Hardcore Justice on August 12th, 2012
Opening Match: Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez vs. Kid Kash and Gunner
Kash and Gunner attack before the opening bell. Chavo hits rolling suplexes on Kash and goes up top. Gunner crotches him on the top rope. Kash and Gunner isolate Chavo until he takes down Kash with a lariat and makes the tag. Hernandez pounces Kash across the ring and does the same to Gunner. He hits a dominator on Kash and connects with a double clothesline. Hernandez follows with a dive to the floor onto Gunner. Chavo lands a frog splash onto Kash for the win at 9:37. This felt like an Impact match as Kash and Gunner were given absolutely no offense down the stretch. However, the crowd was vocal for the action, which helped out this opener in a huge way. **½
Match #2: Falls Count Anywhere: Rob Van Dam vs. D’Angelo Dinero vs. Magnus vs. Mr. Anderson
The winner will receive twenty points in the Bound for Glory series. Aces and Eights attack Dinero backstage before he can make his entrance, so we now have a triple threat match for the time being. RVD kicks Anderson in the face and monkey flips Magnus across the ring. He kicks Magnus to the floor. Anderson knocks RVD off the apron and into the guardrail. Magnus and Anderson brawl around ringside. Anderson ducks a chair shot but gets slammed onto the chair. They brawl on the entrance ramp and RVD reenters the picture. RVD throws a chair at Magnus and hits a guillotine leg drop from the stage onto Anderson. Magnus traps RVD in a boston crab on the entrance ramp. Anderson breaks up the hold. In the ring, Magnus and Anderson connect with clotheslines at the same time. RVD gets crotched on the top rope. They have to abort a tower of doom spot since Anderson slipped off the middle rope. RVD lands the five-star frog splash onto Anderson for a nearfall. Magnus pulls RVD out of the ring and suplexes him onto the entrance ramp. Magnus cusses and pushes a fan while looking for a chair. RVD lays him out with a Van Daminator for the victory at 9:02. While the match fell apart in the final two minutes, the majority of this contest featured some fun hardcore spots. They did an excellent job of incorporating the stipulation and this probably should have been the opener all things considered. **¾
Match #3: TNA Television Title: Devon © vs. Kazarian
Kazarian scored a pinfall on Devon, so now he’s getting a title shot. It’s amazing how that works. Devon slingshots Kazarian into the ring and stops him from running away. Kazarian attempts a dive from the ring steps, but Devon catches him and slams him onto the floor. In the ring, Kazarian takes over until Devon spears him. Devon hits a neckbreaker and connects with a headbutt. Kazarian finds life with a chinbreaker but falls victim to a nasty neckbreaker. Kazarian reverses a uranagi into a crucifix for a two count. Devon escapes Fade to Black and hits a spinebuster to retain his title at 8:31. Kazarian gave Devon a solid little match here and this was a harmless eight minutes of professional wrestling. Since the match itself made sense and showcased a championship, I don’t mind TNA adding this contest to the pay per view. **¼
Match #4: TNA Knockouts Title: Miss Tessmacher © vs. Madison Rayne
Earl Hebner is the referee and he supposedly has a crush on Rayne. This will not end well. Tessmacher tries a few quick pin attempts to no avail. Rayne connects with a clothesline and takes control. Tessmacher comes back with a barrage of strikes. She hits a facebuster out of the corner and follows with a flying elbow drop. Rayne sneaks in a rollup while holding the ropes for leverage to become the new Knockouts Champion at 5:27. Of course, Hebner didn’t see Rayne using the ropes. If you didn’t see that finish coming, you haven’t been watching the Knockouts Division for the past three years. For the amount of praise that TNA has received lately, none of it is due to the Knockouts. *
Match #5: Tables Match: Bully Ray vs. James Storm vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Robbie E
The winner will receive twenty points in the Bound for Glory series. Ray is extremely paranoid about Aces and Eights showing up due to Storm being involved in this match. Everyone gets a shot in on Robbie. Ray clotheslines Storm and Hardy. He teases an alliance with Robbie and then attacks him. Robbie saves Ray from being suplexed through a table. Ray soon returns the favor by saving Robbie from getting powerbombed through a table. Storm hits a lungblower on Ray. Hardy prevents Robbie from irish whipping Storm through a propped table. Hardy sets Robbie on a table at ringside and goes to the top rope. Robbie T appears at ringside, so Hardy dives onto him instead. That was extremely illogical. Robbie misses a flying elbow drop and crashes through the table at ringside. Ray looks to put Storm through a table, but Aces and Eights appear at ringside. Storm connects with a superkick on Ray and Aces and Eights cheer him. Hardy connects with a slingshot dropkick on Storm and lands Whisper in the Wind. He sets Storm on a table but Aces and Eights distract him. Ray throws Storm to the outside and powerbombs Hardy through the table for the win at 13:39. This match told a good story, but the in-ring quality was sacrificed in the process. I don’t like the argument that Aces and Eights didn’t take away from the action because their interference didn’t directly lead to the finish. They influenced the match in a substantial way along with Robbie T’s illogical run-in. If anything, Storm’s possible allegiance to Aces and Eights was the most worthwhile thing to take away from this match. **½
Match #6: X-Division Title: Zema Ion © vs. Kenny King
