Bound For Glory 2012
Date: October 14, 2012
Location: Grand Canyon University Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s the biggest show of the year for TNA and honestly I’m not all that excited about it. The main event tonight is Aries vs. Hardy for the title, but the REAL main event is Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray. The question is much more about who is going to be the leader of the gang, or if that’s even going to be revealed. I’d look for a fun quality show tonight but nothing that jumps off the page. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about what you would expect: it talks about the history of the company and how big the show is. Most of this has been shown on Impact in the Memories Are Waiting promos.

There’s a ramp to get to the ring which is always cool.

X-Division Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion

Ion is defending. Rob came out on Impact when Ion was running his mouth and Van Dam said Hogan said he could have any match he wanted at this show. Zema has been injuring a lot of people lately. Rob takes over to start and knocks Ion to the floor but Ion moves before Rob can dive. Back in and Ion takes out Rob’s leg followed by a corkscrew kick out of the corner for two.

The champ goes up again and gets crotched, followed by a kick to take him down again. Out of nowhere Ion hits a jumping tornado DDT for two and then two more. Rob goes up but gets shoved into the barricade like he’s had done to him a few dozen times over the years. Ion hits a flip dive to keep Van Dam down while also barely avoiding breaking a rib on the barricade.

Back in and a missile dropkick gets two for Ion. As usual with Ion, his in ring stuff isn’t bad but the promos and persona getting there don’t do him much good. Off to an abdominal stretch which is pretty quickly broken. Van Dam makes a very fast comeback, takes Ion down, hits Rolling Thunder and the Five Star and wins the title at 8:00.

Rating: C. I can’t complain about Van Dam winning the title at all as this gives the title some credibility that it hasn’t had in a new champion in awhile. Also this gives the fans something to pop for early on which is the right idea. The match itself was nothing you wouldn’t see on Impact, but the right ending helps.

Magnuis says it’s his time to shine and therefore take the title.

TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Magnus

They used to be partners and then split. Feeling out process to start with Joe taking him into the corner for the enziguri to take over. The champ pounds away and Magnus has to hide for mercy. Magnus comes back with punches of his own as we have a strike heavy match so far. A big old clothesline takes Joe down and Magnus takes over for the first time so far. Magnus takes him down with a knee and stomps away, followed by a jumping elbow for two. This is pretty decent stuff so far.

Joe fires back with some right hands but charges into something like a Michinoku Driver (sitout slam) for two. Magnus runs into an atomic drop and Joe starts speeding things up, firing up the fans in the process. They’re in Phoenix so you wouldn’t think that would be too hard. The backsplash and snap powerslam get two for Joe. Joe gets all crafty now and counters a leapfrog into a powerbomb to kill Magnus.

In a sequence that is always cool, Joe hooks an STF but once Magnus is getting too close to the ropes, he shifts it into Rings of Saturn. After Magnus gets a foot on the ropes, Joe loads up the MuscleBuster but Magnus goes to the eyes. A kick to the face takes Joe down and Magnus hits a top rope elbow for two and Joe is all fired up. He throws on the choke but Magnus escapes by climbing the corner. A jawbreaker escapes the hold again and Magnus goes for the knee. You don’t try holds on Joe though, and the choke retains the title for Joe at 8:57.

Rating: C+. They’re going with the fast matches tonight and that’s probably a good idea with these less interesting matches. This was a better match than the first one but when you have two talented guys in there instead of one, you’re often going to have a better match. There was no reason for Joe to lose the title yet anyway so no complaints there.

Roode says it ends tonight with Storm.

Video on Roode vs. Storm. Last year Roode lost in the main event of BFG, then Storm won the world title the next week on Impact. Roode used a beer bottle to beat Storm for the title and turn heel, which led to Storm wanting both revenge and the title back. Roode lucked out at Lockdown and then cost Storm the BFG Series, leading to a street fight tonight.

