By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Taped on 8/15 in Norfolk, Virginia.

[Q1] The opening video recapped Booby Roode's group and Tito Ortiz's heel turn…Backstage, Bully was on the phone and said last week was about him and this week was about us. He said "I love you too Brookie," and hung up. Anderson walked up and was upset Bully hadn't let anyone know about Tito. Ray said Tito was with him and he was taking care of club business. He and Tito walked off and Anderson was even more pissed…

Roode and company came to the ring. Roode congratulated him on his championship win and said the three of them would do anything to get it from him. Roode put himself over for winning 20 points last week and leaping into second place. Kazarian put himself over for winning 20 points last week as well. Daniels said tonight they complete the sweep.

Roode said they were 25 percent of the BFG series, but it would be better if they were a third. He said they needed to add one guy, and that was Austin Aries. He said Aries knew he could trust him from the times they teamed together, and that he could trust Bad Influence as well.

James Storm's music hit and he and Gunner came to the ring. Storm said Roode was hilarious for saying people could trust him. Storm said as soon as Roode was done with Kazarian and Daniels he would kick them to the curb just like he did Storm. Roode got in Storm's face and said Storm was jealous of him. Storm said since they looked like they wanted to fight he would oblige. He stripped down to his jeans and punched Roode in the face. A ref ran out and apparently we have a match…

1. Bobby Roode and Kazarian vs. James Storm and Gunner. The ref chased Daniels to the back. The babyfaces killed both heels and worked over Roode into the break…[C]

Shore's Slant: Weird opening to the show. The match just started out of nowhere and it didn't seem like they really should have had a match there.

[Q2] Back from commercial, Roode was beating up on Gunner. I just realized everyone was wrestling in jeans, but Kaz kept his shirt on. The tag belts were also lying on the apron. You know, it really is the little things that make all the difference.

Gunner got the hot tag to Storm who ran his comeback on both men. He dropped the top rope elbow on Roode and covered, but Kaz broke it up. Gunner dumped Kaz and Storm hit Closing Time. He went for the Last Call, but Roode pulled the ref in the way. Storm pulled up and kicked a returning Kaz. Earl got distracted and Roode hit a low blow on Storm. He rolled up Storm for the win…

Bobby Roode and Kazarian defeated James Storm and Gunner at 9:37.

Backstage, Aries spoke to the camera and said he was getting a mixed message form Roode and company. He said they called him out and said he could trust them but he also felt like the cost him the 20 points last week. He said he would think about it and let everyone know later in the show…[C]

Shore's Slant: An OK match and the right team won. The Aries promo was awkward. I don't know if we should get an announcement that he's thinking about it. It makes him look dopey.

[Q3] 2. Sonjay Dutt vs. Manik. The first minute occurred in the last quarter hour. Sonjay tried to attack before the bell, but Manik dodged the attack and hit a flying head scissor. The announce team hyped the change of the X Division back to singles matches. Sonjay got in a surprising amount of offense, but Manik won with his gut buster finisher…

Manik defeated Sonjay Dutt at 4:28.

Backstage, the gang asked Anderson what Bully said and Anderson said they were to take care of business tonight. He said the MEM had to know nobody would step up to help them. He said it was five on four now and it would be five on three after the night was out. Devon did his "Testify" line…[C]

Shore's Slant: X Division matches will now be singles matches, but they will still mean the same as the old triple threat matches.

3. Hernandez vs. Jay Bradley vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Joseph Park (w/Eric Young). The ramp had a number of weapons on it. Bradley and Park were taken out first. Hernandez hit his offense on Daniels and covered, but Bradley hit him with a chair. Bradley hit Hernandez a few more times and then tried to whip him to the corner where Park was. Hernandez reversed and Park hit an elbow on Bradley. They continued to brawl into the break…[C]

[Q4] Back from commercial, Kaz and Roode had come to ringside. Park put Daniels in the Boston Crab. Kaz and Roode broke it up and pulled Park from the ring. EY ran over and attacked, but they beat him down too. Bradley beat up Daniels, but Kaz pulled him from the ring. Hernandez hit his big shoulder tackle on Daniels next and ran his offense.

Aries ran in and knocked down Hernandez. He high fived Roode and Kaz, but kicked Daniels in the gut and hit the brainbuster. Kaz and Roode chased Aries to the back. Bradley hit Park with brass knuckles Park saw the blood, freaked out, and killed Bradley for the win…

Joseph Park won 20 points in the BFG series at 12:20.

Shore's Slant: Wow, they had a lot going on there. The Aries thing makes sense. The Park thing is just dumb. The points mean nothing here; though I have a bad feeling Park is in the final four. I don't know; it just hasn't been a very entertaining first hour.

