Hard Justice (2008)

Hard Justice (2008)
Promotion	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Date	August 10, 2008
City	Trenton, New Jersey
Venue	Sovereign Bank Arena
Attendance	3,500
Tagline(s)	TNA's most hardcore pay-per-view of the year.
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Victory Road (2008) Next → No Surrender (2008)
Hard Justice chronology
← Previous Hard Justice (2007) Next → TBD

Hard Justice (2008) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), which took place on August 10, 2008 at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey. It was the fourth annual event under the Hard Justice chronology. Seven professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card.

The event featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event saw Samoa Joe defend the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Booker T, who was accompanied by Sharmell, in a steel structure with six sides that was filled with weapons in a match titled a Six Sides of Steel Weapons match, in which Samoa Joe was victorious to retain the championship. Another bout pitted A.J. Styles against Kurt Angle in a match in which the wrestler who was unable to respond to a ten count by the referee would lose; Styles claimed victory in the match. Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard, both being in respective Tag Team matches. The first pitted Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) against Christian Cage and Rhino in a match which no one can be disqualified or counted out called a New Jersey Street Fight, in which Cage and Rhino were victorious. The second being for the TNA World Tag Team Championship, in which Beer Money, Inc (Robert Roode and James Storm) defeated the champions The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez) to win the championship.

411Mania.com and Wrestling Observer.com writer Larry Csonka rated the entire event a 7.6 out of 10 stars, 3.6 stars higher than the 2007 event.

Background

See also: Professional wrestling

The event featured seven professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of events which built tension, culminating in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Booker T fought Samoa Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Hard Justice.

The main staged rivalry heading into Hard Justice was between Samoa Joe (Joe Seanoa) and Booker T (Robert Huffman), with the two fighting over the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. At TNA's previous pay-per-view Victory Road, Joe defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Booker T, in Booker T's hometown of Houston, Texas. The match went to a staged no-contest, a decision which means that there is no clear winner or loser in the contest; this meant Joe retained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by default. During the match, Joe began a scripted attack on security, referees, and Booker T, which caused Sting (Steve Borden), as part of the storyline, to enter the arena and to try and calm Joe down. Instead, Joe gave Sting the middle finger and turned his back to continue his attack on Booker T, who was laying on his back in the middle of the ring. This was followed by Sting hitting Joe in the back with a baseball bat, and then allowing Booker T to cover Joe, while Booker T's wife Sharmell (Sharmell Sullivan-Huffman) counted the pinfall, because referee Rudy Charles (Daniel Engler) had earlier in the match began a scripted unconscious role. Booker T and Sharmell then left the arena with the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the July 17 episode of TNA Impact!, Management Director Jim Cornette, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, demanded that Booker T give the TNA World Heavyweight Championship back to the rightful champion, Joe. After Booker T and Cornette had a staged argument, Cornette announced that at Hard Justice, Joe and Booker T would have another one on one encounter to determine the true champion. Afterwards, Joe entered the arena and declined Cornette's offer for Booker T to give him the championship back; because he didn't feel that he deserved it, in storyline, since he was pinned by Booker T at Victory Road. Joe stated to Booker T to keep the belt until Hard Justice when he takes it back, though Joe was still recognized as the official champion. On the following Impact! that aired on July 24, Joe challenged Booker T to contest their championship match at Hard Justice inside a 16 feet (4.9 m) high steel structure with six sides, also known as Six Sides of Steel. Followed by Booker T entering the TNA Impact! Zone and making a challenge of his own, to add an extra stipulation to the match. For storyline purposes, Booker T wanted to add weapons to the match, as such as tables, ladders, and chairs. Joe accepted his terms, while Booker T agreed to Joe's. Later the match was made official by Cornette. The Impact! Zone is a soundstage owned by Universal Studios and operated within Universal Studios Florida; it is the home to TNA's primary television program TNA Impact!, from which the soundstage gets its name. On the July 31 episode of Impact!, while Joe and Booker T were fighting in a ring surrounded by the Six Sides of Steel, a black baseball bat, the trademark bat that Sting carries often, was dropped from the celling by a rope to Booker T. Booker T then proceeded to hit Joe over the head with the bat, knocking him out in the process, in storyline. In the weeks leading into Hard Justice it became a mystery to why Sting possibly was helping Booker T, in storyline.

