Wrestling

T.J. Perkins, who has worked for TNA in the past, was under the mask.

5.23 Impact Wrestlingby Jeff Hamlin (hamlin37@hotmail.com) Twitter: @hamlin37 The Big News: A newsworthy live show from Tampa as A.J. Styles rejected a chance to join Aces and Eights, hitting both Kurt Angle and several members of A&8 with a hammer to end the show. The story is Styles continues to be on his own side, and no one else's. The love affair between Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan may not be over, as Bully told her he still loves her on separate occasions, perhaps leading to Brooke joining Aces and Eights. Mickie James claimed the TNA Knockouts title for the first time since 2011 by defeating Velvet Sky. James Storm's mystery tag team partner for Slammiversary was revealed as the returning Gunner. And Suicide made his return after a two year absence in a victory against Joey Ryan and Petey Williams.  The company opened by wishing the very best to the victims of the tornadoes in Moore, Oklahoma. TNA almost always has its heart in the right place dealing with tragedies.  Hulk Hogan started the show with a big pop. Mike Tenay proclaimed Tampa as Hogan's hometown. He did a big speech which somehow included a mention of Shark Boy. When he got down to business, Hogan said A.J. Styles had decided to jump to Aces and Eights, "as Jeremy Borash as his witness." Sting came out, and Hogan said Sting didn't have to follow through with the stipulation that if he loses to Bully Ray at Slammiversary, he can never get a title shot again. Sting said if he couldn't take the title and the power it brings from Ray, he doesn't need to be wrestling. Has anyone ever seen an example of the power that a TNA champion supposedly holds ever wielded? Brooke Hogan came out and blamed herself for driving a wedge between herself and her father, and well as Sting and Hogan. Somehow, this led to Brooke announcing she wanted to resign as Knockouts GM. Hulk tried to talk her out of it. Ray came out and said it was his fault that Hogan didn't know how to run the company, and his fault that he stabbed Sting in the back. Ray said he blamed Brooke for making him fall for her. Ray he thinks about Brooke every night when he goes to bed, and he still loves her, and always will. He even still had his wedding ring on. Crowd went from being hot for Hogan, to being indifferent as an episode of "The Hogans" took place in the ring, but Ray's stellar heel work got them lively again. It sure did indicate a Brooke heel turn.  1. Suicide pinned Joey Ryan in a X Division three-way that also included Petey Williams in 4:02. Kenny King was on commentary. No zipline for Suicide in the arena setting upon his return. Joey Ryan just grounded this match to a halt as both Suicide as Petey Williams had to stand and wait for him as various points. Suicide and Williams looked comfortable working with each other. Williams attempted the Canadian Destroyer on Suicide, but Ryan broke it up. Suicide caught a reverse neckbreaker, then pinned Ryan after a Tiger Suplex dropped into a double knee to the crotch. ** Chris Sabin talked with James Storm about being his tag team partner at Slammiversary. Sabin said the two greatest tag teams in TNA history were The Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money, and he needed someone to beat up. Storm politely declined, saying Sabin had plenty of potential to win the X Division title and the TNA Heavyweight title on his own. Sabin said everything was cool.  Brooke got in Ray's face about what did he mean about him still loving her. Ray said he meant what he said, then walked off.  Mickie James went into Velvet Sky's locker room to make sure she was ready to compete tonight for the Knockouts championship despite her bad knee, an injury exacerbated by Gail Kim's Steel Post Figure Four. James offered to postpone the bout, but Sky wouldn't hear of it.  Sam Shaw came out for his Gut Check tournament match against Alex Silva, but Silva never came out. As Dave reported three weeks ago, Silva has been sidelined in OVW with a concussion. Instead, Wes Brisco, Garrett

Arda Ocal (@arda_ocal) of The Layfield Report and Baltimore Sun caught up with WWE Hall of Famer, 90-year-old Mae Young. In the interview, the pair talk about Vince McMahon booking her in a match against Stephanie McMahon at Wrestlemania the year of her 100th birthday, and how she exercises daily and is in terrific shape.