Sting complained about their situation backstage. Rampage said he was going to break Tito's face. Magnus blew them off and Sting asked him what he meant. Magnus said they were the elite. He said it didn't matter what Tito did or that no one else would step up. He said they would step up. They all agreed…A video recapped the Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan storyline…

[Q5] Ray and Tito made their ring entrance. Ray asked how it felt to be suckered by him again. He did his "Do you know who I am?" gimmick and said he didn't call himself a two-time champion because he didn't recognize Sabin's win. He said now that things were right in the world, he wanted to turn to his new best friend.

He did a "Do you know who this is?" gimmick for Tito and turned the mic over. Tito rolled the mic around and said Rampage should have known they couldn't be friends as soon as they signed to fight. Ray said nobody did shock like him and he was going to prove it again. He said it was time to find out the truth and asked Brooke to come out.

Brooke Hogan's music played, but Brooke Tessmacher came out and played tonsil hockey with Ray. The kiss drew good heat. Ray said now that he had his whole group together, there was only one thing left to do. He stuck his hand out and Tessmacher sucked the wedding ring off his finger and spit it away. Ray posed with the other two to close the segment…[C]

Shore's Slant: What the hell was that? That didn't even make sense. Brooke Tessmacher has been "Brooke" this whole time? They should have just dropped the storyline instead of that. What a mess.

A video recapped the Bully Ray segment…

[Q6] 4. Gail Kim vs. ODB. ODB started fast and did the bronco buster, but Kim hit a dirty shot to take control. Kim worked over the arm and hit a shoulder breaker for two. ODB fought back and slammed Kim's face into her crotch on the top rope and Taz made a joke about Kim's nose being assaulted too. He turned it back into a physical thing but it was a little too much. ODB hit a superplex for two, but Kim hit a surprise crucifix pinfall for the win…

Gail Kim defeated ODB at 6:21.

The two teams in the ten man match were shown backstage…[C]

Shore's Slant: An OK women's match. This episode has been so weird. Other than the logic killing Brooke Tessmacher thing, nothing has been bad, just…underwhelming. It's like none of these matches matter much. The Aries thing probably had the only real weight to it and it got buried under the Joseph Park silliness. It's like nothing has been compelling. The ten-man is, so hopefully this last half hour is good.

A video showed Aries interfering in the match earlier and he cut a promo saying he didn't need anybody. He said all he needed was his God given talent…

[Q7] A video recapped how Sabin lost his title cut with comments from Sabin about losing. He complained about the gang interfering and called them a cancer on the business. He said he couldn't believe Tito did what he did. He said he would be back…

Both teams had made their entrance. Anderson introduced Bully Ray, who came out to the stage with Tito and Tessmacher. They took a seat on the stage as Anderson offered to let one of the MEM lie down for them. Sting said none of them were going to lie down, they would go out swinging. AJ Styles's music hit and he stepped out. He stared at Bully for a moment and then walked halfway down the ramp. He paused, and his music stopped suddenly. His old babyface music hit and he flipped his hood off and played to the crowd like a babyface. He was also wearing his old gear. He jumped in the ring and the match was underway…

Shore's Slant: WAT? That made absolutely no sense! Heel AJ Styles was actually very good. Now he looks bi-polar. What the hell is this company doing? Is Vince Russo back?

5. The Main Event Mafia and AJ Styles vs. Aces and Eights where the person pinned must leave TNA. The babyfaces took out all the heels and settled into the match in control. Styles was in the ring headlining into the break…

[Q8][C] Back from break, Magnus was getting beat down in the heel corner. He started to fight his way out, but Knux knocked him down. Magnus finally got the hot tag to Sting and all ten men piled into the ring. Rampage and Devon paired up and I did a victory dance. Rampage ended up in the ring and took out all of the Aces and Eights before Knux finally took him out.

Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop on Knux and locked in the Scorpion. Devon broke it up with a low blow and covered for two. That match settled back into a tag match again as Devon missed a diving head-butt. Styles got the hot tag and took out everyone. Styles hit a kick to Devon for two. The MEM just watched as Aces and Eights piled in the ring and attacked AJ. They finally jumped in and broke it up. Styles hit the Styles Clash and pinned Devon clean. He stood over Devon like the heel AJ but then went to the corner and posed for the fans…

AJ Styles and the Main Event Mafia defeated Aces and Eights at 16:28. Devon must now leave TNA..

Shore's Slant: What a mess. The match was a bit of one, but with that many men it’s hard to not have at least a small mess. The AJ storyline is as confusing as it comes. We never got a reason for the heel turn, and now we have this completely illogical babyface turn. Devon gets cut as cracks are starting to show. I'm glad they seem to have an exit strategy for this act, but it all seems rushed right now. It's just…well, a mess. Jason Powell and Will Pruett will have more tomorrow. Thanks for watching along tonight.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

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