Craig Hermit sent in this report of TNA's Fan Interaction in Glasgow, Scotland from January 30th, if you attend a live event, wherever that may be, we'd love to hear from you also! Let us know what you think, we've seen quite a few articles from Craig recently, should he join the team?
For the TNA critics out there who have been commenting on TNA's lack of fan support recently, they might have had a point within the USA, but the news of lack of interest never reached Glasgow.
Last night, I attended the TNA Fan Interaction session, which was completely sold. There was certainly enough passionate fans there and made there opinions as vocal and as loud for all to hear.
The set up for the Fan Interaction could have been organised a lot better with queuing outside the building and the layout of the interaction could have been better also. But I wouldn't blame TNA for this, probably the Glasgow Hydro organiser's themselves. Clearly unaware of the sheer volume of fans ready to meet the wrestlers, next time they should be more prepared when WWE arrives later this year.
The stars who attended the fan interaction session were Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian), Velvet Sky, James Storm, Gunner, TNA Knockout's Champion Madison Rayne, Mr Anderson and Chris Sabin.
The highlights for this writer were Bad Influence, the duo were fantastic, they brought their own brand of brilliance and humour to every fan. Madison Rayne was thanking the fans for coming along, Velvet Sky and Gunner separately were brilliant and accommodating too, James Storm wanted beer and Mr Anderson, Mr Anderson was brilliant, all the fans that spoke to him left with either a smile or were buckled in laughter, this writer included. Only Chris Sabin didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as the others, and other fans mentioned this too.
Then onwards to the merchandise, every item of clothing was there from TNAStore and an exclusive range of Knockout pictures as well. If you were after TNA merchandise you would'nt have been disappointed. Even Jeff Hardy t-shirts and Sting masks were for sale as well.
However for TNA, that would be my only criticism, as Hardy nor Sting was on the tour and the latter no longer with the company, this didn't quite seem right to me.
But this was minor and everyone I spoke to during the fan access and after it were in high spirits. They did say it was worth the money.
The only main disappointment were the absences of Kurt Angle, Magnus, Bully Ray, Austin Aries, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode, except it looked like there were reasons for this as many if the stars mentioned missing preformed twice in the night, and if they preformed once in the event were leaving to be in the news TNA Fan Session the next day. Perhaps TNA should think of that for next year as it comes back to Glasgow as we will want more.
Overall, the stars who attended were fantastic, gave the fans what they wanted and were entertaining. It was a great start to a fantastic event.
On 23rd January 2014, I had the opportunity to speak to TNA Impact Wrestler, Christopher Daniels, about the Upcoming TNA UK Tour, as well as the recent departures and arrivals in TNA, among things. What follows bellow is about half of that interview in written form, unfortunately my recording equipment broke about twenty minutes into the interview, for which I can only apology to both you, the reader, as well as Christopher Daniels himself.
So grab an appletini and settle down for a chat with one of the most entertaining wrestler on our TV Screen today!
Across The Pond: Hi, I'm James Marston. How're you? Christopher Daniels: Hi, I'm Christopher Daniels, I fall down for a living. I'm good, how're you? ATP: Good, yeah I'm good. Now, our first question, which we ask to every single person that we interview is....How did you get into professional wrestling and what was it that drew you to the sport? CD: Well, I grew up in North Carolina, where the Mid-Atlantic terrotories were big and I watched guys like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A and the Road Warriors and I just got into it as a kid and I feel like the guys that...the wrestlers that love wrestling like I do are usually guys that get attached as kids. It's very rare that you grow into pro wrestling, get introduced to it as an adult and have the same feelings, the same love for it, like I did. You know, I grew up watching it, I really enjoyed it and once I graduated college and I was out in the real world, trying to get a job in the acting capacity...there was a period of time when my career wasn't going so well and my wife found a school, so I told her if this acting thing doesn't work out, I could be a pro wrestler HA HA HA! She found a school, she made an appointment for me, I went in and spoke to the gentlemen that owned it, it was Windy City Pro Wrestling, the guys name was Sam Decero, who wrestle as one of the Maxx Brothers in the AWA and I decided to give it a shot. Just to say that I did it, I figured if I failed, if I washed out of the school, I could at least tell my kids one day, hey man, your Dad tried to be a professional wrestler. But I think because I grew up watching it that the physical aspects of wrestling came really easy to me, I went through my training in three months. I started wrestling three months after I started and that's where I started to learn everything, was on the road, that's where you learn about professional wrestling, was wrestling in front of a crowd and you know, against different wrestlers. ATP: Now, the big TNA UK tour is coming up, next week, I believe it's Wednesday in Dublin? CD: Yeah, it's the 29th, I think that's a Wednesday, yeah.
ATP: Then it's onto Glasgow (30th), Manchester (31st), London (1st Feb) and Birmingham (2nd). Is that something that you look forward to? CD: Absolutely, we all look forward to it. It's usually some of the best crowds that we wrestle in front of, you know because we only do it once a year. It's become sort of a tradition, and something to look forward to, not just for the UK fans, but the guys. You know, we've had very succesful tours in the past, specifically last year, we had a great experience taping television over there. I think we've increased the amount of television, we're going to be taping over there, also one of the shows is going to be a pay-per-view taping, a One Night Only taping. The first time that we're ever taping television in the Hydro building in Glasgow, Scotland. There's a tonne of stuff happening on this tour, that it's gonna be a great tour for all. ATP: I have to say I'm very impressed that you've pronounce Glasgow correctly, we've seen plenty of TNA's roster misprounce that one, it's became a bit of running joke amongst the fans over here. CD: You know, the Christopher Daniels museum is actually in Glasgow, Scotland, so I have a special affinity to GlasGOW. ATP: Would that be your favourite city over here to perform in? Do you have a favourite city? CD: I really don't. I don't have a special favourite. I mean, last year, we had a great outing in Dublin. I feel like London's always a big deal, especially when we go to the O2. I know Manchester's going to be great this year. I really don't have a specific favourite. I had the oppurtunity not to just wrestle for TNA over there, but for a lot of the independents over there. One of my favourite matches that I ever had was in the Coventry Skydome against AJ Styles (Editors note: International Showdown on 19th March 2005) just after I won my first X-Division title. I've had a very good experience every time I've gone over to the UK and Great Britain specifically. ATP: I have to say, with some bias, that crowds over here are some of the best in the word. Especially, with you guys only being over here once a year, the crowd seems receptive to what you've got to show, which you don't see all the time over in the US, because they seem to get....I don't want to say lethargic with the product but... CD: Well, just comfortable with the product. There's a lot more access to the product over here, obviously, so lethargic isn't the right word.....I guess content would be a better word. They're content with it. Th ey're not really hungry for more product. They've got all the product they can handle. I know the UK wrestling scene, back in the day, they had their own product, with World of Sport, things like that and there's not really, apart from independents...I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, apart from independents they don't really have their own national scene anymore. So they've take to WWE and TNA, as their form of wrestling entertainment, that most of the country sees. Especially TNA with their ratings as good as they are, I feel like they've taken to our product rather well and this is our opportunity to get over their an take advantage of their appreciation of our product. ATP: Certainly, and speaking of the UK Independent scene, former TNA employee AJ Styles is over here on February 28th and March 1st, wrestling for PCW – Preston City Wrestling, so I'd like to talk about the recent departures from TNA. We've seen Hulk Hogan moved on, apparently so, AJ's moved on, it's a possibililty that Sting could be moving on. I was just wondering what you're opinions were on those people moving on, potentially, elsewhere, and whether you could see them back in TNA at some point? CD: Well, of all those people that you mentioned, I don't think anyone left on terms where they wouldn't come back. It would just depend on whether that's for him and whether that's for the company. I was really surprised that AJ Styles left, but at the same time, I feel like AJ came to a point in his career where he wanted to branch out and see how he could do in his own. So I feel like the next couple of months are going to be very important in his career and I wish him good luck. Whether or not Sting stays with the company depends a lot on what happens tonight on Impact against Magnus. We'll see how that goes, so stay tuned. I don't know when it comes on over there so I can't give you a good advertisement for Impact over there. ATP: It'll be on Sunday night on Challenge TV. CD: There you go. It'll be on Challenge, Sunday Night at whatever time, folks. I feel like wrestling as a business, it's sort of fluid, people come and go from companies. I, myself was fired a