The second main rivalry heading into Hard Justice was between Kurt Angle and A.J. Styles (Allen Jones). Their rivalry began before TNA's June pay-per-view Slammiversary, when Angle and Styles has a scripted physical altercation during an episode of Impact!. The attack was later revealed to have been motivated by Angle believing that Styles and his wife, Karen Angle (Karen Smedley-Angle), were romantically involved, in storyline. Angle and Styles later fought at Slammiversary and in a Six Man Tag Team Full Metal Mayhem match at Victory Road, which also involved the pairings of Team 3D (Brother Ray [Mark LoMonaco] and Brother Devon [Devon Hughes]), Christian Cage (William Reso), and Rhino (Terry Gerin). On the July 31 episode of Impact!, while Styles was standing in the middle of the ring, the lights went off, believing it was Sting who Styles had just asked to come to the ring and explain his actions at Victory Road, waited in the ring. When the lights came back on, it was instead Angle standing behind Styles, Angle then grabbed Styles and performed three lifting 90° falling mat slams, dubbed by Angle as an Olympic Slam, in succession. After the attack in a backstage interview, Styles challenged Angle to a match to end their rivalry at Hard Justice, it was later announced that the match would be contested in a Last Man Standing match.

One of two featured matches on the undercard was a Tag Team match between two teams: Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) and Christian Cage and Rhino. Their rivalry began in May at TNA's Sacrifice pay-per-view, when Cage and Rhino fought Team 3D in The Deuces Wild Tag Team Tournament. During the match, Ray hit Rhino over the head with a kendo stick, which allowed Devon to cover him for the three count. Their rivalry continued with Cage and Rhino helping to protect The Latin American Xchange's (Homicide [Nelson Erazo] and Hernandez [Shawn Hernandez]) (LAX) manager Hector Guerrero (Hector Llanes) from attacks by Team 3D. Whom Team 3D were having a storyline rivalry with at the time over the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Leading up to Victory Road, multiple altercations took place on Impact! between Team 3D and Cage and Rhino. In one instance, Team 3D powerbombed Cage through a glass table on an episode of Impact!. After Victory Road, on the July 31 episode of Impact!, in a match pitting Cage and Rhino against Beer Money, Inc (Robert Roode and James Storm [James Black]), Team 3D interfered and performed the 3D on Rhino, which allowed Roode to cover him for the pinfall. A 3D is a double team maneuver where one man grabs his opponent by the legs and lifts while at the sametime falls backwards, then his partner grabs the suspended opponent by the head and drivers it into the mat. After the match, Cage challenged Team 3D to a match in which no one can be disqualified or counted out and pinfalls count anywhere, also know as a New Jersey Street Fight, at Hard Justice; Team 3D accepted the challenge.

The Latin American Xchange (Homicide [right] and Hernandez [right]), were the TNA World Tag Team Champions walking into Hard Justice

The other featured match on the undercard was the encounter between the teams of LAX and Beer Money, Inc for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. At Victory Road, LAX successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship against Beer Money, Inc in a "Fan's Revenge" Lumberjack Strap match, The "Fan's Revenge" Lumberjack Strap match is a match where fans chosen by TNA are placed around the ring and given a strap to whip whoever falls outside the ring during a match. On the July 17 episode of Impact!, Beer Money assaulted a planted fan, a person that is intentionally placed in the audience to take part in staged segments that are meant to gain negative reactions from the fans, in what they called "Beer Money" Revenge. The attacks continued each week on Impact!, going as far as to assault LAX's manager. On the July 24 episode of Impact! after a strap match with The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin [Joshua Harter] and Alex Shelley [Patrick Martin]) (MCMG), another scripted assault took place with Beer Money whipping MCMG with straps until LAX came to MCMG's defence. On the July 31 episode of Impact!, Beer Money, Inc defeated Cage and Rhino in a number one contendership match to the World Tag Team Championship, because of their victory they gained a chance to fight LAX at Hard Justice.

Another storyline heading into Hard Justice was between Jay Lethal (Jamar Shipman) and Sonjay Dutt (Retesh Bhalla). Their rivalry began at Slammiversary, when Dutt ruined Lethal's and his on-screen girlfriend SoCal Val's (Valerie Wyndham) wedding reception. Lethal later started to seek revenge on Dutt after he assaulted him with part of the wedding set at Slammiversary. Lethal and Dutt fought at Victory Road, in which Dutt won. After a series of events between Dutt and Lethal, TNA announced that they would meet again in a Black Tie Brawl and Chain Match at Hard Justice. A Black Tie Brawl and Chain Match is a match where both of the participants wear Tuxedos and are attached by a steel chain, the object of the match is to either remove your opponent's Tuxedo or score a pinfall.

