TNA Impact Wrestling 5th September 2013 Review

TNA Impact Wrestling focused largely on the Bound For Glory Series, with the first part of the tournament coming to close with a Twelve Man Gauntlet match (or Royal Rumble). Whilst TNA chose to have Sting and Bully Ray's No Disqualification bout go in the usual main event slot, to me the Bound For Glory Series, which will be the focus once again in the next two week's No Surrender themed special episodes, was where my interest lied, for almost all of the show.

Bound For Glory Series Twelve Man Gauntlet Match

To build up to this one, TNA started the show with a short vignette featuring clips of interviews with each of the twelve Bound For Glory Series competitors. In case you've missed TNA over the last couple of months, that's AJ Styles, Magnus, Mr. Anderson, Samoa Joe, Kazarian, Bobby Roode, Austin Aries, Jeff Hardy, Joseph Park, Christopher Daniels, Hernandez and Jay Bradley. I though this was a really good idea, with each man explaining their motives for winning the Gauntlet and why they will win, really setting up the importance of the Gauntlet match. Obviously, a lot of the participants wanted to win, so they could reach the final four and go onto No Surrender next week, but people like Jay Bradley and Hernandez who had no chance of winning at least mixed it up a bit. To continue on that theme, both Bradley and Hernandez were interviewed by Jeremy Borash, both actually gave decent interviews, but there was one problem here...I simply didn't care. Bradley spoke about how a certain organisation had possibly enlisted him to eliminate a certain individual and you could see it coming a mile off. It was clear who Bradley was talking about in both cases, and it was clear Bradley wouldn't be eliminating them, he's been booked as a loser throughout the whole Bound For Glory Series, why would things be changing now? 

The thing with Gauntlets/Royal Rumbles is they have to be full of spots and storyline to make them any good, you can't just sort of have twelve men come out and have them all swap between who is punching who in the corner of the ring, because it becomes pretty boring pretty quickly and this one bordered on the latter most of the time. There was the stuff with Jay Bradley, but it simply didn't work. It was revealed he was meant to be eliminating AJ Styles, but Styles had already been in the match for quite some time, and Bradley had a perfect opportunity when Styles entered the ring and clotheslined Joseph Park over the top rope, but it just wasn't picked upon. Despite earlier saying the order of entry was decided by who was higher up the standing, Mike Tenay and Taz still questioned who was in next which didn't help the proceedings. Bad Influence both did a good job in developing a story, helping keep each other in the match and work over other wrestlers, although a double hip toss wasn't exactly an exciting way to eliminate Hernandez. 

For me, the match really picked up with the entry of Austin Aries, charging down the ramp and hitting a leaping double clothesline on Bad Influence. This is where The Extraordinary Gentleman's Organisation remembered they were all a group and took the fight to Aries, finally a bit of storyline development. There was a nice series that saw Samoa Joe attempt to save Magnus from Bad Influence only to get eliminated himself, before Bobby Roode saved Kazarian by eliminating Jeff Hardy, as EGO's dominance continued it looked more likely they would produce the winner, with only Styles, Aries and Magnus opposing them. A nifty looking monkey flip from Styles would eliminate Kaz, although it was harmed by the jarring visual of seeing Kaz land on the elevated entrance ramp rather than the floor. Another nice piece of teamwork from EGO, saw Daniels save Roode from a bodyslam from Magnus and go on to eliminate the Brit, to bring the field down to four. Speedy eliminations of Aries and Roode by Styles, both of whom had already qualified for the final four, left Styles and Daniels to battle it out. Unfortunately, they didn't stick with tradition and then have a one on one match, like how they would usually do in TNA, with Styles eliminating Daniels following a Clothesline. I thought this was a real shame, as I quite excited to see the two go at it one more time, and thought the closing stages of the bout up were really good up until this point.

With the Final Four settled as AJ Styles, Magnus, Bobby Roode and Austin Aries (I got two out of four, by the way!), the only thing left to do was choose who would face who. So later in the AJ Styles came down to the ring and after some deliberation, picked Austin Aries as his opponent. Styles' reasoning was solid, with Aries having a victory over him in the Series and Styles wanting to prove himself once again, with Aries declaring that their would be a clear winner next week, I could help but be excited to see these two lock up for the second time on television. So that meant that the other semi final would see Bobby Roode vs. Magnus, with Magnus holding the victory over Roode in the Series proper already. With two decent promos from both guys outlining why they should win, it all set up very nicely for next week. It's obvious TNA had expected to have more time here, with a lot of the booking that seemed clear early on (Joseph Park being revealed as Abyss for a late push, Chavo Guerrero turning on Hernandez) having to be dropped, which is strange really because they should really know their own schedule, but they have actually done a pretty good job of coming up with a final four that I'm interested in. AJ Styles would be my pick to win, although you could make strong cases for both Austin Aries or Magnus to go head to head with Bully Ray at Bound For Glory as well. 

