TNA Impact Wrestling Episode 523 Review (Lashley vs Jeff Hardy)

It's been a very long time since I've watched, let alone reviewed an episode of TNA's Impact Wrestling, but with the return of the six sided ring, the begining of the taped shows from New York City and a big World Heavyweight title main event all on the cards, I thought I'd dip my toe back into the murky water that is Dixieland. Let's see what how it went.



The show kicked off with a well put together video package, that focused on the upcoming main event between LASHLEY and JEFF HARDY, it was a good way to start the show, laying out what was on offer and filling in the gaps for anyone (like myself) who hadn't been paying much attention to TNA recently.

KURT ANGLE was the first to appear in the Manhattan Center, up in the crowd, as he introduced everyone to the show. This was an awkward Angle, who looked uncomfortable in this presenter type role, it's clear this isn't an Angle who is motivated by his current situation.

Over the other side of the building, TAZZ appearred, putting over Angle is his new role as Director of Wrestling Operations, before reminding us that "Wrestling is important". Tazz then compared TNA to ECW. I do wonder how much water is left in the ECW well, which seemed to have been dredged about five years ago with the failing of WWE's relaunch. The crowd however enjoyed it a lot, reacting nicely to Taz's catchphrase finishing his sentence, in a nice moment. Whilst this promo did work the crowd up nicely, it perhaps could have been cut from this broadcast, meaning the wrestling that is apparently so important would happen earlier on the show.

 
I would have started with BULLY RAY and TOMMY DREAMER's entrance into the arena. Ray always delivers on the microphone, and here was no different. Continuing his feud with Dixie Carter, Bully reminded the audience that he had promised to put Carter through a table. Dreamer also had some mic time, reminding us of his NYC roots and putting over the lockeroom as hungry and talented. What he was saying needs to be backed up by the guys in the lockeroom, they need to Dreamer's promo as a springboard and inspiration to really pushing forward with their matches. 

ETHAN CARTER III and RHINO were the party poopers, interupting to some decent heat. I really enjoyed the pairs new act, with Rhino working as the Carter family's hired gun (a nice reference for any Ring of Honor fans). The two really hammed it up on the mic, with Carter using the crowd chants of "You can't wrestle" to get even more heat, replying "I'm very good". Finishing up his promo with the cheesiest pun in wrestling called New York "the big crapple" would have been cringeworthy, if the crowd hadn't reacted to it so well! 

Match 1 - BULLY RAY & TOMMY DREAMER vs ETHAN CARTER III & RHINO

The crowd were very hot for this one, and it was a passable tag team match. The early part of the match was a back and forth affair, with both teams exchanging the momentum, until that pesky Brummie ROCKSTAR SPUD got involved to give his team the advantage. As the heels worked over Dreamer, it was clear that Rhino was in much better shape to the last time I saw him, seeming to have dropped a fair amount of weight, which helped his performance no end. At times it felt like the six sided ring was harming the match as it lead to some awkward exchanges as the competitors got used to the new ring.

Another mind-boggling moment saw Bully Ray tag in Dreamer even though Dreamer was already inside the ring. Instead of making them redo the tag (which surely could have been edited in post-production) the referee allowed the tag to stand. It's things like this that will make TNA look bush league. Luckily, the finish made up for this, keeping the heat on Carter and Rhino, whilst allowing Ray and Dreamer to look strong, as Dreamer hit an awkward looking Dreamer Driver on Carter, only for Spud to cause the distraction that would eventually allow EC3 to get a school boy roll up victory. Not a bad TV match, that keep the story ticking over nicely. The one person that needs to come out of this feud smelling of roses is Ethan Carter III, he's the young guy that TNA will need going forward, hopefully we'll see that in the coming weeks. 

Winners - ETHAN CARTER III & RHINO

Backstage we saw the arrival of MVP's group that could really do with a name and Jeff Hardy. For some reason EC3's music was still playing, despite the caption reading "Earlier Today". 

The music continued to play as Angle went to speak to X Division Champion AUSTIN ARIES. Angle info-dumped lines reminding the audience of the upcoming Destination X special and made a Gauntlet match for Aries' title later tonight. Aries' being up for the challenge of seven other men gunning for his title was a refreshing change, especially with Angle not playing the evil boss role that has been prevalent in wrestling over the last few years.

The backstage segments continued, as JAMES STORM had a chat with SANADA. Storm was on top form as he bullied Sanada around, making references to the Japanese people's reserved nature and Sanada's mentor The Great Muta. With the delivery of intriguing lines like "Be careful who you listen to", it's clear TNA has some plans, what they are exactly I'm not quite sure.

Match 2 - AUSTIN ARIES (C) vs EDDIE EDWARDS vs MANIK vs DAVEY RICHARDS vs DJ Z vs CRAZZY STEVE vs TIGRE UNO vs SANADA, X Division Title Gauntlet Match

For this bout was the match of the night, supplying lot's of fast paced, high flying action that used to dominate the X Division. Following loud ROH chants as Aries and Edwards start the match, the particpants came thick and fast, with DJ Z perhaps having the best entrace hitting a Sunset flip that caused Edwards to hit a German Suplex on Manik. Following a series of series of great looking springboards, the eliminations began, with Manik taking himself and DJ Z out of the match with a hurracanrana. Crazzy Steve continues to be an interesting addition to the roster, as whilst a spot that saw him run against every side of the ring fell flat with the live crowd, they absolutely loved him whipping out the silly string. Whilst Steve managed to eliminate Tiger Uno, he fell fowl of a lovely handspring heel kick from Davey Richards. After Sanada had eliminated The Wolves in quick succession we were down to the final two meaning the match became a regular one on one encounter. 

