Live Event Review: Fight Club: Pro All the Best 2016 (Lee vs. Seven *TNA X Division Championship*)

On 5th February 2016, Fight Club: Pro presented All the Best 2016 in the Planet Nightclub in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. Trevor Lee defended his TNA X Division Championship against Trent Seven and Pete Dunne put his Infinity Trophy on the line against Tyler Bate...but was it any good? Let's find out.

match card

Match 1 - Tag Team - KYS (FCP Champion MK McKinnan & Damian Dunne) vs. Nixon Newell & Mike Bird

Match 2 - Singles - Chris Brookes vs. Travis Banks

Match 3 - Infinity Trophy - Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne (C)

Match 4 - Tag Team - The Hunter Brothers vs. Dan Maloney & Wild Boar

Match 5 - TNA X Division Championship - Trent Seven vs. Trevor Lee (C)

trent seven addresses the planet nightclub

The show kicked off with former FCP Champion Trent Seven heading out to the ring to welcome the fans to the show and thank them for heading out to the Planet that evening. As Seven said 2016, obviously referencing the first show of said year for FCP, I thought it was a good idea to shout out 2006, in reference to the idiotic boob Bram's recent botch on TNA Impact Wrestling. I'm not sure if this was the best idea I've ever had or a moment of utter insanity that lead to me being labelled a "walking calendar" by Seven. Either way this whole opening segment was a nice bit of fun that buoyed that crowd up for some action with Seven managing to hold the attention of a good-sized crowd of boozed-up Midlanders with his cheeky swagger and charm.

nixon newell and mike bird defeat kys

This was an open challenge bout laid out by current FCP Champion, MK McKinnan and KYS stablemate Damian Dunne. The duo kicked things off by complaining about having to start off the show and began typically running down the FCP fanbase, with McKinnan ripping into anyone who caught his attention. Whilst, the team of Nixon Newell and Mike Bird hadn't been particularly high on my list of teams to answer the open challenge, the booking here made me want to see the match a lot more than if it had just been announced before hand. We had Nixon come out first, with McKinnan cutting a misogynistic promo offering Nixon "the chance" to suck his dick, before Clint Margera made his entrance, only to be taken out by KYS member Pete Dunne with a steel chair and Bird (who presumably was just kicking about backstage) turned up to join in the fight.

The tag match itself was a cracking opening contest with the two teams forming a solid dynamic that the crowd quickly bought into. As one of the most likable faces in British wrestling at the moment, Nixon worked well as the face in peril for this one, with McKinnan and Dunne excelling in their roles also, keeping the match in their favour with a series of underhanded tactics. Bird kept things going at ringside and delivered with a good hot tag sequence, before the heels pulled out a great flurry of offense and got a convincing near fall off a double superkick and rope hung DDT from McKinnan. However, it was Nixon who picked up the win for her team with a Vulture Culture Destroyer on Dunne, and whilst the move didn't look quite a clean as it could have, it seemed there were no injuries and the messy look actually worked in the favour of the type of bout the two teams were having. A smashing way to kick off the show, with a strong heel/face dynamic, it'll be interesting to see how this victory effects McKinnan's title run and whether we'll see Nixon and Bird continue as a team in FCP going forward.

chris brookes defeats travis banks

This was my first opportunity to see New Zealander Travis Banks in action and I have to say I was impressed with the 2 time IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Champion. Banks worked a very technical bout with FCP regular Chris Brookes, and despite being the less well known worker to the Wolverhampton crowd, seemed to quickly gain the respect of those in attendance, helped along by the fact that Brookes is one of the most hated men in the promotion. Despite the technicality of the bout, one of it's stand out moments was a big highspot that saw Brookes push Banks off the top and send him into the cage that surrounds the ringside area, with the Kiwi almost going right over the top. Banks gained a number of sweet near falls via a Fisherman's Buster and Bridging German Suplex before Brookes claimed a surprisingly clean victory with a Michonoku Driver. Good use of Banks that showcased his skills and allowed him to look impressive enough that a return would be welcomed, whilst also allowing a regular to build some momentum heading into the next show on March 18th.

pete dunne defeats tyler bate to retain the infinity trophy

The first half main event was a superbly physical outing between KYS member Pete Dunne and one half of Mustache Mountain, Tyler Bate. The pairs first one on one outing for FCP, these two have a long history in the promotion going all the way back to Rise Against: End of Dave? in May 2014, having six bouts of varying stipulations, all the way up to the last show of 2015, Infinity 2015 when Dunne outlasted Bate in the Four Way Dance Semi-Final of the Infinity Trophy Tournament. If this match was the culmination of two years of waiting to get their hands on each other one on one in an FCP ring, boy did it deliver. There was lots of hard strikes and kicks to the face here, in a real show of British Strong Style as both men took a great deal of punishment from each other. This looked like two men who genuinely couldn't stand each other. The crowd was all over Dunne for the whole match and the well-rounded performer produced some quality character work as he showed frustration at the chants for Bate's mustache to give this bout a little bit of variety.