No Disqualification Match: 

Sting

 vs. 

World Heavyweight Champion 

Bully Ray 

with Aces & Eights 

(Anderson/Tessmacher)

There was no amount of build up TNA could do that would get me excited for this match. I saw it at Slammiversary and I'm pretty sure no one was crying out to see a Sting-Bully Ray II. Even with Bully Ray continuing his trend of top notch promos at the start of the show, addressing his Aces and Eights stablemates, Mr. Anderson, Tito Ortiz, Knux, Wes Brisco & Garrett Bischoff, with “main squeeze” Brooke Tessmacher by his side. Ray did a good job trying to keep his group in check, it's clear that Ray has relished his role here, it's a shame he hasn't really had a decent face to go opposite against. Ray also set up a number of matches for his group, including Knux taking on Chris Sabin and Brisco & Bischoff taking on World Tag Team Champions James Storm and Gunner. This is certainly the best use we've seen of the Aces & Eights group, with my previous main gripe with the group being that they were never in matches, however I think it might be too little too late. 

The build continued throughout the show, with both Aces & Eights and Main Event Mafia having backstage segments. Firstly, we saw Bully Ray's reaction to Mr. Anderson failing to win the Bound For Glory Series Gauntlet match earlier in the night. I thought this was  really well shot and performed little scene, with Bully Ray once again putting in a stellar performance. With Anderson showing a burst of aggression, before Bully Ray put him back in line, it looked like that would be the last we'd hear of Anderson's uprising, at least for now. For the Main Event Mafia, we saw Sting chatting with Rampage Jackson. Now I expected to hate this segment, but it was actually quite sweet. It came across to me as the veteran Sting departing some knowledge to the green Jackson, with Jackson happy to sit and listen whilst Sting cut a pretty decent promo, however I still wasn't anymore exciting to see the main event. 

Before the match, General Manager Hulk Hogan, banned Tito Ortiz from ringside and made the match No Disqualification. These two ideas seemed juxtaposed, what would happen if Ortiz interfered? Why were Mr. Anderson and Brooke Tessmacher allowed to stay at ringside? I've heard of WWE logic, but TNA logic is getting pretty ropey. The match was essentially a slim line version of the one they had at Slammiversary. Firsty, Sting took it to Ray with a steel chair, before Ray took the upperhand and they repeated the spot from Slammiversary where Ray removed the padding on the ring to expose the boards. I wasn't fan of it the first time and I don't like it anymore now. Sting reversed Ray's Piledriver and managed to lock in a Scorpion Death Lock, with Aces & Eight's Knux, Brisco & Bischoff making the save for their President. Main Event's Mafia Samoa Joe, Magnus & Rampage Jackson came down and fought Aces and Eights to the back. It was a nice twist on what we had seen at Slammiversary, showing that Sting now had some guys watching his back, so I can't really complain about that.


The finish saw Sting manage to lock Ray in the Scorpion Death Lock again, with Anderson on the outside wielding a hammer. With Anderson refusing to make the save for his President, Ray tapped out and Sting picked up the submission victory. In isolation, this was a pretty good finish and did set up nicely for next week's No Surrender, but TNA just had their World Heavyweight Champion lose clean to someone who can't even challenge for the title. I'd love to know the logic that we into that one. So Anderson got in the ring and said he'd be facing Bully Ray next week at No Surrender for the World Heavyweight Championship, and I have to say I quite liked the return of face Anderson, complete with announcing his own name. I thought it was a really strong end to Impact Wrestling, but they did about two-three months worth of build for this match, in about a two weeks. This moment could have felt even stronger, if they'd have just let it breath for a bit and really build to Anderson's turn. The other issue I had with this was that Anderson has just lost the Bound For Glory Series, and is getting a title shot next week...whilst the final four will battle it out to get a shot on the same show. It's the timing more than anything that annoyed me about this, if it was shuffled around and maybe two months down the line, this would have been a red hot ending to the show.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on Impact Wrestling, we saw the return of former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Sabin, in his first television bout since losing the World Heavyweight title, taking on Aces & Eight's Knux. I was interested to see Knux back in the ring, because he's hardly been in the ring since turning up in TNA. He's been in a handful of multi man tag team bouts, but this was actually only his second singles match on television, and his last match was back in January! Knux has been handled pretty poorly since joining TNA, as have most of Aces and Eights as individuals, which has in turn harmed the Aces & Eights group in general. Get the guys in the ring, show us what they can do! I thought Knux had a lot more to give the company, after enjoying the majority of his run in WWE as Mike Knox.