Aries and Sanada went at it, creating an exciting couple of minutes of action to close out the bout. Both men had their fair share of chances to win the bout, with Sanada surviving Aries' Last Chancery and Sanada pulling out a superb bridging pin off an O'Connor roll. These repeated near falls kept me hooked, with the finish really upping the ante, as Sanada missed a Moonsault before Aries unleashed a barage of attacks, including two discus elbows and a corner dropkick before retaining his title with a Brainbuster in the middle of the ring. The only drawback of the match for me was a dirty looking Tiger Suplex by Sanada that didn't quite look as it should have. I would have prefered to have seen TNA give a new name an opportunity at Destination X, as the last three years have all involved Aries in some way or another. He really should be considered an established main event star these days. 

Winner and still X Division Champion - AUSTIN ARIES

It was then back to the backstage segment, with BOBBY ROODE and ERIC YOUNG chatting about their mutual problems with MVP and his group. This was a nice build to the tag team match later on, again setting out all the threads of storyline that anyone who hasn't been watching needed to know. 

Storm caught up with Sanada again, this time delivering a vicious beating to the former X Division Champion. Storm's repeated ushering of the word "loser" was another interesting development, TNA will have to be very careful here, as this didn't exactly make Sanada look a million dollars. It's possible that both men could benefit from a feud, but it would seem TNA have their sights set on Storm vs Great Muta at Bound For Glory in Japan, so Sanada could end up just being a stepping stone for that feud. 

After seeing Dixie Carter arrive backstage, there was quick interview with Jeff Hardy. This was essentially to fill in the gaps as to why Hardy so quickly stopped being "Willow". It was a paper thin excuse, but I'll take anything as long as Willow is banished from my television screen for good. 

Finally, it was back into the arena, as MVP and King got some mic time. MVP was on crutches to sell his torn meniscus (which must have healed by the time this was recorded). The two were impressive on the mic, getting a good deal of heat out of the crowd. The idea of MVP "wrestling under protest" worked well and played nicely into the match that would follow. 

Match 3 - MVP & KENNY KING vs ERIC YOUNG & BOBBY ROODE

Another solid piece of tag team action here, with a strong story-driven element that did a good job at advancing the storyline heading forward. Eric Young and Kenny King seemed to have some chemistry in their section of the match, with King flipping off the top rope into a Young crossbody being a particular highlight. The main story of the match was MVP not wanting to fight Roode, and only tagging into the match when King had gained a clear advantage on Young, continuing to sell the injured leg. 

The finish made a lot of sense as Roode finally got his hands on MVP, sticking him in the Crossface, until King made the save. MVP had then had enough attacking Roode with a crutch for the disqualification ending, before the pair worked over Roode and Young with a crutch each. Yes, no one likes an DQ ending, but seeing as this was the only one on the show and this is free TV it worked to have such a finish here. I would have liked to have seen this match get an extra five minutes as it did feel a little short, with perhaps a few of the backstage segments being taken out to make space for the extra time.

 

Winners by Disqualification - ERIC YOUNG & BOBBY ROODE

Match 4 - BRITTANY vs MADISON RAYNE, No Disqualification No Countout Match

This was the only thing on the show that the NYC crowd literally couldn't give a shit about. They disrepctfully chanted for Jeremy Borash and Christy Hemme throughout the match. In my opinion, if you're not into something at a show, you should just stay quiet and remain respectful to those attempting to entertain you. I am surprised however that TNA didn't just edit these chants out, surely that's one of the bonuses of having your show taped? 

I actually didn't think this was a bad match, with some good character work from Brittany, who reminded me a lot of Mickie James when she first debuted in WWE, and from what I can work out this is a similar storyline to one Mickie had with Trish Stratus upon her debut. There were some well worked spots, like Madison's Crossbody block from the apron to the outside, a back body drop onto the ramp and a Northern Light's Suplex on the outside from Brittany. However, there wasn't much point to the No DQ rule as neither woman even attempted to break the rules and even the spots on the outside could have been worked into a regular match. Madison picked up the win with Package DDT, for a surprisingly clean finish. 

 

Winner - MADISON RAYNE

Because there just hadn't been enough tonight, there were some more backstage segments. First Lashley and Hardy continued to warm up for their main event, whilst Dixie Carter interrogated an interviewer to whether he was on the payroll (Surely, the president of the company should know who's on the payroll?) before cutting a surpriingly good promo on Bully Ray comparing Ray to a poodle. 

Another backstage segment between Kurt Angle and Austin Aries reminded the audience of Aries' decision on next weeks episode. Whilst there was a decent promo from Aries, there was probably less time consuming ways to get across this information that would have been just as effective. 

Main Event -  JEFF HARDY vs LASHLEY (C), TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match

At the start of this match, I noticed something that I hadn't felt about a TNA match for a long while. This match had a "big fight feel", maybe it was the fact that these two had never faced off before, maybe it was that both men got full entrances with no ad breaks in between or maybe it was just the super hot New York crowd, but there was certainly something different about this one. 

It was by it's very nature, a speed vs power contest, with Hardy attempting to get separation from Lashley who used his powerful offence to keep him grounded, this was embellished by some great commentary from Mike Tenay and Taz who really got over the story that was being told in the ring. I love story driven wrestling and this was exactly what the match needed to be keep me fully engaged from start to finish. 

