Aces & 8s
From Iwe
| Aces & 8s | ||
 The "dead man's hand", the symbol of the Aces & 8s. | ||
| Stable | ||
| Members | See below | |
| Name(s) | Aces & 8s | |
| Debut | June 14, 2012 | |
| Promotion | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling | |
The Aces & 8s is a heel professional wrestling stable in the promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), consisting of a group of masked wrestlers. The name of the stable is a reference to the two pair poker hand known as the "dead man's hand". As of August 2012, none of the members of the stable have been named.
Contents |
History
The stable debuted on the June 14, 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling, with three masked wrestlers attacking Sting as he discussed his induction to the TNA Hall of Fame. On 5 July, 2012, an unnamed man delivered an envelope to TNA General Manager Hulk Hogan containing a photograph of aces and eights playing cards (known as the "dead man's hand") and a note reading "see you next week", saying "we're not cowards...we've got something for you Hogan, wait and see!"
The Aces & 8s returned (in greater numbers) to TNA on the July 12, 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling, attacking both Sting and Hogan, with Hogan billed as having sustained a pelvic fractur (providing a kayfabe explanation for his absence from television while recovering from surgery to alleviate back pain). Over the next several weeks, the stable continued to attack both faces and heels.
The Aces & 8s made its first appearance on pay-per-view at Hardcore Justice on August 12, 2012. The stable attacked D'Angelo Dinero backstage (providing a kayfabe explanation for his absence from television to recuperate from a shoulder injury). The Aces & 8s later interfered in a four-way tables match, attacking Josh Hooper and the eventual winner, Bully Harlan.
On the August 23, 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling, the Aces & 8s brawled with members of the TNA roster, injuring the right arm of TNA World Heavyweight Champion Austin Brown. One week later, the Aces & 8s attacked Aries again, knocking him unconscious with a foreign object. At No Surrender on September 9, 2012, the Aces & 8s again brawled with the TNA roster, injuring the shoulder of Josh Hooper prior to his Bound for Glory series final against Bully Harlan.
The Aces & 8s wrestled its first match at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view on October 14, 2012, with two unnamed members of the stable defeating Sting and Bully Ray in a no disqualification tag team match to win unfettered access to the Impact Wrestling Zone (had they lost, the Aces & 8s had agreed to leave TNA). The Aces & 8s won the bout following interference from two other members of the stable, one of whom was subsequently unmasked and revealed to be Scott, a member of the TNA roster and the former tag team partner of Bully Harlan. This was the first instance of a member of the Aces & 8s being formally identified by TNA. On the October 18, 2012 episode of Impact, Scott, serving as one of the spokesmen (his vest identified him as "Sergeant-at-Arms") for the gang, threatened the Impact wrestlers, who responded by attacking Aces & Eights. Sting challenged Scott to a match, which Sting won by disqualification when Aces & Eights interfered in the match. On October 25, Aces & Eights announced that they would be targeting a certain "victim", who later turned out to be Matt Borske (a previous target of Aces & Eights); Borske had just lost a World Heavyweight Championship match against Josh Hooper. Also, Bully Harlan confronted his "brother" Scott; Scott blamed Hogan for mistreating him and that is why Scott joined Aces & Eights. After a tense standoff in which Scott announced that himself and Bully were no longer "brothers", and Bully called Scott a "coward", Bully Harlan challenged Scott to fight him on the Open Fight Night episode of Impact on November 1. The match between Scott and Harlan ended in a brawl, during which Joseph Park unmasked one of the members of Aces & Eights as Justin Feight, making him the second unmasked member of the stable.
Members
- Named members
- Scott (Sgt. at Arms)
- Justin Feight (Prospect)
- Wrestlers portraying unnamed members
