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)

TNA Impact Wrestling 25th July 2013 Review

Impact Wrestling this week was actually a fairly enjoyable watch, with a solid overarching storyline tying the show together in an attempt to keep the viewer watching for as long as possible, with some good wrestling action thrown in for good measure, with two championship matches and three Bound For Glory Series matches, there was certainly a lot to keep me entertained for the two hour duration.

TNA World Title Decision

This was the story than ran throughout the show, from opening segment to closing segment and did a fairly good job of keeping my interest throughout. Firstly, we start off with The Main Event Mafia in the ring, with Kurt Angle talking about the end to last week’s show, which saw a new World Heavyweight Champion crowned in the shape of Chris Sabin. Angle called out Sabin to talk about his victory, and whilst everything Angle said was true and he delivered his promo well, it just didn’t quite feel right to me. Once again, the spotlight wasn’t truly on Chris Sabin, it was on Kurt Angle and the Main Event Mafia, and really wasn’t helping Chris Sabin seem like the star that he should have been in this segment. Instead of the Mafia putting over Sabin, we had Sabin putting over the Mafia and it just didn’t feel right at all. Bully Ray then came out accompanied by lawyer, and demanded that if Sabin didn’t hand back the title, he would sue TNA. I actually quite liked this development, even if it was making the best of a bad situation after having Sabin use a hammer to win the belt, and was surprised that I hadn’t seen this used before, as it’s such a perfect heel tactic and worked well with Bully Ray here.

So throughout the night, we caught up with both General Manager Hulk Hogan  and President Dixie Carter as they flapped around backstage trying to come up with a solution to the problem. They way they built up was actually quite nice, as we got glimpses of Hogan and Carter backstage separately which set the tone for a meeting between the two later in the night. The content of the meeting between the two was strong, with it being made to look like Hogan and Carter had no choice but to strip Sabin of his championship, even if Carter’s emotional connection with her staff seemed a little contrived after the release of Jesse Sorensen recently. The only part that bugged me was that it was shot from outside of the office through blinds, I felt a little bit like my intelligence was being insulted, like I was meant to believe Hogan and Carter weren’t aware they were being filmed when it’s their television show! I do actually quite like the backstage stuff that TNA is doing at the moment, with the quick interviews from Jason Hervey bringing a nice feel to the show.

The final segment of the show, saw Bully Ray come out to demand his World Heavyweight Championship be giving back. I can’t praise Bully’s promo ability enough, his work over the last two years has been superb and even when he’s working with horrible storylines, like the one he had with Brooke Hogan, he’s hit the ball out of the park. Sabin obviously refused to give the title to Bully, so the decision was left up to Hogan, once again taking the spotlight from the companies new World Heavyweight Champion. Hogan came out and it was made to look like he’d be switching the title back, but he obviously didn’t, ripping up Bully’s legal paper work and booking a match for three weeks’ time, at a Hardcore Justice themed Impact Wrestling, inside a Steel Cage. Hogan’s promo was pretty weak, as he repeated a lot of the same points, and said the word Justice so many times I expected The Shield to jump him on the entrance ramp. He’s getting worse with his promos which is to be expected with his age, we’ve seen it happen to a number of older wrestlers, but are no longer holding major roles on television.

Overall, this story was a pretty enjoyable one episode thing, even if it had a few plotholes, such as why Bully Ray didn’t just sue anyway, was he scared by how Hogan tore up the legal documents? The idea of the special editions of Impact Wrestling seems to be sticking, after a successful Destination X, the week previously. It’s a good idea to help bring in good ratings,  if they can consistently deliver matches and stories that people will tune into see, and the more the special editions deliver in quality, then you’d think that the ratings would continue to go up steadily, which can only be good for wrestling as a whole.  

Bound For Glory Series Match: 

Jeff Hardy 

vs. 

AJ Styles

The main event of the evening was a big Bound For Glory Series match, between Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles. Now, whilst it’s clear to anyone that Hardy and Styles are two of the biggest stars in the company, I find it frustrating that TNA attempted to market this one as a dream match, again! Yes, this probably was a dream match back in 2004, the first time it happened, but 2013 we’ve seen this match before and whilst it usually delivers, to call it a dream match just makes TNA look a little bit silly. Whilst Styles has been a focal point of Impact Wrestling recently with his transformation into the Lone Wolf being a big storyline for the company, Jeff Hardy has kind of taken a backseat after the culmination of his rivalry with Bully Ray in the Full Metal Mayhem match, a few month ago.

