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: Hardcore Justice Part One Review

So TNA continues to present it's pay-per-view themed editions of Impact Wrestling with this month's Hardcore Justice. Whilst, personally I would have prefered to see TNA stick to their original idea of using having only four pay-per-views a year to build stronger storylines heading into the pay-per-view, rather than hot shot these shows every four weeks, the proof, of course, will be in the ratings.

World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match:

 Chris Sabin © 

vs.

 Bully Ray

Now, I've said it more than once over the last few weeks, but I have hated Chris Sabin's World Heavyweight Championship reign, and it has very little to do with Chris Sabin himself, who for the most part has been excellent. It all comes down to how he has been booked. The hammer shot to win the title? The bout with Manik, that was great but did nothing for him? Having him overshadowed by the Main Event Mafia? All did nothing to help me feel like TNA were fully behind Sabin as World Heavyweight Champion, and I went into this one expecting to see Sabin drop the title back to Aces and Eight's President Bully Ray.

The match was built up during the show, with a handful of backstage segments. Firsty, Sabin was asked by TNA's mysterious backstage reporter (Jason Hervey) for his thought on the main event. The promo took a while to get going, when you could tell that what Sabin was saying about remembering Team 3D putting someone through a flaming table, resulting the his trademark “alright?”, which usually happens when he doesn't know what to say. Fortunately, when Sabin began talking about the match, he did a sound job, sounded convincing and confident which actually help to build to the match well. We later saw Bully Ray on the phone, talking to someone called “Brooke” about what they would reveal to world next week. Whilst I'm not a fan of the Bully/Brooke storyline, this segment was done very well, with the timing of the reveal of “Brooke” being spot on. Bully Ray also got in a verbal confrontation with Aces and Eights Vice President Mr. Anderson, with Bully not seeming to believe he had the full backing of his second in command. Again this was a good segment, that began to plant the seeds of dissention with Aces and Eights well.

The main content of the Steel Cage was actually pretty strong, taking on a regular big man vs. small man dynamic. With Bully doing a good job beating down Sabin, who did have a few slight spells in charge of the match, Bully is very good in this role, as we've seen opposite Jeff Hardy and Sting over the last year or so, and Sabin worked well enough in this match to make it enjoyable. Whilst, there wasn't a great amount of use of the steel cage in the bout, when it did come into play it was creative, such as Sabin's springboard crossbody. The only real drawback on the main body of the match, was an awkward looking hurracanrana out of the corner from Sabin, which just looked bizarre and took me right out of the match.

Now, for everything that the main body of the bout had done well, the finish was about to throw out of the window. For some reason they did a ref bump angle, with Bully accidentally splashing Brian Hebner against the side of the cage. With Sabin getting the upperhand and attempting to escape the cage through the door, Mr. Anderson made the save for Bully sending the door into Sabin, and keeping him from escaping. Main Event Mafia's Rampage Jackson and newest member Tito Ortiz (more on that later) came down to ringside, with Rampage sending Anderson crashing off the entrance ramp. However, with Rampage celebrating, Ortiz pulled out Aces and Eights signature hammer and brought it crashing down on Rampage. This caused a distraction for Sabin, who ended up taking a vicious Release Powerbomb from Bully, to allow Bully to pick up the pinfall victory and regain the World Heavyweight Championship. There was so much wrong with this ending it was ridiculous. Firstly, why do you need a ref bump in a Steel Cage Match? Mike Tenay even made it clear the bout was no disqualification earlier in the proceedings. Secondly, the focus was firmly on Tito Ortiz, as TNA attempt to use a wrestling angle to build for an MMA bout on someone elses pay-per-view. There's a lot more that I could say, but I would like to end by mourning the end of the worst World Title reign since Jack Swagger's in 2010 run.