Numerous times through the match Dunne had attempted to hit his DT3 finish (Pumphandle Facebuster) and never quite hit it, this lead to blistering conclusion. With Dunne once again unable to put Bate away following another close near fall, we saw Bate begin to fire up for the second time in the match, only for Dunne to deliver a series of wicked strikes to the head and finally hit the DT3 for the win. A tremendous closing sequence that had the Planet rocking, these are two talents that have grown and grown over the last two or three years. Both men put in excellent efforts here and you have to think that there's only more to come as they continue to add different aspects to their game. 

fast-forward...Following the interval, Clint Margera hit the ring and challenged Pete Dunne to a Death Match on 18th March...

dan maloney and wild boar defeat the hunter brothers

The second half of the show kicked off with Dan Maloney and Wild Boar avenging their only loss as a tag team in FCP, by defeating the Hunter Brothers in a rematch from December's Infinity 2015. The crowd quickly picked up on Maloney's new choice of ring attire which included what appeared to be black rubber gloves, and heckled him with chants about marigolds and questions about washing up. The match itself went back and forth, with the fan-favourite Hunter Brothers putting together a lot of nice quick paced action and trading near falls with Maloney and Boar. The finish featured a lot of fun shenanigans, as the heel duo attempted to get steel chairs involved in the match, however this was a mere distraction for the referee, as Maloney would eventually clobbered a Hunter with a mallet to the knee that would eventually give his team the victory. A lot of fun to be had here, and there's surely a rematch to settle the score coming on 18th March or later on in the year.

trevor lee defeats trent seven to retain the tna x division championship

What a veritable smorgasbord of wrestling action was on offer here. Things began with Trent Seven challenging Trevor Lee to put his TNA X Division Championship on the line. Of course, Lee wasn't going to just give Seven a title, oh no, he was gonna make him dance for his shot. What followed was one of those moment in a wrestling fans life, where you look at your pals and they're all losing their shit for two grown adult males dancing to Taylor Swift and you think "Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate". Wrestling is the best and I won't have anyone say other wise. As far as I can find this was the first X Division title bout at non-TNA show in the UK since Samoa Joe defended the belt against AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels at 1PW All or Nothing - Day 2 in Doncaster on 5th March 2006 (Someone tell me I'm wrong, that's the last I could find on cagematch.net) 

The earlier part of the bout featured a lot of stalling from Trevor Lee, and plenty of sports-entertainment style tomfoolery. From Lee continually going to the outside at the start of the match, to later seemingly losing his temper and grabbing a steel chair only to use it as a step up to the ring apron, this all seemed to be designed to get under the skin of the Wolverhampton crowd. The champ was certainly working the heel role throughout, with numerous underhanded tactics in blatant sight of the referee, with the excuse that "It was legal in the US" working well due to the inexperienced appearance of the ref himself. The crowd however didn't seem to want to get on Lee's back too much here, perhaps due to being more familiar with his exploits in promotions like PWG and EVOLVE, than his villainous run alongside Gregory Shane Helms in TNA (in fact, the episode where Lee won the title from Tigre Uno wouldn't air until that coming Sunday on Challenge in the UK!). The crowd however were more or less on the side of regular Trent Seven, and I didn't feel that the crowd being more amused than angry with Lee's antics effected the contest on a whole.

Once things really got going Lee and Seven put on a superb main event, choc-full of hard strikes and chops with the crowd getting hotter and hotter as the action went on. Then came one of the best false finishes I have ever seen, as Seven hit a series of moves, capped off with a jumping piledriver and seemingly got the three count on Lee. Even the most smarky of fans were seemingly fooled by this one as the roof almost got blown off the Planet. Removing what would have been one of the main negatives of having another promotions title defended on the show, the crowd for a moment genuinely believed that the title not only could change hands, but had changed hands. Of course, it wasn't to be as the inexperience of the referee was used again, as after initially awarding the bout to Seven, he realised Lee's foot was under the ropes and restarted the match! For me, the actual finish of the match was a little too similar to what had come earlier between Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate, as Seven took a number of stiff shots from Lee and continued to fire up, before eventually falling to a Small Package Driver, as Lee made his third successful title defense.

finally...

atpw scale rating - 6.95/10

Fight Club:Pro start of their year with a strong card of British Strong-Style action, with all five matches providing some quality action. The Infinity Trophy bout and the main event for the TNA X Division Championship could both have arguments put forward for why they deserved to be Match of the Night, as they both delivered lots of hard-hitting moments, and managed to tell mostly different stories inside the ring. For me, Dunne and Bate edges it, thanks to the history between the two in the promotion and my personal intrigue to see where both of the performers will go over the next year of so in FCP. 