couple of years ago from TNA, I was re-hired. The company is always trying to take, the best talent that they can and make a cohesive lockeroom out of it. If AJ leaving, if Sting leaving, if Jeff Hardy or Hulk Hogan leaving, if those guys leaving gives opportunities to other people, then so be it. If they get a chance to comeback that's also great, I mean it's just a matter of timing and circumstances in a lot of those instances. ATP: Of course, I ask our Twitter followers and those on Facebook, and I'm not sure if this is 100% true, but a lot of people have being saying to me, that you're contract is up in April...now you don't have to answer this, but is that true? Will you be re-signing? What's the deal there? CD: All I can tell you at this point is that my contract does end in April. Whether or not I resign depends a lot on the company, I have no plans on seeking employment elsewhere. So we'll just have to see when that date comes around, man. A lot could happen between now and then, but at this moment I'm very happy with what I'm doing in TNA. I'm very happy wrestling with Frankie Kazarian as my tag team partner, I feel like we've barely even scraped the surface as far as the potential for Bad Influence as a tag team. I don't have plan to break away or cut this out. ATP: Personally, I'd hope that you'll be sticking around with TNA. For me, you're one of the most entertaining aspects of the product, you and Frankie as Bad Influence, with blowing smoke up your...whatever. CD: No, blow smoke, go ahead. ATP: For me, you take what's given to you and make it entertaining, whether it was originally entertaining or not. Especially, on the One Night Only PPV's, where without naming names, some of the guys seem to phone some of the stuff in, you bring something extra to those shows. As well as the Impact 365 stuff. Do you see all this as an opportunity to build your character? CD: In terms of the Impact 365, we just wanted to do stuff that would be entertaining. It would have been very easy for us to take photos, or videos, of us just working out, walking down the street or walking our dogs. I only wanted to post on the 365 site, if I was inspired to do something that was clever, something that was entertaining, something that was going to catch the fans eyes, something that was going to make a fan sit up and take notice. That's how I feel about all social media, Twitter, Facebook. I don't want to just say “Had a hamburger!” That's random, that's mundane nonsense. I want to entertain my fans, the people that follow me, that fans that have supported me and I want to make them happy about the fact that their paying attention to what I'm doing. So, when it comes to the Impact 365, we haven't been posting videos each and every day, but I feel like the videos that we have posted have been quality, they've been the things that a lot of fans have talked about, that a lot of fans have voiced their approval for. That's how we're going to continue to do it. As far as the One Night Only's we looked at those, we look at every opportunity we get on the television, to have people talking about Bad Influence at the end of the night. We understand that Impact is a two hour show every week, these One Night Only are three hour PPV's and in that opportunity you get to see a lot of the roster, we want to make sure that Bad Influence stands head and shoulders above anyone else. At the end of the day, you're talking about what Bad Influence did, whether it's our matches, our promos, 365 videos, whatever, we want people talking about us. We want people checking the channels and making sure that they see us each and every week.
ATP: The American Wolves have recently turned up in TNA. What's your opinion on that signing? Will we be seeing the American Wolves against Bad Influence? And is there any other independent talents you'd like to see turn up in TNA? CD: Well, I think it's inevitable that the Wolves and Bad Influence are going to tangle. You've basically described 2/3 of the entire tag team division in TNA, when you say that. I have nothing but respect for Davey Richards, for Eddie Edwards. The year that I spent in Ring of Honor in 2010/11, some of my best matches were with those guys. I look forward to wrestling them in a TNA wrestling ring, I know Frankie feels the same way. Truth be told, and I've said this on Twitter and I'll say this until someone sets me on fire and shuts my mouth, whether or not we have the World titles around our waste, Bad Influence is the best tag team, not only in TNA, but in the wrestling business right now. We want to go out there and prove that to the world, and we'll wrestle Davey and Eddie. I'd extend that invitiation to other tag teams, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, the IWGP Tag Team Champions, The Youngbucks, IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions, Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly, the Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions and show the world that we are the best in the world. Davey and Eddie have come to TNA, you're going to see that match sooner rather than later I'm sure. Also, Robbie and Jessie, the current TNA Tag Team Champions, we haven't actually had an opportunity to challenge for those titles since they got the belts. At some point or another, that matters going to be addressed, maybe on the UK tour, who knows?
ATP: Now, you have a theatre degree (ATP's followers may or may not know that I myself am studying for a similar degree!), I was wondering how the time spent on the degree helped you in the wrestling ring? CD: Well, it definitely made me comfortable to be in front of people, acting on a stage or wrestling in a wrestling ring, you're still basically playing to a crowd. So being a theatre person, being someone who has trod the boards so to speak, it made me very aware of playing to the back row and that's something that I learned wrestling in a wrestling ring, is that you're presenting a story to a large amount of people. Very simply, wrestling is basically theatre in the round. So you have to be aware of everybody, not just people in the back row, people in the back row. So it made me very aware to be big in my presentation, to try and engage the entire audience. Sometime wrestlers pretend that there's four walls around the wrestling ring and concentrate just on the match itself, rather than broadcasting that match to the fans that have come to pay tickets to see these matches! So, sometimes they're concentrating only their moves, I'm more aware of trying to tell my story and have that story understood by the greatest amount of people. Sometimes, whether you're doing live events where there are no cameras, so you're basically playing to those people. Or when you are doing television, the television represents the largest audience, so you play to the camera, I understood that from my theatre background.
Annnnnnnnd, that's where my audio cuts out. I can assure you and I think Mr. Daniels would back me up on this that the rest of our chat was incredibly entertaining, so I can only apologise once again that the equipment failed on me. If you would like a copy of the audio from this interview either e-mail me at acrossthepondwrestling@hotmail.com or get in touch via Twitter @ATPWrestling and I'll send you the file!
This week’s Impact Wrestling was the go-home show for next
week’s special edition of Impact Wrestling, Hardcore Justice. I have to say
this wasn’t a particularly strong episode of Impact Wrestling, as whilst some
of my issues with the programme were put aside this week with Chris Sabin
getting a bit more focus as World Heavyweight Champion, some new issues seemed
to crop up, with an over reliance on recaps (I think we saw Tito Ortiz’s return
about three or four times) and the number of dusty or screwjob finishes getting
a bit silly by the end of the show. I understand that this is TV and that not
all finishes will be clean, but when all three Bound For Glory Series matches
finish with either inference, disqualification or countout it does get a little
tiresome.
Tag Team Match:
World
Heavyweight Champion
Chris Sabin & Kurt Angle
with Hall of Famer Sting
vs.
Aces and Eights
(Team 3D)
We started the show this week with Aces and Eight’s
President Bully Ray in the ring, discussing his tag team match in the main
event of show, where he would team with Devon to take on World Heavyweight
Champion Chris Sabin and a member of Aces and Eights, before calling out Chris
Sabin for their contract signing for next week’s Steel Cage title match. Whilst
Bully Ray continues to stay strong with his promos, the same could not be said
for Chris Sabin. After the fantastic promo he pulled out the bag before
Destination X, I had hope that Sabin could be a strong World Heavyweight
Champion, however his work this week was just not believable. His attempts at
John Cena type potty humour just didn’t sit right and I don’t even think he is
sure about his character, which was made clearer by Bully who has his character
spot on. Vice President of the Knockout’s Brooke Hogan then came out to open
the Contract signing, and remove the spotlight from the World Heavyweight
Champion once more. It was revealed that due to some contract loophole, if
Bully Ray didn’t win the Steel Cage match at Hardcore Justice, he wouldn’t receive
another shot at the title whilst Sabin was still Champion, sort of making it
obvious that Bully would be winning back the title, if it wasn’t already clear
from the half-hearted run TNA have given Sabin. Hopefully this is the last time
Bully and Brooke are in the same ring, but I think that is wishful thinking.
The tag team main event was built up throughout the show,
with a number of backstage segments. Firstly, Chris Sabin met with Main Event
Mafia’s Hall of Famer Sting and Kurt Angle. With Sabin saying he had a plan for
the match, if the Main Event Mafia trusted him. It was nice to see Sabin at
least on the same level as Angle and Sting, who are marketed as two of TNA’s
biggest stars and was probably the best big of work TNA has done with Sabin
since he won the title, four weeks ago. Elsewhere Aces and Eight’s Team 3D
prepared for their match, by rubbishing Sabin’s credentials and arguing about
the amount of times they’d won various tag team championships, whilst the
segment was humorous, it undid all the good work of the previous segment.