Main Event Mafia Search for a New Member

The other major storyline running throughout the show was the Main Event Mafia's search for a replacement for Kurt Angle. For those who have been hiding under a rock, Kurt Angle has entered a rehab facility, after being arrested for another DUI. I'd like to take this moment to wish Mr. Angle all the best, and hope that he is fit and well to return to television soon. Dixie Carter appeared in the ring with the remaining member of the Main Event Mafia to announce what had happened and that Kurt would not be taking part in the Five on Five match between Main Event Mafia and Aces and Eight's next week. I thought it was a classy move by TNA, who could have easily just written Kurt off in angle, as long as they don't turn it into a storyline, like they did with Jeff Hardy's drug addiction then I'll be happy. Aces and Eight's members Devon, Knux, Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff, lead by Vice President Mr. Anderson came out, and took advantage of the numbers advantage in a scuffle with the Main Event Mafia. This was a good segment that set up the idea of Aces and Eight's having the number advantage well, giving the Mafia even more reason to find a replacement.

The hunt for the replacement began in a number of backstage segments. Firstly, Sting suggested to the group that they go for Austin Aries. After some disagreement, Sting said he would go and speak to Aries. I thought Aries was a good choice for the Mafia, he brings something that the group doesn't really have in terms of in ring style, whilst his attitude clash with the group would make for some entertaining television. With Aries playing hard ball with Sting, the Icon returned to his group to tell them that Aries was a no go. This whole section for me was entirely pointless, if Aries wasn't going to join the group, then why show all this anyway. It didn't add anything to the show and the time could have been given to another match.

Then my worst fears were confirmed when Rampage Jackson stood up and said he had an idea and it was clear from this point on who would be the new fifth member. So with Jackson accompanied by Samoa Joe to the ring, he called out Tito Ortiz, asking him to be Kurt's replacement. I've made my feelings made before about Tito and TNA continues to make it worse, with his promo accepting the place being absolutely awful. To be fair to Rampage Jackson, he actually did a pretty good job with his, if he can translate that to the ring I have no problem with him being in TNA. Luckily, Bully Ray headed out to save the segment once again, ripping into Jackson and Ortiz in superb fashion.

Now, with the hindsight of what happened later in the night, the stuff with Tito was almost as pointless as the stuff with Austin Aries. I have to be fair to TNA though and say that this obviously wasn't part of the original plan and we most probably would have got a different story if Kurt Angle was healthy. It probably still would have involved Tito Ortiz, but would have had a little more time to breath and the heel turn from Ortiz would have felt more impactful. Hopefully, Angle's absence doesn't effect TNA for too long and they manage to adjust their plans accordingly.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

It was another big night in the Bound For Glory Series with two lots of twenty points on the line. Firstly, to open the show there was a Four Way Ladder Match, with Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Austin Aries and Kazarian all battling it out for the twenty points. Now, I have to say going into this match my expectations were pretty high. Four of the best high-flying talents of the last five years battling it out in a Ladder match? Sounds like my cup of tea. Therefore this match really had to deliver for me, in a number of different ways, especially after seeing a number of top notch ladder matches recently at WWE's Money in the Bank, as well as Taryn Terrel vs. Gail Kim on Impact Wrestling.

Luckily, this one did manage to deliver, with a number of entertaining and creative spots. A backstage segment at the start of the show, reignited the rivalry between Hardy and Aries and this was capitalised upon, with the two going after each other in the match. The action was fast and exciting throughout, with not really time to catch your breath as once one wrestler seemed to be gaining an upper hand another would come into challenge them. The highlight of the match for me, saw AJ Styles about to the Styles Clash on Aries, only for Kazarian to plant Styles' face into the mat. The culmination of the bout, saw Kazarian stable mates Christopher Daniels and Bobby Roode come down to ringside, with Roode holding Hardy off the ladder for long enough to allow Daniels to pass Kaz his trademark Appletini, which subsequently ended up in Jeff Hardy's face allowing Kaz to pick up the twenty points. It was a decent finish to the bout, that set up the new faction well, I'm interested to see how they work together and how they will effect the Bound For Glory Series and interact with TNA's other stables.