The match was a good television main event, with a lot of action in a short timespan. It was nice to see Hardy bring out some of the old AJ Styles, as Styles brought back some of his more fast paced action that we saw before the Lone Wolf development, it was great to see moves like the Pele kick thrown in amongst AJ Styles current moveset. It’s matches like this one where the Bound For Glory Series really works, where the match is given enough time to tell the story and when it looks like both competitors are giving their all in an attempt to get the points, as was helped here by the selling of both Hardy and Styles, as well as the intensity with which the moves were delivered.

If Jeff Hardy had brought us glimpses of an old AJ Styles, it was the new AJ Styles that helped secure the victory, as he rolled with ease into a Calf Killer submission hold, and after sometime Hardy submitted, giving Styles ten points in the Bound For Glory Series. It was a nice ending to the match, with Styles looking strong in picking up a major victory over on of TNA’s biggest names. It made sense to have Styles win here, as the company clearly has an idea where they are heading with Styles, whilst Jeff Hardy currently seems in a state of limbo.

As the Bound For Glory Series develops it’s becoming pretty obvious, to me anyway, who we will see in the Top Four come the end of the series and I’d be extremely surprised if anyone else takes one of these spots. The four for me, have to be Magnus, Samoa Joe, Mr. Anderson and AJ Styles, as they are the four guys with the strongest direction in the Series and it would also lead to an interesting dynamic with two Main Event Mafia guys, one from Aces and Eights and then the Lone Wolf in AJ Styles, but out of those four I can’t currently pick an overall winner, although I’m edging closer to either AJ Styles or Mr. Anderson. Jeff Hardy on the other hand, looks to be heading for a mid-table finish, and the company doesn’t seem to have any clear plans at the moment for Hardy heading into Bound For Glory, which is strange considering he is one of the companies biggest draws. I’m beginning to wonder if Hardy will be around TNA for that much longer.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

The opening match of the show, was the Ultimate X match featuring Greg Marascuilo, Manik and Sonjay Dutt attempting to capture the vacant championship. For me, this is one of the strongest Ultimate X matches they’ve done in a while, because it used the three way concept and the Ultimate X match to it’s advantage, unlike the Ultimate X match at Slammiversary were it felt like both things were getting in the way. Marascuilo, Manik and Dutt all brought something to the match, with some nice spots throughout the match and unlike the majority of Ultimate X matches actually managed to tell a good story throughout.

The ending of the match also managed to feel climactic and purposeful, which really does make a change to other matches of this type. With Manik took out by Marascuilo on the ramp, with a sick Crade Belly to Back Piledriver on the hard Impact Wrestling ramp. With Manik out, this allowed Marascuilo and Sonjay Dutt to put together a fantastic section that had me on the edge of my seat. With both men climbing the outer steel support, they ended up on top of the structure trading blows, in what felt incredibly dangerous, helped by the rocking of the structure. With Marascuilo falling through the structure landing on the ropes, Dutt kept him in place, stopping him getting at the title, whilst Manik recovered and eventually managed to detach the new X Division title belt. Whilst it’s great to see TJ Perkins pick up the X Division belt, I still struggle to see why he’s been kept under the Manik costume, especially after cutting a promo without the mask earlier in the show!

Elsewhere, Kurt Angle and Sting were included in a backstage segment, as they talked about the Main Event Mafia ongoing feud with Aces and Eights. Sting and Angle spoke about still having one major goal to complete in finally destroying Aces and Eights. It wasn’t anything we’d hadn’t heard before, but was a good way to keep the fire burning for the feud whilst not actually developing it. It was nice to not have too much Aces and Eights involvement this week, as it has been a little heavy handed at times and gave the story time and space to breath, which it will need if it’s going to last until October.

The Knockout’s Championship was also up for grabs this week, as Mickie James defended her strap against Gail Kim. Velvet Sky cut a promo before the match, which seemed out of place, I’m pretty sure her story with Mickie James was finished about a month ago, and I’m hoping TNA don’t choose to resurrect it, over a fresh feud between Mickie James and Taryn Terrell. I was actually really disappointed with this match, as it should have been a solid matches between two of the best females in the business, instead it was pretty sloppy and didn’t feel like a title match. The most awkward section seeing a strange exchange of holds in the corner of the ring that looked like neither woman knew what they were doing. After Gail Kim slapped referee ODB, Mickie James managed to pick up the victory with a roll up. Brooke Hogan then made an appearance to admonish Gail, reminding her ODB was still an active competitor. It’s great to see ODB finally out of the referee role and if this poor match achieved one thing it’s that we will get to see ODB back in the ring again.