James Storm vs. Bobby Roode

MMA fighter King Mo is guest outside referee for no apparent reason. Storm takes over to start and hits a fast backdrop. We head to the floor with Storm in control. He hits Roode in the back with a chair but Roode sends him into the barricade to counter. Storm leg sweeps him into the barricade as well and Roode is in trouble early. Bobby comes back and sends Storm into the post, busting him open. Well at least they’re not waiting on bringing the violence here.

We get the weapons thrown into the ring and the fans want tables, because what would a street fight be without tables? Oh man Storm’s cut is a gusher. Roode puts a chair between the top and middle ropes, allowing James to come back with some kendo stick shots to the ribs. Storm hits a trashcan into Bobby’s balls using a kendo stick like a golf club to make Roode vibrate on the mat.

They head to the ramp with Storm hitting a DDT on the I guess wood. Storm jabs Roode in the ribs with a fan’s crutch and DESTROYS him with a trashcan. Mo hasn’t been a factor yet. Roode snaps off a spinebuster onto the ramp out of nowhere to give himself a breather. Storm grabs a fan’s beer for a quick refreshment. They head to the announce table and Roode kind of spears Storm through the other table to take over. There is blood EVERYWHERE. That gets two back in the ring and Roode yells at Hebner, which gets him in trouble with Mo.

The distraction lets Storm hit the Codebreaker and Last Call….for two. I’m glad that was only two as it would have been a pretty weak ending. Another superkick is caught and Storm is sent face first into the chair Roode set up in the corner a long time ago. That gets two so Roode puts Storm on the top rope. He gets a chair for a hard shot to the head and busts out the bag of thumbtacks. See, now that it’s been awhile since we’ve done this, it means something again. Roode tries a superplex onto the tacks but gets shoved down into them in a painful looking spot.

Storm drops a top rope elbow for two but Roode hits him low to stop Storm’s comeback. Roode goes to the floor and gets a beer bottle which is what started this whole thing. Storm hits Bobby low, takes a drink of the beer, and cracks the bottle over Roode’s head. Storm stands him up, and with Roode out on his feet, a second Last Call sends Roode into the tacks for the pin at 17:27. King Mo was barely a factor here and didn’t need to be around at all.

Rating: B+. In short, the cage match was better. That’s all this boils down to: the match at Lockdown was one of the best built up matches I can remember in a long time but they extended the feud because that’s what seemed like the right idea. Now don’t get me wrong: this was a great brawl and a good bloodbath and it had the perfect ending to the feud, but the feud didn’t need to be here, or at least not with Storm losing the second match. This is like Rock beating Austin at Wrestlemania 19 with nothing on the line. It’s a very good match, but it doesn’t mean as much.

Joey Ryan talks about says he should be on the roster already. He and Snow are polar opposites and tonight, they’re on the west coast where he has the advantage. He’s bringing sleazy back tonight.

We recap Ryan vs. Snow. Ryan was on Gut Check and got a big percentage of the votes, but the judges said no. Ryan terrorized Gut Check, becoming the only interesting thing about the segment for months, and tonight he faces Snow for a contract.

Al Snow vs. Joey Ryan

Ryan hides in the corner to start and the fans want Head. Snow is in workout clothes instead of wrestling gear. Snow gets down on all fours and lets Ryan get in a free chance to start. That goes about as well as you would expect for Ryan and he hides in the corner again. This is a good choice for putting on after the big street fight that just happened. It’s a way for the fans to calm down a bit.

Ryan keeps trying basic offense and Snow stops him at every turn. A delayed slam puts Joey down and Snow takes him to the mat with a headlock. Ryan gets in a shot to the ribs and a suplex for two. Snow comes back with the trapping headbutts and grabs Joey’s chest hair. Snow takes him down again for two and the fans want Head. And that’s what they get from under the ring. Ryan shoves the referee down and steals the Head for a makeout scene. Snow ties Joey up in the ring skirt….and here’s Matt Morgaon to Carbon Footprint Snow into next week. Ryan gets the easy pin at 8:28.

Rating: D+. This was about what you would expect from Al Snow in 2012. The Morgan twist was fine and a pairing between him and Ryan could be interesting, as if nothing else Ryan could use a bodyguard. This was the ending they had to go with and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially with faces being undefeated in the first hour.