Bobby Roode was involved in a Bound For Glory Series match of his own, taking on Main Event Mafia's Samoa Joe and Magnus, as well as Aces and Eight's Vice President Mr. Anderson. The tables match didn't really use it's gimmick, at least not as well as the Ladder Match did, with the tables often seemingly getting in the way of what the guys actually wanted to do! With Joe and Magnus working as a tag team during the bout, the dynamic was an interesting one, with Roode and Anderson going it alone. Samoa Joe was the star of the bout for me, with some good work with both Anderson and Roode. They basically used the same spot as the ending of the Ladder Match, with Daniels & Roode interfering and Daniels throwing the Appletini into the eyes of Magnus, allowing Roode to powerbomb him through a table to pick up the victory and twenty points in the Bound For Glory Series. Whilst I understand the idea behind having identical finishes, to set up the new stable, we haven't seen a clean finish in a Bound For Glory Series match in the last two weeks and it's becoming a bit silly, no one would have been hurt in the match if Roode had won clean.

There was also women's action on the show, with Knockout's Champion Mickie James taking on ODB and Gail Kim in a Hardcore Triple Threat bout. It was an enjoyable bout, with the triple threat concept being used well, with a nice dynamic between Mickie James and Gail Kim as they reluctantly worked together, until Mickie went for a school girl roll up for a two count. With ODB eventually making her comeback using a singapore cane and her bra, yeah ODB used her bra as a weapon, Kim and James had to reunite as a duo, with a great spot involving Kim's signature figure four leg lock around the ringpost and James pulling at ODB's arms. The ending of the bout saw ODB hit BAM! On Gail Kim onto a steel chair to pick up the victory, with James just unable to break up the three count. A strong outing for the Knockout's with ODB showing that TNA's move to bring her back into active competition was a wise decision.

Finally...

What did I learn from Impact Wrestling: Hardcore Justice? 

1. TNA hasn't got a World Heavyweight Championship match right in a long time.

2. The Main Event Mafia aren't that great at choosing new members.

3. I think I actually like Taz on commentary.

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus - 39 Points (Non-Mover)

2. Bobby Roode - 27 Points (Up Six)

3. Samoa Joe - 26 Points (Down One) 

4. Jeff Hardy - 24 Points (Down One)

4. Mr. Anderson - 24 Points (Down One) 

6. Christopher Daniels - 23 Points (Down One)

7. AJ Styles - 22 Points (Down One)

7. Kazarian - 22 Points (Up Three)

9. Austin Aries - 21 Points (Down Two)

10. Hernandez - 7 Points (Down Two)

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

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

TNA Impact Wrestling 1st August 2013 Review

This week’s Impact Wrestling encapsulated my feelings for the current direction of the promotion in two hours. There is so much potential in the lockeroom and most of the time the build up for rivalries and matches is great, but the payoff is almost always disappointing. Whilst there was plenty to enjoy on Impact Wrestling this week, the decision made by the company and some less than well thought through booking, made the overall feeling for me coming out of the show as one of frustration.

What will the Offer Be?/August1Warning Reveal

I had been very impressed with TNA’s attempt at the viral video, with their August1Warning videos running between last week’s show and this one. They certainly helped to create a buzz amongst wrestling fans with a lot of discussion regarding who the mystery man might be. The speculation included names like Batista, Goldberg, Low-Ki, Adam Pearce, Hardcore Holly, Gutcheck Winner Bad Bones and even Nick Hogan. With such a good build up, I was expecting big things from TNA here with an important and popular wrestling name being brought in. However, with UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz being announced to fight Main Event Mafia member Rampage Jackson for Bellator the day before, my excitement was quashed pretty early on.

The build up for the reveal began from the beginning of the show with Bad Influence discussing the videos, along with Jeremy Borash and Mike Tenay mentioning the reveal every five minutes, strange for a guy who apparently doesn’t work for the company! Taz was also work into the story with him not being allowed into the building for some reason, that wasn’t really explained. After a white Hummer limo was seen driving around the backstage area, Taz reappeared to open the door of the limo to reveal that only a laptop playing the warning was inside. Even if we look past the logistics of the laptop and the hummer, the big point for me here is that TNA recently signed Taz to a contract, which we can expect is fairly lucrative, and is not really using him. Yes, the commentary has been better the last two weeks between Tenay and Borash, so what was the point of resigning Taz in the first place.

