BRM Reviews the 5/31/2012 Impact

[Big Red Machine]

LUMBERJACK MATCH: Sting vs. Bobby Roode- 6.75/10
Oh boy. Roode just botched the flip over the turnbuckle and landed on his head. He’s okay, but this is not off to a good start….
Holy sh*t. This match is actually good. They are making great use of the gimmick!

The problem with having Sting win here is that now Sting deserves a title shot... which Hogan gives him at Slammiversary. It makes sense, but I really don’t want to see it. It is more of the same old crap from TNA. Sting comes in to save us from the heel champ at the big show. We got it with Jeff Hardy last year, and we used to get it every damn year at Bound For Glory.

MADISON RAYNE BACKSTAGE- it is what it is.

BULLY RAY & JOSEPH PARK SEGMENT- moronic and does nothing. Maybe this would be palatable if we hadn’t just seen Abyss a few weeks ago, but now that we have, this is just dumb. And to make matters worse, this results in a match between the two at Slammiversary.

TNA X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH: Austin Aries(c) vs. Chris Sabin- 5.75/10
The planted crowd didn’t even pop for the Cradle Shock

TAZ & HOGAN BACKSTAGE- eh, but at least Flair is gone from the Gut Check segment, which is great news.

GUT CHECK SEGMENT- not very good. Even worse, the things they are saying (such as talking about whether or not Joey Ryan was being “real”) really kill any chance of a anyone with a non-generic gimmick getting one of these contracts. It also calls into serious kayfabe question how it is that EY and Madison Rayne have jobs in TNA.

DIXIE ANNOUNCERS THE TNA HALL OF FAME- good.

DIXIE CARTER INTRODUCES BROOKE HOGAN- Dixie says that Brooke “has a passion for what we do.” You know, most people with the opportunities that Brooke would have had who have such a passion for wrestling BECOME WRESTLERS, rather than failed singers/TV stars. Tenay tries to talk up Brooke as being a big deal in the entertainment industry, which made me do a spit take.

Dixie rambles on about “girl power” and how much she loves the Knockouts. Well, Dixie, if you love them so much, maybe you should pay them enough to support themselves on just the job they do for your company.

DANIELS AND KAZ BACKSTAGE- they ask the same question that I was asking myself: How could Dixie not mention the AJ thing. This makes it seem like she is just plain unaware.

TNA TV TITLE MATCH: Devon vs. Jeff Hardy- 3/10
The Robbies run in again and are again taken out by the two babyfaces.
During this match, Tenay tells us that after this match, we will be hearing from James Storm. Does TNA not think that the first televised appearance of your top babyface in a whole month is something that deserves hype?

JAMES STORM PROMO/ VIDEOPACKAGE- great

DOES JOEY RYAN GET A CONTRACT- Prichard says “no” but doesn’t give a reason. Al Snow says “yes” (after a lame attempt at a swerve). Joey Ryan cut an awesome promo. Taz the buries the promo and Joey Ryan. Joey’s points were dead on. 87% of fans voted for him. The fans in the arena were chanting his name. Alex Silva had none of these things, but TNA gave him a contract… and Joey Ryan doesn’t get one? This just makes TNA look ridiculous. As Joey said, they don’t seem to be anywhere near as in touch with their fans as they claim. Prichard gave no reason at all. Taz just said “I didn’t like your promo.” That illustrates how dumb this concept is. They are judging someone based on ONE PROMO?

Later on, during the AJ-Daniels match (because that is when you should be talking about this) Taz says that he didn’t think that Joey Ryan had the “legs” to make it on the road. Prichard had said that Joey had been wrestling on the indies for twelve years. How can you possibly say that he doesn’t have the legs for the road?

BOBBY ROODE IN ENGLAND VIDEO- why are they playing footage where a crowd of people is cheering their top heel?

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. AJ STYLES- 7/10
Daniels got pinned by a non-finisher. The aftermath was eh, but at least it built towards Slammiversary.

KAZ AND DANIELS' “EVIDENCE”- yeah this sounds like they are planning a surprise party for Dixie’s husband. Dixie goes insane and orders them to cut to black (luckily for TNA, this happened exactly at the time the show was supposed to end). This has been going on for a month and Dixie hasn’t done anything about it, but now that the least incriminating piece of evidence possible comes out, she goes nuts?

Overall a much better episode of Impact than we usually get in the ring, but I hated most of the other stuff.

[cero2k]

DOES JOEY RYAN GET A CONTRACT- Prichard says “no” but doesn’t give a reason.

i took as Prichard had said no because even with the 12 yr, he had never made it big nor heard of him

[Big Red Machine]

DOES JOEY RYAN GET A CONTRACT- Prichard says “no” but doesn’t give a reason.

i took as Prichard had said no because even with the 12 yr, he had never made it big nor heard of him

Which defeats the purpose of Gut Check, which is to find lesser-known guys. It doesn't make any sense as grounds to reject someone. "Because I've never heard of you, therefore you aren't good enough"

[cero2k]

DOES JOEY RYAN GET A CONTRACT- Prichard says “no” but doesn’t give a reason.

i took as Prichard had said no because even with the 12 yr, he had never made it big nor heard of him

Which defeats the purpose of Gut Check, which is to find lesser-known guys. It doesn't make any sense as grounds to reject someone. Because I've never heard of you, therefore you aren't good enough?

same thing i thought, i mean, are they expecting arn anderson to gut check!?