There were however a few things that niggled at me a little. Similar to Ryback's series of matches with CM Punk on WWE television late last year, any time Lashley was on the offence he looked fantastic, but the other side of his game, taking Hardy's offence, was less convincing. Another draw back for me was something really simple, as Hardy seemed to gain momemtum he hit both a Whisper in the Wind and a Twist of Fate, but didn't attempt a pinfall. These two near falls would have added to the drama of the bout that was almost non-existent when Hardy got a two off a Swanton Bomb. This would then have added an extra dimension to Hardy's missed Swanton Bomb onto the steel steps, with idea being that Hardy had tried everything in arsenal and had to resort to high risk tactics in an attempt to win the match. The finish saw Lashley get a clean victory with a Spear, showing that TNA have faith in Lashley as Champion and I'd expect him to hold onto that title until Bound For Glory as things stand. 

 Winner and still TNA World Heavyweight Champion - LASHLEY

Personally, I think this match should have been the thing to close the show. There's no reason that a World Heavyweight Championship match shouldn't be in final slot on a TV show, in my opinion. 


Instead, we got a few more backstage segments, both involving Kurt Angle. First Angle attempted to stop Dixie Carter from heading out into the arena to confront Bully Ray to no avail, before interupting MVP, Kenny King and Lashley to book MVP against Bobby Roode in a Falls Count Anywhere match next week. This really was becoming overkill with these segments, I thought this was what the Impact 365 Youtube series was for? 

In the main event segment of the show, Rockstar Spud was back to introduce Dixie Carter. Spud is still excellent by the way, with some magnificent charecterisation, that really make you want to punch him in the face. Carter came out flanked by Rhino and EC3 and proceeded to cut a terrific heel promo that garnered a tremendous amount of heat. She shat on New York, she called Dreamer a crybaby and Bully Ray "irrelevant", with some great comedy using Ray's "Do you know who I am?" catchphrase. 

Of course it didn't take long from Dreamer and Ray to make their entrance with a table in tow, clearing the ringing of Carter's cronies. It was clear that Carter wasn't going through the table just quite yet, as Ray climbed to the top rope to deliver his infamous powerbomb, EC3 was the one to make the save, nailing Dreamer with a low blow and allowing Aunt D to escape through the crowd. 

It was unlucky night for EC3, as DEVON made his return to TNA for first time since he was announced as TNA's newest Hall of Famer, assisting Bully Ray in putting EC3 through a table with a 3D as his Aunt looked on. The moment Devon came out got a nice reaction, as did the classic "Get the tables line", and it was great to see Team 3D back together one more time. EC3 will be quick to recover from this, as he has the ability on the mic to pass it off as a vicious three on one assault. We are heading toward Dixie Carter getting powerbombed through a table, just how long TNA will hold it off for I don't know! (I've tried to avoid any spoilers involving the date)

Overall, I actually rather enjoyed this episode Impact Wrestling. The matches were for the most part, entertaining, with the X-Division Gauntlet being particularly impressive. Some feuds, like Carter vs Bully Ray are building nicely towards a conclussion, whilst other, like Sanada and James Storm are just about to get started. It will take time for talents to re adjust to the Six Sided Ring and I would imagine by the end of these NYC tapings we will see an improvement in the comfortability of the talent with their new surroudings.

I would have preferred a lot less backstage segments, as it felt like they were only there for info dumps and to convey things that could really have just been covered by the commentary team. TNA needs to listen to it's own promos "Wrestling is important" and "Less talking, more action", because when they actually do the latter, it actually produces a damn good product.

I will be tuning in next week on the strength of this episode, which is certainly the best outcome I could have hoped for heading into the show. Bobby Roode vs MVP, Falls Count Anywhere has the potential to be a very good match.

TNA One Night Only: Joker's Wild DVD Review

TNA One Night Only: Joker's Wild is out now on DVD and available from www.clearvision.co.uk, priced at £10.99. This is the first of TNA's One Night Only shows that I've managed to catch, I decided to wait until the shows hit DVD, seeing as they don't follow any recent storylines, I haven't gone out of my way to check them out. This show, filmed at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida in the United States on 12th January 2013 and first broadcast on 3rd May 2013, is focused around the Joker's Wild theme with teams picked at random to face each other, with the winning pair heading into a Gauntlet (or Royal Rumble). The Twelve Man Gauntlet was the main event of the show, which also features Christopher Daniels teaming up with Samoa Joe to take on Chavo Guerrero, Jr. & Rob Van Dam, and the big man duo of Matt Morgan & Robbie T taking on rivals Al Snow & Joey Ryan.

Content Listing

Joker's Wild Qualifying Tag Team Match

James Storm & Christian York vs. Gunner & Crimson (9:07)

Joker's Wild Qualifying Tag Team Match

Jessie Godderz & Mr. Anderson vs. Doug Williams & Kid Kash (10:14)

Joker's Wild Qualifying Tag Team Match

Christopher Daniels & Rob Van Dam vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jr. & Rob Van Dam (14:50)

Joker's Wild Qualifying Tag Team Match

Robbie E & Zema Ion vs. Bobby Roode & Joseph Park (10:20)

Joker's Wild Qualifying Tag Team Match

Hernandez & Alex Silva vs. Aces & Eights (Devon & D.O.C.) (9:13)

Joker's Wild Qualifying Tag Team Match

Robbie T & Matt Morgan vs. Al Snow & Joey Ryan (12:26)

$100, 000 Dollar Joker's Wild Gauntlet Battle Royal 

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm vs. Devon vs. D.O.C. vs. Jessie Godderz vs. Christian York vs. Joseph Park vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe vs. Robbie T vs. Matt Morgan (24:02)