The match was decent, it didn't exactly set the world a light, but it was okay. Sabin worked Knux's knee for some reason, during the opening of the match, I guess the logic was that Sabin was trying to get Knux on the ground, but it didn't quite work. Knux looked pretty good when he took control of Sabin, with power moves and nice diving leg drop, that I wasn't expecting from such a big man. The finish saw Bully Ray hand Knux a hammer, with Sabin hitting a basement dropkick to Knux's knee. With the hammer now loose, Sabin jumped on it and whacked Knux in the head, giving Knux a disqualification victory. I'm waiting to see where they go with Sabin before burying this finish, obviously they have something planned for him and it didn't exactly harm Knux either. After the match, we saw Sabin and real-life girlfriend Velvet Sky, with Sabin saying something has got to change, so it would seem they are working on something for Sabin and it has to be better than his World Heavyweight title reign! 

There was also tag team action with World Tag Team Champions James Storm & Gunner taking on Aces & Eight's Wes Brisco & Garrett Bischoff. The bout kicked off with the cliché spot of Brisco & Bischoff attacking Storm & Gunner on the entrance ramp, but Storm & Gunner quickly gained the upperhand before the match officially got going. I didn't want to say it, but I was actually quite impressed with Brisco and Bischoff who did a pretty good job of working over Storm, Brisco looked especially good. The bout built up well with a hot tag to Gunner, and number of nice near falls for both teams. The finish used another wrestling cliché with Brisco distracting the referee by bringing the tag belt into the ring, allowing Bischoff to hit Gunner with a chain to pick up the victory. You'd expect a rematch to happen further down the line, possibly with the belts on the line, but currently I'm positive about Brisco and Bischoff moving into the tag team division after this bout. 

Knockout's Champion Mickie James was also on the show, in a truly awful segment with ODB. Both women actually gave a good performance, but the material they were given was tripe. It focussed on Miley Cyrus and that whole twerking thing as an attempt to get heat on James. Eventually, James tried to hit ODB with the belt, only for ODB to fight back and then the two had a stare down. I have no idea why they didn't put on or the other on top during this segment, as it just didn't look right having James leap up. I'm actually quite excited to see the James vs. ODB match, but if segments like this continue then I might start losing interest. 

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's Impact Wrestling.

1. TNA had to rush their plans for the Bound For Glory Series, but the final four actually looks pretty interesting.

2. Bully Ray vs. Anderson needed another two or three months worth of build and it could've been red hot.

3. This week's booking of Aces & Eights, showcasing the member of the group in actual matches, should have been happening about nine months ago.

TNA Impact Wrestling: Last Chance Thursday Review

My overall feeling when watching Impact Wrestling continues to be one of frustration. The show this week was dominated by the return of Hulk Hogan, who has been missing for a month on television, as well as the conclusion to the Bound For Glory Series. Yes, that's right, the conclusion to the Bound For Glory Series. After messing up with the schedule, they had to end the series early, with most wrestlers still have three or four matches still to go. All that needed to be done was someone sit down at the beginning of the Series and map out where the matches were going to take place, who would win and the stories they wanted to tell within it, it really was that simple! The matches were all good, but I found it hard to concentrate when everything felt so rushed.

Bound For Glory Series Match: 

AJ Styles (22) 

vs. 

Bobby Roode (34)

With this being Must Win Thursday, the Bound For Glory Series took up the majority of the show, with TNA rushing to clobber together an ending for the Series. This match was built up to with a backstage segment between Bobby Roode and EGO stablemate Christopher Daniels. With Roode delivering a last minute prep talk to Daniels about how both of them needed to win tonight on their own, due to General Manager Hulk Hogan apparently saying that if any of EGO interfered in the match tonight they would be removed from the Series. It was a nice little build up segment, but I couldn't help feeling that EGO hadn't really had a chance to get going before the Series had finish. They need at least a month and a half of building themselves up as a trio, before the end of the Series, and it felt like TNA had something else in mind had they actually cared to check how long they had left.