Another story that was weaved into the August1Warning build up, was the Main Event Mafia’s offer to the Aces and Eights, with the Mafia seen a number of times in their “office” discussing the offer they were going to make to their rival faction, with Kurt Angle and Sting doing most of the talking. I’m confused to what Rampage Jackson brings to TNA that validates him getting payed as much as he does. All we’ve really seen from him in the Mafia, is some nodding and the occasional “Yup”, whist during these segment Joe and Magnus come over as lackeys to the more experienced Angle and Sting rather than as equals.

The final segment of the show saw Kurt Angle call out Aces and Eights, who came out lead by Vice President Mr. Anderson. Anderson actually did a fairly good job of his promo and I’m enjoying his new more important role in Aces and Eights. With Angle announcing that at the Hardcore Justice special edition of Impact Wrestling, the Main Event Mafia challenge Aces and Eights to a five on five match, with the loser being removed from the TNA roster, a brawl ensued with Main Event Mafia coming out on top, before Anderson accepted on behalf of his team. The five on five match concept has potential, but why Main Event Mafia didn’t just say that the loser must disband didn’t make a lot of sense. It was then that the August1Warning was announced, with Tito Ortiz making his way to the entrance ramp to stare down with Rampage Jackson. It wasn’t the moment it needed to be for me, as a wrestling fan Tito Ortiz means very little to me. Whilst admittedly there is some cross-over between wrestling and MMA fans, I’d think that those fans watch each product for different reasons. I can’t imagine Aces and Eights turning up on a Bellator show either.

Bound For Glory Series Match: 

Austin Aries 

vs. 

AJ Styles

The show had kicked off earlier in the night, with Austin Aries coming to the ring. Aries spoke about how he would go on to win the Bound For Glory as well as his Bound For Glory Series match with AJ Styles later in the night. Aries did a great job building up the match later on, putting over Styles and himself, bringing an extra sense anticipation to the bout. However, it did get me thinking that this match really should have been on PPV and not free television. It doesn’t even need much of a build up, just the fact that this match had never happened before, would surely bring in a decent buy rate for a TNA PPV. AJ Styles also got a chance to talk just before the match, as in a backstage promo, Styles rubbished “Dream Matches” and revealed he’d win the Bound For Glory Series for the money. It was another strong attempt from Styles, who is really growing into his new character. Some might not like, but I certainly do.

The match for the most part didn’t disappoint, whilst it took a while to get going, and there was awkward superplex/neckbreaker section that didn’t quite work, once the match found it’s feet it really did become a pleasure to watch. With a number of exciting high spots, such as Styles front suplexing Aries onto the entrance way before ending up taking a back body drop off of it, alongside some nice actual wrestling, it built up nicely and was well put together. Aries, in the same way as Jeff Hardy two weeks ago, managed to bring out some of the old AJ Styles, with springboard moves and other highflying action coming back into Styles’ repertoire. The change in Styles in ring style, for me, has been a positive one, as it has meant that when Styles does go for the more exciting moves, they actually mean something, rather than being just another move.

The only thing that really fell flat to me was the ending of the contest. With Styles and Aries going back and forth with some hard punches and chops, Aries seemed to take control with a hard back suplex and discus clothesline and everything seemed to be going well. That was until Styles hit a Pele Kick out of nowhere and both men ended up with an arm across the other. With the referee counting both pinfalls, until Aries managed to get his shoulder up to pick up the pinfall victory and seven points in the Series. Now, there was two reasons I didn’t like the ending , firstly, after such a strong match, it was frustrating to have no clear winner, yes, Aries won but it wasn’t particularly decisive, now this would have been fine, if this wasn’t the Bound For Glory Series, as the two could have had a rematch with a good story to build upon, but it will be forgotten on next week’s Impact Wrestling. Secondly, the Pele Kick? How often has AJ Styles finished someone off with a Pele Kick? And now he finishes himself off with it? It was just bizarre.

