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)

TNA Impact Wrestling 27th June 2013 Review

In the past I’ve talked about how TNA’s in ring action is usually a lot better than the booking of the product and the storylines. However, on this week’s edition of Impact I was impressed with the booking and format of the show with two strong storylines woven throughout leading to big reveals.

X-Division Championship Three Way: Chris Sabin © vs. Suicide vs. Kenny King

Now it’s unusual for an X-Division match to make top billing on the reviews here, however with Destination X approaching and the possibility of the winner of this match getting a World Heavyweight Championship Match, the focus ,for now at least, is firmly on the X Division. Before the match Bully Ray cornered X Division Champion Chris Sabin in what looked like the back of a truck, alongside Aces and Eights partners, Mr. Anderson and DOC. Bully did a good job of getting his point across that if Sabin should win, he shouldn’t drop the X Division title for a shot at Bully, whilst also putting Sabin over fairly well. This was the first time in a long time that Aces and Eights have looked strong in a segment, maybe because the numbers were kept to a minimum, giving each member more significance to the segment.

Personally, I preferred this three way match to the Ultimate X match the three had at Slammiversary, mainly because it allowed them to focus on the wrestling rather than worry about the Ultimate X gimmick, which didn’t really pay off in that match. It was well balanced and fast paced match, with enough technical wrestling to allow the high flying moves to stand out, as well as enough spots to keep the match having that X Division feel, including a nice drop kick from Sabin whilst King was in a tree of woe and Suicide was sitting in the same corner. The end saw King go for the Royal Flush on Suicide, with Sabin on the outside, only for Suicide to reverse into a sunset flip to get the victory whilst holding onto the ropes. My only gripe with the ending was how long Sabin spent on the outside after basically only being thrown out the ring by Suicide. Suicide holding onto the ropes teased a heel turn, but the best was still to come.

After the match, General Manager Hulk Hogan turned up with former Ring of Honor Wrestling TJ Perkins. Hogan revealed as many already knew, that Perkins was the guy under Suicide’s mask, saying that the Suicide in the ring was an imposter. It didn’t quite fit the character of Suicide for Hogan to know who was under the mask “the whole time” but it made just enough sense to keep my attention and I was interested to find out who was under the mask. As were a lot of the TNA roster, firstly we saw Bully Ray talk to TJ Perkins backstage in a nice touch with Ray being paranoid it was something to do with the Main Event Mafia. Hulk Hogan questioned the match’s referee about who might be under the mask, with the referee knowing nothing. Bully Ray flanked by Mr. Anderson and DOC accussed Chavo Guerrero, Robbie E and Jessie Godderz of being Suicide in the locker room. The Main Event Mafia said they were interested to see who would reveal themselves as Suicide, teasing they might be the new member of the group. These segments really helped to build the importance of the reveal later on in the show and showing the concern from both Bully Ray and Hulk Hogan was another clever move, as it played with the lines between face and heel, showing they can have common goals.

Suicide Revealed?

In the final segment of the show, Hulk Hogan came to the ring to call out whoever was under the Suicide costume, and if he didn’t reveal himself he would be stripped off the championship. Suicide came to the ring but refused to remove his mask. It was then that Bully Ray entered on his own, siding with Hogan and asking Suicide to reveal himself. It was definitely a nice twist having Hogan and Ray after the same thing and their concern really built up who was under the mask as a threat to the World Heavyweight Championship. Suicide began to talk but with a vocoder distorting his voice, he cut a strange promo that wouldn’t have worked under any other circumstances but here it allowed the tension to build up to the reveal. The voice distortion slowly faded away, with Suicide revealing he had beaten Bully once before, he removed his mask to reveal…Austin Aries! Aries said he’s be cashing in the belt for another shot at Bully Ray at Destination X. I enjoyed the reveal and having Aries the X-Division Championship again is certainly an intriguing prospect. One thing I’d wonder here though, is that with Aries in the Bound For Glory Series, what happens if he wins the World Heavyweight Championship?

Bound For Glory Series Match: Samoa Joe vs. Mr. Anderson

Impact Wrestling kicked off this week with Main Event Mafia leader Sting, bringing out newest Main Event Mafia member Kurt Angle. Kurt cut a good promo talking about how the old Main Event Mafia worked, as well as putting Aces and Eights over well as a destructive group and a threat to the new Main Event Mafia.  It was also revealed that a new member of the group would be revealed tonight. I enjoyed this as an opening to the show, it set up the storyline well and gave the viewer a reason to keep watching the rest of the show.

Sting and Angle were shown entering a room labelled “Club Room” later on in the show, with Sting saying they would be better off this time round. They were later seen watching Bobby Roode as he made his way to the entrance ramp, teasing that Roode had joined the group. These segments were fairly short and felt a bit like TNA filling time, rather than a build up towards the reveal later on. Personally, I feel it would have been more satisfying not to see The Main Event Mafia after the opening of the show, building up the suspense on who they were going to reveal.