Then came the moment that got everyone talking. AJ Styles apparent “Pipe Bomb” promo. I guess what's good for one AJ is good for another, huh? It took a while for Styles to hit his stride with the promo looking shakey and seemingly nervous at the beginning, stuttering and falling over his words, but when he got going this was actually a fairly decent promo, which felt like it came from a real place, talking about being held back and being Dixie Carter's go to guy, although it suffered from attempting to keep to storyline at the same time, making it feel like Styles was holding back, as well as an over-thought production. Also, whilst AJ Lee had the Bella Twins attempting to ruin her promo on Raw this week, AJ Styles had the Ohio crowd. They relentlessly ripped into Styles throughout the whole promo, with some pretty disrespectful chants, that the promo didn't warrant, that certainly seemed to effect Styles' rhythm. I think if Styles had done this promo straight after his match last week, he would have gotten a much more positive reaction. It wasn't quite up to the standards of a CM Punk or AJ Lee pipebomb, but for someone who isn't considered a “promo guy”, this was a damn good effort.

The match between Styles and Roode was a good, solid television contest. We saw some more of the “Phenomenal” AJ Styles coming back into his game, obviously the pace that we saw before isn't quite there yet as Styles has been wrestling a much slower style of wrestling recently, but there were a number of nice spots, including a couple of springboards and a Moonsault off of the ramp onto Roode that looked very nice indeed. There was also some reversals and transitions, the pick of the bunch for me being Roode reversing a Springboard Forearm attempt from Styles in a Crossface submission hold almost seamlessly. Roode did spend a good period of the match in control, using a few submission holds to keep hold of Styles, as well as a Brainbuster for a near fall, it's was a shame that neither Taz or Mike Tenay picked up that it could've been a message to Austin Aries who turned down Roode's invitation to join EGO last week, as it was the closest this match got to any psychology.

The ending was heavily focused on submissions, with both men looking to gain the maximum points in the Series, with Roode using a Crossface and Styles using the Calf Killer. This produced the only awkward moment of the match, when Styles seemed unsure about how to lock in his own submission. The finish saw Roode get the bottom rope, to break the Calf Killer, and with Styles attempting to lock in the move again, Roode sent Styles into the turnbuckle, although when he attempted a Fisherman's Suplex, Roode got caught in a Small Package from Styles for the pinfall victory and seven points in the Bound For Glory Series, leaving him on 29 points. It was an exciting ending that played off the submissions well, and allowed for a little more story to build up to next week, as although Styles finished outside the final four of the Series, an announcement made later on by Hulk Hogan will give him renewed hope.

Aces and Eights Conflict and The Return of General Manager Hulk Hogan

The other big storyline running through Impact Wrestling this week was the return of General Manager Hulk Hogan after a month long absence, as well as the continuing issues for the Aces and Eights faction. With the show opening with World Heavyweight Champion and Aces and Eight's President Bully Ray and Brooke Tessmacher heading to the ring, it was clear that while Tessmacher isn't a particularly great actress, she is effective in her role as Bully Ray's “main squeeze” as Taz likes to put it. With Ray in the ring, surrounded by his Aces and Eight's stablemates, Ray spoke about Devon losing the match against the Main Event Mafia last week, before asking Garrett Bischoff, Wes Brisco and Vice President Mr. Anderson what had happened last week. Bischoff and Brisco are truly awful on the mic, and with either yet to show anything in the ring, you have to wonder why these weren't the first two names brought up in TNA's budget cuts. Ray went on to turn on Devon, calling him a sidekick, pointing out Tito Ortiz as the only man he needs. It was a nice swerve, and with Ray giving Ortiz his own Aces and Eights coat, we began to see disension from the ranks of the group with Mr. Anderson standing up for the group due to their being no vote to induct Ortiz. I thought this was pretty strong opening segment, setting up some future angles and bringing some fresh direction for the group, with Ray removing Devon's name patch from Ortiz' new cut being a nice little touch to finish the segment.

The backstage camera's caught up with Hulk Hogan a number of times throughout the show, firstly showing him entering the building, before asking him a number of question which Hogan decided not to answer, and finishing off by having Jeremy Borash waiting outside Hogan's office, revealing that he had no news from Hogan. Personally, I would have rather not seen Hogan until he made his return, because by the time he entered the arena for the final segment, we've already seen him two or three times and haven't actually learned anything. TNA seems to have a habit of doing this for big returns or debuts, like we saw a few months back when Rampage Jackson debuted, and it really does take away from the moment later on in the show. Elsewhere backstage, Mr. Anderson seemed to be building for a revolution, attempting to get Knux, Brisco and Bischoff to side with him. It's all getting a bit NWO Wolfpac at the moment, I'd rather see Anderson just break out on his own, than have two splinter factions. Also, Bully Ray, spoke with Tessmacher and Ortiz, telling Ortiz to make sure Anderson doesn't step out of line.