Ryan and Morgan shake hands.

Kaz and Daniels don’t care about Twitter questions and brag about how awesome they are. These two feel totally greasy and evil and they’re GREAT at it.

We recap the tag title match. Basically both challenging teams should be able to maul the champions but they can’t quite get there. AJ and Angle keep arguing and Hernandez and Chavo don’t have the experience yet.

Tag Titles: Kazarian/Christopher Daniels vs. Hernandez/Chavo Guerrero Jr vs. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle

Angle and AJ come out separately. Wes Brisco is in the front row and I’d bet we’ll see him later. Daniels and Kaz are in orange and black to start jokes from Taz. Chavo and AJ start things off and in a strange visual, Angle and Hernandez are standing on the same side of the apron. Daniels and Kaz are chilling on the floor. This starts with the usual technical goodness you would expect from these two.

Off to Angle who stomps Chavo down in the corner and Chavo has some tape on his shoulder. Angle slams Chavo down on said shoulder and Daniels blind tags Kurt to come in and….scratch that as Angle stays in. Off to AJ vs. Hernandez with the big guy throwing AJ around and getting two off a splash. Kaz tags himself in to stomp on AJ but there’s the drop down/kick and it’s back to Kurt.

Chavo comes in to face Kaz and some good basic wrestling takes Kazarian down. Hernandez drops Kaz with a backbreaker and it’s back to Chavo to dropkick the freshly tagged in Daniels. AJ comes back in because we can’t have a PPV without Daniels vs. AJ right? A clothesline puts AJ down and it’s time for some pelvic thrusting. The champs hit a double team move with Daniels hiptossing Kaz into AJ for two.

Kaz puts on a full nelson of all things on Styles but a quick Pele takes Kaz right back down. There’s the hot tag to Kurt who beats up everyone in sight. He snaps off some suplexes and counters a sunset flip into an ankle lock on Daniels. There go the straps but Angle misses a charge in the corner and hits the post. Angle shrugs that off and suplexes Kaz onto Daniels for two.

Kaz comes back in with the slingshot DDT on Angle but Hernandez comes back in and takes out Kaz. Daniels smacks AJ in the face and there’s no one in the ring. Daniels dives onto Angle from the apron and there’s the REAL big dive from Hernandez to take everyone out. Kaz tries a rana off the top to Hernandez off the apron but Hernandez goes the wrong way and Kaz basically crashes on his shoulder in a SICK looking landing.

AJ gets the attention off Kazarian by hitting a BIG dive on the champs and Hernandez. Kaz is at least sitting up now. Chavo suplexes Angle over the top and back in as he rolls some suplexes. Angle Slam out of nowhere puts Chavo down and a double suplex takes SuperMex down as well. Kaz is back in with a clothesline to take Daniels down and the BME gets a VERY close two on AJ.

Chavo sends Kaz to the floor and hits another big dive to take him out. Angel’s Wings are broken up by Styles and the moonsault into the reverse DDT takes Daniels down. Hernandez actually tags in and hits a slingshot shoulder block followed by the Border Toss. Chavo hits a Frog Splash to give Hernandez (the legal man) the pin on Daniels and the titles.

Rating: B. This was a good match from these six as you would expect, but it didn’t really get close to the other matches that the teams have had before. That has to be expected though and this was certainly entertaining. All the dives were great, but man alive someone is going to get hurt badly from one of them one day. Daniels and Kaz losing makes sense as they’ve done almost all they can with the belts at this point.

Chavo says that was for the fans and for Eddie.

We recap Tessmacher vs. Tara. Tara is the teacher, Tessmacher is the student, Tara snapped, you fill in the rest. Oh and Tara has some Hollywood boyfriend who is likely some reality TV schmuck.

Knockouts Title: Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara

Tess is defending. Tessmacher’s robe/jacket is on the ropes as we start. A quick crucifix gets no count for the champ. Teryn Terrell is referee again because…because…I have no idea why she’s still around actually. Tara gets sent to the floor and we get a chase scene. Tara hides behind the referee and we head right back to the floor where Tess gets dropped on the apron to give Tara the advantage.