Straight from our Cageside Features Section, we bring you the results for our fifth CSS Pro Wrestling Championship Series of tournaments here at Cageside Seats. Our latest match-up in the first round of our tourney is complete, and so are your results. Yesterday, (Wed., May 23) our number four-seeded Doomsday Device defeated the thirteenth-seeded Pepsi Plunge by 30 votes! Thus bringing the Doomsday Device one-step closer to being crowned the Greatest Finisher of All Time. The final tally was: (Click Image to Enlarge) Be sure to vote today (Fri., May 24) as the CSSGFT continues our next first round match: (3) 3D vs. (14) Vadersault. Voting will remain open in the comments section of the new match thread from 6 a.m. ET today, right up until midnight-CT tonight -- with the results announced tomorrow (Sat., May 25). Our bracket will continue to be narrowed down by you, the Cagesiders, in order to determine which finisher CSS believes to be the Greatest Finisher of All Time.

Impact was beyond wild as they ventured into Hulk Hogan’s hometown of Tampa, Florida. The action was off the charts and surprises were around every corner. Also, would A.J. Styles join Aces and Eights? The show opened with a graphic sending thoughts and prayers out to the Oklahoma victims. It also showed how you can donate to the Red Cross. Abyss is back and a lot of people want to know what’s up. Joseph Park went berserk on D’Lo Brown to earn a future shot at Devon’s TV Title. Bully Ray then said he wanted Sting to promise that if he were to lose at Slammiversary, he will never be allowed to challenge for the TNA World title. Ken Anderson said A.J. Styles would be patched in, tonight. Hulk Hogan got a monster pop as he returned home to Tampa. Taz complained that Hulk set Impact to be in Tampa. Mike Tenay talked about the great Hiro Matsuda, as well as the Brisco Brothers. Hulk said it was great to be home. Hulk said the word out was that tonight it was going to be wild. Hulk even brought up Shark Boy. Hulk said the people around him were family. Hulk then turned his focus to A.J. Styles. Styles got booed, big time. Hulk said Styles’ defection wasn’t that big a deal. Hulk then invited Sting to join him in the ring. Sting was wearing his new shirt. I like that one. My Sting shirt is starting to wear out. Hulk told Sting that he appreciated Sting’s willingness to risk never getting a future World title shot. Hulk said it didn’t have to go down like that. Sting asked Hulk to keep things just like they are. Sting knew he needed to take the title and the power from Bully Ray. Sting said if he didn’t take it all from Bully, he wouldn’t deserve to ever be champ, again. Hulk said Sting didn’t have to risk it all. Brooke Hogan then strolled form the back. Brooke said she should take the blame for Bully Ray. Brooke said she fell in love with the jerk and drove wedges all around. Hulk told Brooke that she didn’t need to go there. Brooke said she was sick of seeing Hulk and Sting taking all the blame. Brooke was ready to resign from TNA. Hulk told her to move past Bully… Out came her “hubby”, Bully Ray. Bully didn’t know why the three of them were trying to take the blame for how things happened. Bully made it clear it was all his fault. Bully said he runs the show. Ray did blame Brooke for making Ray fall for her. Ray said he thinks about her morning and night. Ray said he still loved Brooke. Ray said he would never take off his wedding ring, because of his love. Ray then walked away as Brooke broke down. Puh-lease. It was time for another Suicide promo video. More bizarre crap. Suicide was ready to unleash his payback. This is the anniversary of a sad day in wrestling history. On May 23, 1999, Owen Hart fell to his death at a wrestling show. 14 years have passed but it still feels like yesterday that we lost a great wrestler and an even greater man. Gone…but never forgotten. Kenny King joined the announce team for the next match. Joey Ryan vs Petey Williams vs Suicide Zema Ion was supposed to fight Petey and Suicide but he is recovering from emergency surgery on his appendix. Suicide took down Joey, quickly. Flying Octopus by Suicide into a Roll Up on Petey. Petey with a flip of Suicide. Suicide with a Hurancanran. Petey with a Dropkick to Suicide’s back. Joey tried for a Dropkick but Joey put on the break. Joey with a hard throw. Joey poured oil on his chest. Ewww. Top Rope Head Scissors. Suicide with an Abdominal Stretch on Petey and an Indian Death Lock on Petey. Petey came back with a Side Russian Legsweep, which tweaked Joey’s knee. Joey took out Petey. Joey flew out of the ring. Petey with a Suicide Div on Joey. Suicide with a Cannonball Roll onto Joey. Code Breaker by Petey to Joey. Suicide pulled Petey ot the outside. Suicide with a Back Roll Roll Up to Joey. Petey charged the corner. Petey went for the Canadian Destroyer but Joey prevented it. Joey rushed the corner and Suicide with the Flying Neckbreaker. Suicide with a B