There's lots to look forward to in the near future, with Clint Margera and Pete Dunne already scheduled to clash in Death Match on the next show on 18th March, whilst a new contender for MK McKinnan's FCP title still needs to be crowned, and despite suffering defeat in tag team action there still seems to be no cracks in KYS faction. Interesting times ahead for sure, this is a promotion that should be on every British wrestling fans radar.

Interview: IMPACT Wrestling's Rockstar Spud (July 2015)

We'd spoken to Rockstar Spud back in March, during our ATPW24 campaign which raised over £200 for MIND, in what turned out to be not only a popular article, but an enjoyable interview that I hope left anyone who read it wanting more. So when an opportunity to travel to London and speak with Spud in person came up, ATPW jumped at the opportunity. 

Since our last chat, Spud has been busy winning the X Division Championship on two occasions, as well as getting the opportunity to wrestle for the World Heavyweight Championship opposite Kurt Angle. All that and more is covered here. There's a slightly new style ahead, with questions shaken up a bit and a heavier focus on what was said. Any and all feedback welcome as usual. ENJOY!

Spud on: Becoming a leader

I'm really enjoying [my training seminars], because I just love helping people, I like putting a smile on people's face. The more I help people here, the more I can help the UK scene and the more I can help the industry here, because I thoroughly believe that within the next ten years, if we all get an understanding of how to do business, a promotion in this country could be on television. You've got to be able to understand that element of the business. A bad guy really needs to be a bad guy, otherwise it just doesn't work. 

Spud on: Fight Club: Pro locker room

I don't watch, I listen. I always listen to how the crowd is reacting because I always believe that that's the most important thing, when they get to their highest point that's when you take it away. The opening match when Tyler Bate hit Dave Mastiff [with a German suplex] and the place went nuts. It was just like my entrance earlier in the show, I couldn't hear my music, I could hear the noise they were making, then [MK McKinnan] comes and takes it way from them and they're livid. That's the stuff, I just listen. I think that's the stuff that comes with being a grizzled old pro, who's been doing this for absolutely years. I just listen to the audience, I don't ask people how was that match, I ask them how many people were in the building. How many people were here at the last show, how many people are in the building with me on the card. 

Spud on: His perfect boss

Alan Partridge. I think it'd be an absolute calamity, but I think it'd be absolutely hilarious. I don't know who else. I'm thinking for entertainment value. The audience would have a good time, we'd have a hell of a time. Alan Sugar, you'd have a boardroom meeting every show, I think that'd be interesting. 

Spud on: X-Division title runs

I enjoyed them both, obviously anytime you can represent the company as champion is a huge honour, that belt's been very important for the company and still is. Obviously the second run was only a week long run, because I had a big decision to make in regards to the World Heavyweight Championship. I didn't want to make light of handing over the X-Division title, but I want to be World Heavyweight Champion. I lost, but that's what an underdog does, he fights and fights and always get's that close, you don't know when that day is going to come, but he's going to do it. That's the beauty of being an underdog, you just never know. You can lose every time, but if I show enough heart and drive the the fans will to see it again.

Spud on: facing Kurt Angle at Destination X.

At first [it was] very intimidating, because that's Kurt Angle, that's someone who I grew up and watched and obviously he's a thirteen time World Heavyweight Champion, he's done all this stuff in the industry, but knowing that I got in the ring with him, held my own with him ,stood on the same stage, is something that I'm really proud of. That's what pro wrestling is all about, the elevation of a young guy, by losing, but got made by being in the ring with Kurt Angle and looking competitive. I can't thank Kurt enough, the stuff he said the backstage after and the fact that he tweeted and he sent me a wonderful DM.

It was all about making Kurt look even more of an amazing champion. People go "You're on Match 1, you're not disappointed it wasn't the main event" I'm in there with a former 13 time World Heavyweight Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, it doesn't matter what match on the card it was. Am I proud of that match? Of course, I am. It was match one and it was part of a bigger picture for another match, which means I did my part and I watched it go forward and Aries does his part, and then Ethan comes out and does his part and all of a sudden their match becomes so much more. That's what it's all about. 

Spud on: The near future and Bound for Glory

Where would I like to be? I'd like to be in the World Heavyweight title picture, going into the UK tour. I want to fight EC3 in my home town, because I think we'd tear the roof off. If you think what we did in London was something, you ain't seen nothing yet. Bound for Glory time, it's like I said, just put me on the show and let me be involved. I just want to put smiles on peoples faces. If I'm in the World title picture that's even better. 

Spud on: Billy Corgan

He's a real good dude. He's a pro wrestling fan as well, so we can just talk about pro wrestling. He's a great addition to the team. He's a human being, it's nice to interact with someone who shares the same passion you do for the business and comes from an outside perspective as well, because he's not looking at it from inside the pro wrestling bubble, he's looking at it from outside in the entertainment bubble. It's really rewarding, especially when you know he's watched your work before being there. 

