Welcome to this week's TNA Review, unfortunately one day late due to an epic six-and-a-half hour game of Risk (for anybody interested, I won). But, let's get down to business, as quite a great deal is expected to occur this week in the build-up to the Lockdown PPV. As the show is emanating once again from the Impact Zone following their British vacation, we will probably see the re-emergence of the World Champion Jeff Hardy, who was absent throughout the whole tour due to injury and his poor criminal record. What will he have to say about the injuries that he sustained at the hands of Aces & Eights four weeks prior, and also about the new threat to his World Championship in the form of Bully Ray-Hogan. Speaking of Bully Ray, he was subjected to witnessing his father-in-law, General Manager Hulk Hogan, and his mentor and hero Sting fall victim to brutal assaults by the Aces & Eights crew, whilst his new wife Brooke Hogan was forced to agonisingly look on. Will Ray's focus be torn tonight between the nefarious leather-clad gang, or on his opponent in two weeks' time? Furthermore, with Lethal Lockdown around the corner, will Sting be in any condition to determine the other four members of his team to battle against the Aces & Eights, and will Sting even be able to compete following the beating he took on last week's show? All this and more should be witnessed in this edition of TNA Impact Wrestling, so let's get to the reviewing.
"Real Men Don't Drink Appletinis"
http://youtu.be/2ZAEhoIUAPc The show begins once again with a promo, as Bully Ray is the first superstar to make his return to the Impact Zone, and immediately you can tell the anger that the events of the last few months, and last week in particular, have brought out in him. He lists off the actions of the Aces & Eights in their attempts to eliminate members of the Impact Wrestling roster, as well as the personal misfortune he has suffered through their actions. Bully states that as soon as he gets his hands on the Aces & Eights, and Devon especially, he is going to ensure that he will never step into a wrestling ring again. Whilst this promo has virtually been the same for months, Bully appears to be lacking some deep passion in his delivery, which kind of stunted the effectiveness of this speech for me. After his threats to the gang, Bully concludes by calling out the World Champion Jeff Hardy so they could discuss matters at hand, and the Impact Zone comes to life to cheer the returning Charismatic Enigma. With the Champion in the ring, Bully begins to discuss their history and how it appears odd that they will be competing against one another for the World Championship. But Bully then follows on by suggesting he was named Number One Contender due to his family ties to Hogan, and questions whether it is right that he should be fighting for the title at Lockdown with so many other hungry challengers in the wings. Hardy responds by reiterating the events of their past, especially the epic TLC matches between 2000 and 2002. He uses that to justify the epic nature of this upcoming match, and that he knows that Bully is the rightful challenger for the title. This little love-in brings out the team of Christopher Daniels and Kazarian, who are obviously sickened by what they are seeing unfold in the ring. Kazarian chastises Bully for being chosen for the title shot due to his family ties, not by earning the shot in a match (which is odd because Daniels lost his qualifying match to Magnus). He then goes on to insult the relationship of Bully and Brooke Hogan, and their constant exposure on Twitter. Daniels then takes the microphone, his Appletini already in the other hand, and states that the only person less deserving of the main event match at Lockdown is "Jefferson" Hardy. They decide to challenge the pair to a match against a pair of real men, and Bully responds by drinking Daniels' Appletini, before spitting it back into the glass and spraying it in the Fallen Angel's face. That brings about a brawl between the four men, which leaves Bully and Hardy left standing at the conclusion. These pairs will settle the rest of their issues later in the main event. (As an additional, can I just say how happy I am that Tazz is away from the commentary booth for the moment. Hopefully this lasts the rest of the show, or preferably until the end of his contract).