Review

I'm going to come straight and say that didn't like this show, I'll get into why as I run down the individual matches. Starting at the ending, the main event featuring the winners of the randomly picked tag team matches earlier in the night, in a Gauntlet match (or Royal Rumble) which has it's moments but for the first fifteen minutes is incredibly hard to get into. Without any build up on television, these pay-per-views needed to have a hook that people would interested in seeing, a first time match, some returning names or a match which we've seen before but know will be awesome, so the hook for this one is the Gauntlet, but why am I supposed to care? I don't care if one of these guys "wins" $100,000, so there is no emotional investment, for what is a fairly lengthy main event contest. There's also a couple of disappointing early elimination for guys that could have made the bout interesting, which didn't help. There's a cliche interaction between Matt Morgan and Robbie T, that you will most likely have seen a version of before, but at least it throws and element of story into this mess. The finish between two long time TNA rivals is probably the strongest element of this bout for me.  

Going into the show, I marked Christopher Daniels & Samoa Joe taking on Chavo Guerrero, Jr. & Rob Van Dam, as a potential match of the night and it probably was, but it's nothing spectacular. It's good solid tag team action, with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels making a solid team, although that's what you'd expect with their past history. Guerrero works nicely with both men throughout, whilst Van Dam is in his typical TNA style of phoning in the bout, not really looking interested at any point. Christopher Daniels continues to be the highlight of TNA programming with his performance in this bout really raising the bar with his in ring antics. The finish well worked and built up to nicely, with all four men contributing well. Out of all the random bouts, this one felt that most thought through in who was paired together, it only get's weirder for this one. 

Robbie T & Matt Morgan vs. Al Snow & Joey Ryan is more entertaining than it deserved to be. There's a little build up to this one, with Morgan and Ryan (who were a brief team in TNA) convinced they are going to be picked together, it's obvious what's going to happen from the start, but the look on Joey Ryan's face when Al Snow walks down is great stuff. There's a fairly unique dynamic with neither Morgan or Ryan wanting to fight each other making for some funny moments, at times. The finish is also clever and will had me asking why I hadn't thought of it already. Overall, the story carries this bout, as there isn't a lot of wrestling to get into, but it's at least enjoyable throughout. 

Zema Ion & Robbie E vs. Joseph Park & Bobby Roode is well worked by four talented guys, but there isn't really anything that makes you take notice of what's happening, even if they try to integrate a story with Bobby Roode & Joseph Park, which doesn't quite pay off. Jessie Godderz & Mr. Anderson taking on Kid Kash & Doug Williams, could've been a good match, but devolves quickly into body slash from Kash and Williams as they work over Godderz, not at all entertaining. Aces & Eights manages to get Devon & D.O.C. randomly drawn together to take on Hernandez and Alex Silva in another match that I found it difficult to get into, it's just too clear who's picking up the W. The opening contest with James Storm teaming with Christian York to take on Gunner & Crimson has some nice teamwork but follow a very basic pattern that probably didn't need as much time to play out. 

There is some backstage footage included interviews building up the match, but the guys involved can't really say much other than "I'm going to win" as there isn't any story for them to work and the majority come off a little wooden. Christopher Daniels does a good job in his backstage segments, talking up his tag team with Samoa Joe is gold, Daniels really seems to enjoy being able to have a bit more free reign and it works wonders here. The commentary team of Mike Tenay and Taz couldn't care less throughout talking about anything and everything other than the matches, but at times Taz's random wit does save what is pretty tiresome viewing.

Overall, I'd say this event wasn't for me. There just wasn't enough to get my teeth into and the majority of the matches weren't strong enough to get me involved without some kind of storyline, and having guys that rarely appear on Impact Wrestling like Alex Silva and a large proportion of this shows roster having since been released it's hard to connect with the wrestlers in the ring. I think if this had been a regular tag team tournament, I'd have been a lot more interested in the concept, as I'd have wanted to see which random pair came out on top, however the Gauntlet ending feels rushed and the idea of money being used a prize in wrestling in 2013, is highly outdated. 

Top Three Matches on One Night Only: Joker's Wild

1. Christopher Daniels & Rob Van Dam vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jr. & Rob Van Dam 

2. Robbie T & Matt Morgan vs. Al Snow & Joey Ryan

3. Robbie E & Zema Ion vs. Bobby Roode & Joseph Park 

TNA Impact Wrestling: Hardcore Justice Part Two Review

I actually really enjoyed this week's Impact Wrestling as we got the second part of Hardcore Justice. The wrestling was strong throughout most of the card, with some nice developments in storyline as we head to Bound For Glory. Yes, there was an over use of recaps, and Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson continued to attempt to sell their MMA bout by having a wrestling storyline, but the main body of what was presented was pretty good.

Ten Man Tag Team Loser Leaves TNA Match: 

Main Event Mafia & ??? 

vs. 

Aces and Eights 

(Mr. Anderson, Devon, Knux, Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff)

The build up for this one saw a backstage segment from each team, as they discussed strategy for the match. This has become a regular feature of Impact Wrestling over the last few months and it works fairly well in building up to the main event match. With Aces and Eights members Mr. Anderson, Devon, Knux, Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff looking fairly confident in their promo, due to them believing they would be going into the match with a man advantage, the bulk of the promo was done by Mr. Anderson, who did a good job of getting the cocky attitude of his team earlier, they were clearly being set up for a fall later on. On the other side of the fence, the Main Event Mafia discussed their missing man in the bout, after having failed to recruit either Austin Aries or Tito Ortiz last week. There was a moment in this promo that really stood out for me, and that is when Magnus stood up to Sting and told him it didn't matter if they were a man down, because they were the Main Event Mafia. It's the first time we've really seen Magnus stand out as part of the group for me, and hopefully this trend will continue.

