TNA Impact Wrestling Review - December 6, 2012

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Solid segment to kick off the show featuring the six competitors in the night's main event. I loved the Fortune flashback from Kazarian, as five of the original members of the group were involved in that contest, so I'm glad they made mention of that. This did a nice job of furthering the feuds involved and hyping the bout for later in the night.

Brief match with Devon defeating Samoa Joe to win the TNA Television Championship. The action was fine for what it was, but felt too rushed. It ended earlier than expected with the logical outcome of Devon winning the belt. While it makes sense to give Devon the title while he's a part of Aces and 8s, it puts an end to Joe's rather entertaining reign as champ.

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Fine promo involving Mickie James and Knockouts Champion Tara. We've seen the feud before, but Mickie once again did an effective job of relaying the message of how much the title means to her. The match should be good, but the rivalry doesn't feel as meaningful this time around. Moreover, the return of Velvet Sky was terribly timed. As psyched as I am to see Sky back in TNA, this wasn't the best time to have her come back.

Decent match with World Tag Team Champions Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez defeating Robbie E and Robbie T. It was a nice tune-up match for the tag champs going into their title defense on Sunday and the interference from Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan was logical as well. Although it was cut off, Chavo's post-match comments were effective in building the tag title match at Turning Point.

Good match with Kurt Angle defeating D.O.C. via disqualification. It was a basic Angle match, but D.O.C. was able to keep a consistent pace throughout the match. It wasn't anything that special, but the disqualification protected D.O.C. of taking the pin-fall loss. I like the idea of an eight-man tag team match on Sunday, as it features a variety of talents that are all involved with one another.

Fun Triple Threat match with Kenny King defeating Kid Kash and Zema Ion to become the number one contender to the X-Division Championship. The action was fast-paced and very exciting. All three competitors shined and the right guy went over. I'm glad to see King getting the title shot on Sunday after being off television in recent months.

Strange segment involving Hulk Hogan, Bully Ray and Austin Aries. The entire angle could be worse and is nothing to complain about (just yet), but this entire segment made very little sense. Why would Hogan be so hesitant to make a match between Aries and Ray? Hogan shouldn't be spotlighted as much as he is, as overexposure will be overkill after awhile. That aside, I'm looking forward to the Ray vs. Aries match at Turning Point.

Great six-man tag team match with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy, James Storm and AJ Styles defeating Bobby Roode, Daniels and Kazarian. Given the history between all three men, they executed solid story-telling and awesome action throughout. The contest received appropriate time, but the finish felt a bit anticlimactic. However, Storm and Styles teasing tension was a nice touch to further Styles' pending heel turn. The Aces and 8s attack on Hardy came as a pleasant surprise and Roode hiring them to attack Hardy was good use of them.

Overall, a great show that featured plenty of monumental moments and awesome action. Although half the Turning Point card was added at the last minute, they did a successful job of giving focus to each advertised match and hyping Sunday's show.