WrestlingNerd Presents: TNA Impact Wrestling 8/15/13 Review (Hardcore Justice 2013)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at TNA Impact Wrestling 8/15/13. How does Hardcore Justice turn out? Let's find out and begin. 

BFG Series 1

We open up the show with a ladder match. Competing in the ladder match was Austin Aries, AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, and Kaz. The winner of this match wins 20 points in the BFG Series, while the losers have to pay the winner $20. The show gets started on the right track with some good action. Thanks to Kaz's new alliance, he wins the match when Christopher Daniels and Bobby Roode cause enough of a distraction for Kaz to steal the points. Based on the creation a week ago, it was apparent that these guys would get involved in this match. In fact, this wouldn't be the last appearance of these three individuals this evening. 

MEM vs Aces & Eights on a 7-day rain delay

After Dixie Carter wishes Kurt Angle the best on his rehab, Aces & Eights interrupt. I can see why Main Event Mafia didn't have Rampage wear a suit while being apart of this stable. He looks like what you see a homeless guy wear…

Anderson pokes fun at the fact the MEM are down one guy and only have a week until they find a replacement. Wait a minute, wasn't the match set for tonight? Earlier in the week, TNA reported that this match would be pushed back a week. My guess is to have a full week to think of a solution. That seems like a decent move by the company, but there's only one problem… TNA tapes their shows two at a time, meaning they're taping next week's show, tonight. Yeah, so why are they bothering waiting a week for this contest? Since TNA is trying all the can to get more viewership to their product, they put this match on hold to bring in more viewers the following week. In that sense, I can understand TNA doing this move. They need all the breaks they can catch at this point. 

Undergarments as weapons

There was a triple threat amongst the Knockouts this evening between Mickie James, ODB, and Gail Kim. Most of the action was at least passable, but it wouldn't be pro wrestling if we didn't have some bulls*** moments. I wonder how women in general feel about ODB using a bra as a weapon during this match. Yeah, you heard that right. She used a bra to choke-out Gail. Now, I like to laugh at the stupid elements that pro wrestling can give you since I'm here looking to have a little fun, but not only is this retarded, but it's insulting. Seriously, I felt unclean while watching this. It just doesn't feel right. Who's idea was this? And this isn't the first time TNA did something like this. Do I have to remind you of the Hardcore Justice 2 PPV where the ladies used hair-care products as weapons? Bad, TNA! That's a bad, BAD, TNA!!!

TNMMA

So, MEM's logic is to ask Austin Aries for help? I'm sorry, but why…and how… and what? Yeah, none of this adds up. Why exactly does Aries fit the bill? Why not Hardy or Styles or… I don't know, anybody on the roster? I don't have an issue with Aries, but saying Aries is your only hope just seems random. Is Aries this unknown messiah that we aren't aware of? Again, I don't have a problem with MEM going to Aries for help, but I just find it odd that in one meeting, the majority of MEM is saying Aries is the guy even though there's been nothing on the show to really explain/show this. It's bad AND rushed writing. I understand TNA is trying to tweak some things due to Angle being in rehab, but shooting out exposition faster than a bean product isn't the way to do it. Since TNA wants the diarrhea that is the Bully Ray/Brooke Hogan storyline to still mean something, we get a scene where Bully was on the phone with Brooke. It seems that they've been fooling everybody about this 'break-up' and might be working together…

Yeah, my feelings exactly. Due to Aries having a brain and question why MEM is going to him for help, it's time for MEM to think of another alternative. After an awkward promo from Rampage, he wants Tito Ortiz to help the MEM. Sure enough, neither Rampage or Tito could go a second without mentioning the Bellator PPV in November. In fact, why let the MMA guys have all the fun? Let's have the TNA stars also put over the Bellator PPV. I honestly forget if I'm watching a wrestling show or not. It's presumed Tito accepted the invitation, but there's more to witness. Oh boy, I just can't wait for the 'fun'. 