After the build up, there was a nice big match feel as the two faction headed to the ring. It looked like we might be about to see a handicap match between the two. This was not the case however, when AJ Styles music hit and he walked half way down the ramp, head bowed and hooded. Suddenly Styles' old music hit and he threw his hood back and out of nowhere the old “Phenomenal” AJ Styles was back. Now, at first I was a little disappointed to see the “Lone Wolf” AJ Styles end so abruptly, as although some people weren't a fan of the new character, I actually quite enjoyed it. However, with Kurt Angle taken away so abruptly, this was really the best move they could have made, and hopefully the fact that the show was taped and people knew the old AJ Styles was back on Impact Wrestling the rating will have gone up as well.

With Styles joing the Main Event Mafia in a mass brawl with Aces and Eights, everything else after this moment felt a little flat. It was by no means a bad match, but after the high point of Styles' character change, it was difficult for the in ring action to follow it. With the match settling down after the brawl, Main Event Mafia took control with Samoe Joe and Styles handing it to Brisco and Bischoff, it was an obvious decision seeing as Brisco and Bischoff are obviously the weekest member of either team, and have never really been built up properly by TNA. Now I'm not a particular fan of either man, but if TNA are going to have them around, they should at least have built them up with a few clean singles match victories. On the other side of the fence, Magnus was the one to take most of Aces and Eight's offence, which once again makes sense due to Magnus being the youngest man on his team, and allowed him to get the crowd behind well.

After the best use of Sting in month's as part of hot tag, the match began to break, and we returned to the mass brawl that we had seen earlier with bodies everywhere. Rampage Jackson also looked fairly good in his pro wrestling debut, granted all we really saw was a few clothesline and a body slam, but no one was expecting him to wrestle the whole match! The ending of the bout built up well with Sting looking to have match one with a Scorpion Deathlock on Knux, only for Devon to make the save. With Sting making a tag to AJ Styles, we got a glimpse Styles' trademark offence with springboards and strikes, but a lot of the time Styles looked awkward in the ring in exchanges with Devon and Mr. Anderson. With one last breakdown segment, Styles was able to hit Devon with a Styles Clash and pick up the pinfall victory for Main Event Mafia, retiring Devon in TNA. The ending was a little sloppy was saved by Bully Ray's reaction on the entrance ramp and Taz on commentary. Giving the Main Event Mafia the win makes sense here as it even the numbers between them and Aces and Eights, whilst also allowing Devon to move into D'Lo Brown's role backstage. I would suspect that this could very well be Devon's last match for TNA, and it's probably the right time for him to step away, his latest run with TNA hasn't been his best, but there is no denying he's had a great career spanning twenty one years and many of wrestling premier promotions.

World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray's 

Championship Celebration

Impact Wrestling kicked off this week with World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray on the phone, talking to his mystery woman, who we know is called Brooke about how they could reveal everything about them this week. Now, this idea was harmed by the announcement earlier in the week that Brooke Hogan had been released by TNA (Thank you, God), so we kind of knew that it wasn't going to be her. With Bully Ray hanging out with Tito Ortiz backstage they bumped into Vice President of the Aces and Eights, Mr. Anderson with some tension between Ray and Anderson being teased due to Ray not keeping Anderson in the loop. It was a nice seed planted for the inevitable turn of Anderson on Bully, and the two men played the moment pretty well, with Ortiz standing there like a plank.

With Ray and Ortiz heading to the ring later in the show, it was time for another great promo from Ray detailing his detailing the amount of times he'd shocked the fans, as well as burying Chris Sabin, adding another nail in the coffin of Sabin's awful World Heavyweight Championship reign. Ray handed the microphone to Ortiz and the segment quickly went down hill. With Ortiz talking about how he is going to beat Rampage Jackson in their Bellator fight in November, I still can't get my head around building an MMA fight using a wrestling storyline, people aren't stupid and it could very well end up turning MMA fans away from the fight. At this moment in time November seems a long for Impact Wrestling, when hopefully we'll see Ortiz and Jackson exit the company.

Luckily, Ray was quickly back on the mic to reveal another surprise this evening. Bully called out “Brooke” and of course Brooke Hogan's music played, and after sometime “Brooke” was to be revealed as...Brooke Tessmacher. I have to say I was shocked, I should have really seen it coming with the whole “Brooke” deal, especially with Hogan getting released, but I didn't. We haven't seen Tessmacher in four months, with her away filming for a reality TV series or something, and I'd even forgot she even worked for TNA anymore, with the flurry of releases we've seen recently I simply imagined she'd gone also. With Bully snogging the face off Tessmacher, which I think he enjoyed a lot more than her, with Ortiz once again looking on like a pervy plank, Ray finished the segment by declaring himself unstoppable with Ortiz and Tessmacher by his side, I foresee this playing a major part in the demise of Aces and Eights as we head towards Bound For Glory.