Spud on: Fight Club: Pro fans

There's a die hard bond between the fans and the performers. They're not wrestling fans, they're Fight Club: Pro fans. They actually care what happens to the performers.

Spud on: Films

Every film has an obstacle to overcome, that's what human's love, it's what human psychology is run on. It's like going back to being an attraction, every movie that's ever done well has had an attraction. You can have the most well-written story of all time...Do you remember Shawshank Redemption? did no business at the box office, best movie of all time. Yet, Independence Day, who everyone pans, Titanic, that everyone pans, Jurassic World, that everyone probably pans, made money, because they had a clear attraction. Hulk Hogan and John Cena whose wrestling ability everybody pans...that's it. 

Spud on: New British Talent in TNA. 

All phenomenal. All in their own special way as well. Bram is full of intensity, just that look, and he doesn't really how good he is yet. I've been really impressed with Drew Galloway, who's clearly got a huge passion for the industry and making things work. Mandrews again is a phenomenal talent, one of the best high flyers going. Grado's just Grado and that's why people love him. I've known him for many years. When you see him walk out with his fanny pack and his singlet on, you know you're going to have a good time.

Spud on: Multi-week TV Tapings

It's all I've ever known, I know there was a time of week-by-week tapings, but it's all I've ever known. Yeah, it's tough and we get hurt and banged up, but everyone's in the same boat. Kurt Angle's had a broken neck a couple of times, Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy have been through multiple TLC matches, I'm not gonna sit and complain about it. You can do that all you want, but they're gonna have their arms up and you've gotta have your arms up. The next stretch of tapings is going to be the longest we've ever done.

Spud on: His return to Fight Club: Pro on 10th July.

I hate them. No, I get a hero's welcome when I come back, before I left that company I was the most hated, hated piece of garbage and now every time I come back it's like a heroes welcome. I left with their respect and it took me a long time to get that respect, because they hated me! But I wanted them to hate me. I did my job very well when I was there, I think that's what they respect. It was awesome being back there and being in control of it all. It was awesome.

Just a good time to go back there and I'll always try to go back there whenever I can. Without the guys there I honestly would have jacked it in, a lot earlier. They gave me the confidence I needed. I was really down on a period in the business. I was like "I can't be arsed with this anymore. It's not getting me anywhere and they go "Nah man, come on, you're Spud, let's have some fun here" And it got me motivated. I was hitting the gym hard again, I was eating better and really began to enjoy myself in the ring.

Spud on: Heels

Heels aren't heels anymore. Because everyone's insecure about going home and reading that the fans thought they were a good wrestler. It doesn't matter ,you're a heel, no one gives a damn, if you're a good wrestler, you're the heel. Boys in the back know you're a good wrestler and that's all that matters, the boss knows you're a good wrestler that's why you get paid. It doesn't matter what the fans think of you. Your job as a heel is to make a babyface, the problem is everyone wants to make themselves. They're not drawing anymore and that's why no bad guys are getting booed. When a bad guy does get booed everyone goes "Oh he's not very good, I hate him, I hate him" and they can't understand why he's on TV every week. Because he's the only one getting booed. 

It's got nothing to do with the fans. The heel wants to lose all his heat, you can't draw money with him anymore. I saw the perfect example once of a heel and a babyface came down. He got booed on his entrance, babyface got cheered, and they had a match where they're both kicking out of each other's stuff constantly, left and right, left and right, left and right. By the end of it the heel hits his finish and leaves to applause, because he had a good match. Lost his heat, he wasn't booked again for the next couple of months, because he had no heat there. It doesn't effect the babyface, it effects the heat because "I can't draw with you at the moment, we've got rebuild". It happens all the time. It's down to not knowing what this business is about. 

Spud on: The build up to Destination X

[It's all from] the writers. I don't care if it's kissing ass, Dave Lagana, Matt Conway, John Garburick have never written anything that doesn't work for my character or that I've not been able to make work. In regard to the written, they're write stuff for me, I'll put my own sayings on it, but they give me some great direction. 

It was nice stuff because it gave a vulnerability to me, what people don't realise is it showed how important the X Division title was. And the reason I cashed it in, due to Ethan Carter berating me and belittling me. 

Spud on: What to expect from his training seminars

[My seminars teach] the ability to make money, that's what this business is all about. What I'm offering is, you can be a great wrestler, you can be the best wrestler in the world, no ones going to pay to see a great wrestler. If you're an attraction they will. It's how to draw money , you don't draw money without love and hate, nowadays there's a lot of "This is the good guy, this the bad guy" they wrestle, everyone does a load of false finishes and everyone chants "This is awesome". So now the fans like both of them, so now we don't care who wins or loses, it was "good match". How're we going to draw money with that? Because you like both of them, so now the heels got no heat, so now the heel is a babyface. But if you loved a babyface, just like you loved Rockstar Spud, and hated EC3 and not one  person in that building wanted EC3 to win, everyone wanted Rockstar Spud to win. After what he did to him, did you not want to see him want to see him get a kicking, but you also want to him lose. Would you not pay to see that again? That's how you draw money. It's got nothing to do with being a pro wrestler and having a good match, it's about being an attraction. 