King drop toe holds Ion and transitions into a side headlock. He tries a few quick pin attempts to no avail. Ion successfully anticipates a dive but King fires back with a dive from the apron. Ion blocks a springboard maneuver and lands a dive of his own. He hits a neckbreaker in the ring and takes control. King comes back with a spin kick and an exploder into the turnbuckles. He lands a dive to the floor and adds a springboard blockbuster. King applies a half crab but Ion goes to the eyes to escape. Ion avoids an enzuigiri and elevates King into a facebuster. They battle on the middle rope but no one can pull off a move. King connects with an enzuigiri and sneaks in a small package for a nearfall. Ion reverses a rollup into a gory slam to retain his title at 11:07. This very much felt like an X-Division Title match from 2005 as (a) it didn’t open the show and (b) Ion didn’t have to resort to cheating to retain his title. While the match could have been given more time, its place on the card and Ion’s clean victory are a step in the right direction. ***
Match #7: Ladder Match: Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles
The winner will receive twenty points in the Bound for Glory series. Styles immediately attacks Daniels. Angle and Joe join in on the fun. Daniels attempts a springboard moonsault but Joe simply side-steps it and hits a senton. Styles takes out Joe and Daniels with a plancha. Daniels blindsides him with a ladder shot and starts directing traffic. Joe lays out Daniels with a uranagi onto a ladder. Styles connects with a dropkick on Joe but falls victim to a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Angle. Daniels low blows Angle with the ladder and throws him to the floor. Joe hits a bucklebomb on Daniels, who sells it like he just got shot. Angle stops Joe from climbing and hits an overhead suplex. Styles throws a ladder at Angle and catches Joe with a pele kick. Joe responds with a dive to the floor onto Styles. Angle belly to belly suplexes Joe onto the floor but falls victim to a DDT from Daniels. In the ring, Joe overhead suplexes Daniels into the turnbuckles and gets Styles in a Muscle Buster position. Angle german suplexes Joe and Styles just kind of falls onto his face. That probably sounded better on paper. Daniels hits an STO on Angle. He tries to climb but Angle traps him in the ankle lock. Styles connects with a springboard forearm on Daniels. Styles climbs a ladder but Daniels tips it and Styles falls to the floor. Joe and Angle take turns suplexing Daniels. They stuff Daniels in between the rungs of a ladder. Angle and Joe fight at the top of two ladders. Styles quickly springboards onto a ladder and grabs the contract for the victory at 16:23. That might have been the most believable finish to a ladder match that I’ve ever seen. There were a lot of well-executed exchanges throughout the course of this contest and almost everything that they tried panned out. There was a legitimate feeling that anyone could walk away with the win, making the surprise finish more rewarding. It may be true that they didn’t need the ladder stipulation, but they did some fun things with it. ***½
Match #8: TNA World Title: Austin Aries © vs. Robert Roode
Aries will not have a rematch clause if he loses the title in this match. Aries locks in an early Last Chancery but Roode reaches the bottom rope. Aries connects with the IED. Roode barely escapes a brainbuster and thinks about walking away. Aries takes him out with a plancha. Roode avoids a top rope double axe handle and Aries collides with the guardrail. Roode takes control with a slingshot suplex in the ring. Aries hits a stunner out of the corner and connects with a lariat. Roode runs away from the heat-seeking missile but Aries is now able to land his top rope double axe handle. Aries lays in an IED on the floor and applies the Last Chancery in the ring. Roode goes to the eyes to escape the hold. Aries locks in a crossface but Roode innovatively backbreakers out of the hold. Roode synchs in a crossface of his own but Aries reaches the bottom rope. Aries connects with a missile dropkick and an IED. Roode surprises him with a spinebuster They battle on the middle rope and Roode gets sent to the canvas. Aries finds knees on a 450 splash. Roode inadvertently spears the referee. He’s able to spear Aries and a new referee comes out to count the nearfall. The new referee gets taken out as well. Aries punts Roode in the head and hits a brainbuster for a nearfall. Roode crotches Aries on the top rope and hits a superplex. They end up in a double pinning position and both referees choose a different winner. After some confusion, the match is restarted. Roode blocks the heat-seeking missile with a belt shot and no one calls for a disqualification. Only three referees saw it. Roode rolls a limp Aries into the ring. Aries sneaks in a quick rollup to retain his title at 26:33. These two have excellent chemistry together. Aries overwhelming Roode early on only for Roode to take advantage of his over-aggression was a tremendous way to start the match. Everything was going along smoothly until the referee bumps. I cannot think of one good reason why the restart needed to happen. While we can commend TNA for not ending the pay per view on a double pinfall, the rollup finish still felt unnecessary. Due to the overbooking, I slightly prefer their outing last month at Destination X. ***½
Overall: I should start off by saying that there was nothing on this show that annoyed me. Everything pretty much made sense and the undercard was easy to get through barring the usual Knockouts ordeal. The three best matches on the card closed out the show. Zema Ion showed that he’s starting to settle in as X-Division champion, the ladder match was as entertaining as you’d expect, and the main event delivered despite some overbooking. If anything is clear from this show and Destination X, it’s that TNA is moving in the right direction. For the time being, that’s all we can ask from them. I wouldn’t advise anyone shell out the money for the replay, but I think a DVD purchase sounds about right for Hardcore Justice.