With Hogan heading to the ring, there should have been a warning that one of the worst promos in wrestling history was about to occur. Hogan rambled and meander through what he was supposed to say and it was clear that he had next to no idea what he was talking about. Within the ramblings, Hogan announced that there would be another Gauntlet match in the Bound For Glory Series next. Basically, this is another cheap way to get the people they want into the final four, rather than actually, you know, booking it from the start! With Hogan still having more to say, he was interrupted by Bully Ray. Before Ray could get started, Hogan revealed that he had the divorce papers from his daughter, Brooke and that Ray was no longer married. Well, they needed a way to explain why Brooke was no longer on TV, I guess. At least it's all over now. Hogan then went on to make two matches, the first one will see Ray defend his title against a member of Aces and Eights at No Surrender in two weeks. If it isn't Mr. Anderson I'd eat my hat, but that also makes a complete mockery of the Bound For Glory Series. The second one, would see Hogan excel himself, as he announced that Bully Ray would defend his title against Sting, this week. What he meant to say was that Bully Ray face Sting next week in a non-title match. It's not often I'm stuck for words, but seriously how can you be that wrong? At least Hogan remembered Ray's opponent and didn't call out The Ultimate Warrior or something, as Sting headed down the ramp to close the show brawling against Ray.

As far as I'm concerned Hogan is TNA's main problem at the moment, not only is he massive drain on their funds, but he doesn't seem to have a clue what is going on in the company. On numerous occasions when he's been handed the microphone, he messed up his lines or says something that isn't correct. The fact that TNA are still closing with segments that feature Hulk Hogan and Sting says a lot about the companies current direction, when they have so much in-ring talent, as showcased in the Bound For Glory Series matches on this very broadcast, that deserves that spot. I also have no desire to see Sting face off against Bully Ray again, and would rather Sting hang up his boots for good. In all honesty, Sting should have retired shortly after Bound For Glory 2009, as that bout with AJ Styles was probably his last memorably good match. Whilst TNA has bucket loads of talent in it's reduced roster, if the booking continues to be as hap-hazard as it has been in recent months the company is going to struggle to grow over the next few years, and I can see a number of talents begin to up sticks and move elsewhere. 

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere, Main Event Mafia came to the ring with a lot to say about the last couple of weeks. They were clearly missing one man, and that man was Magnus, who is currently trying to sort out some problems with his US work visa. First to speak was Rampage Jackson, who delivered a pretty good promo dealing with his interactions with Tito Ortiz over the last few weeks, claiming he would get to Ortiz before their Bellator fight on November 2^nd. It's just a shame that using a wrestling storyline to build to an MMA fight, is just plain ridiculous, because Jackson is pretty good promo. Samoa Joe was up next, with another strong promo, explaining how no one from the locker room would step up and join them last week, apart from AJ Styles. Joe brings a lot of passion to his promos and pulls you in almost instantly, it's a real shame that TNA didn't have him in the final four of this years Bound For Glory Series, because if anyone deserves a big push in TNA, in my opinion it's Samoa Joe.

Sting finished off the promo, by putting over AJ Styles strong and offering him a spot in the Mafia if he wanted it, and calling him down to the ring, leading into Styles' “Pipebomb” promo after the Main Event Mafia had left the ring. It was fairly enjoyable segment, with both Jackson and Joe coming across extremely well, and Sting at least looking better than Hogan. I'm not quite sure where the Main Event Mafia will go from here, obviously Sting is facing Bully Ray next week on Impact Wrestling, but with Aces and Eights seemingly falling in on themselves, the Mafia might end up being fairly redundant. Hopefully, Magnus will be back after next week for No Surrender, as he seems like the most logical option to win the Bound For Glory Series out of the final four.

