TNA Maximum Impact 2013 Tour Report – Braehead Arena, Glasgow, ScotlandBy Tony Cottam| January 24, 2013 TNA First things first – I was at the TNA show in Glasgow last year, and this year’s while good, fell short. A lot of empty seats – the entire top level was empty, when it was jam packed for last year’s (and indeed the last WWE show year a few weeks ago) and a ton of empty seats on the floor. Plus, a cut down roster – the amount of kids I saw that were disappointed that Hogan, Robbie E and Robbie T, Samoa Joe, Joseph Park and of course Jeff Hardy weren’t there was amazing. Doesn’t bode well for next year when TNA moves their annual show to the new Glasgow Hydro that can theoretically have twice the capacity. Also, Jeremy Borash and his boundless enthusiasm was badly missed from last year’s show. No backstage pass giveaways either, don’t know why policy changed on that, everyone loved it. The people that were there put on a great, if turncated card though. Tag Team Championship Kazarian & Christopher Daniels vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr & Hernandez (c) Kazarian and Daniels came out in kilts, Braveheart facepaint and “See You Jimmy” tartan hats and ginger wigs and looked to be having an absolute ball winding up the crowd. They got into a face to face argument with one guy at ringisde, who Chavo subsequently hugged and drank beer with. Just a fun tag team match, Daniels & Kazarian playing the heels brilliantly, but of course Chavo and Hernandez retain their titles. Winners: Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez Earl Hebner was introduced and did his usual Bret Hart mocking routine with glasses and “Damn Right I Did” shirt. Maybe too many kids there to fully get the significance, as there was no “You Screwed Bret” chant like last year to play off. Rockstar Spud vs. Party Marty Scurll They announced Spud as the winner of the British Bootcamp, and he got a great reaction – until he cut an awesome heel promo and turned the crowd on him. Scurll came out and got a really good face reaction. Really good fast paced match, and Scurll took the win although for me, Spud looked the more polished. Winner: Party Marty Scurll Knockouts Tag Team Match Special Referee: Velvet Sky Gail Kim & Tara vs. The Blossom Twins Has to be said, Gail Kim and Tara absolutely dragged the Blossom Twins through this match. They are far from the finished article, but there’s potential. The Blossom Twins took the win after a Bella style “Twin Magic” switch. Post match, Velvet Sky disposed of Gail Kim and Tara and posed with the twins. Velvet was by far the most over in the match. Winners: The Blossom Twins X Division Title Match Zema Ion vs. Rob Van Dam (c) Zema Ion really impressed me, his gimmick with the hair spray was amazingly over here. RVD was… well, RVD. It’s the same schtick he’s been doing for years, but it works, so why change? He had a funny spot where he stole Zema’s hair spray and sprayed guys in the crowd, including a bald guy. Really good, fast paced match, but again, RVD retains as expected. Winner: RVD Intermission Back from Intermission and we get the usual about how Dixie Carter loves us all, and texted to say thanks and see you next year, now go buy some merchandise! Three Way Dance Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode vs. James Storm By far match of the night, incredible stuff from all three. James Storm was amazingly over with the crowd, as was Aries. Roode played the heel all the way through, with Aries flitting between the two. Storm played face in peril most of the match and Aries took the win after a beer spitting mix up with Roode. Great match. Storm posed and celebrated with the fans afterwards. Winner: Austin Aries No DQ Match Magnus vs. Bully Ray Magnus cut an awesome heel promo, totally turned the crowd on him, and then Bully Ray came out. Bully Ray was by FAR the most over guy here. The reaction was insane, and he cut a promo that nearly bought the house down. Bully hugged a granny in the front row after using her cane to beat Magnus with, then we got the table spot and everyone was happy. Magnus looked good, but Bully was just on fire. Winner: Bully Ray Cage Match Aces & Eights (Devon & Doc) vs. Sting & Kurt Angle After a long delay to build the cage, we got the much vaunted cage match. The cage was hardly used during the match, and Angle was protected all the way through. Mike Knox attacked Angle before he got in the cage and the entire match was basically a two on one with Sting. Angle eventually got the upper hand, fought his way into the cage and fought off another masked member of Aces & Eights with a hammer, and Sting & Angle picked up the win. After the match there was a tease of the three named Aces & Eights turning on the masked guy who messed up, after a lot of threatening to unmask him, they all hugged and taunted the crowd. No idea who was under the mask. Winners: Sting & Kurt Angle Still a great show, just felt like a step down from last year. The empty seats must worry TNA management too.