With the match about to start it was revealed that Sabin’s
partner would be Sting, however with the Hall of Famer making his way to the
ring, Kurt Angle blindsided Team 3D and it was revealed that he was in fact
Sabin’s partner. It was an intriguing start to the match, but it clearly
deflated the crowd who seemed excited to see a rare Impact Wrestling match for
Sting. Once the match settled down, we saw some nice team work from Angle and
Sabin, before Team 3D took control of the match keeping Sabin in their corner
and working quick tags. For me, this was backwards to how the match should have
been, as I would have had Angle being the one worked over by Team 3D, building
to a hot tag to the World Heavyweight Champion, which would have done Sabin the
world of good. After the hot tag, Angle took down both Bully and Devon, truly
looking like the star of his team with a near fall on Bully after an Angle Slam.
After Sabin had blind tagged himself into the match, we got
the most exciting part of the match, seeing Angle take a 3D from Bully and
Devon, before Devon went to get Team 3D’s signature weapon, a table. After
Bully had managed to put himself through the table, Sabin took out Devon,
before hitting a diving crossbody to get the pinfall victory for his team.
Whilst the crossbody was a bit of a weak finish, the moments leading up to it
worked well, and Sabin getting the pinfall was the best decision TNA could have
made, as it at least gave him a shred of credibility heading into his title
defence next week. Whilst the bout was decent, when taken out of context, I
only served as a reminder that I’ve got numerous Team 3D vs. Motor City Machine
Guns matches on DVD that I could be watching instead.
Bound For Glory
Series Match:
Christopher Daniels
vs.
Kazarian
The biggest Bound For Glory Series match of the evening saw
Bad Influence face off against each other. The whole story going into this one
and coming out of it was fantastic, and really showed that TNA are capable
getting a story spot on. With Christopher Daniels and Kazarian both cutting
strong backstage promos, throwing out the reasons as to why they would fight
each other tonight, it seemed extremely plausible that the match would actually
go ahead, building my anticipation for a fantastic battle between the two
partners. Daniels and Kazarian have consistently been the most entertaining thing
about Impact Wrestling most weeks and deserved the spotlight that this match
afforded them.
We started the match, and Daniels and Kazarian did indeed
begin to wrestle each other, with some strong chain wrestling that looked to be
building to classic TNA contest. With no man, getting the upperhand for very
long, the idea that these two are well matched was coming over nice and strong.
However, the match was over quicker than expected, after some pushing and
shoving from both men, they looked each other for a moment, before simultaneously
exiting the ring and allowing themselves to be counted out, picking up two
points each in the Bound For Glory Series in the process. Whilst it was a
little annoying to see the match end in such a fashion, what was to come made
sense of it all.
With Bad Influence congratulating each other on the entrance ramp, Bobby Roode
turned up with a steel chair (We’d already seen Roode once in the night, more
on that later). Just when it looked like Roode was about to take out Bad
Influence, he dropped the chair and headed to the ring. Roode went on to cut a
superb promo, about how he and Bad Influence had been forgotten about by everyone,
because of stuff like Aces and Eights and the Main Event Mafia. It worked so
well because everything Roode was saying was completely correct, TNA should be
focusing on guys like Roode, Daniels and Kaz, instead of the likes of Rampage
Jackson and Tito Ortiz. They claimed they now have the numbers advantage in the
Bound For Glory Series, bringing something extra to the Series that had begun
to look pretty predictable.
With Roode and Bad Influence reunited after their time in
Fortune together, I’m interested to see what effect they have on the Bound For
Glory Series. Personally, I still don’t feel like any of these guys is going to
make it into the final four, but they will certainly all be close. We’ve seen
Bad Influence try to mix things up with the Main Event Mafia and Aces &
Eight’s before, in trying to recruit AJ Styles, so with Bobby Roode now part of
the group, TNA will need to book them strongly to start with, to allow them to
look like a threat to the two larger groups, before eventually have them
crumble under the weight of their own egos, with each man going into business
for himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if at Bound For Glory these three are
involved in a three way contest, before Daniels and Kaz go into a highly
anticipated angle heading into the winter.
Best of the Rest (In The World)
Elsewhere, in another Bound For Glory Series match, Aces and
Eight’s Vice President Mr. Anderson faced off against Main Event Mafia’s
Magnus. The match was decent enough, if not a little basic. As it followed the
typical dominant heel, face comeback structure, with Anderson dominating, until
Magnus built to a Hulk Hogan style comeback, complete with Hulking up gestures.
It match struggled to keep my attention, as nothing really of note happened
until the ending, there was some nice work on the outside, but apart from that
the two went through the motions as they waited for Bobby Roode to make his
appearance in the match.
Yes, Bobby Roode turned up in the match, and before he went on to join with Bad
Influence, Roode was set to make another Impact on the Bound For Glory Series.
Roode came out with a steel chair, and teased that he would be hitting Magnus,
only to turn round and hit Anderson in the stomach and the back with the
weapon, giving Anderson the Disqualification victory for three points and
causing Magnus to be deducted ten. It’s an ending we’ve seen numerous times in
wrestling over the years, but with the points on the line, it gave the attack
an extra meaning. It also allows Magnus’ previous gaping lead at the head of
the Series to be cut considerably making the contest look more competitive once
again.
In the other Bound For Glory Series match of the night, Jeff Hardy faced off
against Main Event Mafia’s Samoa Joe. Now, this should be a main event match
for Impact, and given enough time has the potential to be a good contest. Similar
to Anderson vs. Magnus, the match was distinctly average as Hardy and Joe
phoned in the majority of the contest as they waited for interference. The
highlights of the match for me came from Joe, with a solid dive to the outside
through the middle ropes and some good submission transitions thrown in as
well. The ending saw Mr. Anderson who was on commentary cause a distraction at
ringside, allowing Hardy to break out of the Rear Near Choke and stack Joe up
for seven points in the Series. Personally, I think the show would have
benefited from having Hardy go over clean here, I know the internet would have
a fit about Hardy beating Joe clean, but it would have allowed the dusty
finishes later in the show to stand out further, and a loss to Hardy is hardly
going to cause him any damage, whilst also allowing someone else to look like a
contender in the BFG Series.
Also this week, the World Tag Team Champions James Storm and Gunner returned to Impact Wrestling, in their first appearance since 4th July, to team with ODB to take on The Bro-Mans and Knockout’s Champion Mickie James, in six person mixed tag action. The match was short and fun, with Robbie E and Jessie Godderz working over James Storm until the hot tag to Gunner was made. I was particularly impressed with Jessie during this bout, as he looked fairly good whilst in control of Storm, and although his selling is a little goofy it fits the teams gimmick well, he’s definitely improved since we last saw him. The ending saw The Bro-Mans look to be hitting Gunner with some sort of tag team finisher, only for Robbie E to receive a Last Call Superkick from Storm, and Jessie to jump into the waiting arms of Gunner as Storm & Gunner hit their tag team finisher for the victory for them and ODB. With Gail Kim coming out to attack ODB from behind, having to be removed by the referee, only for Mickie to do the same to ODB, it looks like we have the makings of a classic women’s three way bout on our hands.
Tito Ortiz also made another appearance this week, many people would probably put this higher in the review, but in all honesty, I just couldn’t care about Ortiz. With Ortiz coming to explain why he turned up in TNA, he was interrupt by Kurt Angle, in a deja vew moment from Rampage Jackson’s debut a few months ago, as Angle went over the whole respect verbiage again. With Bully Ray coming out to rescue the segment telling Angle and Ortiz he didn’t respect either of them to close the segment. I have no idea what the point of this was, or how Ortiz being in TNA will benefit the organisation in the slightest.
We also saw the return of Taz to commentary desk this week, as at the top of the show, he, Mr. Anderson and Bully Ray kicked Mike Tenay out of the building. Taz joined Jeremy Borash, and for half of the show Mr. Anderson on commentary. It was a bizarre commentary duo that really gel and felt awkward for most of the broadcast. Why TNA decided to re-sign Taz, and not just let Borash step up to position of commentator alongside Tenay I have no idea. His contract could easily have allowed them to keep a few of the wrestlers they released or even bring in a few more from outside the company.