So Aces and Eight's lost one member in Devon, but gained two in Miss Tessmacher and Tito Ortiz in an interesting two weeks for the faction. It's good to see Tessmacher return for the Women's division in TNA and it will interesting to see if see becomes a factor in the title picture, but with the division looking heel heavy at the moment with ODB the only face they have, with Taryn Terrell and Velvet Sky out, it's difficult to see where a heel Tessmacher could fit in the division. As for Ortiz, I've made my feelings clear about him numerous times, he isn't likely to step in the ring anytime soon, his promos have been awful and he's taking the spot of an actual wrestler.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Also this week on Impact Wrestling, we got the third of the special “Hardcore” themed Bound For Glory Series match, as Joseph Park, Hernandez, Jay Bradley and Christopher Daniels met in a Street Fight. Now the main story heading into this one was could Christopher Daniels pick up victory number three for his new faction, now named the Extraordinary Gentleman's Organisation, or EGO, as well as it being left open to whether Austin Aries would be joining the faction, with Aries saying he would deliver his answer later in the show, in a charismatic backstage interview. With three out of the four competitors currently proping up the Bound For Glory Series, I wasn't really expecting much from this one, with Hernandez and Jay Bradley especially looking like they were only there to make up the numbers.

What we got was actually a very entertaining bout that told a good story throughout. With an good dynamic between the four we saw Hernandez and Park teaming up to take down Daniels and Bradley with some nice double team offence, including Hernandez setting up Daniels and Bradley for a double avalanche in the corner. The match quickly broke down, with EGO attacking Joseph Park and then taking out Park's manager Eric Young when Young tried to help out. There was then some nice wrestling from Daniels and Hernandez, with Hernandez hitting Air Mexico out of nowhere for a big pop. With Daniels taking out Hernandez with an STO, Austin Aries made his presence felt making it look like he was joining EGO before hitting Daniels with a Brainbuster, to take Daniels out of the match and cement his face turn. There was then a good finishing section between Bradley and Park, with Bradley doing a good job of working over Park before hitting him with Brass Knuckles. Of course, Park saw blood, went crazy and picked up the pinfall victory after a Blackhole Slam. It was a nice twist on the Park character, and I'm actually starting to enjoy his role in TNA again, in no small part due to the wonderful Eric Young.

This wasn't the only EGO action of the night, as after they were interupted by World Tag Team Champions James Storm and Gunner, we got an inpromtu tag team battle with Bobby Roode and Kazarian representing EGO, with both teams competing in jeans. The majority of the match was pretty basic tag team action with Roode and Kazarian working over Gunner, before the World Tag Team Champion made an impressive comeback and looked really good, before tagging in James Storm. Storm certainly looks better than he did a few months ago and his time off has hopefully helped him recuperate any injuries that he had. With Storm on a roll we headed for the finish, with Kazarian attempting to hit Storm with the title belt, only to get a Last Call Superkick from Storm, however with the referee Earl Hebner distracted, Roode hit a low blow and rolled up Storm for the pinfall victory for EGO. I enjoyed the finish of the match, it was clever and presented the new faction well, even if the World Tag Team Champions lost.

There was also Women's action on the show, with ODB facing off against Gail Kim, in a good women's contest. ODB continues to prove that moving her into the role of a referee was ridiculous, as her talent lies when competing in that ring! Kim and ODB have a lot of chemistry in the ring, and they've wrestled multiple times for TNA, and with both spending time in control of the match we got to see a lot of what both can do, when given the time to perform. The ending saw ODB on roll, and about to hit BAM, only for Kim to slip down and use a Crucifix roll up to get the pinfall victory. There was a slight botch in the finish, in an otherwise sound match, which was a shame. This was essentially to give Gail Kim a victory over ODB, after ODB got the win in the triple threat last week. Whilst TNA's remaining women are incredibly talented, with ODB, Gail Kim and Knockout's Champion Mickie James typifying that, they really need to sign up some new talent to give the division some depth.

There was also X Division action with X Division Champion Manik taking on Sonjay Dutt. Yes, the X Division is back to regular matches rather than three ways, TNA really didn't give the three way concept much of a chance, but this is probably the right decision to make. The match was a great way to showcase the X Division with both Manik and Dutt using a number of highflying and creative moves throughout. However, it was harmer by a number of things, firstly Manik and Dutt both locking in the same submission hold, similar to AJ Lee's Black Widow, which looks so good it shouldn't just be used randomly, as well as the lack of any face/heel dynamic meaning the crowd didn't really know what to do. The finish saw Manik hold onto Dutt's hurracanrana attempt, and setting up for a Detonation Kick, before picking up the pinfall victory with a Elevated Double Chickenwing dropped into a Double Knee Gutbuster (that needs a name!). I liked the finish it was quick and exciting, a real good advertisment for the X Division, but it should have finished with the Detonation Kick.  

Finally...

What did I learn from Impact Wrestling this week?

1. AJ Styles' run as the Lone Wolf is done, and it was the best move TNA could have done under the circumstances.

2. The seeds for the demise of Aces and Eights could very well have been sown in this episode.

3. I'm going to go ahead and say it, I like Taz on commentary! 

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: Destination X Review

It was a big week for Impact Wrestling as they presented their special episode Destination X on free television, headlined by a World Heavyweight Championship contest between Bully Ray and Chris Sabin. It was a night where TNA had to deliver some quality wrestling action and hope that the show would get strong rating. They delivered on the ratings, but was the quality there? Let’s find out.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: 

Chris Sabin 

vs. 

