TNA HARDCORE JUSTICE 2012

TNA's pay-per-view on August 12 was a good, entertaining show. Whilst not at the same level as the top TNA shows from the last few months, it featured some solid storyline advancement and a couple of very good matches.

The main story coming out of the show was that Austin Aries retained his TNA World heavyweight title, defeating Bobby Roode in a very good, drama-laden encounter that took several twists and turns before the finish. Roode - driven by a desire to prove that Aries' title victory over him the previous month was a fluke - was aggressive throughout. Aries missed with a 450o splash off the top, and this led to the first of two referee bumps, when Roode collided with the official. A second referee ran in, only to be bumped by Aries.

The champion then gave Roode a suplex off the top rope, and when they landed on the mat, each man cradled the other, and the two referees counted the fall simultaneously. The bell rang, with one referee claiming Roode had won, whilst the other insisted Aries was victorious. Senior official Earl Hebner ordered the match to be restarted, and Aries then missed a suicide dive to the outside. When he kicked out of Roode's pin attempt, however, Roode was incredulous. Seconds later, this emotion became even more pronounced, when Aries rolled him up to score the pinfall win out of nowhere. As per the pre-match stipulation, this was Roode's final shot at Aries' title, with no re-match scheduled between the two.

The show was paced by three Bound For Glory Series matches, where each winner would earn 20 points. The first saw Rob Van Dam defeat Mr Anderson and Magnus in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere match. The bout was originally scheduled to be a four-way, adding "Pope" D'Angelo Dinero, but he was shown being jumped backstage by Aces & Eights, eliminating him from competing. The finish of this match saw Magnus grab a chair from the crowd (after much struggle, due to a couple of uncooperative fans), only for Van Dam to use a Van Daminator on him at the top of the ramp, grabbing the pinfall win.

Aces & Eights' second appearance of the night came during Bully Ray's victory over James Storm, Jeff Hardy and Robbie E in a Tables match. After an early botched move, where Ray accidentally went through the edge of a table (Mike Tenay and Taz were at pains to point out a wrestler must put his opponent through the whole table to win), the match developed into a fine affair. Ray was about to put Storm through a table when Aces & Eights showed up and distracted him at ringside. Storm then superkicked Ray, as the on-looking gang gave "The Cowboy" a thumbs up before backing away. Seconds later, Ray had recovered enough to powerbomb Hardy through a table to earn himself the 20 points.
REACH FOR THE SKY Arguably the match of the night was the third Bound For Glory Series contest - a Ladder match with a contract held high above the ring. AJ Styles overcame his recent Claire Lynch worries to retrieve the document first, beating Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels to the draw. At one point, Angle and Joe engaged in a "Can you top this?" battle of moves, each giving Daniels various suplexes from their repertoire. After that, they trapped the virtually unconscious Daniels between the rungs of a ladder, and climbed either side simultaneously in a race to retrieve the contract, only for Styles to springboard off the ropes, land on the ladder, and scamper up quickly to grab it before Joe could do likewise.

In other matches, Zema Ion retained his X-Division title over Kenny King in a decent contest. Devon also held onto his TV title, overcoming Kazarian in another solid encounter. One title change on the show saw Madison Rayne dethrone Miss Tessmacher for the Knockouts championship. The controversial finish saw Earl Hebner miss Rayne holding onto the ropes during her pinfall attempt on Tessmacher, leaving fans wondering if he was being biased towards the Knockout who'd shown him so much attention.

In an entertaining opener to the show, Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Hernandez overcame Kid Kash and Gunner, after Hernandez delivered a top-rope tope onto Gunner outside the ring, and Guerrero pinned Kash after a top-rope frog-splash.

Results
Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Hernandez def. Kid Kash & Gunner (Pinfall / 9:36) - Rob Van Dam def. Mr Anderson & Magnus (Pinfall / 9:04 / BFG Series: Falls Count Anywhere match) - D-Von def. Kazarian (Pinfall / 8:30 / TNA TV championship) - Madison Rayne def. Miss Tessmacher (Pinfall / 5:30 / TNA Knockouts championship) - Bully Ray def. James Storm, Jeff Hardy & Robbie E. (Pinfall / 13:45 / BFG Series: Tables match) - Zema Ion def. Kenny King (Pinfall / 11:06 / TNA X-Division championship) - AJ Styles def. Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels (Retrieved a contract / 16:21 / BFG Series: Ladder match) - Austin Aries def. Bobby Roode (Pinfall / 24:36 / TNA World Heavyweight championship)