Finally....
What did I learn from Impact Wrestling this week?
1. For every step forward TNA have taken for Chris Sabin as World Heavyweight Champion, they've taken at least two more in the opposite direction.
2. Making it even more frustrating when they pull off a great one episode story with Bad Influence and Bobby Roode, that showed forward planning and booking intelligence.
3. Hulk Hogan hasn't appeared on TNA television for two weeks, and I'm not missing him at all.
After last weeks interview with Alex and Rob from Scottish Wrestling Ring, it's now time to speak to Ryan from Discover Wrestling.
Name: Ryan Age: 26 Hometown: Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Known For: www.discoverwrestling.com
1. When did you first get into wrestling and what was it that drew you to the sport?
I got into wrestling as a little kid, but only really watched it when I got chance at a relative or a friend’s house. I really got hooked when Channel 4 started showing WWF Heat and Channel 5 starting showing WCW Worldwide. After those finished showing, I drifted through fallow years of the occasional DVD and book, before the Internet and full time employment allowed me much easier access to wrestling content. I think what drew me to it was the athleticism and theatrics, I’m a big comics fan and grew up really attached to the classic Batman TV Series, and there is really a lot of similarity between the two of them. So, when I saw the likes of Rey Mysterio and Psychosis going mental on Worldwide, it was like the next best thing! I was always drawn to the highflying guys and they are still the type of wrestling I tend to prefer!
2. Tell us a little about Discover Wrestling and how that came about?
Discover Wrestling was born out of the drive home from the PCW Supershow of December last year, springing out of an idea for a way for us to share videos/matches we liked. CJ and myself were chatting about it whilst belting across the M62 and the wheels were set in motion from that point. I studied writing at university and wanted an outlet for it and what better way than to start a blog! The name stemmed from the desire to share what we liked about wrestling and talk positively about one of our favourite things. After we came up with the idea to start up, we invited our good friend Olli to contribute, and later on our mate Mark was the last addition to the team. We like to blog with a real personal feel and want others to enjoy wrestling as much as we do!
3. If you could book a pro wrestling dream card at the moment who would it feature and why?
Ah! This is a question and a half, I’ll keep it to just six matches or I’ll be here all year.
First off, I’d start with a red hot opener to get the crowd going and I’d have a big tag team turmoil (first pin to win!) match featuring Project Ego, The Models, Frightmare and Hallowicked (Of The Spectral Envoy) and Bad Influence. With Ego, The Models and Bad Influence there would be some hi-jinks going on, but The Envoy would be the glue that would hold it together. It’d really get the crowd excited and probably have them in stitches too.
Next up, I’d have a hard-hitting collision between T-Bone and Akira Tozawa. Bone is just a brilliant heavyweight wrestler and Tozawa just has the IT factor.
To go into the interval, I’d have a first half main event between April Davids and Daniel Bryan, it’d be a technical showcase and if I had the booking pencil, I’d end it as a time-limit- tie and have the crowd desperate for a rematch!
To start the second half, I’d get the crowd in the mood with a battle of the comedic geniuses between Archibald Peck and Mad Man Manson. The two of them are probably my favourite comedic style wrestlers and I wouldn’t be able to leave them off the show.
Penultimately, I’d have a big four way match between a real mixed bag, first up I’d have ‘The Man Gravity Forgot’ PAC (now Adrian Neville in NXT), he’s just an awesome talent and pretty much the guy to watch at the moment. Secondly, I’d jump in a time machine and grab 1997 Rey Mysterio Jr, because those two alone would just be awesome. However for some extra layers of brilliance (like a wrestling lasagne) I’d put in Bubblegum, he can really go and would add a mischievous dynamic to the match. Finally, I’d chuck in Sami Zayn, also of NXT Fame. That would pretty much be a dream match and the thought of it, is pretty much mind-blowing.
Last, but by no means least I’d have THE main event. After all that wrestling action, what better way to top it off with the ultimate match? I’d finish the show with a sixty-minute Iron Man match between Antonio Cesaro and El Ligero. Those two are pretty much at the top of their game right now and it would be a big thick slice of pure goodness to watch those two step up to such an epic match.
Admittedly, this supercard would probably last about five hours, but I’d just love it. It’s a pretty good mix of UK and international talent and I think that says a lot about our site, we try to mix it up as much as possible!
4. What are your Top Three matches of all time and why?
My favourite match of all time is Mick Foley vs. Edge at WM22. It’s just the ultimate in wrestling theatre, a real blockbuster of a match. I can sit and watch it repeatedly, its thrilling viewing and one, which for all the gore and violence, still has a strong story and a really crisp narrative. I wrote an in-depth ‘Match Of The Week’ about it a while ago, you can find it here: http://discoverwrestling.com/2013/02/20/match-of-the-week-mick-foley-vs-edge-wwe-ryan/
Next up, I’d have to go with Eddie vs. Rey at Halloween Havoc in 1997. Its one of the best matches of its type and showcases both guys equally. It’s just a jaw-dropping match. Again, this is just one you can watch on loop and you’ll still notice little nuances that you missed the last time around. It’s just brilliant.
Third place is really difficult as those two are my definite faves, but I’ll go for PAC vs El Generico from PWG All Star Weekend 4 - Night . PAC is awesome. El Generico is awesome. What more do you need to say? A modern classic!
5. Where can our readers find your work and what have you got coming up?
If people want to check us out, they can click on over to www.discoverwrestling.com for all our opinions on wrestling from around the world. Whether you want to find a match recommendation, a review of a UK show or just our thoughts on wrestling in general, it’ll be there! The next shows we are at are the NGW 5th Anniversary Show and the debut show from House Of Pain: Evolution, so you can expect to see reviews of those up in the near future! Also, check back for our regular ‘Match Of The Week’ feature and any other random goodies that crop up.
We are also on Facebook and Youtube at /discoverwrestling and you can follow us on Twitter @discoverwres.
This week’s Impact Wrestling encapsulated my feelings for the current direction of the promotion in two hours. There is so much potential in the lockeroom and most of the time the build up for rivalries and matches is great, but the payoff is almost always disappointing. Whilst there was plenty to enjoy on Impact Wrestling this week, the decision made by the company and some less than well thought through booking, made the overall feeling for me coming out of the show as one of frustration.
What will the Offer Be?/August1Warning Reveal
I had been very impressed with TNA’s attempt at the viral video, with their August1Warning videos running between last week’s show and this one. They certainly helped to create a buzz amongst wrestling fans with a lot of discussion regarding who the mystery man might be. The speculation included names like Batista, Goldberg, Low-Ki, Adam Pearce, Hardcore Holly, Gutcheck Winner Bad Bones and even Nick Hogan. With such a good build up, I was expecting big things from TNA here with an important and popular wrestling name being brought in. However, with UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz being announced to fight Main Event Mafia member Rampage Jackson for Bellator the day before, my excitement was quashed pretty early on.
The build up for the reveal began from the beginning of the show with Bad Influence discussing the videos, along with Jeremy Borash and Mike Tenay mentioning the reveal every five minutes, strange for a guy who apparently doesn’t work for the company! Taz was also work into the story with him not being allowed into the building for some reason, that wasn’t really explained. After a white Hummer limo was seen driving around the backstage area, Taz reappeared to open the door of the limo to reveal that only a laptop playing the warning was inside. Even if we look past the logistics of the laptop and the hummer, the big point for me here is that TNA recently signed Taz to a contract, which we can expect is fairly lucrative, and is not really using him. Yes, the commentary has been better the last two weeks between Tenay and Borash, so what was the point of resigning Taz in the first place.
Another story that was weaved into the August1Warning build up, was the Main Event Mafia’s offer to the Aces and Eights, with the Mafia seen a number of times in their “office” discussing the offer they were going to make to their rival faction, with Kurt Angle and Sting doing most of the talking. I’m confused to what Rampage Jackson brings to TNA that validates him getting payed as much as he does. All we’ve really seen from him in the Mafia, is some nodding and the occasional “Yup”, whist during these segment Joe and Magnus come over as lackeys to the more experienced Angle and Sting rather than as equals.
