TNA Impact Wrestling
March 7th, 2013
A graphic mourning the loss of Paul Bearer is shown to kick off tonight's show.
A camera man finds Kurt Angle walking into the building, and asks him who the VP of the Aces & Eights is. Angle says that our problem is no longer an Impact Wrestling issue, but something that's going to effect all of TNA. He promises to reveal the VP later on tonight, and walks off with the mask he stole last week.
Austin Aries hits the ring and says that there's no better way to kick of Impact Wrestling than with greatness. Once again he says he can't find Bobby Roode, further teasing him as one of the few guys missing last week, when the VP of Aces & Eights was discovered. Aries complains about nobody appreciating him, and being disrespected by Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy. He calls out Hardy, and challenges him to a match right here and now.
(1) Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries
Aries attacks the World Champion on the outside as he greets the fans, and rolls him inside the ring to start the match. Austin completely controls Hardy until Jeff fires out of the corners with big right hands, backing Aries into the opposite corner and delivering a ten-count of strikes with some help from the Impact Zone. Following a commercial break, both men trade blows in the center of the ring until Hardy tries for a roll-up; Aries slides out of it and dropkicks the champion in the face.
Austin Aries once again controls the pace of the action, taking down Hardy and heading up to the top turnbuckle to mock the champion. Aries connects with a splash, but Hardy kicks out and rolls up the challenger for a close two-count. Several flying clotheslines connect, and Jeff goes up to the second rope and comes down with a splash of his own! A head-scissors take down tosses Aries to the outside of the ring, and Hardy hits the apron and dives off with a flying clothesline taking both men to the floor.
Both guys roll back into the ring, and Hardy gets a modified Twist of Fate – more like a stunner – which sends Aries off the ropes. A second, more traditional Twist of Fate connects, but Matt Morgan comes out of nowhere and levels the World Champion with a Carbon Footprint!
Results: No Contest
Following the match, Matt Morgan props up Jeff Hardy on the steel ring post, and means to Carbon Footprint him once again. Bully Ray makes the save with his chain, and Morgan backs up down the entrance ramp as Bully tends to the fallen champion.