Spud on: Ethan Carter III

The stuff with EC3, that's not just the performers going out there, it's our job to act out [the writers] vision. They've given us some great vision, some great direction, that we're then able to go out and build upon. I love going out there and making it even better

You've seen the Empire Strikes Back, you don't know when Return of the Jedi is going to happen. When he gets in the ring with me and when I get in the ring with him, he knows no one wants it more than me. I know no one wants it more than him. You can see that when we're acting you see that when we're just backstage, or when we're in the ring together, as you saw at Wembley.

Spud on: Orlando vs. New York

New York's New York and Orlando's Orlando. There's a lot more families in Orlando and there's a lot more educated audiences in the New York area. It's all about catering to your audience. Also, I can stay in the hotel next door in New York, so it's not really a long walk, so I get longer in bed, there's a gym in the hotel too. Other than that it's deal with what audience you've got. You can turn up with a bunch of apples and people want ice cream or you can turn up with a bunch of water and people want beer.

Spud on: The bigger picture

It's not about me, it's not "I'm an independent contractor, independent means I've got to look out for my business. It's about the bigger picture and everything else. If we can all work together to make the company better, the company draws more people, it earns more money, we can earn more money and if you continue to do good business with the company they'll want to continue working for you, because you always want to work with them. Not saying "No" to creative or losing or boo boo face over politics or anything like that. This is pro wrestling. There's a view of get the money while it's there and I understand that, but for me it's all about seeing the bigger picture. 

Many thanks to Rockstar Spud for taking the time to sit down and chat with us, as well as Simon Rothstein for helping set up the interview. You can catch Rockstar Spud on Challenge TV in the UK ever Sunday night at 9pm on Impact Wrestling.

TNA Bound For Glory 2013 Review

I honestly wasn't expecting a lot from this Pay-Per-View heading into it, and that isn't a great way to be heading into what is supposed to be TNA's biggest show of the year. The build up had included a couple of decent episodes of Impact Wrestling, but whilst I tended to come out of the show feeling entertained, they didn't really make me want to watch this show any more, mainly due to haphazard booking and the awful heel turn of Dixie Carter dominating most of the show.

The show kicked off with a promo video outlining the lead up to the main event, that would see AJ Styles challenge for Bully Ray's World Heavyweight Championship. I thought this was very well put together, and TNA had clearly put some effort into the production of the video, but Styles spent most of the video talking about his issues with Dixie Carter, instead of his opponent. The Styles/Ray build up should of written itself, but TNA have some how managed to balls it up.

X Division Championship Ultimate X Match:

Jeff Hardy

Versus

Austin Aries

Versus

Chris Sabin

with Velvet Sky

Versus

Samoa Joe

Versus

Manik ©

The main feeling I got coming away from this one was that a lot of talent had been wasted. This wasn't the greatest showcase of any one of these guys talents, and a lot of them looked uninspired by their situation. There was some decent spots thrown into the mix, like a Suicide Dive from Samoa Joe onto Jeff Hardy and a well worked hurracanrana spot that saw Manik take Chris Sabin to the outside, but with nothing particularly stringing them together, which with a lot of history between all five of these guys was pretty mind numbing. The Ultimate X stipulation wasn't used to it's full extent with very little interaction with the structure, and towards the end of the contest it became more of a Ladder match, which I kind of defeats the point of Ultimate X. If they wanted a Ladder Match, then they should have just gone ahead and made it a Ladder match. The finish involved Chris Sabin using Velvet Sky as a distraction for Jeff Hardy, allowing him to sneak up the Ladder and after some battle with Hardy, grab the belt to win his seventh X Division Championship. Whilst the finish was a little clichéd, it work well enough here with Sabin's character development, but I think if they'd have had Sky turn heel on Hardy, by pulling him from the X structure then it would have been much more effective than what was actually shown. It wasn't exactly terrible, but with the talent and history involved it should have be a lot better.

Winner and NEW X Division Champion: CHRIS SABIN (11 Minutes, 50 Seconds)

It's nostalgic replay time! Tonight's theme is AJ Styles' greatest hits, which seems a bizarre choice seeing as in storyline TNA President Dixie Carter is trying to push Styles out of TNA. The first video shows Styles becoming the first X Division Champion on 19^th June 2002, at TNA's second weekly PPV, in a bout that also involved Jerry Lynn, Lo-Ki and Psicosis, which TNA should have looked at when putting together the multi-man X-Division match that opened the show.