The final segment of the show saw Kurt Angle call out Aces and Eights, who came out lead by Vice President Mr. Anderson. Anderson actually did a fairly good job of his promo and I’m enjoying his new more important role in Aces and Eights. With Angle announcing that at the Hardcore Justice special edition of Impact Wrestling, the Main Event Mafia challenge Aces and Eights to a five on five match, with the loser being removed from the TNA roster, a brawl ensued with Main Event Mafia coming out on top, before Anderson accepted on behalf of his team. The five on five match concept has potential, but why Main Event Mafia didn’t just say that the loser must disband didn’t make a lot of sense. It was then that the August1Warning was announced, with Tito Ortiz making his way to the entrance ramp to stare down with Rampage Jackson. It wasn’t the moment it needed to be for me, as a wrestling fan Tito Ortiz means very little to me. Whilst admittedly there is some cross-over between wrestling and MMA fans, I’d think that those fans watch each product for different reasons. I can’t imagine Aces and Eights turning up on a Bellator show either.
Bound For Glory Series
Match:
Austin Aries
vs.
AJ Styles
The show had kicked off earlier in the night, with Austin
Aries coming to the ring. Aries spoke about how he would go on to win the Bound
For Glory as well as his Bound For Glory Series match with AJ Styles later in
the night. Aries did a great job building up the match later on, putting over
Styles and himself, bringing an extra sense anticipation to the bout. However,
it did get me thinking that this match really should have been on PPV and not
free television. It doesn’t even need much of a build up, just the fact that
this match had never happened before, would surely bring in a decent buy rate
for a TNA PPV. AJ Styles also got a chance to talk just before the match, as in
a backstage promo, Styles rubbished “Dream Matches” and revealed he’d win the
Bound For Glory Series for the money. It was another strong attempt from
Styles, who is really growing into his new character. Some might not like, but
I certainly do.
The match for the most part didn’t disappoint, whilst it
took a while to get going, and there was awkward superplex/neckbreaker section
that didn’t quite work, once the match found it’s feet it really did become a
pleasure to watch. With a number of exciting high spots, such as Styles front
suplexing Aries onto the entrance way before ending up taking a back body drop
off of it, alongside some nice actual wrestling, it built up nicely and was
well put together. Aries, in the same way as Jeff Hardy two weeks ago, managed
to bring out some of the old AJ Styles, with springboard moves and other
highflying action coming back into Styles’ repertoire. The change in Styles in
ring style, for me, has been a positive one, as it has meant that when Styles
does go for the more exciting moves, they actually mean something, rather than
being just another move.
The only thing that really fell flat to me was the ending of
the contest. With Styles and Aries going back and forth with some hard punches
and chops, Aries seemed to take control with a hard back suplex and discus
clothesline and everything seemed to be going well. That was until Styles hit a
Pele Kick out of nowhere and both men ended up with an arm across the other.
With the referee counting both pinfalls, until Aries managed to get his
shoulder up to pick up the pinfall victory and seven points in the Series. Now,
there was two reasons I didn’t like the ending , firstly, after such a strong
match, it was frustrating to have no clear winner, yes, Aries won but it wasn’t
particularly decisive, now this would have been fine, if this wasn’t the Bound
For Glory Series, as the two could have had a rematch with a good story to
build upon, but it will be forgotten on next week’s Impact Wrestling. Secondly,
the Pele Kick? How often has AJ Styles finished someone off with a Pele Kick?
And now he finishes himself off with it? It was just bizarre.
This brings me to another flaw in the Bound For Glory
Series. There are a number of top stars involved in the Series, and a lot names
that TNA want to keep looking strong for the time being, so whilst Jay Bradley
and Joseph Park will lose the majority of their matches cleanly, some of the
top names will end up finishing in this kind of manner. Now, when the fans
cotton on to this, the big name collisions will become less alluring, as we
know we’ll get dodgy ending like this one, which won’t result in a rematch,
because the Series has to roll on til October. Once again, on paper the Bound
For Glory Series looks like a great idea and for the majority of the time makes
for good television, but in a lot of the execution and major details it simply
hasn’t worked as well as it should.
Best of the Rest (In the World)
The other big match on the show, saw World Heavyweight Champion Chris Sabin face off against X Division Champion Manik. Now, a Champion vs. Champion match should be the first thing I’m talking about in this review, but TNA didn’t feel that way with this match basically being an after though, summing up Chris Sabin’s reign as World Heavyweight Champion so far. In build up to the match, Sabin and Manik were seen talking backstage, for some reason Manik had his mask off but his back to camera, I honestly don’t know why they kept the gimmick. It wasn’t a particularly great segment and Sabin was really shown up here, as he simply wasn’t believable in what he was saying and seemed to just be remembering words in the correct order.
The match on the other hand, was another solid display with some nice quick highflying action, that showcased what both men could do well, in what was essentially an X Division contest. This is where the main problem of the match lay, it was an X Division contest. Chris Sabin is yet to get a clean win over a heavyweight, after basically cheating to win the title from Bully Ray. A win over a bigger heavier man clean here, would have made him look at least close to a credible World Heavyweight Champion. Sabin did win the match, after a good closing section, finishing Manik off with Hail Sabin. Manik also got very little out of the match, as he lost to the person who had previously given up the X Division Championship, making his title reign get off to almost as poor a start as Sabin’s.
In the opening match of the evening, Bobby Roode took on Hernandez in a Bound For Glory Series Match. With Roode interrupting Austin Aries’ earlier segment, to announce he’d be getting points on the board tonight, by returning to his old motto “It pays to be Roode” in a solid promo, the match had an extra sense of intrigue than it would have otherwise. Roode and Hernandez put on decent television contest, with Roode’s ring savvy helping him get the upperhand for most of the match. It was when Hernandez’ power came into play, that we saw what Roode was talking about, with Roode throwing a number of chairs into the ring, distracting the referee, allowing Roode to hit Hernandez with a conveniently placed beer bottle to pick up the pinfall victory. Now, apart from the referee deciding to ignore the load of broken glass in the ring, this was a good way to re-introduce Roode’s character and have him add points to the board.
In the women’s match of the evening Gail Kim took on ODB, in
ODB’s first televised match since November 2012. It was a welcome return for
one of TNA’s most talented females, as ODB and Kim put on a strong contest,
with the fast paced, hard hitting action that has become the calling card for
TNA’s women’s division over the last few months, thanks to the likes of Kim,
Taryn Terrell and Mickie James. After ODB sent Kim into the ring post, the
match broke down somewhat, with ODB and Kim brawling on the outside before Kim
sent ODB into the steel steps, leading to a double countout and a draw, as the
two continued to fight. The match built the rivalry well, and unlike the
Styles/Aries match later in the evening will surely get a rematch later down
the line. ODB could make a great opponent for Mickie James as well, if the
company went down a different route to Taryn Terrell.
In the other Bound For Glory Series match of the evening,
Joseph Park took on Jay Bradley. With Eric Young accompanying Park, bringing
his scientists knowledge by giving Park headgear to stop him bleeding, you had
the making of a hilarious comedy duo. The match itself was poor, with Bradley
and Park really not connecting well in the ring, with most of what was
presented looking clunky and awkward. After Bradley had removed the head gear,
it still wasn’t enough for him to pick up the victory, as Park got the pinfall
after a Samoan Drop. Jay Bradley is certainly proving to be the whipping boy of
the Series, playing the same role that Robbie E played last year.
Elsewhere, Bad Influence’s Christopher Daniels and Kazarian
talked about their match in the Bound For Glory Series next week, with the
tension between the two being played up. If done correctly, this match has the
potential to be the match of the Series so far, if given four minutes or gone
to another Dusty finish, it could be a big disappointment, which would be a
crying shame after Kaz and Daniels have been consistently the best thing about
TNA over the last year or so.
Finally...
What did I learn from this week's Impact Wrestling?
1. August1Warning was a disappointment.
2. I actually like the new AJ Styles.
3. Even the absense of Hulk Hogan doesn't help the focus of TNA.
Impact Wrestling this week had a lot of good in ring action,
as the Bound For Glory Series began and Open Fight Night returned, meaning we
were guaranteed six one-on-one contests between some of TNA’s best. However,
some of the non-wrestling segments on the show were disappointing include a big
reveal at the end of the show, that really wasn't as surprising as Mike Tenay
made out.
