due to get back into the title hunt.

After his victory, he grabbed a mic and tried to explain the pictures of himself with Dixie Carter. That brought out the new tag team champions Christopher Daniels and Kazarian.

They soon pulled out an iPad and revealed video of Styles and Dixie going into a hotel room. Styles then just pushed Daniels and stormed out of the ring.

This storyline just became more interesting. The highlight of this segment, though, was Daniels. His mic work was quite solid here.

Since this blackmail storyline began, Daniels has been top notch on the mic. I was never too much of a fan of his mic skills, but my eyes are starting to open.

Being a heel suits Daniels very well and I hope he remains as one for quite some time.

Backstage, Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe meet face to face. It resulted in Angle slapping him and the two starting to brawl before a bunch of the wrestlers broke it up.

Seeing Joe back in the title hunt is just great news. The title scene has been quite thin as of late as fans have seen Roode face off against the same opponent multiple times.

I don’t think he’ll win the title any time soon, but the fact that he’s back in the picture is a good thing.

Staying backstage, Mr. Anderson went over his match with Jeff Hardy at Sacrifice. The finish was close but he still won, just like he was going to do later. It was weird seeing Anderson be so calm. I don’t know if I like it.

Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy

Hardy picked up the victory with a crucifix. I thought this was a good match as both wrestlers went back and forth in the ring.

Neither of them had the clear advantage and I liked that.

With the good action and nice pace, Anderson and Hardy out on an entertaining match to watch. Since Anderson won at Sacrifice, I figured that Hardy would end up winning this, though.

Much like Hardy did at the PPV, Anderson kicked out right at three, so it leaves things open for one more match between the two.

If a King of the Mountain match doesn’t happen, I expect the rubber match between them to occur at Slammiversary.

Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky vs. Brooke Tessmacher: Knockouts Championship

Gail retained her title after stealing the pin from Velvet. This was a decent match as the Knockouts put on the typical triple threat match.

I fully expected Gail to retain her title here as losing it would have ended her reign just days before breaking the record for longest reigning Knockouts champion.

Plus seeing Velvet or Tessmacher win the title at Slammiversary would have a lot more meaning than winning the title on Impact Wrestling.

I think that either Velvet or Tessmacher will be facing Gail at the 10th anniversary show and that we will be seeing a new champion.

Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle

Angle picked up the final spot for Open Fight Night after he reversed the Muscle Buster into a sunset flip. I thought this was a great match as these wrestlers renewed their rivalry from a few years ago.

With very good back and forth action, Joe and Angle put on one of the best main events TNA has seen in a while.

Angle is still one of the best wrestlers in the business today and Joe proved that he deserves to be back in the main event. I loved his team with Magnus, but the man is a born main eventer.

While I would have preferred a Joe win here, I’m still happy that Angle. It’s been a while since Angle has been in the title picture and a Bound for Glory rematch between him and Roode would certainly be something to see.

I think some time during the summer, fans will be seeing Joe battling for the title. My guess is Hardcore Justice or maybe even Destination X if it’s not an all X-Division show again.

Either way, both Joe and Angle are back in the title hunt and it’s something to be excited about.

Overall I thought this episode of Impact Wrestling was very solid. It was filled with great wrestling, some good segments and a nice follow up of Sacrifice.

While there were a few duds during the show, the pros very much outweighed the cons.

I was worried since last week’s episode was subpar, but my worry was taken away by Sacrifice and by this episode.

The road to Slammiversary has begun and it looks like it’s going to be a hell of a ride!