WrestlingNerd Presents: TNA Hardcore Justice 2012 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Hardcore Justice 2012. Would Aces and Eights invade the PPV? Let's find out and start the review. 

Match #1: Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez vs Kid Kash and Garbage Man

We open up with Chavo's match. We aren't even two minutes into this match, and we already see the Three Amigos. I thought they were pack this one away early, but Garbage Man Gunner isn't getting a big enough paycheck, so we have to keep the match going. I really didn't like the flow to this match. It just seemed to drag after a while. Yeah, I'm sure TNA's first impression for this PPV didn't want to be 'sleepy'. The finish comes when Chavo hits the Frog Splash on Kash for the victory. A quick rivalry for Chavo to go over. I expect them to either continue this tag team, or have Chavo move on to bigger fish. As for Kash and Gunner….Do you really care? 

Winner via pinfall: Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez

Match #2: RVD vs Magnus vs Anderson; Falls Count Anywhere match (BFG Series)

Pope was scheduled to be in this match, but was taken out by Aces and Eights. Okay, Pope was doing nothing in the BFG Series, so taking him out makes sense, but keeping him in the BFG Series is just pointless. In fact, what I would like to see be done with the BFG Series is have a cutoff point/eliminations. By taking people out of the series, you can then get those guys to focus on separate storylines, while the BFG Series gets more exciting since you're separating the weak and keeping the strong. The match was okay, but I really couldn't get into this match. I think it's because this was the one BFG match that didn't seem that important. TNA even knew this since they put this match on early and turned this into a Triple Threat by taking out a nobody…..

Ohhh, I wish. Hey, somebody give Magnus a f***ing chair!!! That was probably the most hardcore thing I saw out of the whole evening. Magnus is awesome. RVD, give Magnus that f***ing chair!!! RVD wins this match with the Van Daminator. With the victory, RVD jumps up to 55 points and is now in second place. I guess assholes are not allowed to gain 20 points tonight. Now, where's my damn chair? Yeah, I'm having too much fun with this. 

Winner: RVD

Match #3: Devon vs Kaz; TV Championship

Because the IWC complained about no TV title matches on a weekly basis, you get one tonight. Oh……goodie? We get to see…….Devonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Wait, why did people complain about this again? Devon wins with the Spinebuster, yada yada. Not even sure why this made it on the card. I guess somebody in the creative staff lost a bet, so this is what you get. What a cruel punishment. 

Winner via zzzzzzzzzzzz and still TV Champion: Devon

Match #4: Tessmacher vs Madison Rayne; KO Championship

Oh, the adventures of Viagra Land. Also known as Earl Hebner. This match didn't last long. The finish comes when Tessmacher pins Madison, but Madison's leg was on the rope. Tessmacher complains about the call, which leads to Madison getting a rollup on Tessmacher. Madison used the ropes, but Earl didn't 'see' the call. We have a new KO champ. Based on the current storyline, this made the most sense. Besides, I didn't think that Tessmacher was a good KO champion. Madison has always been a very underrated talent for this company. Her KO title reigns have been some of the best, so I think this move might make the division more exciting. And let's be honest here, the division can use a spark. Hopefully, Madison can provide that spark once more. 

Winner via blue pills and NEW KO Champion: Madison Rayne

Match #5: Bully Ray vs James Storm vs Jeff Hardy vs Robbie E; Tables match (BFG Series)

Bully Ray once again cuts an awesome promo. Bully might be my favorite character on this show. Hardy's face-paint is going to give me nightmares. His eyes remind me of the evil baby from Twilight Princess. And because I want to give you nightmares, STARE AT IT……

This was the first match to make me pay attention to the PPV, but there was a lot of shenanigans with this match. Aces and Eights shows up, which makes Bully takes his eyes off the ball. This leads to Storm coming back, so the match continues. Once Bully is taken out by Storm, As & 8s leave. Again, more theories to support that Storm is running the stable. The stable returned to distract Hardy as well. See, even they are freaked out by the evil eyes of Hardy's paint. Storm's about to win it, but Bully gets back in the match. The finish comes when Bully powerbombs Hardy through the table. Yeah, this match had a few issues/distractions, but I enjoyed it for what it was worth. With the victory, Bully is now up to fourth place in the standings. 

