Hard Justice 2008 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) 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 main event saw Samoa Joe defeat Booker T, who was accompanied by Sharmell, in a steel structure with six sides that was filled with weapons—a match titled a Six Sides of Steel Weapons match—to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. A.J. Styles defeated Kurt Angle in the second main match on the card in which the wrestler who was unable to respond to a ten count by the referee would lose. Two tag team matches were featured bouts scheduled on the undercard. In the first, Christian Cage and Rhino defeated Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) in a New Jersey Street Fight in which no one could be disqualified. The second was 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.
The event marked the beginning of a return angle for Jeff Jarrett, who had not been active in the company since May 2007, when Samoa Joe used the signature weapon of Jarrett's (an acoustic guitar) in his match with Booker T. When the event was released on DVD, it reached a peak position of number five on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart. Wrestling Observer.com and 411Mania.com writer Larry Csonka rated the entire event a 7.6 out of 10 stars, higher than the 2007 event's rating of 4.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Petey Williams (c) (w/ Rhaka Khan) defeated Consequences Creed to retain the TNA X-Division Championship (12:30)
- Taylor Wilde, Gail Kim, & ODB defeated Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, & Awesome Kong (11:27)
- Beer Money Inc. (Robert Roode & James Storm) defeated The Latin American Exchange (Homicide & Hernandez) (c) to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship (14:15)
- Jay Lethal defeated Sonjay Dutt in a black tie brawl and chain match (11:14)
- Christian Cage & Rhino defeated Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon) in a New Jersey street fight match (15:22)
- AJ Styles defeated Kurt Angle in a Last man standing match (24:50)
- Samoa Joe (c) defeated Booker T in a steel cage weapons match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship (12:44)
Aftermath[]
On the episode of Impact after Hard Justice, Jim Cornette announced that at TNA's next PPV event, No Surrender, Samoa Joe would defend the championship against three competitors in a match entitled 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 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. As a result of Hurricane Ike causing all flights out of Houston, Texas to become grounded, Booker T, who resides in Houston, could not make it to the event, which took place in Canada.
Styles went on to have a short rivalry with Frank Trigg, which began after Trigg assaulted Styles on the September 4 episode of Impact!. The two had an encounter in a Mixed Martial Arts match at No Surrender, which ended in a no contest.
Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt continued their rivalry at No Surrender in a Ladder of Love match, where a wrestler must climb a ladder to retrieve a ring that was hanging by a wire. The winner would get to marry SoCal Val. At the event, the evil Val betrayed Lethal and allowed Dutt to pick up the victory. Meanwhile, 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. Moreover, Petey Williams later lost the TNA X Division Championship to Sheik Abdul Bashir in a match involving three competitors called a 3-Way Dance at No Surrender, which also involved Consequences Creed
Other on-screen talent[]
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See also[]
External links[]
| 2008 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pay-per-views |
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| Final Resolution (Jan) • Against All Odds • Destination X • Lockdown • Sacrifice • Slammiversary Victory Road • Hard Justice • No Surrender • Bound for Glory • Turning Point • Final Resolution (Dec) |
| Hard-Core Justice |
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| 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2021 |