This brings me to another flaw in the Bound For Glory Series. There are a number of top stars involved in the Series, and a lot names that TNA want to keep looking strong for the time being, so whilst Jay Bradley and Joseph Park will lose the majority of their matches cleanly, some of the top names will end up finishing in this kind of manner. Now, when the fans cotton on to this, the big name collisions will become less alluring, as we know we’ll get dodgy ending like this one, which won’t result in a rematch, because the Series has to roll on til October. Once again, on paper the Bound For Glory Series looks like a great idea and for the majority of the time makes for good television, but in a lot of the execution and major details it simply hasn’t worked as well as it should.

Best of the Rest (In the World) 

The other big match on the show, saw World Heavyweight Champion Chris Sabin face off against X Division Champion Manik. Now, a Champion vs. Champion match should be the first thing I’m talking about in this review, but TNA didn’t feel that way with this match basically being an after though, summing up Chris Sabin’s reign as World Heavyweight Champion so far. In build up to the match, Sabin and Manik were seen talking backstage, for some reason Manik had his mask off but his back to camera, I honestly don’t know why they kept the gimmick. It wasn’t a particularly great segment and Sabin was really shown up here, as he simply wasn’t believable in what he was saying and seemed to just be remembering words in the correct order.

The match on the other hand, was another solid display with some nice quick highflying action, that showcased what both men could do well, in what was essentially an X Division contest. This is where the main problem of the match lay, it was an X Division contest. Chris Sabin is yet to get a clean win over a heavyweight, after basically cheating to win the title from Bully Ray. A win over a bigger heavier man clean here, would have made him look at least close to a credible World Heavyweight Champion. Sabin did win the match, after a good closing section, finishing Manik off with Hail Sabin. Manik also got very little out of the match, as he lost to the person who had previously given up the X Division Championship, making his title reign get off to almost as poor a start as Sabin’s.

In the opening match of the evening, Bobby Roode took on Hernandez in a Bound For Glory Series Match. With Roode interrupting Austin Aries’ earlier segment, to announce he’d be getting points on the board tonight, by returning to his old motto “It pays to be Roode” in a solid promo, the match had an extra sense of intrigue than it would have otherwise. Roode and Hernandez put on decent television contest, with Roode’s ring savvy helping him get the upperhand for most of the match. It was when Hernandez’ power came into play, that we saw what Roode was talking about, with Roode throwing a number of chairs into the ring, distracting the referee, allowing Roode to hit Hernandez with a conveniently placed beer bottle to pick up the pinfall victory. Now, apart from the referee deciding to ignore the load of broken glass in the ring, this was a good way to re-introduce Roode’s character and have him add points to the board.

In the women’s match of the evening Gail Kim took on ODB, in ODB’s first televised match since November 2012. It was a welcome return for one of TNA’s most talented females, as ODB and Kim put on a strong contest, with the fast paced, hard hitting action that has become the calling card for TNA’s women’s division over the last few months, thanks to the likes of Kim, Taryn Terrell and Mickie James. After ODB sent Kim into the ring post, the match broke down somewhat, with ODB and Kim brawling on the outside before Kim sent ODB into the steel steps, leading to a double countout and a draw, as the two continued to fight. The match built the rivalry well, and unlike the Styles/Aries match later in the evening will surely get a rematch later down the line. ODB could make a great opponent for Mickie James as well, if the company went down a different route to Taryn Terrell.

In the other Bound For Glory Series match of the evening, Joseph Park took on Jay Bradley. With Eric Young accompanying Park, bringing his scientists knowledge by giving Park headgear to stop him bleeding, you had the making of a hilarious comedy duo. The match itself was poor, with Bradley and Park really not connecting well in the ring, with most of what was presented looking clunky and awkward. After Bradley had removed the head gear, it still wasn’t enough for him to pick up the victory, as Park got the pinfall after a Samoan Drop. Jay Bradley is certainly proving to be the whipping boy of the Series, playing the same role that Robbie E played last year.

Elsewhere, Bad Influence’s Christopher Daniels and Kazarian talked about their match in the Bound For Glory Series next week, with the tension between the two being played up. If done correctly, this match has the potential to be the match of the Series so far, if given four minutes or gone to another Dusty finish, it could be a big disappointment, which would be a crying shame after Kaz and Daniels have been consistently the best thing about TNA over the last year or so. 

Finally...