BFG Series 2

The other BFG match featured Mr. Anderson, Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, and Magnus competing in a Tables match. I find it funny how all the matches mapped out in a way where there wasn't two members from Bobby's stable in one match, but that's luck for you. In a decent match, Bobby wins the match thanks to Bad Influence running interference. Again, it wouldn't be pro wrestling if the referees didn't have selective vision. Seriously, he was starring right at Kaz and Daniels during all of this and did nothing. I guess Daniels paid him off with an appletini coupon. Since when did appletinis have these magical, ass-kicking, powers? I think I finally found something more hardcore than a water bottle. Nobody f***s with the appletini! That s***s too extreme for you!

What's that? You want more MMA stuff? 

Since Hardcore Justice is continuing into next week, does this make it Part 2 or Hardcore Justice 2? In fact, that really makes things confusing considering they called one of the ONO PPVs, Hardcore Justice 2. So, is next week Hardcore Justice 3? Yeah, it doesn't make any sense, but there's already a lot of other stuff to question, so f*** it, let's move on. The final match of the night was Bully vs Chris Sabin for the World Title. Once again, I completely forget that Sabin is the champion. I still secretly look at Bully as the champion, while Sabin is keeping the belt nice and shiny. This was a drastic improvement from their match a month ago. Sabin looked pretty good in this match and it was nice to see an actual contest this time around. Sabin had the victory, but those ref bumps can be a bitch. Anderson shuts the door on Sabin, but not before screaming, 'You shall not pass'. Okay, I gotta be upfront… That was pretty funny. All he needs is the Gandalf beard and the scene would be perfect. Tito and Rampage arrive to take down Anderson, but time for Tito to show his true colors. He takes out Rampage with a hammer and once Bully hits the Bully Bomb, we have a new world champion. Well, at least he's the champion once more. I did say that Sabin's world title reign wouldn't last very long and I was right to assume he would be a transitional champion. The only reason Sabin won the title was to get an increase in viewership with shock value, to make Option C important, and for all the bad luck Sabin has had the last couple of years. No offense to Sabin, but he's no world champion. He doesn't look, act, or talk the part. It made sense for Bully to reclaim the title and I have no problems in that regards. Tito stabbing Rampage in the back was something that could be regarded as predictable, but I can see how nobody would think this. Once again, TNA rushed this entire thing by not showing the transition of Tito. It was only tonight where he accepted an invitation to help MEM and an hour later, he betrays them? Why wasn't this fleshed out in the last couple of weeks? In fact, why didn't they wait this turn until next week? Since they didn't wait, I guess we have to assume an Aces & Eights member is getting the boot. After all, TNA wouldn't be stupid enough to not save this heel turn for when it would matter, would they? Well, we have to wait another week to find out. If I don't sound interested in Tito's turn, it's because I'm having a hard time getting interested in these MMA guys in TNA. I've stated that I have no problems with them being in the wrestling industry, but it doesn't feel right when you bring in other competitors from another sport to advertise another sport's PPV. If I wanted to watch MMA, I would watch MMA. I don't watch, nor do I care about MMA, so the fact I have to watch this being played out on a wrestling program is very odd to say the least. 

Overall Impression:

This is another episode of Impact that left me feeling very mixed with what I saw. While I liked tonight's matches, I really didn't like some of the segments. While the silly factors of the appletini and Anderson quoting 'Lord of the Rings' were entertaining, I had to witness a woman get choked by a bra on television. While I enjoyed the main event match, I didn't care for the main event ending. I would at least say TNA is worth a watch this week, but there are good and bad moments and this show isn't for everybody. To be fair, every show's gonna have its share of good and bad moments, so I think that has to be taken into account. I really want to be behind TNA, but it's hard for me to support them when so much of their show is dedicated to plugging another company's PPV. I have nothing against MMA stars or people who like MMA, but MMA is just not my cup of tea and I have no interest in wanting to learn more about it. The fact that I'm watching a wrestling show and I'm being forced to see all this MMA plugging just leaves an uneasy feeling inside me. I know you can make the argument that I could just skip the MMA segments, but I want to be fair and watch the whole show. I guess if you're a fan of both wrestling and MMA, you can probably enjoy these segments better than myself. As for me, it doesn't work. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls in the next one.