This week on Impact Wrestling, Mickie James defeated Velvet Sky to become the new TNA Knockouts Champion. James is now a 3-time Knockouts Champion, a 5-time WWE Women's Champion and a former WWE Divas Champion.

Before the second half of the Impact Wrestling taping, Shark Boy defeated Robbie E in a match filmed for Xplosion. 5/30 TNA Impact Wrestling (1) Gunner & James Storm and Chavo & Hernandez def. Bad Influence and Bobby Roode & Austin Aries in an 8-man tag team match. Gunner got the submission win over Aries with a backbreaker. (2) Sting & Joseph Park def. Bully Ray & Devon. Abyss' entrance music played at the end of the match, distracting Devon and allowing Sting to pick up the win. (3) Chris Sabin & Taryn Terrell def. Kenny King & Gail Kim. After the match, King attacked Sabin but Suicide made his way out to make the save. (4) AJ Styles vs. Ken Anderson ends in a draw. Kurt Angle interrupts the match to attack AJ Styles, but the Aces & Eights all came out for the counter-attack. Magnus, Sting and Samoa Joe come out to even the odds, but the Aces & Eights have the upper hand, with the World Title opponents brawling on the outside, to send Impact off the air.

Multiple stars returned during this week's episode of TNA Impact Wrestling as "The Cowboy" James Storm got set to announce his partner for the upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view. First, former X-Divison star Shark Boy made a surprise return, offering to partner with Storm. Secondly, former TNA Television Champion Gunner returned and attacked Shark Boy, aligning himself with "The Cowboy". Gunner has not been seen since a brief stint in October of 2012. He has since been wrestling in the OVW developmental territory, and participated in several One Night Only pay-per-view events. Assuming James Storm is in shape to compete at Slammiversary, he will team up with Gunner to face Bad Influence, Austin Aries and Bobby Roode and the TNA World Tag Team Champions, Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez.

Mickie James became a three-time Knockouts Champion tonight on Impact Wrestling. In a Knockouts Title match granted to her last week by VP of Knockouts Brooke Hogan, Mickie defeated champ Velvet Sky, taking advantage of her bad leg to earn the victory. That ups Mickie’s title reign total–including five with the WWE Women’s Title and one with the WWE Divas Title–to a whopping nine. Congratulations, Mickie! Are you happy to see the title back around Mickie’s waist?

On tonight’s Impact Wrestling, a Knockouts match was added to the card of TNA’s Slammiversary Pay-Per-View, and it promises to leave at least one woman lying. Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell, whose animosity has led to Taryn trading in her referee stripes for wrestling gear, will be facing off in a Last Knockout Standing match. This won’t be the first time the Knockouts have competed in a Last Man Standing match. At 2011′s Against All Odds, Madison Rayne successfully defended her Knockouts Title against Mickie James in a match that bore the stipulation. TNA’s Slammiversary takes place June 2nd. Are you excited to see this match?