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

1. August1Warning was a disappointment.

2. I actually like the new AJ Styles.

3. Even the absense of Hulk Hogan doesn't help the focus of TNA.

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus - 49 Points (Non-Mover)

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

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

4. Austin Aries - 21 Points (Up Two)

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

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

7. Jeff Hardy - 17 Points (Down Two)

8. Bobby Roode - 7 Points (Up One)

8. Hernandez -7 Points (Non-Mover)

10. Jay Bradley - 0 Points (Down One)

10. Kazarian - 0 Points (Down One)

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

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) 

TNA Impact Wrestling 11th July 2013 Review

Impact Wrestling this week did a good job of keeping my attention throughout the whole show. The Joker’s Wild Tournament took up the majority of the show, building up nicel into the gauntlet match, whilst there was also some nice build for next week’s special edition of Impact Wrestling, Destination X.

Will Chris Sabin cash in his X Division title?

Fifth Member Revealed!

 

The major story of the show revolved around whether Chris Sabin would cash in the X Division Championship that he won back on last week’s Impact Wrestling. Now, I have no problem with this as a concept being the main hook of the show, however it certainly wasn’t help with Sabin announcing his decision already at the end of last week’s show. Therefore, we had an air of predictability running throughout the show. I mean what would have happened if Sabin had said no? Would Destination X just be cancelled? The other story running throughout the show was the idea that there was a new member of the Main Event Mafia. After Magnus joined the Sting, Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe last week I was intrigued to who might be joining the group.

We kicked off the show with Bully Ray telling Sabin that he’d be better of not cashing in his X Division belt, as Bully will beat him anyway, especially with his family around. It was another good promo from Bully Ray, who has really found a niche in this role, still continuing to produce some of the best work of his career. Bully went on to reject the Main Event Mafia offer of a fight next week which drew the Mafia out to the entrance ramp. Kurt Angle did a good job of explaining the plan behind the challenge, stating that next week they’d take out every single member of Aces and Eights, so that the World Heavyweight Championship match would be one on one. Sting then made the announcement that the fifth member of the Main Event Mafia would be revealed later tonight. As far as opening segment’s go this one was pretty damn good, setting up bigger segments for later in the night and setting the scene for next week.

There were couple of backstage segments thrown into the mix as we built towards the final segment. Firstly, we got a continuation of the Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan storyline, with General Manager Hulk Hogan asking Brooke what was going on. Brooke said she was trying to keep her business and private life separate and focus on the Knockout’s Ladder Match later on. If only Brooke had done so in the first place, we might not still be suffering this dire storyline. I can’t understand why TNA have acknowledged that Brooke has got engaged in real life, because in for one, in storyline she is still married to Bully Ray and for two, if you’re going to acknowledge a real life occurrence for Brooke, then it leaves you open for criticism when Bully Ray is also already married in real life! In other segments, we saw Sting and Angle talk up their newest recruit for the Main Event Mafia as they awaited a phonecall in what was essentially filler and didn’t add much to the show.

In the final segment, we saw General Manager Hulk Hogan come out first to talk up Destination X next week and invite X Division Champion Chris Sabin out to the ring to find out his decision regarding the World Heavyweight Championship. Sabin cut a decent, if not familiar promo about how he was following his dreams by going after the World Heavweight Championship, but before he could hand over the belt, World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray headed out to the ring and this is where the segment really found its feet for me. Bully continued to try to persuade Sabin not to cash in next week, maybe focussing a little bit too much on Hulk Hogan during his promo for my liking. It was then Sabin’s time to shine as he cut a fantastic promo, where you could see him grow in confidence as it went along. Sabin talked about how he’d already beaten Bully Ray before in Team 3D’s retirement match and kicked out of the 3D. His passion really came through the television screen and that made him feel like a perfect opponent for Bully. Originally when I heard this match might be happening I wasn’t particularly excited by it, but thanks to good work from TNA, Bully Ray and Chris Sabin in the last few weeks, I now can’t wait to see Chris Sabin get his shot at the Championship. We finished up with Aces and Eights coming out, presumably to take out Sabin, only for the Main Event Mafia to head to the ramp, reiterating their plan for next week and revealing their newest member…Rampage Jackson. This seems like a good decision for me, it allows Rampage to be visible on the product, whilst training at the same time and should make him look like a badass, building to a match with Kurt Angle somewhere down the line.