Event

Other on-screen talent
Commentator	Mike Tenay
	Don West
	Hector Guerrero (Spanish)
	Willie Urbina (Spanish)
Ring announcer	Jeremy Borash (For the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match)
	David Penzer
Referee	Earl Hebner
	Rudy Charles
	Mark "Slick" Johnson
	Andrew Thomas
Interviewers	Jeremy Borash
	Lauren Thompson

Before Hard Justice aired live on pay-per-view, a predetermined segment took place outside of the arena between Lauren Thompson and Sting, who was making his unknown, in storyline, arrival. Thompson repeatedly asked him about his actions at Victory Road and possibly helping Angle and Booker T on Impact! in the weeks leading to the event. Sting refused to answer her request as he remained silent entering the arena.

The event officially began with a live performance of the official theme song for the event, AyAyAya, by Filthee along with Grandmaster Caz and Melle Mel. The show was advertised to also feature an appearance by rapper Ice-T, but he was absent with no reason given, and was seemingly replaced with Mel. It was later revealed that as a result of "travel problems", Ice-T was not able to make it.

Preliminary matches

Petey Williams defended the TNA X Division Championship against Consequences Creed at Hard Justice.

The first match to air live was for the TNA X Division Championship, between, the champion Petey Williams, who was accompanied by Rhaka Khan (Trenesha Biggers), and Consequences Creed (Austin Watson). Half way through the match, Creed slammed Williams' head forward to the mat with the Creed-DT to gain a near fall. Towards the end of the match saw Creed perform a TKO on Williams' valet Khan. A TKO is a move in which the wrestler performing the move has his opponent in a fireman's carry position. He then spins his opponent behind him and falls to the mat below, slamming his opponent's head into his shoulder. While the referee was attending to Khan, Sheik Abdul Bashir (Shawn Daivari) entered the arena and grabbed a steel chair. In the ring, Creed set Williams up for a running clothesline, when he bounced off the ropes, Bashir hit Creed in the back with the chair. Which allowed Williams to perform the Canadian Destroyer, a 180° flipping piledriver, on Creed to gain the pinfall victory and to retain the X Division Championship.

The next encounter was a Six Woman Tag Team match with Special guest referee Traci Brooks (Tracy Brookshaw) between The Beautiful People (Angelina Love [Lauren Williams] and Velvet Sky [Jamie Szantyr]) and Awesome Kong (Kia Stevens), who was accompanied by Raisha Saeed (Melissa Anderson), and Gail Kim, O.D.B. (Jessica Kresa), and Taylor Wilde (Shantelle Malawski). The match was mainly back and forth with quick tags and high paced moves. The team of Kim, O.D.B., and Wilde were victorious in the match when Wilde pinned Love by sitting on her chest and holding her shoulders down for the three count in a pinning maneuver called a Straddle.

Main Event matches

The next match was for the TNA World Tag Team Championship between The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez), who were accompanied by Salinas [Shelly Martinez], Hector Guerrero, and F.I.L.T.H.E.E., (LAX) and Beer Money, Inc (Robert Roode and James Storm), who were accompanied by Jacqueline [Jacqueline Moore]. While LAX were making their way to the ring, F.I.L.T.H.E.E. performed their entrance music and accompanied them to the ring. The match began with Homicide and Storm squaring off. Early on in the match, Storm and Roode worked on Homicide's right eye since it had been injured on Impact!, in storyline. Most of the match was dominated by Beer Money, Inc as they weakened the injured Homicide by targeting his eye. Beer Money, Inc claimed victory in the match when Homicide was setting Storm up for the Da Gringo Killa, Roode then entered the ring and crashed a beer bottle over Homicide's head while the referee wasn't looking. Followed by Storm pinning Homicide to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship.

The Black Tie Brawl and Chain Match between Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt was next. Most of the match was dominated by Lethal as he used the chain to his advantaged and repeatedly pulled Dutt into different types of moves. Most of the match was marred by both trying to remove the other's Tuxedo. The finish saw Lethal perform a Diving elbow drop from the top rope to gain the pinfall. A Diving elbow drop is a top rope jumping elbow strike to the chest of an opponent who is laying flat on his back in the center of the ring.