Mafia Revealed?
The story running throughout Impact Wrestling this week was
the idea of Sting attempting to build a New Main Event Mafia. With a number of
segment’s following Sting around the backstage area with Sting talking to the
camera about his plans. We also saw Sting shaking a mysterious hand, who had
apparently agreed to join the Main Event Mafia. In terms of building
anticipation for the big reveal later in the show these segments worked well,
even if they only went over ground already covered by Sting last week.
The plot thickened as the show went on, with Bully Ray and
the Hogans both getting involved as we headed towards the reveal. Firstly, with
Hulk Hogan talking on the phone backstage, Bully attempted to sneak up on him
with the hammer, only for Hogan to catch him shoving him into the wall. I’ve
said it before I absolutely hate the hammer thing, especially with both Hogan
and Bully sneaking up on each other in recent weeks. Are they planning to kill
each other? In my opinion, this should have no place in wrestling. Bully Ray
said he was looking for a Brooke, and Hulk told him it was over between them.
If Hulk is attempting to use this storyline to show off his acting ability, it
isn’t working, as Bully Ray out does him in almost every aspect, during this
bizarre love triangle. Reluctantly, Brooke agreed to leave the arena after Hulk
said he didn’t want any more drama on the show.
There was a nice segment with Bully Ray talking to Brooke on
the phone in an attempt to get her to return. Bully has certainly worked hard
on this side of his game over the last two years, and it was a really well
played moment by the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Although, I’d rather see
Brooke out of current storylines, especially involving the World Heavyweight
Championship, I guess it allows Bully to have a story going, whilst the Bound
For Glory Series continues. Bully sent Aces and Eights to pick up Brooke and
headed out to the ring. At the same time though, The Icon was heading out into
the arena and told TNA cameras that he had some family business to attend to.
It was pretty good set up, even if we could see what was about to happen from a
mile off.
Bully made use of Open Fight Night to call out his wife,
reminding the crowd that he was a lover not a fighter in another top notch heel
promo, however Brooke didn’t show up. Of course, it was Sting who appeared on
the entrance ramp, with the Main Event Mafia theme blaring. Sting stayed quiet
allowing Bully to run his mouth some more about his victory over Sting at
Slammiversary. Sting began to strip down his suit, awkwardly having trouble
undoing his tie. Bully attempted to call out Aces and Eights for back up, but
they had been taken out backstage. I struggle to see how Aces and Eights are
meant to be seen as a threat to anyone when they are always being taken out and
none of the members of the group, bar Bully Ray and Mr. Anderson, and possibly
Devon, have looked strong at any point of their TNA tenure. Sting threw the
first punch and Bully attempted to run to the back, only to be blocked by the
first new member of the Main Event Mafia…. Kurt Angle. It wasn’t much of a
surprise as Angle, along with Samoa Joe, were the two guys that seemed nailed
on to join the group. It would have been fine in the middle of the show, but to
finish on this big reveal was a kind of weak way to finish the show.
Bound For Glory
Series Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode
The show kicked off with all the Bound For Glory Series
qualifiers in the ring, with Hulk Hogan on the entrance ramp talking up the BFG
Series. Bizarrely, he then introduced two more qualifiers, despite having
already announced this on the previous Impact Wrestling, Jeff Hardy and Bobby
Roode would receive automatic places because of winning the previous two
series. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened with a similar
occurrence of Hulk seemingly forgetting what had happened a mere week ago.
Hogan then revealed the result of the Impact Fan Vote, which saw Jeff Hardy get
the first Open Fight Night call out, over Bobby Roode. It was an obvious
decision and similar to when WWE runs the App votes on Raw, felt a little bit
like insulting the intelligence of the fanbase into thinking they actually have
some form of control on the show.
A number of Impact wrestlers went on to state their case of
why Hardy should or shouldn’t pick them for the first call out. Austin Aries
went first with an entertaining promo, putting himself over as as popular as
Jeff Hardy and attempting to get the crowd to chant his name, it worked for
part of the crowd but nothing like what we’ve heard for Aries in the past.
Christopher Daniels told Jeff he better not choose either member of Bad
Influence because he’d go home with no points. Daniels is always a pleasure to
listen to on the microphone for me, coupled with the ability to have fantastic
matches week in week out, Daniels should be great to watch throughout the
tournament. However, Hardy eventually went for the obvious option of Bobby
Roode and we had ourselves a classic multi-man brawl between all the participants
to end the first segment.
As we’ve seen with Roode and Hardy in the past on a number
of PPV’s and Impact’s these two are capable of putting on some very good match
together. Even though the contest was fairly short for a Main Event (it went a
little over six minutes of television time) it was another solid outing for two
of TNA’s biggest names. Roode spent most of the match methodically taking apart
Hardy, with The Charismatic Enigma’s offense coming mainly in the form of quick
short bursts. There was a number of near falls throughout and it looked like
Roode might have it won after Hardy missed a Swanton Bomb, and ended up in a Crippler
Crossface. This lead to the finish of the contest with Hardy turning the
Crossface into a pin for a two count, with Roode attempting to take the lead,
Jeff hit a Twist of Fate out of nowhere for the victory.
It was decent contest between the two, although it doesn’t
really rank with the previous battles they’ve had mainly due to time
constraints. I’d expect both to be near the top of the series as it progresses,
although I wouldn’t expect either to pick up another win in the tournament. I’m
interested to see what TNA has planned for these two over the next couple of
months as they will surely both command major storylines heading into Bound For
Glory, that have yet to show themselves as of yet.
Best of the Rest
We also got another huge match up for the Series, pitting
long time rivals Samoa Joe and AJ Styles against each other. Anyone whose
followed TNA since it’s inception in 2002, will know of the long and storied
rivalry between these two TNA stalwarts. Before the contest, AJ cut a very good
promo, portraying the new darker element of his character well, saying he
wanted the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the money and that he was
doing his own. I’m really enjoying this new side for Styles to portray at the
moment, it seems fresh and it’s interesting to see how it will develop
throughout the Series leading into Bound For Glory, Styles’ seems to be
relishing the opportunity as well.
The thing I liked about this match was how different it was
to the previous battles these two have had. Styles has been working a different
in ring styles as of late, which has been a lot more calculated than we had
been used and therefore this match with Joe was worked at a slower pace but
knew when to up the tempo when needed, the first time we saw this was in a nice
exchange than ended with Joe taking Styles’ legs out from under him, sending AJ
crashing into the apron. The match was fought extremely stiff throughout and
managed to make every single punch and kick seem important to the match. There
was some nice chain wrestling towards the end of the contest with Styles and
Joe both placing each other in signature submission holds before AJ tried to
sneak a pin. It was a shame that Christy Hemme announced there was only five
minutes left of the time limit, as it gave away the finish of the contest
pretty early on. It would have been a lot better if the seeds of this had been
planted in an earlier match with someone picking up a win with five minutes
left. The two did go to the time limit, and continued to fight after the match
was over. They both received two points in the Series and AJ Styles is still my
favourite to win the whole thing.
There was also a State of the Knockout’s Division speech given by Brooke Hogan, with the entire knockouts roster (now looking fairly thin) in the ring. Mickie James gave her piece, continuing to grow into the heel role, as she cut a self-centered promo putting over her achievements in the last few weeks. Eric Young and ODB were stripped of the Knockout’s Tag Team Championship after a year and a half reign. Personally, I hope the championships are forgotten as there isn’t enough Knockouts around to support the belts properly, as has been the case for the majority of their tenure. Despite Mickie James’ attempts to stop the match, Brooke announced Mickie James will defend her title against Velvet Sky next week on Impact, which looks set to be the blow off match for the rivalry. Also announced for the June 29th Impact from Las Vegas, was a Ladder Match pitting Gail Kim against Tarynn Terrell with a Number One Contenders Spot on the line, if the match they had at Slammiversary is anything to go by this will be a brutal contest. This segment worked in setting up a number of matches at the same time, as well as resolving the Tag Title issue, however I still find Brooke Hogan incredibly annoying and she continues to look awkward when discussing wrestling matters.