Bad Influence are out next to complain about not being booked on the show. Kazarian calls it a travesty, and the crowd seemed to agree with him and so do I. Bad Influence have routinely been the most entertaining part of any TNA show for over a year and a half, and should have been a bigger part of this show. Eric Young was out to warn Bad Influence that they had awoken a monster (Kazarian and Daniels had attack Joseph Park during the Pre-Show on Spike TV) and out came Abyss routinely destroying Bad Influence with a series of signature moves. It was teased that Abyss might turn on Young as well, but instead Abyss simply picking him up from the corner. As a short segment, this didn't have a lot wrong with and was a good way of reintroducing Abyss to the fold after far too long. A feud between Bad Influence and the Abyss/Young duo has potential, although Bad Influence are on the brink of becoming too popular to be heels due to TNA's constant mistreatment of the duo.

Backstage in the Interview area, a dapper Jeremy Borash interviewed World Tag Team Champions James Storm & Gunner about their upcoming title defence against The Bro-Mans. I was really impressed with Gunner here, this is certainly the best promo that I can remember him delivering, he came over as an old-school ass kicker and if TNA go down that root with him I can see him doing pretty well for the company. Storm's promo was loud and humorous, as we've come to expect from the Cowboy, messing around with JB. This interview was a nice addition for the show, as was needed to give some context to the upcoming tag title match.

World Tag Team Championship Match:

The Bro-Mans

with Phil Heath

Versus

James Storm & Gunner ©

Good acceptable tag team action. The crowd was pretty dead for the start of this one, as it built slowly with The Bro-Mans effectively working over Gunner in their corner, until an impressive Super Fall-away Slam allowed Gunner to make the hot tag to Storm. From here, the match really got going for me, with a series of exciting and well worked near falls for both teams began to get the crowd interested, with a Spinebuster/Backstabber combo from Storm & Gunner on Robbie E, being a particular highlight. The finish saw Robbie E distract the referee by throwing a title belt into the ring, allowing The Bro-Mans to double team Storm hitting a Heart Attack on the Cowboy to pick up the pinfall victory and win their first World Tag Team Championship. The only problem I had with the finish was that it wasn't particularly clear what had happened to Gunner, which isn't the fault of the performers, it had more to do with poor camera and editing work. If they run with The Bro-Mans as champions, and make them look credible on Impact Wrestling for a few weeks then they could lead to some entertaining moments and potential for feuds, and it also gives a chance for both Storm and Gunner to move back into pursuing singles gold.

Winners and NEW World Tag Team Champions: The Bro-Mans (11 Minutes, 50 Seconds)

Footage was shown of Kurt Angle's Hall of Fame evening the night before, with speeches from clips of speeches from Samoa Joe, Magnus and Sting, before Jeremy Borash introduces Sting for the actual induction, it was all a little confusing. Sting put over Angle as a family man, before bringing out the man himself. Sting presented Angle with his Hall of Fame watch, I'm guessing they left the meaningful speeches for the night before, as Sting honestly looked like he didn't want to be there. Bizarrely, Angle went on to turn down the induction saying that he didn't feel like he deserved the induction because of the mistakes he'd made in his life, before leaving the ring. The crowd didn't have a clue to react here, and I'm not sure anyone in TNA had even thought about how they wanted the crowd to react either. I thought it was pretty tasteless of TNA to use Angle's very real personal matters as storyline, it's not like it's never been done in wrestling before, but it just didn't sit well with me.

More AJ Styles based nostalgia was on the way, this time Styles's World Heavyweight Championship win at No Surrender 2009, in a five way including Kurt Angle, Matt Morgan, Hernandez and Sting, with the crazy confetti and the TNA roster flooding the ring straight after. They were really playing up Styles' past achievements, it would have been nice to have seen some Bully Ray moments as well, just to shrink the giant signposts that TNA were planting with these videos.

Backstage, TNA President Dixie Carter met with Ethan Carter III (Formerly WWE's Derrick Bateman) with it being revealed that Ethan was Dixie's nephew, I'm happy to see how that unfolds for now, even if Dixie was giving one of the hammiest performance I have ever seen, reciting her lines in a weird rhythm. Dixie told Ethan that she had hand picked his opponent for tonight, which was mildly interesting at best.

Knockout's Championship Three-Way Match

Gail Kim

Versus

Brooke Tessmacher

Versus

ODB ©

This was not half bad, but it had a potential to be a lot better. The three women involved in the match didn't really connect with the three-way concept, with a lot of one-on-one stuff with the two heels each taking turns against ODB. The early parts of the match felt like everyone was simply going through the motions, with Gail Kim especially spending a lot of time on the outside. They pulled out the Figure Four on the ringpost, which is always impressive, and nice sequence that saw ODB unable to Superplex both women, leading up to a near fall for Tessmacher after an elbow drop on Kim. Following a ref bump, they went for the finish, where it looked like ODB had the win after a Delayed Vertical Suplex on Tessmacher and BAM on Kim, in what looked like a decent finish to the bout, but this is TNA so all was not as it looked. With ODB about to get the win, out came Lei'D Tapa, and for some unknown reason instead of going for the pinfall, ODB went after Tapa and was quickly disposed off, Tessmacher quickly went the same way, with Kim simply falling into the pinfall to win her third Knockout's Championship. It was then revealed that Tapa was in cahoots with Kim, leading to obvious parallels to be drawn between the two and AJ Lee and Tamina Snuka in WWE. I think this ending would have been more effective if this had been used to re-debut Lei'D Tapa, instead of the strange re-introduction on Impact Wrestling a few weeks back.