The encounter of Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon), and Christian Cage and Rhino in a New Jersey Street Fight was the fifth match. The encounter started off as an all out brawl between the four men. Team 3D gain the advantage early, by attacking Cage and Rhino while they had their backs turned to them. Quickly the four participants began to brawl outside the ring and throughout the crowd, where the team of Cage and Rhino took control and poured bottles of beer over Ray's and Devon's heads and by using the weapons that were around the ring. The conclusion to the match saw Rhino attempting to perform a running shoulder block to Ray, aimed at a table. When Rhino and Ray hit the table it did not break, causing the fans at the Sovereign Bank Arena to "boo" at what professional wrestling fans like to call a botch, an unplanned failing of a spot, move, etc. After the botch, Rhino pinned Ray to claim victory in the match for Cage and himself. Following the match, an allie of Team 3D's, Johnny Devine (John Parsonage), entered the arena with a kendo stick. After he entered the ring, he began to beat Cage and Rhino with the stick, while Ray and Devon helped, until Abyss (Chris Parks) came to Cage's and Rhino's aid, by dismantling Team 3D and Devine with size and strength advantage. While Ray and Devon were making their escape, Abyss grabbed Devine and performed a 360° spinning side slam.

A.J. Styles defeated Kurt Angle in a Last Man Standing match at Hard Justice.

The first match of the double main event was the encounter between A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle in a Last Man Standing match. Though the match was billed to be a Last Man Standing match, at Hard Justice, the match was contested under Texas Death match rules. Now the only way the contest could be won is to pin your opponent, then he has till the count of ten to get up and stand on two feet. If he does not stand before the referee's count then he is declared the loser of the contest. Different from a Last Man Standing match, in which a wrestler does not have to be pinned, he must just be unable to reach the ten count. The beginning of the match saw Angle trying to evade Styles by repeatedly leaving the ring and standing on the floor. This angered Styles, which preempted him to climb out of the ring and chase Angle around it. Angle then entered the ring, Styles followed, where Angle took advantage with stiff shots to the back. Afterwards, Styles began to fight back, from there on the match was back and forth. At one point Angle and Styles were fighting on the stage for the event when Styles was suplexed over the side, followed by Angle performing a modified senton from the stage. A senton is a move in which a wrestler performs a front flip and lands his back on his opponent's chest. The first fall on the match came when Styles countered Angle trying to perform one of Styles signature maneuvers the Styles Clash into one of Angle's signature maneuvers the Ankle lock submission hold. After Styles locked in the move, Angle fought it off for a few minutes but eventually tapped out. The referee then began the count, however, Angle reached his feet before the count of ten. The next fall came when Angle performed a German suplex from the top rope on Styles, in mid air Styles performed a backflip and landed on his face when he connected with the mat. A German suplex involves a participant grabbing his opponent by the waist and lifting, then slamming him to the mat neck first. Styles beat the referee's count but immediately Angle performed the Olympic Slam and pinned him to start the count again. Again Styles beat the count, as soon as Styles reached his feet Angle grabbed him and tried to perform the Olympic Slam again, which Styles countered into a Styles Clash. The Styles Clash involves a wrestler being held upside down, with their arms trapped behind their opponent's legs, he is then slammed face first to the mat below. After he performed the move he pinned Angle, which started the ten count; which Angle beat again. Styles then placed Angle on the top rope, where they traded strikes while standing on the ropes. Angle went to perform a belly-to-belly suplex which Styles counter into a DDT, and came crashing down to the mat below where Angle landed right on his neck, followed by Styles pinning him. A DDT is a move in which a wrestler grabs their opponent by the head and falls backwards, crashing the top of their opponent's head into the mat below. This time Angle did not reach to his feet before the count of ten which meant Styles was declared the winner. After the match, the referee called for medical attention for Angle, who has been widely known to conjure multiple neck injuries in the past. While EMTs were attending to Angle, Styles entered the ring and performed a modified Fisherman suplex on Angle, landing him right on the back on his head and neck again. The fisherman suplex involves having your arm being placed over someone's shoulder and neck, and grabbed by the leg. Then lifted up and dropped on your back when the person performing the maneuver falls to their back. Styles left the ring and walked up the ramp while leaving a motionless Angle in the ring with the EMTs. When Styles approached the top of the ramp, the lights in the arena went off, when they came back on Sting appeared, holding Styles under his arm. He followed by performing a reverse DDT on Styles and walked to the backstage area. While Kevin Nash looked on disapprovingly. A reverse involves having the back of you head slammed into the mat instead of the top.