In more Bound For Glory Series action, Jeff Hardy faced off against Kazaria. Prior to the match, Hardy cut a backstage promo, detailing last years Bound For Glory Series win, it was poor promo, even by Hardy's standards, topped off by Hardy getting his facts wrong about last year and no one bothering to correct it. Luckily, the match was better than the promo, with most of the match being fought a quick and exciting pace, with a few nice reversals. That was until Hardy attempted a Figure Four Leg Lock on Kaz, and actually managed to make The Miz's execution of the move look pretty good! The psychology was obviously that Hardy wanted the bigger points total, but really should have tried a move he could actually execute. The ending saw Hardy catch Kazarian off the top rope with a Twist of Fate, before heading up top and hitting a Swanton Bomb for the pinfall victory. Hardy is currently in the final four after this victory, but I would be surprised if he keeps his spot after next week's Gauntlet match.

By far the best action of the night, came when Austin Aries and Christopher Daniels faced off in the Bound For Glory Series. After a fantastic duelling promo segment backstage, during an interview with Jeremy Borash, the two have definite chemistry on the microphone and that translated into the ring as well. The match was packed with exciting reversals and fought at a lighting quick pace, typified by a lovely series which saw both men attempt dives to the outside only to be thwarted by the over. The finish saw solid back and forth section, with a number of reversals and near falls, before Aries began laying in the elbows on Daniels. With Aries running the rope he ran into a boot from Daniels followed by an uppercut, Daniels tried running the ropes, but Aries followed him, hitting a superb dropkick, before finishing Daniels off with a Brianbuster and picking up the pinfall victory and seven points in the Series. These two men have produced some of the most entertaining television TNA has had to offer in the last two years, and continue to deliver almost every week, it really is time the company started rewarding these two, especially Daniels.

There was also women's action this week, with ODB facing off against Gail Kim in a Two out of Three Falls match, where the winner would become Number One Contender to Mickie James' Knockout's Championship. It was enjoyable action from these two talented women, with the first fall going Gail Kim, with some good psychology seeing Kim focus on ODB's leg to set up for a Sharpshooter for a submission victory. The leg continued to play apart in the match, with some nice selling from ODB, as Kim went for a Figure Four Leg Lock only to be captured by ODB in a Small Package to level the match up a one fall a piece. The final fall saw some more nice work, with every ODB comeback halted by the leg, until Kim went for a roll up, only to see ODB lock in a Texas Cloverleaf to pick up a Submission victory and the win, it was a nice turnabout and a good finish to a well worked two out of three falls bout. Hopefully they can hold off the Mickie James and ODB title match until Bound For Glory, but with such a thin women's roster it might not be possible.

Talking of TNA's women's division, Velvet Sky returned to television this week. She was caught backstage, and talked about her absence at Hardcore Justice. We didn't really learn anything knew from this, with Sky only saying what she had said on twitter that it was a personal matter. Sky is pretty poor when talking, she sounds awkward and I can't bring myself to like her as a face, because she is just so annoying. The only interesting thing here, was that Sky's relationship with former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Sabin was mentioned on screen for the first time, even if the reference made no sense, as Sky's match was scheduled before Sabin's title loss.  

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's Impact Wrestling.

1. AJ Styles' will always be better in ring, than he is on the mic.

2. TNA will always be better without Hulk Hogan involved.

3. The Bound For Glory Series hasn't lived up to it's potential this year. 

TNA Impact Wrestling 8th August 2013 Review

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.

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus - 39 Points (Non-Mover)

2. Samoa Joe - 26 Points (Non-Mover)

3. Mr. Anderson - 24 Points (Up One)

3. Jeff Hardy - 24 Points (Up Four) 

5. Christopher Daniels - 23 Points (Down One)

6. AJ Styles - 22 Points (Down Three)

7. Austin Aries - 21 Points (Down Three)

8. Bobby Roode - 7 Points (Non-Mover)

8. Hernandez - 7 Points (Non-Mover)

10. Kazarian - 2 Points (Non-Mover)

11. Jay Bradley - 0 Points (Down One)

12. Joseph Park - -3 Points (Non-Mover)

TNA Impact Wrestling 1st August 2013 Review

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.

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus - 49 Points (Non-Mover)

2. Samoa Joe - 26 Points (Non-Mover)

3. AJ Styles - 22 Points (Non-Mover)

4. Austin Aries - 21 Points (Up Two)

4. Christopher Daniels - 21 Points (Non-Mover) 

4. Mr. Anderson - 21 Points (Up Two)

7. Jeff Hardy - 17 Points (Down Two)

8. Bobby Roode - 7 Points (Up One)

8. Hernandez -7 Points (Non-Mover)

10. Jay Bradley - 0 Points (Down One)

10. Kazarian - 0 Points (Down One)

12. Joseph Park - -3 Points (Non-Mover)