Winner and NEW Knockout's Champion: GAIL KIM (10 Minutes, 25 Seconds)

Backstage, new interviewer Gil Corsey attempted to catch up with World Tag Team Champions The Bro-Mans, and ended up getting showered in protein shake, in what was pretty funny segment. I still have hope for The Bro-Mans Tag Title run after this. Corsey also looked like a good addition to the broadcast team, bringing an energy to the show that was lacking in a lot of areas.

Up next in Jeremy Borash's interview room was Bobby Roode. Roode did a good job of his promo with some intense delivery as he continues to play his role down to a tee, even if the content and storyline that he's having to deal with at the moment is pretty poor. Roode finished off by saying that he would make Kurt Angle tap out in their bout later tonight, which felt refreshing for a heel, as it's become so easy for guys to simply play the cowardly heel and get away with it.

Bobby Roode

Versus

Kurt Angle

In terms of in ring action, this was by far the strongest match on the card, building up nicely with some solid amateur style wrestling at the beginning. At times, Kurt Angle looked a little bit slow, but that's understandable considering the amount of time that he's had off, his age and everything else he's had to deal with over the last few months, and those limitations were worked round very well and with the way the match built didn't end up effecting the bout that much. Everything in the bout felt like it was done with a purpose, with both men bringing their impact moves to the contest, before the focus of the bout moved to their respective submission holds. The highlight of this bout for me, was a really well done false finish, with Angle transitioning Roode's Cross Face into an Angle Slam, with the crowd absolutely hooked. Then the match was ruined. With Roode passed out from Angle's Ankle Lock, the referee went to raise Roode's hand to check if he was out and accidentally put Roode's hand on the ropes, causing the rope break. It was just felt so stupid and looked like they were trying to pull a screwjob angle, but they weren't. I was pulled straight out of the match that Angle and Roode had worked so hard to get me interested in. The actual finish was just as silly, with Angle hitting a Super Angle Slam on Roode that saw both men down for an extended period of time, Roode managed to get to his feet first and fall onto Angle to pick up the pinfall victory. For me, this one needed a definitive finish, but left more questions open than it answered.

Winner: BOBBY ROODE (21 Minutes)

After the match, they had Angle put onto a stretcher with a silent crowd, before Angle refused the medical help and left on his own. With so many people concerned about Angle's real life health, I thought it was really distasteful to have people believe he had suffered an actual injury here. I'm not sure where they are going with Angle at the moment, but for his sake I'd hope he is at least used sparingly by TNA from now on.

More AJ Styles nostalgia was up next, this time showing Styles retaining the World Heavyweight Championship against Sting at Bound For Glory 2009. They were really building up the main event, and showing a truly classic Bound For Glory main event that people were truly invested in, put a lot of pressure onto Styles and Bully Ray to deliver something good in their match later on.

It was then backstage were Bully Ray talked to members of Aces & Eights who were not shown on screen. I'm guessing they wanted people to think they had re-signed some of the members that had left the group, by not showing them, whether anyone truly believed that Mr. Anderson, DOC, Devon or even D'Lo Brown would be getting involved in the main event, who knows?

Ethan Carter III

Versus

Norv Fernum

It was time for Ethan Carter III's début, and on the biggest stage TNA has to offer, they decided to pit him against Norv Fernum (PWG's Peter Avalon) in an enhancement match. For what is was, this match was okay, and if it was on Impact Wrestling I would have had no problem with it, but this a PPV, the biggest pay-Per-View of the year supposedly. Carter picked up a quick victory after a mild comeback by Fernum, hitting a Headlock Driver to get the pinfall. Carter has potential, and I enjoyed his run on NXT a short while ago, but this wasn't a great way for him to début.

Winner: ETHAN CARTER III (3 Minutes, 25 Seconds)

Magnus was up next in Jeremy Borash's Interview room, cutting a so-so promo on his upcoming match with Sting. Magnus failed to draw me in for most of the promo, mainly due to his tone and rhythm of delivery, which at times could have done with changing pace and tone to make his words really begin to stand out. Understandably, Magnus did look nervous here which probably effected his performance on the mic, which is usually pretty sound.