The main event for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a Six Sides of Steel Weapons match was next, which pitted the champion Samoa Joe against Booker T, who was accompanied by Sharmell and holding the championship. From the start Joe and Booker T tried to use the weapons that were inside the cage. In one instance, Joe placed two chairs in the middle of the ring and stacked them, he then set Booker T up for the Muscle Buster. Booker T counter the move when they got to the chairs and performed a lifting side slam onto the chairs with Joe. Earlier in the match Joe was busted open by a chair shot. Near the end Booker T set Joe up for a scissors kick, but when he came close the lights went off. When the lights came back on, Joe was standing behind Booker T with a guitar in his hand. After Booker T turned around, Joe slammed the guitar over his head and pinned him to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Aftermath

Further information: [[:No Surrender (2008)]]

On the August 14 episode of Impact, Jim Cornette announced that at TNA's next pay-per-view No Surrender, Samoa Joe would defend the championship against three competitors in a match titled Four Ways to Glory. Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, and Booker T all won entrance into the match. At No Surrender, Joe retained the championship after a returning Jeff Jarrett entered the ring, while the referee was unconscious, and stuck Angle over the head with a guitar; which allowed Joe to gain the pinfall victory. Also as a result of Hurricane Ike causing all flights out of Houston, Texas to become grounded, Booker T, who resides in Houston, Texas, could not make it to the event as it took place in Canada.

Styles went on to have a short rivalry with Frank Trigg (Dewey Trigg III), which began after Trigg assaulted Styles on the September 4 episode of of Impact!. The two had an encounter in a Mixed Martial Arts match at No Surrender, which end in a no-contest.

Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt continued their rivalry at No Surrender in a match were you had to climb a ladder to retrieve a ring that was hanging by a wire in a match called a Ladder of Love match, in which the winner would get to marry SoCal Val. Dutt defeated Lethal in the match with help from SoCal Val at No Surrender.

The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez) got their rematch with Beer Money, Inc (Robert Roode and James Storm) for the TNA World Tag Team Championship at No Surrender, in a losing effort as Beer Money, Inc retained the championship.

Petey Williams later lost the TNA X Division Championship to Sheik Abdul Bashir in a 3-Way Dance at No Surrender which also involved Consequences Creed.

Reception

411Mania.com and Wrestling Observer.com writer Larry Csonka rated the entire event 7.6 out of 10 stars. The rating was higher than the 2007 event, which was given a 4 out of 10 stars. The Last Man Standing match was rated 4 out of 5 stars, while the main event for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was rated a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

According to TNA's official website TNA Wrestling.com, the Hard Justice 2008 DVD, along with the 2008 Victory Road and No Surrender pay-per-view DVDs, are scheduled to be released on November 11, under the label TNA Home Video; as part of a three pack collected titled the "Cross The Line 3-Pack". A reference to the promotion's official slogan "Cross the Line".

Results

#	Matches	Stipulations	Times
1	Petey Williams (with Rhaka Khan) (c) defeated Consequences Creed	Standard match for the TNA X Division Championship.	12:30
2	Gail Kim, Taylor Wilde, and O.D.B. defeated Awesome Kong (with Raisha Saeed) and The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky and Angelina Love)	Six Woman Tag Team match	11:27
3	Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) (with Jacqueline) defeated The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez) (with Hector Guerrero and Salinas) (c)	Tag Team match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship.	14:15
4	Jay Lethal defeated Sonjay Dutt	Black Tie Brawl and Chain Match	11:14
5	Christian Cage and Rhino defeated Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon)	New Jersey Street Fight	15:22
6	A.J. Styles defeated Kurt Angle	Last Man Standing match.	24:50
7	Samoa Joe (c) defeated Booker T (with Sharmell)	Six Sides of Steel Weapons match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.	12:44

See also

• Hard Justice
• List of TNA pay-per-view events

External links

• Hard Justice (2008) at In Demand.com
• The official website of the Sovereign Bank Arena
• TNA Wrestling.com