Bully Ray ©

This was the match that TNA had been building up to over the last month or so of television, therefore it was the one that most needed to deliver, in terms of both in ring action and story development. We kicked off the show with World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray in the ring. Bully quickly glossed over his match with Sabin, before calling out his wife Brooke Hogan. For me, this made absolute no sense, for one you’ve just made your main event look like nothing, and then dragged up a storyline that should have been over months ago and wasn’t even that good to begin with. After Brooke said her piece, her Dad Hulk Hogan came out to tell Bully it was over, before the two of them left. Hopefully this is it now for the Bully and Brooke story because I’m not sure how much more I could take of it, to be quite honest. Main Event Mafia turned up on the screen to tell Bully he’d lose his title in a fair fight tonight to close what was a pretty poor opening segment.

As we built up to our main event, Chris Sabin received two pep talks to get him ready for Bully Ray. The first came at the hands of General Manager Chris Sabin. Sabin seems to be Hogan’s newest best friend, we’ve seen him latch onto the likes of Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries and Abyss before, and to be honest they really didn’t need Hogan there, and neither does Sabin. The second pep talk was much better, as Austin Aries turned up just before the big match. Aries spoke about how he did the same thing last year to win the World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the series of matches he had with Sabin on television over the last month, which once again helped to build Sabin as a credible contender and lead well into the main event.

The opening section of the match, with Bully Ray and Sabin swapping kicks and chest slaps was a good start, that helped to show Sabin’s attitude and heart as he fought well against the stronger man before Bully got the upperhand. Just as the match seemed like it might be heading somewhere with Bully working the previously injured knee of Sabin, out came Aces and Eights and Main Event Mafia, which is where the match began to lose pace. It was an over complication that the match didn’t need, as well as detracting from Sabin, as he isn’t a member of either group, so it didn’t quite make sense to have them out there, for what essentially became a Lumberjack Match. The action in the ring continued to be fairly good, as Bully methodically worked over Sabin, even untying Sabin’s boot and removing Sabin’s protective knee braces.

It was all building well for a comeback from Sabin, as at every turn Bully would get the better of Sabin and continue his assault of offence. Then there was another turn for the worse, as a missile dropkick from Sabin took out both Bully Ray and referee Brian Hebner. Sabin apparently had the pin here, after a missile dropkick but the ref was down so couldn’t count the pin. This of course saw the Main Event Mafia and Aces and Eights storm the ring to continue their fight, in another piece of over complication that this match really didn’t need. After the warring factions had left the ring, Bully Ray attempted a powerbomb, but Sabin had control of the signature weapon of Aces and Eights, the hammer, bringing it down on Bully Ray to pick up a pinfall victory and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Once again, this ending made absolute no sense to me, Sabin has been on a journey over the last two years that TNA have been constantly hyping leading into this match, so why would they then cheapen his victory by having him win with a hammer shot? This match really only had a simple story to tell, yet it was over complicated by Aces and Eights, Main Event Mafia and a Hammer shot that really weren’t needed. However, I’m happy to see Chris Sabin as World Heavyweight Champion, as after the work he’s put in over the last two year, especially in the last two months or so, he thoroughly deserves to hold that big belt. 

Aces and Eights and Main Event Mafia Feud Continues…

Aces and Eight continued to dominate the show this week, with their current fued with the Main Event Mafia continuing. We started with Aces and Eights backstage with new Vice President Mr. Anderson explaining that DOC had left the group after Knux voted for Anderson the week previously, which was a pretty crap way to explain away DOC’s absence after being released from the company, before the group looked to be heading out to the arena. Later in the show, the Main Event Mafia were also shown backstage, with Sting and Kurt Angle readying the group for “Part One of Tonight’s Mission” with Rampage Jackson saying he was going to knock someone out. It was quick short segment that set up the dynamic of the group well, and built up the anticipation for the confrontation later in the night.

Main Event Mafia then came to the ring,  with Angle and Sting both delivering similar promos to what we had seen earlier backstage, before Magnus did a solid job of his promo, eventually calling out Aces and Eights. It’s great to see a Brit positioned so prominently on a main stream wrestling show, and doing so well. Aces and Eights turned up on the tron, with Mr. Anderson telling the Mafia to come backstage and meet them there, which Samoa Joe accepted on behalf of the group. It was pretty obvious that we were going to get an ambush from Aces and Eights, as the set up was little contrived.

As expected when Main Event Mafia arrived backstage, they were met by Anderson who goaded them into entering the clubhouse. Just as Kurt Angle was about to enter he was ambushed by Bully Ray, with Devon looking the door on the rest of Aces and Eights and the Main Event Mafia. Bully Ray threw Angle into the back of a pickup truck, which hastily drove away. It was a bizarre segment, and I’m not quite sure what was being implied with Angle being driven away, what exactly were Aces and Eights planning to do with Kurt? Later in the night, Bully was seen talking on the phone to the driver of the truck, telling them to take Angle to the spot they had agreed on earlier and make him an offer he couldn’t refuse. It was this point when I realised I had no clue what was happening and I don’t think TNA did either. We also found out that Wes Briscoe had been injured in the fight with Main Event Mafia thanks to Rampage Jackson.

Later in the night the truck that drove Angle away, reappeared this time being driven by Angle. Angle was then seen with the rest of the Main Event Mafia during the main event between Bully Ray and Chris Sabin, making all the previous segments feel pretty pointless. I’d hope that TNA will follow up on the offer that was supposedly given to Angle, and who was actually driving the truck for Aces and Eight, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. It was disappointing that after weeks of build up to a confrontation on this episode, we actually saw very little of the altercation between the two factions. 