Back in and the champ gets one on a sunset flip and it’s off to a chinlock by Tara. Tara whips her into the corner but charges into a boot followed by a DDT from Tessmacher to put both girls down. Tessmacher takes Tara down and nips right back up, followed by a top rope rana (decent one too) but Tara blocks the Tesshocker. Widow’s Peak and Tara gets the completely clean pin at 6:18.

Rating: D. The rana looked good and the girls looked good in their outfits, but thank goodness Tara won here. Tessmacher is just worthless as champion and hasn’t changed a bit since she won the belt the first time. Tara has had the belt before but at least she’s better than Tess, but most people would be.

Tara introduces the boyfriend: Jesse Godderz from Big Brother. To the shock of no one, there is zero reaction. He’s been training in OVW for like a year and has won five tag titles there. Tara and Jesse make out in the ring. Crowd: “WHO ARE YOU?”

We get a video from the Hall of Fame ceremony last night. Lex Luger inducted him, which is way better than Christian. Hogan dressed up in a t-shirt while everyone else was in suits. Sting talked about owning a gym in California and having Hulk Hogan working out there.

Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Ray is No DQ.

We recap said tag match. Aces and 8’s is a motorcycle gang who has been terrorizing TNA for about four months now and tonight, there’s a match between Sting/Ray vs. two members of the team. If the masked men win, they get full access to the Impact Zone. If they lose, the whole group leaves forever. The whole mystery here is about who their leader is, but in theory we’re going to find out tonight. Anderson was going to be the partner of Sting but Aces and 8’s beat him up, resulting in Ray getting the spot instead.

Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray

Sting and Ray both have facepaint. Aces and 8’s have theme music now. They bring out Joseph Park who looks a bit near death. There are two members here, one in a plaid t-shirt and another in a black one. We’ll call plaid shirt #1 and black shirt #2. This is No DQ and a brawl starts on the floor. Sting fights #1 and Ray has some issues with #2. #2 seems to be the taller of the two.

Sting gets sent into the announce table as the fans chant for Bully. Sting and Ray double team #1 and the fans want tables. The Stinger Splash hits the barricade as it has all but one time that I can ever remember. #2 and Sting start in the ring with Sting in trouble. Off to #1 who hits a clothesline for two. Park is chained to the barricade at ringside. #2 hits another clothesline for another two on Sting.

A bit boot gets another two and Ray is starting to play cheerleader. Sting makes a fast comeback and tries the Scorpion but #1 breaks it up. A suplex is countered by Sting into the Death Drop but Sting doesn’t cover for some reason. Double tag brings in #2 and Ray with Ray cleaning house. A middle rope shoulder takes #2 down and the fans are way behind Ray. Ray double clotheslines them down and a splash gets two on #1.

#1 brings in a chair but Ray hits a big boot to stop the shot. A third Aces and 8’s guy, pretty clearly Wes Brisco, comes in and hits Ray low. Park gets spat on and breaks the chain off the barricade. He comes in and destroys the third guy before beating him up the ramp. The match breaks down and #2 gets caught in a Doomsday Device. Double splashes crush #2 in the corner again and it’s Table Time with Sting playing Bubba’s role. Ray gets the table but #1 pulls Sting to the floor. Another member of Aces and 8’s comes in and spinebusts Ray through the table to give #2 the pin at 10:51.

Rating: C. Not much of a match here but the point is that Aces and 8’s won. How this makes anything any different is beyond me but this story hasn’t made much sense in the entire time it’s been running. Hopefully we’ll get some more to this tonight because if this is it, then it’s going to feel flat. The match was pretty much fine.

The rest of the group comes in and beats down Sting/Ray until Hogan comes in for the save and marches through them all until only the guy that jumped Ray is left. Hogan cleans house and Sting is back up. They go for the mask….and it’s D-Von. Yes, D-VON. Fans: “This is awkward!”