The reveal would take place during Samoa Joe’s Bound For Glory Series match with Mr. Anderson. It was very different contest to the one we saw between Joe and AJ Styles on the previous weeks broadcast, being much more of a brawl than a technical master class. For me, that’s what makes Joe still one of the best in the business at the moment, the ability to wrestle a number of different styles of matches. Anderson seemed restricted by his current attire of jeans and leather jacket, instead of his previous trunks. With Samoa Joe taking control Aces and Eight’s DOC and Knux came out to attempt a distraction, only for The Main Event Mafia to come storming down the entrance ramp to level the playing field. The match went a bit longing with Joe blocking a Mic Check from Anderson, before locking in the Rear Naked Choke for the submission victory and 10 points in the Series. It was decent match that told a decent story and having it last a little long after the interference certainly helped both guys looking strong.

After the match, Angle and Sting came into the ring and hugged Joe before raising his hand. It was confirmed later on in the show that Samoa Joe was the newest member of the Main Event Mafia, in a backstage segment saw Joe handed his new suit. It was another logical move to add Joe to the Main Event Mafia as the only other member of the original group to still under contract with TNA and it felt more effective than the Angle reveal as it didn’t finish the show, therefore no big surprise twist was particularly expected. With the three guys now in place, it will be interesting to see who will be added to the group as we continue towards Bound For Glory.

Best of the Rest (in the World)

The other Bound For Glory Series match of the night, pitted Magnus against Bobby Roode. It was decent wrestling contest with some nice amateur style work to kick of the contest. Roode went on to take control of the match, including a nice slingshot whilst Magnus was caught up in the ropes. From here the match stuck to fairly basic pattern, with Magnus making a comeback after catching Roode. There were then near falls following signature moves from each man, before Magnus hit the Mag Daddy Driver for the victory. The end was a slight anti-climax, with Magnus looking awkward in getting out of a Fisherman’s Suplex attempt from Roode to hit the MDD.

The win for Magnus keeps him top of the Bound For Glory Series with two wins and seventeen points. I can’t see Magnus staying at the top of the series, as he has no real logical storyline to go into with current World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray. A sustained run near the top of the series however could be very beneficial for Magnus in terms of transitioning him into a main event spot that he could be capable of. Roode hasn’t won in the Series yet, I expect this could be a running theme, possibly with a face turn in the cards for Roode as he looks to pick up a win.

Mickie James finally defended her Knockout’s Championship against Velvet Sky. James dominated most of the contest, working over Velvet’s previously injured knee, with Velvet selling well throughout. Velvet had a few comeback attempts and got a few near falls with roll ups. Mickie James eventually picked up the victory to retain the championship with a cross legged version of an STF. It was a decent match between the two, but with the storyline going on for so long and the bitterness between the two, it felt a little anti-climactic, it would have been nicer for the match to go a little longer and feature a few more spots to build on how this former friendship had soured. They did a weird angle at the end with Velvet breaking down and crying, which personally didn’t work for me, it didn’t really make me sympathise with Velvet and made her look a little whiny if anything.

World Tag Team Champions James Storm and Gunner came out to put over themselves as a duo, in what was a solid promo from Storm, although it would have been nice to hear what Gunner had to say. They were interrupted by Robbie E and Jessie Godderz accompanied by Tara. It looks like Robbie & Jessie are going to be a team going forward. The rest of the segments, focused around the teams name, The Bro Mans, with Storm winding the duo up by saying it sounded like Bromance as well as insulting Tara. It was wasn’t exactly some of Storm’s best work but is was passable at least. Gunner eventually took out Godderz with Robbie E backing away and pulling out his partner. Storm finished with his catchphrase. Whilst the TNA tag team division is looking thin at the moment, burying a new team like this seemed like a poor move by TNA, although The Bro Mans aren’t realistically going to challenge Storm and Gunner, a victory over them now is going to mean very little to any other new team.

The Gutcheck returned this week with Adam Ohriner, known to many as The Big O from Zack Ryder’s Z True Long Island Story, facing off against Ryan Lowe, who has a rockstar gimmick. Lowe came to the ring playing an electric guitar, which was an impressive entrance for a Gutcheck competitor and he clearly has a talent on the guitar. The match wasn’t anything special, with both men struggling to find any connection with the other. The ending was strange with Ohriner winning with a powerslam, and didn’t felt like it had been though through very well. Personally, I wouldn’t sign either man to the company, Ohriner has little to offer bar being Zack Ryder’s friend, whilst Lowe’s gimmick is far too close to Rockstar Spud, so unless they place him in a tag team with Spud I can’t see much for him.

Finally…

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

1. TNA is capable of pulling off a great show long storyline.

2. The three guys we expected to be in the Main Event Mafia are in the Main Event Mafia.

3. The Gutcheck Competition is one of those things that sounds good on paper, but has yet to be excuted correctly.

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus                    17 Points (Non-Mover)

2. Samoa Joe               12 Points  (Up Four)

3. Austin Aries               7 Points (Down One)

-  Christopher Daniels    7 points (Down One)

-  Jeff Hardy                  7 points (Down One)

- Mr. Anderson              7 points (Down One)

7. AJ Styles                    2 points (Down One)

8. Bobby Roode             0 points (Non-Mover)

-  Hernandez                   0 points (Non-Mover)

-  Jay Bradley                  0 points (Non-Mover)

-  Joseph Park                 0 points (Non-Mover)

-  Kazarian                      0 points (Non-Mover)