Winner: Bully Ray

Match #6: Zema Ion vs Kenny King; X Division Title

This was a pretty fun match. The finish comes when Zema hits a great counter for the victory. Zema is still new as champion, so it made sense for him to get the victory. Plus, I still think they will be going with Zema/Jesse Sorensen when Sorensen comes back from injury. I guess Kenny isn't KING tonight. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe.

Winner via pinfall and still X Division Champion: Zema Ion

Match #7: Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels; Ladder match (BFG Series)

I don't know about you, but I always find it funny where the object on top of a ladder isn't a world title or briefcase. It's four grown men fighting to claim a clipboard. It's pretty funny when you think about it. This was a good match to watch. The finish comes when Joe knocks Kurt off the ladder. That's when Styles *WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* springboards his way to the ladder and swipes the points. I found it a bit odd that Styles won this match, considering that he was so far behind in the standings. He now sits at seventh place at 36 points, meaning he earned more points tonight than the past two months. Now, I think they can try this 'overcoming adversity' deal involving Styles, but I highly doubt it. Something tells me that this Claire Lynch thing will keep Styles tied up for a couple months. To be fair, Joe or Kurt winning would give them a lead, so maybe they don't want those guys to lead the pack?  Then again, what the hell would I know. 

Winner: AJ Styles

Match #8: Austin Aries vs Bobby Roode; TNA World Title

This was the match of the night. This might have been better than the match they had at Destination X. It almost makes me sad that this was billed as the final title match between the two. That is a crime of itself since these two are putting on some great matches. I don't care if you have to blow logic in the ass, I want to see a rematch involving some type of gimmick. It would be silly NOT to do this. The finish comes when a second ref gets involved in this match. After Roode hit a superplex on A Double, we have a scene where both referees made separate three counts. Yeah, so we appear to have a tie. Earl Hebner comes out, listens to both referees, and decides to restart the match. This spot could give us that rematch for the next PPV, but I personally would've been fine if the match ended with the tie. As long as it tells a good story, I'm fine with things ending in some controversy. Anyway, the match gets restarted and Aries get taken out with the championship belt. I love how three referees clearly saw this, but did nothing. Roode pins Aries, but still kicks out. While Bobby is arguing the call, Aries get a rollup for the victory. I hope that we get a rematch between the two, but that's mainly because Aries getting a new challenge would be silly since we are in the middle of the BFG Series, and Bobby is still the strongest contender for the title. I know the storyline stats that this was the final match, but the hell with it. THE HELL WITH IT, I say!!! If there's no rematch on the way, I guess we have to look at Aries going into BFG as the champion. 

Winner via pinfall and still TNA World Champion: Austin Aries

Overall Impression:

As you can tell, I had a hard time getting into the show. A lot of the early matches just weren't exciting and some of them fell flat. Now, I'm not saying they were bad matches. In fact, some of these matches can be considered good, but I personally couldn't get excited for it. I actually went back and watched this PPV a second time. I still felt that while most of these matches can be considered good, it isn't what I would call a monumental PPV. Personally, I thought the last two matches made the PPV worth checking out, but I can see some people not 'in love' with this PPV at the same time. I good chunk of the early matches just didn't grab my attention, so I almost didn't care until we got to the tables match. I would check out some of the matches, but I think fanboys are making this PPV bigger than what it's worth. Some people can be disappointed with Aces and Eights actions tonight, but I don't expect this to be revealed until BFG, so I guess keeping their actions small was the best way to go. Speaking of which, anybody thinking that Bully Ray could be controlling the stable? I think it would be interesting to say the least. If I have to give this PPV a score on a scale of 1-10 and 5 considered average, I would give this a 6 out of 10. I would call this a slightly above average showing, but it was totally made up by the final two matches. If it weren't for those matches, I would call it a below average PPV. To be fair, the final 2-3 matches tend to determine if any PPV is worth it or not. TNA delivers a fair evening, but I expect a little more with PPV. This felt like an episode of Impact in multiple ways. Another thing about the PPV I didn't like was the name of the PPV. I talked about this with last year's Hardcore Justice, but why call it 'hardcore' when you don't really live up to the name? That would be like creating a Super Mario game and NOT put Mario in the game. They did utilize the concept, but I felt they could've done more with it. Then again, I'm not really big on hardcore wrestling so……whatever. That's gonna do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Oh, TNA fans are gonna hate me more than ever. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. If you enjoyed any of my random thoughts, check out some of my other articles. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show. See you next time. 

WrestlingNerd's Official Score of TNA Hardcore Justice 2012: 6 out of 10