Kazarian used Open Fight Night to call out Magnus, because
of Magnus being called the future of TNA. This was another case of match that
would have benefitted from more time, which was somewhat of a theme throughout
the show. Magnus dominated Kaz for most of the contest, which was fought at a
fairly quick pace due to it only going about two and a half minutes. The ending
was also well worked with Magnus catching Kazarian’s drop kick attempt and
applying the Texas Clover Leaf for the submission victory and ten points in the
Series. Magnus was top of the leader board by the end of the night, it will be
interesting to see if he keeps it up, as a good run near the top of the Bound
For Glory Series would certainly elevate Magnus.
Kazarian’s Bad Influence partner Christopher Daniels was
also in Bound For Glory Series action after being called out by Hernandez.
Prior to the call-out Hernandez was seen backstage getting advice from friend Chavo
Guerrero, Jr., I’ve got a feeling we might see Chavo turn on Hernandez leading
to contest between the two at Bound For Glory. This was another short match,
between another two talented members of the TNA Roster. Daniels dominated the
early going, until Hernandez’ power shone through to give him the upperhand,
including the now signature charge down the entrance ramp. However, Daniels
veteran craftiness got him the victory, as he managed to manoeuvre Earl Hebner
into the correct position to allow for a Low Blow to go unnoticed before
hitting a BME for the seven points. It was nice, if unoriginal finish, that
worked well for the character Daniels portrays at the moment. I can’t see
either men winning the series at the moment, although hopefully they’ll get a
bit more time as the tournament goes on to show what they can do.
Mr. Anderson chose to call out Joseph Park for his Open
Fight Night challenge, believing it was guaranteed win. It wasn’t a
particularly memorable contest, with Anderson not taking Park seriously and
Park showing him up on a number of occasions. In the end, it took a kick from
DOC to allow Anderson to hit the Mic Check for the victory and seven points.
With a lot of matches needing extra time on the show, this wasn’t one of them
and could have actually been helped by having less time. The tension between
DOC and Anderson was played up in a backstage segment later on in the night,
with both claiming they should be VP for Aces and Eights, with DOC claiming Anderson
wouldn’t have won without him. It comes to something when the biggest stable in
TNA, can’t beat Joseph Park cleanly.
Former Gutcheck contestant Jay Bradley used his Open Fight
Night opportunity to call out Austin Aries. Bradley looked good in pre-match
promo, he seems to play the role well, with some charisma and it will be
interesting to watch him as the Series progresses. The match was also a strong
contest, definitely Bradley’s best match since joining the TNA Roster. With an
interesting heel vs. heel dynamic that isn’t often seen in pro wrestling,
(although the crowd was firmly behind Austin Aries) both men went back and
forth in terms of momentum. Bradley seems to possess a fair amount of technical
prowess whilst also been able to take advantage of his size with a number of
power moves including an impressive high lift spinning backbreaker. The match
also built up Bradley’s Boomstick finishing move well with Aries narrowly
ducking the lariat on a number of occasion. Aries’ picked up the win with an
awkward looking Brainbuster for the Seven points. I think it’s important for
the Gutcheck concept, that Bradley picks up some impressive victories in this
series, as if he becomes, as I expect he will be, the whipping boy of the tournament
it won’t look very good for any potential Gutcheck winners in the future.
Hulk Hogan also spoke to X Division Champion Chris Sabin, as
well as Kenny King and Suicide, as it was revealed that Destination X will be
returning as a special edition of Impact Wrestling on July 18th,
where the X Division Champion will have the opportunity to trade in his title
for a shot at World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray. I’m glad TNA hadn’t
completely dropped the concept, as it seemed like a good way of building the X
Division Championship back up after it had been poorly used, in a few years
time I’d love to see a Champion refuse to cash in, thus building the belt even
higher. Sabin, King and Suicide will face each other next week in a three way
for the title, which will also decide who get’s the title shot at Impact:
Destination X. The logical move would be Sabin, as he has only just won the
title and it would continue his comeback storyline, however TNA doesn’t always
go for the logical and it could be argued that Sabin isn’t a big enough name to
realistically challenge for the World Title at current and possibility wouldn’t
draw the big rating TNA will be hoping for from the Destination X show.
Finally…
What have we learnt from this weeks Impact Wrestling?
1. Mike Tenay was a lot more shocked to see Kurt Angle join The Main Event Mafia than the majority of the audience.
2. The Bound For Glory Series will present us with some great matches on paper, but time constraints will hurt the matches.
3. TNA also has an App. Who knew?
Announced For Next Week's Impact Wrestling
X Division Championship Three Way: Chris Sabin (C) vs. Kenny King vs. Suicide
Knockout's Championship Match: Mickie James (C) vs. Velvet Sky
Announced for 25th July Impact Wrestling
Knockout's Championship Number One Contender's Ladder Match: Gail Kim vs. Tarynn Terrell
The first hour or so of Impact was very strong, with a
number solid Bound for Glory Qualifying contests, along with a number of
returns, a handful of good promos and a satisfying heel turn. Unfortunately the
show went downhill after that with some strange booking logic, luckily the main
event saved the second half of the show!
Bound For Glory
Series Qualifying Match: Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
After AJ Styles and Kurt Angle’s fantastic match at
Slammiversary, I was extremely happy when TNA announced at rematch this week
with the added stipulation of a place in the Bound For Glory Series on the
line. With both men being big names within TNA, you’d have expected them both
to be in the Series, therefore it was difficult to pick a winner for this one,
which can’t be said for a lot of television contests. Throughout the show a
number of elements were thrown into the equation including Rampage Jackson and
of course, Aces and Eights.
Firstly, we saw another confrontation between Kurt Angle and
newcomer Rampage Jackson. Jackson went up to Angle and asked about what he
meant last week. With Angle explaining it will take time before Jackson is
ready to face him in the ring. This was basically to explain why Angle and
Jackson won’t be facing each other for a while and why Jackson will probably disappear
from TV for a while after this week. Secondly, Aces & Eight met in there “Club
House”, which happens to be in biking distance of every arena in the United
States. With the fall out of the Aces & Eight’s Battle Royal (more on that
later) DOC revealed that tonight he planned to take out AJ Style’s as payback
for the hammer shot two weeks ago.
The main body of the match was much improved on the contest
they had at Slammiversary with the action being a lot pacier and with less
focus on the submissions of both men. The match was help by sticking to the
close work of the Slammiversary contest, with both men delivering each of their
moves with a menace which helped sell the feud as well as AJ’s new no nonsense
attitude. Even when Styles’ went to a more familiar highflying style, it was to
deliver a vicious looking springboard forearm smash. It’s always nice to see a
good, close fought pure wrestling match, which doesn’t rely too heavily on
major spots to keep the interest of the fans. This isn’t to say the match
feature no spots, but they were well placed and well used, with a release
German Suplex from Angle on the outside, as well as a repeated spot from
Slammiversary with Styles flipping out of Angle’s German from the top rope.
The ending saw the interference of Aces and Eights, but
Styles quickly seeing away the oncoming DOC and Knux, whilst Angle got rid Mr.
Anderson, only for AJ to get a quick school boy roll up for the victory and the
spot in the Bound For Glory Series. I’d expect Style be near the top end of the
Series with TNA playing off the idea that Styles will finally be able to
challenge for the title once again. With Aces and Eights continuing the beat down
on Angle post-match, it was Rampage Jackson who came to make the save, with
Aces and Eights quickly scarpering. It was a slightly frustrating ending as it
would have been nice to have clean win in this one, and DOC’s promise of
getting AJ Styles quickly went out of the window. Hopefully we get another
Angle-Styles match soon, before the two move onto new storylines.
Sting’s Announcement
After Sting’s loss to Bully Ray at Slammiversary, it was
clear that TNA would have to find a new place for The Icon heading into Bound
For Glory, as well as storyline that had the legs to keep going for over four
months. With Sting heading to the ring, it was clear that TNA were teasing that
Sting would retire, but it was clear that that wasn’t the case. Whilst I wasn’t
particularly impressed with Sting’s performance at Slammiversary, I still think
that Sting could have something to offer TNA in other roles.
It would seem that Sting and TNA management had been reading
my review of Slammiversary, in which I questioned why no one from TNA had come
to help Sting during the World Title match. With Sting bringing this up and it
being the main catalyst for the promo. It seemed for a while as if Sting might
have been teasing a heel turn, talking about how Aces & Eight were a family
and how no one had his back. I’m glad TNA didn’t go down this route as I’ve
never been a fan of Sting as a heel, his character works much better in a face
role.