Bound For Glory Series Joker’s Wild Gauntlet Match: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Kazarian vs. Bobby Roode vs. Mr. Anderson

Throughout the show we had a number of tag team qualifying matches for this gauntlet, with the teams picked out at random by Jeremy Borash and Christy Hemme, we’ll talk about those in more detail later on. Now, a gauntlet in TNA is unlike a gauntlet you will see in WWE or numerous other promotions, which have more of a “Winner stays on format”, a TNA gauntlet is similar to WWE’s Royal Rumble with two competitors starting the match and another entering at regular intervals. To spice things up a little once we reach the final two competitors, the match becomes a regular one on one contest. So basically what we had here was six-man royal rumble match!

Now, the winner of the Gauntlet would receive 25 points in the Bound For Glory series. Now this isn’t something I was particularly happy with as the Bound For Glory Series concept should be enough on it’s own to tell the story and giving away 25 points here dilutes the other one-on-one contests that we will see later on in the Series. It also allows TNA to quickly change the ranking whenever they want, by throwing in these extra matches, which means the long term story telling that should be used for the Bond For Glory Series is lost, which will hurt the eventual winner and reduce the chance of other wrestler being elevated and new stars created.

Magnus and AJ Styles started the match, with some decent action but we were basically treading water here as we waited for the next competitor to join the match. That next competitor was Bad Influence’s Kazarian. It was more of the same here, with some nice displays from Kazarian, but mainly each man trying to get each other over the tope rope. With Samoa Joe heading down to the ring the match picked up, as we began to get a bit of psychology involved, with Joe and Magnus working together to get the upper hand over Styles and Kazarian. With Styles and Kaz fighting back they then turned their attention to each other, with Styles eliminating Kazarian with a back body drop. Mr. Anderson was the next man to enter, albeit during an advert break and then Bobby Roode was the final man to enter. With five men in the ring there was a lot of pushing an shoving with one man sat in the corner which wasn’t particularly gripping stuff to watch. Some nice work between Bobby Roode and AJ Styles, lead to Styles’ elimination with Roode having him perched on the top rope, with Mr. Anderson run by with a clothesline for the elimination. Samoa Joe and Anderson were then the next to be eliminated with Joe charging at Anderson for a clothesline and both men heading over the top rope. It was a spot we’ve seen hundreds of times before, but it worked well here.

Down to a final two of Bobby Roode and Magnus, the match certainly hit it’s strongest period. The two put in another solid encounter. Roode worked over Magnus, until the Brit got the upperhand by thwarting Roode’s superplex attempt, but missed his top rope elbow drop. Roode went for a Fisherman Suplex, with Magnus countering into the Mag Daddy Driver to pick up the win and the 25 points in the tournament. Another good short bout between Magnus and Roode it would be nice to see what they can do given a bit more time. Did this win do much for Magnus? Well, yes he got the 25 points and is now the runaway leader of the Bound For Glory Series, but it didn’t really help to elevate him any further than he has been in recent weeks. He’s already defeated Bobby Roode in singles action and didn’t actually eliminate any one in the battle royal. 

Best of the Rest (In The World)

The other big match of the night was Taryn Terrell and Gail Kim in a rare knockout’s Ladder Match, with the winner becoming the number one contender for Mickie James’ Knockout Championship. After Terrel and Kim’s brutal Last Knockout Standing Match at Slammiversary there were high expectations for this one to deliver the same kind of brutality, which for the most part it delivered upon. It wasn’t exactly a wrestling classic, but that isn’t what was needed and we moved from painful spot to painful spot these women really have to be commended for what they were willing to do in the ring. Both took bumps off the ladder, with some nice worked spots including Kim locking in the figure four around the ladder and Gail ducking being irish whipped in the ladder, only for Terrell to send the ladder straight back at her.