Aries says Hardy needs to win this to complete his comeback. Tonight, Aries is coming in angry and that’s not good for Jeff.

We recap the world title match. Aries is jealous of Hardy, Hardy wants the title to complete his redemption.

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries

The fans are pretty much split which isn’t what they were hoping for I don’t think. We start with a long feeling out process and we have roughly half an hour for this. They head to the mat and Hardy actually keeps up with the champ (Aries is defending if I didn’t mention that) until they head to the corner for the slingshot dropkick. Aries comes back and puts Hardy on the apron for a slingshot ax handle. He takes a victory lap and then one in reverse.

Back in and Hardy gets two off a suplex. They’re still in first gear here and that’s fine. Jeff knocks Aries to the floor and mocks Aries. The fans don’t seem pleased with Jeff so he jumps off the apron with an ax handle of his own. Jeff charges at Aries but Hardy crashes into the barricade and hits Aries at the same time. Back in and Aries gets two off a top rope splash. Aries charges into a boot in the corner and the crowd is probably 80% pro Aries.

A backbreaker gets two for the champ and it’s off to an abdominal stretch on the mat. Aries takes him down again and hits a corkscrew plancha for two. Hardy blocks the Last Chancery and hits something Big Show used to call the Alley Oop. He sets for a powerbomb but throws Aries backwards instead of forwards. Show’s was a bit slower but it’s the same move. Hardy makes his comeback and hits the low dropkick for two.

Whisper in the Wind gets two and the fans have quieted down a bit. Twist of Fate is countered and Aries is knocked to the floor. Hardy misses a slingshot and there’s the suicide dive to drive Jeff into the barricade. Another dive takes Hardy out again with this one getting two in the ring. Aries is busted but nowhere near what Storm was earlier. There’s the Last Chancery but Jeff escapes quickly.

They head to the ramp and Jeff can’t hit the Twist, but rather gets clotheslined into the ropes. Aries drops him on his head, sending the back of Jeff’s head into the edge of the ramp. And people wonder why he’s a drug addict. A missile dropkick sends Jeff into the corner but he comes out with the Twist for two. Jeff loads up the Swanton but gets crotched and super ranaed down from a double standing position. That looked awesome. Corner dropkick sets up the Brainbuster for two and Aries is STUNNED. Aries puts Jeff on top but gets knocked off and the Swanton gives Jeff the title at 23:04.

Rating: B+. This was a good main event but after the Aces and 8’s stuff, this came off a bit flat. Also, TNA REALLY needs to mix up their main event styles. The kicking out of finishers and then the pin soon thereafter can only take you so far and they’ve done it for years now. Watch a few TNA PPV main events and the formulas are almost always the same. Hardy winning is the right choice but it doesn’t feel like a huge moment at all for the most part. Still though, a quite good match.

Hardy celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Was this a great show? No. Was it their best show of the year? No. Was it good enough to be their biggest show of the year? Not really. What it was however was a quite enjoyable show, other than the big surprise which my jaw is still having issues closing over. The ending was the right call as Hardy had to win the title to send the fans home happy. There are a lot of ways they can go now, but unfortunately Impact is going to be ALL about D-Von and that pretty much freaking sucks.

I can’t get over that and if they thought the angle was going nowhere already, they’re in for a big surprise now. I don’t think he’s the leader, but man alive this is BOUND FOR GLORY, not Impact. It’s a good show overall though and it sets up a bunch of stuff for the future, but man alive I don’t know who went with D-Von as the surprise. Even as a regular member, which is what he likely is, who thought that was a good idea for BFG?