The big reveal was Sting announcing that he was planning on
reforming a new version of the Main Event Mafia. For anyone who wasn’t around
TNA 2008-2010, Main Event Mafia were a heel stable of former World Champions
who battled with a number of TNA’s younger stars (known as the TNA Frontline)
throughout that period. The stable was led by Kurt Angle, and then Sting before
eventually disbanding shortly after Bound For Glory 2010. In terms of member,
the Main Event Mafia was a much stronger looking faction than Aces and Eights
and were booked a lot stronger as a group and individuals than the new group as
well. However, hopefully by placing Aces and Eights against the group it should
help to elevate some individual members who have been used as fodder over most
of the storyline, like Knux or DOC.
Now, who will Sting choose to join his new version of the
Main Event Mafia? Well, the only members still contracted to TNA are Sting
himself, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and Taz. With Taz closely connected to Aces and
Eights and playing a strong role on commentary it will be unlikely that he
joins the group. With other former members like Kevin Nash, Booker T, Sharmell
and Kip James currently connected to WWE they are surely also ruled out. With
Scott Steiner being the only big name left in the group, it’s also unlikely he
will make his TNA return after his recent lawsuit with TNA, and other names
like Traci Brooks, Jenna Morasca, Sally Boy & Big Rocco hardly being big
enough names to mean enough to warrant returns. If the Main Event Mafia sticks
to having former World Champions within its ranks, Sting could also look to the
likes of Abyss, AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, James Storm and Jeff
Hardy. As well as a likely pick for General Manager Hulk Hogan, although I’d
rather see him stay out of this storyline.
Best of the Rest
The show kicked with Hulk Hogan in the ring talking about
the Bound For Glory Series. He announced that only two wrestlers had gained
automatic spots in the Series, the previous winners Jeff Hardy and Bobby Roode.
With Hardy and Roode both coming out to state their case in the Series, Hogan
announced the return of Open Fight Night next week, with the audience being
able to choice whether Roode or Hardy got the first call out. I enjoy the Open
Fight Night concept and it will definitely help to keep the show fresh over the
next few months, but having the audience vote for Roode or Hardy seems almost
as pointless as some of WWE’s Active votes over the previous month, with the
outcome of not just the vote, but their calls outs being obvious. Aces and
Eights came out with Bully complaining that no one from Aces and Eights had a spot
in the BFG Series, with Hogan agreeing to give them a spot to the winner of
battle royal between the group later in the night, much to the disdain of the
group.
With Aces and Eights picking their winner via a card game,
the battle royal was a bit of piss take match in all honesty. With Anderson
pretending to throw the other members out, with over reactions from all of the
group. It was of course not a fantastic match, but made sense in terms of the
way the group works. That was until DOC decided to refuse to leave the ring and
went to war with Anderson, who easily despatched of him for the win. It made
little sense for Aces to stay on the outside, when they’ve had no aversion to
interfering before and with Anderson quickly gaining the upperhand it made it
feel all a little pointless.
Another Bound For Glory Series Qualifying Match saw Bad
Influence faces World Tag Team Champions James Storm and Gunner, with both
members getting a spot in the Series if they were victorious. With Bad
Influence providing another entertaining contest prior to the contest, with
Daniels playing a piano, that they must have found someone where in the arena,
whilst Kaz talked up why they were going to win the match later on, with some
hilarious references to Gunner’s beard and it’s ability to scare old people.
Personally, for the last year, or even since their formation as Bad Influence,
Kaz and Daniels have been the most entertaining part of Impact almost every
week, both in the ring and during interviews.
For most of the opening of the bout, Bad Influence worked
over Gunner, keeping him in their corner and performing your regular heel tag
team maneuverers, until Gunner managed a double clothesline to tag in Storm.
Storm who is clearly working with an injured leg, looked a little awkward in
the ring, but has to be commended for his effort during the contest, when he
could have easily done less than he did. The ending came with Storm building
for a Last Call Superkick, only for Daniels to hit him in the back with the Tag
Title belt and Kaz to get a Small Package for the three count. It makes sense
for Bad Influence to go into the Bound For Glory Series, as Storm clearly would
struggle with the work load of so many singles contest. Hopefully Kaz and
Daniels go far in the tournament, although I wouldn’t hold my breath with the
way Daniels had been treated by TNA over the years.
Also this week, we got the payoff on Mickie James’s heel
turn. With Velvet Sky and James both having backstage segments building to a
meeting in the ring, with Sky promising that she had a present for James. That
present turned out to be a letter from Sky’s doctor clearing her to compete,
thus allowing Sky to finally have her rematch for the Knockout’s Championship.
With James eventually snapping and saying Sky was still injured, whilst
attacking Velvet’s knee. It was a good segment and felt like a satisfying
build, with James being allowed to grow into her new heel character before
fully making the turn. I expect James to retain the title and see her moving
into a feud with Taryn Terrell come Bound For Glory.
There was also a Four Courners Match with another Bound For
Glory Series spot on the line, pitting Matt Morgan, Rob Terry, Magnus and Kenny
King all against each other. Morgan cut a promo backstage before the match
stating how he had been held back by Hogan and that he shouldn’t even have to
qualify, it was a good promo from Morgan and it really is time TNA started
doing something with the giant whose been floating around the sidelines since
his return. The MVP of this contest for me was Kenny King, who pulled the match
together with some sneaky heel antics, and without this the match would have
felt completely out of place. I’m not a huge fan of the Four Corners Match,
especially without an elimination element, as having to tag in and out doesn’t
make much sense. The end saw the classic breakdown, with various finishers from
each competitor, before Magnus hit the Mag Daddy Driver on King for the
victory. I’m a big fan of Magnus’ in ring work, but can’t see him picking up
too many points in the series, although he will hopefully have some good
matches along the way. With Morgan now out of the Series, I can see a fued with
Rob Terry that will do little for either man, whilst Kenny King will most
likely return to the X Division.
In another Bound For Glory Series Qualifying
Match we saw the return of Eric Young return to take on Austin Aries. Young is
probably one of the best in this business at the moment in terms of comic
ability, with some hilarious spots incorporating ODB as well as a nice section
with Young copy catting Austin Aries mannerisms, including lying on the top
rope. Aries and Young put on a very good short television contest that was a
joy to watch at time, combining the comic elements with some nice serious
grappling, with the crowd clearly loving both of the competitors in the ring.
Aries eventually picked up the win, by running into the rope with Young on the
top rope, and finishing off with a Brainbuster. Aries will be near the top of
the Bound For Glory Series, but I can’t see him getting the win in this one
somehow.
Another returnee for a Qualifying Match was Crimson, who
hasn’t been seen in over a year. Crimson cut some very good promos both
backstage and in the ring before his match, and he has clearly been working on
this side of his game during his time in OVW. His opponent was Joseph Park. The
match was short with Crimson dominating and looking impressive throughout,
until Park ducked a clothesline and rolled Crimson up with a school boy for the
surprising win. It seems a strange decision to bring back Crimson for this and
hopefully he sticks around with something else to do, possibly involving former
partner Matt Morgan. Joseph Park seems like a strange decision for the BFG Series
and I wouldn’t say I’d look forward to his matches in the Series, although I’d
expect the reveal and payoff of the Park/Abyss story before the conclusion of
the tournament.
Elsewhere there was also a vignette revolving around Chris
Sabin’s decision surrounding the X-Division Championship and whether he will
get a World Championship shot. It’s still not clear when this will be happening
with Destination X now defunct, but when it envitably does I can’t see Sabin
winning the World Title, especially from Bully Ray as it stands. He’s
entertaining in the ring and decent when talking, but I wouldn’t put him in the
same class as Austin Aries who had the same decision last year. A loss would
also help to build Sabin’s story and possibly give him momentum to build on
heading into next year.
Finally…
What have we learnt for Impact Wrestling this week?
1. All participants in the 2013 Bound For Glory Series, not that all of them have a chance of winning!
2. Sting is sticking around for the time being and TNA is still in love with the NWO.
3. Mr. Anderson will be the first to betray Aces and Eights, although it might be teased that it's DOC.