After a pep talk from Bully Ray about the new importance of the Bound for Glory Series, Aces and Eight’s Vice President Mr. Anderson was in action against Hernandez. It was a decent, yet forgettable contest, with the some strong ideas, like Anderson teased attempting a run up on Hernandez only to hit him in the face, but the majority being a pretty basic television contest. After Anderson had dominated most of the bout, Hernandez had a comeback which lead to the ending, after SuperMex missed his Air Mexico run, allowing Anderson to hit the Mic Check and pick up the seven points in the BFG Series. I liked the ending as it suited Anderson’s character as a sneaky and clever heel, and felt like it had been thought through well. The match was around the right length, as any longer than this and it might have become a little repetitive and boring.

The other Bound For Glory Series match, is one that TNA should be marketing as a main event contest. That being Samoa Joe against Christopher Daniels. This match has the potential to be an absolute classic, and we’ve seen classic matches from these two in both TNA and ROH before. So it confuses me a little why TNA would choose to throw this match away with little promotion and little time here on Impact this week. It was a decent match, and did the best it could with the time it was given, before Mr. Anderson came back out to distract Joe and allow Daniels to pick up the victory after two Best Moonsaults Ever. Like a lot of the TNA product recently, the idea seems to be in place, but the focus is slightly to the left of where it should be.

We also got a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel in the Joseph Park and Abyss storyline, as in a backstage segment, Eric Young showed Park footage of his match against Jeff Hardy, where Park attacked the referee. With Park having no recollection of events, Young said he’d get to the bottom of things. I don’t care how it happens, Eric Young can use his newly found magical powers for all I care, as long as TNA replaces Joseph Park with Abyss, and brings back The Monster, sooner rather than later.

Finally...

What did I learn from this week's Impact Wrestling?

1. The right ideas are in place, but the focus is wrong, for the majority of Impact Wrestling.

2. I'd be very surpirsed if the final four for the Bound For Glory Series aren't Magnus, Samoa Joe, Mr. Anderson and AJ Styles.

3. I am not missing Taz on commentary one bit. Jeremy Borash and Mike Tenay are doing a fine job in his absence. 

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus - 49 Points (Non-Mover)

2. Samoa Joe - 26 Points (Non-Mover) 

3. AJ Styles - 22 Points (Up Three) 

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

5. Jeff Hardy - 17 Points (Down Two)

6. Austin Aries - 14 Points (Down Two) 

- Mr. Anderson - 14 Points (Up One)

8. Hernandez - 7 Points (Down One) 

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

- Jay Bradley - 0 Points (Non-Mover)

- Kazarian - 0 Points (Non-Mover)

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

TNA Impact Wrestling 4th July 2013 Review

This was another hit and miss episode of Impact Wrestling, there were some good storyline developments and decent in ring action but at times some horrible jumps of logic that made the show difficult to watch. TNA seems to still be finding it’s feet with it’s new format, and whilst it is going to take time, I’m not sure it’s time TNA really have.

X Division Championship Match: Chris Sabin vs. Manik vs. Austin Aries ©

 The show kicked off with new X-Division Champion Austin Aries making his way to the ring. Aries cut a pretty good promo about him winning the X-Division belt last week and how he would defeat Bully Ray for the World Heavyweight Championship, before calling out General Manager Hulk Hogan. For me, Hogan’s promos over the last few months have steadily been getting worse, repeating things he said last week or even in the same promo. Hogan revealed that Aries would have to defend the X-Division belt in tonight’s main event. For some strange reason, TNA has decided to keep TJ Perkins under the Suicide gimmick, despite showing him last week, simply renaming him Manik. I’m glad the name has been changed, as Suicide was always a little awkward, but would much rather have seen TJ Perkins have a run on his own. The other opponent would be Chris Sabin, who cut an empassioned promo detailing how he would win back the belt, in what is probably the best I’ve seen out of Sabin, especially in his latest run.

There were a number of backstage segments involving Aces and Eights leading up to the match, with them discussing who they wanted to win. Some really poor acting on display from Wes Brisco and DOC here and it all seemed extremely forced. Bully Ray eventually asked “What would happen if nobody wins?” Well, in another piece of TNA logic, surely if nobody wins, then Austin Aries retains the championship and faces Bully Ray at Destination X? Did anyone think this through at all? The Main Event Mafia also revealed that they would be there to counteract the presence of Aces and Eights at ringside. With Aces and Eights about to head to the ring, DOC was seen attempting to get into the good books of Bully Ray, before Mr. Anderson overheard and it was revealed there would be a club vote next week for the Vice President spot in the group.