Results

Rob Van Dam b. Zema Ion – Frog Splash

Samoa Joe b. Magnus – Koquina Clutch

James Storm b. Bobby Roode – Last Call

Joey Ryan b. Al Snow – Pin after a Carbon Footprint from Matt Morgan

Hernandez/Chavo Guerrero Jr. b. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle and Christopher Daniels/Kazarian – Hernandez pinned Daniels after a Frog Splash from Guerrero

Tara b. Miss Tessmacher – Widow’s Peak

Aces and 8’s b. Sting/Bully Ray – Ray was pinned after a spinebuster through a table

Jeff Hardy b. Austin Aries – Swanton Bomb

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Somehow there are only six matches for this thing so either each match is getting twenty minutes or some stuff is being added in.  Let’s get to it.We’ll start with the main event which was made No DQ via Twitter after Impact, because saying it’s No DQ ON THE FREAKING TV SHOW would have been a waste of time.  I’ll go with what should be obvious and have AJ get the title here, but I have a bad feeling we’ll see some screwjob that sees AJ lose when he’s supposed to win.  Yes it would be stupid, but that’s how TNA rolls anymore.

Jeff Hardy to win the X Title.  Hardy doesn’t lose at BFG.
Bobby Roode better beat Angle, or the lesson apparently is work hard to help the company and you get to lose to a guy who can’t stop drinking at work and gets arrested once a year or so.  This feud is going to continue though.

I’ll go with Hernandez and Chavo to win the title shot because these two are the charmed team in TNA for whatever ridiculous reason TNA has.  I have no idea what they see in the pairing because they bore everyone to death.  They’ll win the gauntlet but lose the title match.

Magnus over Sting with him turning heel because if there’s one thing TNA is lacking, it’s a 58th heel in the upper midcard.

Gail wins the Knockouts Title because she has to have it once every few months or the Knockouts Gods will destroy the earth.

Overall, Bound For Glory feels like a very flat show.  There’s nothing on here that sounds like a big match and the entire thing feels like a launching pad into the TNA vs. Dixie story.  I’m convinced Hogan appears at the end to screw over Dixie after she screws over AJ and get the title on Styles, because that’s what the promotion clearly needs: more HOGAN.  I’m not looking forward to this show and it feels like it’s the biggest show of the year because TNA calls it the biggest show of the year.  I was WAY more excited for Slammiversary with its lame main event.  The wrestling should be good but the build has been awful.

Thoughts/predictions?

WWF House Show
Date: October 17, 1983
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Pat Patterson

Now this is a very interesting one. I saw the show on youtube and absolutely had to do it. The card itself doesn’t mean much as this is during the very tail end of Backlund’s time with the title (he’s defending against Masked Superstar, which is Ax from Demolition) tonight, but there’s another match which we’ll get to in a bit that I’m watching this for. Let’s get to it.

Rene Goulet vs. Tony Garea

Well Garea is awesome at least. Rene gets chased to the apron where he puts on some sort of glove. This is all before the bell apparently. They lock up and Rene climbs up the ropes to escape. Rene gets on Garea’s nerves so Tony punches him into the corner. Goulet bails for a bit and grabs a top wristlock. It’s pretty clear they have a decent amount of time for the match too because this hold goes on for several minutes.

Gorilla and Pat talk about who the Masked Superstar is because there’s no point to talking about this match. Garea comes back with one of his own which gets him nowhere as Goulet pulls the hair. Off to a chinlock which doesn’t last long at all. Goulet stomps on him a bit and this is going nowhere. He rams Tony into the corner a few times and it’s bearhug time.

Goulet finally goes for his Claw but Garea gets all fired up and starts his comeback. He firest off some right hands and a dropkick followed by an atomic drop. Goulet, being French, sells that in an over the top way that Honky Tonk Man would be proud of. That only gets two but a sunset flip gets Tony the pin.

Rating: C-. Not a very good match or anything but it got the crowd going. This is what someone like Garea was great at: throw him out there, let him get beaten up, and have the crowd get fired up for his comeback. Garea is one of those guys where the more I see of him the more I like him, so this wasn’t too bad. I never remember Goulet winning a match.

SD Jones vs. Tiger Chung Lee

Lee has Blassie with him and Jones is coming back off an injury. They fight over arm control which is won by Jones but Lee takes him to the mat and works on the knee. Apparently Blassie, the manager of Lee, didn’t come out to watch. If I were Lee I’d try to get traded for two jobbers to be named later. Jones headbutts him down and it’s time to dance!