It looked like Terrell might have won the match after hanging Kim over the side of the ladder with a sleeper hold, but once Kim had fallen, Terrell was unable to grab the contract because of an injured knee thanks to Kim’s Figure Four on the Ladder, it was a nice touch to the match that really helped you get behind Taryn. The ending saw Terrell counter Kim’s Eat Defeat into a Dragon Sleeper Hold close to the ropes, only for Kim to begin to tie Terrell’s hair to the ring ropes. Kim escaped the hold and easily pulled down the contract. It was a clever ending, but didn’t really suit the match, feeling somewhat of an anti-climax. I was surprised that Kim won the match, as the logical progression would have been for Terrell to move into a program with Mickie James. However, I won’t complain about seeing Mickie James vs. Gail Kim even if we’ve seen it a load already.

Elsewhere in the night, Aces and Eights voted for a new Vice President. This storyline has been going for a while with both Mr. Anderson and DOC squabbling over the position, with little real progression, so it was nice to see it concluded here. Bully Ray decided to stay out of the vote, which predictably saw each wrestle pick up a vote alternatively as we went along the line. With Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff voting for Mr. Anderson, and Taz and Devon choosing DOC, it went down to Knux’s vote. It seemed like DOC could count on Knux’s vote, but Knux switched and choose Anderson making him the new Vice President of Aces and Eights. It was a well done segment, but really this should have been done weeks ago.

In the pick of the qualifying matches for the Joker’s Wild Gauntlet, we had Christopher Daniels teaming with Austin Aries to take on Kazarian and Bobby Roode. This is where the “random” drawing really came into it’s own, with Daniels and Kaz being adamant they would be drawn together, they refused to face off for most of the match, with the other member tagging out as soon as the other tagged in. Roode and Aries had no problem squaring off though and produced some good action, as expected. With Daniels eventually having to break up a pinfall attempt by Kazarian to keep his team in the match, we saw the first signs of trouble in Camp Bad Influence. The end saw Aries attempt a Brainbuster on Kaz only for Daniels to tag himself in and end up walking into a small package from Kazarian for the victory. There looked to be problems between Daniels and Kaz, but The Fallen Angel eventually came to, raising Kaz’s hand in victory. It was a very well worked match, with interesting psychology and solid in ring work from all four guys, who should all be considered top guys for the company.

Elsewhere in the qualifying matches we saw, Jeff Hardy and Joseph Park teaming up to face Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. Now if it was Abyss teaming with Jeff Hardy we could’ve been in for an absolute classic, however it wasn’t and we weren’t. Don’t get me wrong it was bad for a four minute tag team match, but it won’t be remembered for particularly long. Styles and Joe worked over Hardy for the first few minutes, with some nice tag team work, before Hardy made the hot tag to Park. This would have worked if the audience didn’t like Joe and Styles more than they like the Park character. With Park working over Joe and Styles, he took to long to celebrate ending up getting hit with a Springboard forearm from Styles and caught in the Rear Naked Choke from Joe, leading to the submission victory for Joe and Styles.

The other contest saw Jay Bradley team up with Hernandez to take on Magnus and Mr. Anderson. It was another unremarkable and short match, with some decent wrestling throughout but nothing that really made you sit up and take notice. This Bound For Glory Series is really helping Jay Bradley in my eyes though, despite not winning yet, having him as a regular on television is will definitely help him in the long run. In a nice twist ending, where many would have thought the desention would come between Magnus and Anderson, Bradley tripped Hernandez, allowing Magnus to get a roll up victory to advance. 

Finally...

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

1. TNA has a short memory, not remembering what happened on their last show

2. Magnus is clearly going to be the guy at the top of the Bound For Glory Series for a long time.

3. Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell are two of the toughest women in main stream wrestling.

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus - 49 Points (Non-Mover)

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

3. Jeff Hardy - 17 Points (Up One)

4. Christoper Daniels - 14 Points (Up One)

5. AJ Styles - 12 Points (Down Two)

6. Austin Aries - 7 Points (Down One)

- Hernandez - 7 Points (Down One)

- Mr. Anderson - 7 Points (Down One)

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

- Jay Bradley - 0 Points (Non-Mover)

- Kazarian - 0 Points (Non-Mover)

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