With Aces and Eights standing in the crowd, the match rarely embraced it’s three way concept instead opting for varying combinations of one on ones with each man getting taken out. The action between the three was good and exciting to watch but would have been a lot better if it had played with the three man psychology of the match type. After Sabin has given Aries a painful looking front suplex onto TNA’s hard ramp, Aces and Eights made their descent to ring side, with Knux getting involved with Manik by grabbing his ankle. Manik tried to take on Aces and Eight but received a powerbomb from DOC onto the outside, in possibly the strongest Aces and Eights have looked over the past couple of months. With Aces and Eights surrounding the ring, the Main Event Mafia headed out to combat the threat.

With Manik carried out of the match, it was basically down to a one on one between Chris Sabin and Austin Aries, this is where the match really got going. Aries and Sabin put on a match that really advertised the style of the X Division well with some great action from both men. Aries dominated Sabin for a lot of the match, and looked to have retained the title on a number of occasions, including kicking out of Aries’ Brainbuster and spending a long time in the Last Chancery. For me this really helped to build Sabin as a legit competitor, fighting hard against a former World Heavyweight Champion. The ending saw Aries go for a Brainbuster from the top rope, only for Sabin to reverse and hit a Super Hail Sabin for the victory and to become a six time X Division Champion. Many may criticize Aries having a one week title run, but the fact of the matter is it elevated Sabin and made him look a lot more credible than he had previously, personally I enjoyed this story over the last two weeks. Will Sabin defeat Bully Ray for the title? Probably not. Will he come out looking better than he did when he first won the X Division belt? Almost certainly. 

New Main Event Mafia Member

Our first glimpse of the Main Event Mafia on this week’s Impact Wrestling saw them arriving in the parking lot, with Kurt Angle announcing that a new member of the group would be revealed tonight. I think the reveal of the Mafia member being more of a slow drip than a sudden reveal has really worked with it keeping the attention for longer and not burning out quickly, which is something TNA needs to do now that there are only four PPV’s to build to. It has also started to build up to the confrontation between the Main Event Mafia and Aces and Eights fairly well, with both sides beginning to look stronger than they did a few months back.

Later on in the night, Sting and Kurt Angle came out into the arena, to talk about why they choose Samoa Joe to join them. Their reasoning didn’t make a lot of sense, with them saying that the last group didn’t have good unity because they had former World Champions and there was I thinking that not only was Joe a former World Champion, but he was also in the Main Event Mafia before! It wouldn’t have been difficult for Sting and Angle to put over Joe as someone who had been held down in the past and that the Mafia will always help out a brother.

Joe did a much better job on the mic when he came out, giving an impassioned promo, detailing how he was going to win the Bound For Glory Series and how he would tap out Bully Ray to win the World Heavyweight Championship once again. It’s easy to get behind someone like Joe as it’s clear he loves what he does and seeing him held down over the last couple of years, would make him winning the World Title a really poignant moment for any long running TNA fans. Angle then did a good job of getting Joe even further over with the audience talking about their battles against each other in the past and how that respect had turned into loyalty. This made a lot more sense than what was said previously, and felt like it came from a much more legitimate place.

Angle then announced who the next member of the Main Event Mafia was….Magnus. Angle did another good job of getting Magnus over, saying he was the here and now of Impact Wrestling, rather than just the future. Magnus came out and cut a pretty good promo, talking about his fellow Main Event Mafia stablemates, especially Samoa Joe. Personally, I think Magnus is a pretty good choice for the Mafia, Magnus will get a lot from being involved with the other men in the group if booked properly. Magnus has to seem like a strong member of the group, if he becomes an afterthought like we’ve seen with DOC and Knux in Aces and Eights, it could do more damage than good. 

Best of the Rest (in the World)

Elsewhere, the Bound For Glory Series continued with Jeff Hardy facing Joseph Park. On paper this match doesn’t sound particularly exciting, neither does it sound like it would have drawn in the ratings. However, it actually managed to tell a decent story and was pretty fun to watch. It looked as if Hardy would win early after a Twist of Fate, but with Park moving out of the way of the Swanton Bomb, the match quickly changed, with Park using his power to push Hardy around. Hardy did a good job of making Park look credible, whilst Park has also improved in the character looking less of a bumbling idiot making his matches easier to watch.