Lee chops him down and puts on the nerve hold. Make that a chinlock. Jones spins around to set up a clothesline but Lee runs him over with a shoulder. Back to the chinlock as Gorilla says raw fish wouldn’t turn him on. I don’t think I ever need that image in my head again. Jones comes back with a backdrop and a headbutt for two. Lee runs him over again but gets slammed off the top for two. After Jones no sells a thumb to the eye (how do you do that?) an enziguri pins him.

Rating: D. Really boring match here as it was mainly punching and kicking with a chinlock thrown in. Lee was your usual evil Japanese heel and Jones was popular for some reason that I never got. There were far better generic strong black guys to cheer for but this guy kept sticking around the card. Bad match.

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Ivan Putski

Slaughter is EVIL. LONG stall to start as Slaughter doesn’t want to lock up with him. After about two minutes they lock up and Putski uses one of his signature moves: a headlock. It’s not an 80’s thing. It would still be boring by any standards. We’re three and a half minutes into this and we’ve had a headlock as our entire offense. Putski runs him over and puts on a chinlock. This is going to be really dull isn’t it?

Slaughter gets rammed into the post and Putski is in full control. Sarge finally hits an atomic drop but hurts his own knee on it. He manages to come off the middle rope but that leg is bothering him. This has to be legit as there’s no reason for him to sell like this. Slaughter “charges” at him in the corner but hits the post again head first. He manages to hook the Cobra Clutch but Putski makes the rope. Ivan comes back with a bunch of right hands….and one hits the referee for the lame DQ.

Rating: D. A lot of this was because of the knee injury as it would seem they went home early. That being said, the stuff before the injury was really bad with the vast majority of it being a headlock and punches. The early 80s were never really know for workrate and you can see that here very clearly. Putski just wasn’t that good.

Mike Sharpe vs. Tito Santana

This should be good. Before he became an OCD jobber, Sharpe was an OCD midcard heel. Tito grabs a fast hammerlock and Sharpe makes the ropes, which he protests for some reason. They do it again and Santana takes him to the mat which is broken up by the referee. Even Gorilla calls him stupid for that, so you know it was bad. Sharpe adjusts his forearm pad and hits Tito with it, making it cause much more damage.

Santana doesn’t seem to care as he hits a few monkey flips and stomps away in the corner. Sharpe chills on the floor for a bit but walks right back into an armbar. You can tell they’ve got a lot of time to work with here. Sharpe tries about a half dozen counters but Tito will never let go of the hold. He finally gets the rope after about three minutes in the hold. See what I mean by them taking their time?

Sharpe comes back with right hands and right boots to put Tito down. A quick sunset flip gets two for Tito and a straight right hand puts Sharpe down. He misses a charge though and things slow down. Small package gets two but Sharpe gets his foot on the ropes. Off to a chinlock which Tito can’t quite break. After a few minutes in that he guillotines Tito over the top rope. They collide to put both guys down. To the fans’ credit they’re staying in this, despite the match being pretty dull so far. Sharpe misses an elbow and Tito drops a knee for two as the bell rings for the time limit at about 17 minutes which is called 20.

Rating: C-. This was ok but it’s more long than good. There was a lot of laying around and rest holds which get annoying very quickly. Tito kept things fast paced when he was in control though and the fans ate him up so the match wasn’t really terrible or anything. Santana was always good but he needed something better to work with.

Santana chases him off post match.

WWF World Title: Bob Backlund vs. Masked Superstar

Masked Superstar is Ax of Demolition so there’s a chance I’ll call him Ax from time to time. They go to the mat quickly and Backlund is more than fine with that. Backlund takes him back down again with a headlock. Superstar runs him over and tries another headlock on the mat but Bob breaks that up with ease. We hear about Eddie Gilbert being injured by Superstar, which is a show I’ve actually seen.

The champion controls with a headscissors on the mat to frustrate the big guy. Now it’s an armbar as Backlund is picking him apart with whatever body part he cares to work on at the moment. For some reason Superstar keeps trying amateur stuff on Backlund and it fails more and more each time.