Best of the Rest (In the World)

Elsewhere, on the sole Bound For Glory Series match of the night, Bobby Roode faced off against old tag team partner Austin Aries. There was a lot for this match to play off in terms of story, with it being a year since Austin Aries defeated Bobby Roode for the World Heavyweight Championship, at this very event. Also thrown into the mix was the fact that Bobby Roode is yet to pick up any points in the Series losing every single match and his search for that elusive first win here. All these points were highlighted in a backstage interview with Bobby Roode prior to the match which helped to refresh the audience’s memory of past events and build up the match well.

As expected the match was a cracking television contest that was only really held back by being restricted to around eight minutes of television time. The dynamic between the two was interesting here, with both still presumably playing heel, this could have be a difficulty that we’ve see na lot of heel vs. heel matches walk into in the past, but with so much history between the two and with Aries still being extremely popular with the crowd, it was one the match avoided well. The spot of the match for me, saw Aries dive between the ropes and send Roode straight into the steel steps, with the build flowing well, this spot looked pretty painful for Roode. After some nice back and forth Aries picked up the win and seven points in the Bound For Glory Series with a Brainbuster. This match wasn’t up there with their contests at last year’s Destination X or Hardcore Justice, but was certainly a very entertaining television bout and a great way to open up the show.

There was also three qualifying matches, for an Ultimate X match to take place next week, for the vacant X Division Championship. For me, it felt strange that TNA would have a new X Division Champion decided at Destination X, and it gave the show an uncompleted feel. The first match focused on what TNA referred to as the “Past” with Homicide making his first TNA appearance in three years (bar this month’s One Night Only: Hardcore Justice 2), Sonjay Dutt making his first appearance in four months and Petey Williams first appearance in two months. It was a little disheartening then, when the three men labelled as the past of the X Division delivered the best of the three qualifying matches. The three used the three way concept well making sure each man was involved for the optimum amount of time. The end was also clever, revolving around Petey William’s Canadian Destroyer and Homicide’s Gringo Killer. With Petey heading to the top rope, Sonjay who was trapped in a tree of woe, managed to German Suplex him from the position allowing Homicide to finally hit a painful Gringo Killer, before Sonjay took control hitting a Sonjay Cutter and a Moonsault Double Footstomp to the victory.

In another three way qualifying match, this time labelled as the “Present” of the X Division, Manik, Kenny King and Chavo Guerrero did battle. It seemed like a strange decision to have Chavo in the match, as he’s rarely wrestled in the X Division since his debut, instead spending most of his time in the tag team ranks. The match couldn’t quite capture the excitement of the one that had gone before it, sticking mainly to a one on one style, whilst one man sold a move for an extended period of time. The one on one action was solid, but it’s important that these wrestlers nail the three way format, because that’s all they’ll be wrestling for TNA. There was a bizarre tower of doom tease that didn’t quite happen, and I’m really not sure what was meant to be happening. After the confusion of that spot, Manik picked up the win with an Elevated Double Chickenwing, into a Double Knee Gut Buster to advance to next week’s match. 

The final three way qualifying match, saw the “Future” of the X Division do battle for a place in Ultimate X next week, with the debuting Greg Marascuilo, formerly Trent Barretta in WWE, facing off against British Bootcamp’s Rockstar Spud and Rubix (also known as Chikara’s Jigsaw). The match at times utilized the three way element well, especially in an exciting opening segment, but the match couldn’t keep this up, as it quickly descended into one on one action. At the times the match seemed a little awkward with moves not quite linking up as smoothly as they should have, but this was probably down to nerves and an unfamiliarity with each other. Marascuilo went on to pick up the victory with a Cradle Belly to Back Piledriver on Rockstar Spud. All three men were impressive in the bout with a number of good highflying moves, I think each has something to offer to the X Division and will hopefully be seen more often.

Knockout’s Champion Mickie James also appeared at Destination X, getting into a confrontation with new Number One Contender Gail Kim. James’ opening promo seemingly talking about the Ladder Match between Kim and Taryn Terrell last week on Impact Wrestling, only to reveal she was actually describing her concert in the same week. It was a nice piece of work, which fitted well with James’ self centered character. Kim came out to reply to James, with the two eventually getting into a cat fight, having to be separted by the referees. It would appear Kim is playing the face in the rivalry, after James disrespected Kim’s match the previous week, it’s an interesting dynamic and I’m hoping it will payoff with the two facing off for the Championship next week.

AJ Styles also turned up this week, cutting a promo in a darkened stairwell, reminiscent of a number of Raven promos. Styles spoke about the X Division saying it was in his past, before moving on to his opponent in the Bound For Glory Series next week, Jeff Hardy. It was a decent promo that quickly summed up where Styles’ character is at the moment but it would have been nice to get a little more depth as well. 

Finally...

What have I learnt from this Destination X?

1. Winning the TNA World Heavyweight Championship is great for Chris Sabin, the over complication of his win, not so great.

2. After week's of build up, it was disapointing not to see a proper showdown between Aces and Eights and Main Event Mafia.

3. The "past" of the X Division is better than it's "Present" or "Future". 

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus - 49 Points (Non-Mover) 

2. Samoa Joe - 19 Points (Non-Mover)

3. Jeff Hardy - 17 Points (Non-Mover)

4. Austin Aries - 14 Points (Up Two)

4. Christopher Daniels - 14 Points (Non-Mover)

6. AJ Styles - 12 Points (Down One)

7. Hernandez - 7 Points (Down One)

7. Mr. Anderson - 7 Points (Down One)

9. Bobby Roode -0 Points (Non-Mover)

9. Jay Bradley - 0 Points (Non-Mover)

9. Kazarian - 0 Points (Non-Mover)

12. Joseph Park - -10 Points (Non-Mover)