Magnus

Versus

Sting

This was not the match it needed to be, in order to make Magnus look like a star. Where we should have had the young rookie digging deep to defeat one of the best of all time, we had Magnus beating up an almost elderly looking Sting, before a slow comeback by Sting, including one of the worst looking Scorpion Deathlock's I have ever seen, it looked more painful for Sting to put Magnus in the hold, than it did for Magnus. The finish saw Sting asking Magnus to bring it, with Magnus quickly locking in the Kings Lyn Cloverleaf to pick up the submission victory. Magnus will become a star sooner of later, and he's not far off at the moment, but this did nothing for the Brit. If this isn't Sting's last match, there is something very wrong in TNA.

Winner: MAGNUS (11 Minutes, 5 Seconds)

In the final build up for the main event, Jeremy Borash welcomed World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray into his Interview Room, with Brooke Tessmacher in tow, who had apparently recovered from Lei'D Tapa's attack earlier in the night. Ray continued to be a beacon of light in crumbling mess that the Aces & Eights storyline has become, with a stellar promo based around Guns N' Roses track “Welcome to the Jungle”, as he sent a message to AJ Styles. Ray's transformation from tag team specialist to one of the best heels in the business is one of the true success stories in TNA, and it would have been nice to see some focus put onto that during this show, as well as the AJ Styles hype videos.

World Heavyweight Championship No Disqualification  Match

AJ Styles

Versus

Bully Ray

with Brooke Tessmacher

These two wrestlers had the potential to put on a compelling World Heavyweight title main event, but once again TNA thought otherwise and decided to send in the cavalry with a series of run ins and ridiculous shenanigans, with the bout descending into chaos within minutes. In between a distraction from Garrett Bischoff and Knux doing his best 911 impression, Ray and Styles actually manage to scramble together some decent action, showing a spark of what could have been if this bout had been left to play out naturally, with a crazy spot that Ray move out of the way of a springboard 450 splash that sent Styles crashing straight through a ringside table, being the pinnacle of the action for me. They repeated the spot where Bully Ray removes the protective cover of the ring for the third, I didn't enjoy the spot the first time it was done at Slammiversary and I didn't enjoy it here either, and it just seemed unnecessary after Styles had already taken a ridiculous bump through the table. Of course, Dixie Carter had to make her presence felt in the bout, keeping Styles from winning by shouting some stuff at referee Earl Hebner, I'm not sure why the whole build up has been around Carter, instead of the two guys in the match and her input here only dragged the match down again, especially with the logic lapse that was the coming. I thought the closing stages of the bout were actually really well done by Styles and Ray, with Styles looking convincing fighting from underneath after taking a serious beating from Ray, pulling out last gasp move the Pele Kick, before delivering a chair shot and hitting Spiral Tap to pick up a pin fall victory and win his second World Heavyweight Championship. On it's own the end was fine, but in context, why the hell didn't Dixie just stop it again? Overall, the effort that Ray and Styles put into this one shouldn't be discounted, because both men worked incredibly hard throughout the contest, but there was just too much going on and taking the focus of the match for me to really enjoy what they were doing.

Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion: AJ STYLES (22 Minutes, 35 Seconds)

The show finished up with images of AJ Styles celebrating in the crowd, whilst Dixie Carter looked on mournfully, similarly to many of the fans who paid money to watch this pay-per-view.

Overall, Bound For Glory 2013 wasn't a vintage year for TNA's “biggest” event of the year. Whilst at time the action within the matches was good, it was often let down by poor booking and an over reliance on “swerve” finishes. The talent still remains within TNA, but until that talent is allowed to breath and then used correctly, TNA will continue to put on disappointing shows like this one. At least there's only four of these a year now though, eh?

Quick Results

X Division Championship Five-Way Ultimate X Match

Chris Sabin def. Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries, Samoa Joe and Manik ©

World Tag Team Championship Match

The Bro-Mans def. James Storm & Gunner © via Pinfall

Knockout's Championship Three-Way Match

Gail Kim def. Brooke Tessmacher and ODB © via Pinfall

Bobby Roode def. Kurt Angle via Pinfall

Ethan Carter III def. Norv Fernum via Pinfall

Magnus def. Sting via Submission

World Heavyweight Championship No Disqualification Match

AJ Styles def. Bully Ray © via Pinfall

TNA Impact Wrestling 25th July 2013 Review

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

TNA World Title Decision

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

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

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

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

Bound For Glory Series Match: 

Jeff Hardy 

vs. 

AJ Styles

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

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

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

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

Best of the Rest (In The World)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally...

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

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

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

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

Bound For Glory Series Standings

1. Magnus - 49 Points (Non-Mover)

2. Samoa Joe - 26 Points (Non-Mover) 

3. AJ Styles - 22 Points (Up Three) 

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

5. Jeff Hardy - 17 Points (Down Two)

6. Austin Aries - 14 Points (Down Two) 

- Mr. Anderson - 14 Points (Up One)

8. Hernandez - 7 Points (Down One) 

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

- Jay Bradley - 0 Points (Non-Mover)

- Kazarian - 0 Points (Non-Mover)

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