The ending saw Park’s lip cut open after a Whisper in the Wind from Hardy, with Park suffering a similar metamorphosis that we’ve seen from him a lot over the past year, hitting the referee with a Black Hole Slam for the Disqualification loss. That give Hardy an extra three points in the Series, whilst Park losses ten for the DQ. It would appear that TNA is finally going to have Park revealed as Abyss and not without time either. Hopefully we’ll see Abyss flying high in the Bound For Glory Series before long. It would also seem they are holding Hardy back in the Series as it would have been easy to have him pick up seven points here, but the DQ victory keeps him looking strong but unable to climb to high in the Series.

In another Bound For Glory Series match, Kazarian faced AJ Styles. With Christopher Daniels joining Kaz at ringside, Bad Influence came out dressed as Sigfried and Roy seemingly to wind up the Las Vegas audience, if anyone can pull off these bizarre comedy costumes, it’s going to be Kaz and Daniels! The match between Styles and Kaz was of course another good contest out of these two, but suffered heavily from the curse of the Bound For Glory Series, time constraints. This is the kind of match that should be getting at least fifteen minutes, not four. AJ eventually locked in the Calf Killer in the middle of the ring, to pick up the submission victory and ten points in the Bound For Glory Series. AJ Styles is still my favourite to pick up the victory of the entire series, but he needs to be showcased in longer matches, to build up that victory better.

The other Bound For Glory Series match, saw Hernandez face Jay Bradley. I’ve been pretty impressed with Bradley over the last few weeks and this matches was another decent contest. Bradley had some good periods of offense and seems to be developing his character well during the Series. Hernandez also seems to be coming into his own, and it seems a much deserved singles push could be on the way. The ending was intriguing with Chavo Guerrero, who was at ringside getting involved by hitting Bradley behind the referee’s back, allowing Hernandez to get the victory and seven points in the Series with a Shoulder Tackle. Okay, the Shoulder Tackle was a terrible way to win, but with Chavo seemingly turning heel, the forthcoming rivalry could be a star making one for Hernandez.

Knockout’s Champion Mickie James also made an appearance to talk about next week’s Number One Contender’s Ladder Match between Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell. James gave a very strong promo whilst sitting a top of a Ladder. She’s really grown into her new heel role, which is definitely good to see, it feels fresh for the character and gives her a different set of Knockout’s to feud with. James talked about how whoever won the Ladder Match, would get there face broken on every single rung of the ladder afterwards. The logical winner and eventually rivalry for Mickie James would be Taryn Terrell, and I think the two would develop a really interesting story, with James hopefully being able to teach Terrell even more than she has learnt from Gail Kim.

World Tag Team Champions James Storm and Gunner were also in action against The Bro-Mans, who were accompanied by Tara. The match was over pretty quickly, after Robbie E and Jessie Godderz worked over Gunner until he made a hot tag to Storm in a pretty basic tag team contest. Storm cleaned house, alongside some good double team manoevers for the World Tag Team Champions, including a nice neckbreaker-slam move on Godderz that gave them the victory. This match allowed Gunner and Storm to look pretty good, but with little in terms of a tag team division I really can’t see who is going to challenge them for the titles.

The Gutcheck judges also decided the fate of last week’s contestants Ryan Howe and Adam Ohriner. After last week’s round of releases by TNA, including a number of former Gutcheck winners, the whole concept feels kind of obsolete with no evidence that winning Gutcheck get’s you very far in the company. Ohriner was the first eliminated by Al Snow, Bruce Prichard and Danny Davis, giving Ryan Howe the opportunity out in the arena. After receiving a no vote from Snow, Howe attempted to “Kick Out” delivering a pretty decent promo, but after a Yes from Danny Davis, Bruce Prichard sealed Howe’s fate with No Vote. Pretty much, how I saw it going, neither Ohriner or Howe offered much to TNA and it was the right decision all round.

Finally...

What have I learnt from this week's Impact Wrestling?

1. TNA are capable of clever booking, with the past two weeks of X Division booking really helping Chris Sabin look like a star.

2. The Main Event Mafia no longer needs to contain former World Champions.

3. It can't be long before the reveal of Joseph Park being Abyss.

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus                     24 Points (Non-Mover)

2. Samoa Joe                 19 Points (Non-Mover)

3. AJ Styles                   12 Points (Up Four)

4. Jeff Hardy                 10 Points (Down One)

5. Austin Aries                7 Points (Down Two)

-  Christopher Daniels      7 Points (Down Two)

-  Hernandez                   7 Points (Up Three)

-  Mr. Anderson              7 Points (Down Two)

9. Bobby Roode              0 Points (Down One)

-  Jay Bradley                 0 Points (Down One)

-  Kazarian                     0 Points (Down One)

12. Joseph Park           -10 Points (Down Four)