Backlund runs over the bigger guy and we get a botched sequence as Superstar tries what looked like a cross body but Backlund didn’t drop at first. It looked like Superstar was trying a jumping tornado DDT but since the regular version didn’t exist yet, he fell on Backlund after spinning around a bit. Really bad looking move but it’s more on Backlund than Superstar, which is rare to see from him.

They slug it out a bit and Backlund goes right back to the arm to keep control. This time it’s a hammerlock so at least he’s mixing things up somewhat. We’re almost ten minutes into this and about six of those have been arm work. Superstar knocks him to the floor to get his first I guess you would say advantage of the match. Backlund finally gets back in and a high knee to the shoulder (supposed to be the face) gets two.

Time for a chinlock as Superstar isn’t much for offense I guess. Backlund fights out of it with punches as this becomes a slugout. Flying headbutt gets two for Superstar. Another attempt at it hits the mat though and Backlund is getting all fired up. He pounds on the arm and tries the chickenwing but Superstar makes the rope very quickly. A clothesline sets up Superstar’s neckbreaker finisher but he won’t cover. Instead he takes Backlund outside and hits the neckbreaker out there which gives him the countout win.

Rating: C. This was basically a Backlund squash for the first ten minutes and then a pretty uninteresting match for the remaining five minutes. Superstar didn’t really do anything until the end with the neckbreaker, which goes to show you how devastating any move can be if it’s sold right. Why he wouldn’t go for the cover is beyond me but whatever.

Post match Backlund comes back in and beats up Superstar, making the neckbreaker seem like a pretty weak move.

Backlund says he knows what he’s facing in Masked Superstar now and he’s ready for him next time. Backlund plays a good psycho.

Bob Bradley vs. Mike Graham

No idea who Bradley is but he’s built well. Graham is the son of Florida promoter Eddie Graham and is okish in the ring. He hooks on an armbar after working Bradley on the mat for a bit. Really uninteresting match here as it’s pure filler between the world title match and the next one which is the feature match of the night. Bradley tries to control him but Graham is too fast for him. A German suplex gets a fast pin for Mike.

Rating: D. Like I said, not an interesting match at all and there’s nothing much else to say about it. Graham never was that good but if you needed a placeholder for a quick match like this one he was ok. I’ve never heard of Bradley but he’s a muscular guy so you can probably guess why he had a job.

Graham says he’s looking for competition to get his Junior Heavyweight Championship back.

Jimmy Snuka says this ends tonight with Muraco. He’s going to reach down inside himself to get whatever it takes because Muraco has brought out the animal in him. Really good promo here.

Buddy Rogers, Snuka’s manager, says this match is important and his man is ready for it.

Muraco says all the talking is done and all that matters now is the match.

Intercontinental Title: Don Muraco vs. Jimmy Snuka

This is in a cage. Sound familiar? You can only win by escape, making this a REAL cage match. A quick slugout is won by Snuka but Muraco pops back up. Snuka chops away as the beating begins. Don tries for the door but Snuka will have none of that. Muraco manages to slingshot him into the cage and Jimmy is busted early. Snuka gets a knee up and climbs the cage, only to come back down and pound away on Muraco some more.

Don manages a slam and goes for the door but Jimmy makes a save, only to take a low blow. Snuka pops up and chops Don’s head open, followed by a middle rope headbutt. He stands Muraco up, and in a semi-famous ending, hits a flying headbutt which knocks Muraco into the door, knocking it open so that the unconscious Muraco can fall out to keep the title.

Rating: D+. The match was intense while it lasted, but the whole thing only runs about seven minutes. There’s nothing of note here at all other than the ending which is pretty creative. I don’t remember a shorter cage match off the top of my head, which is something I think a lot of people forget. I think people think this was a big and epic brawl but it’s really Snuka killing him and then the ending with a run time of 6:46. That’s not much.

Post match Jimmy snaps and throws Muraco back inside. He suplexes Muraco down and goes to the corner. He climbs to the top rope but then goes a step further to the top of the cage, and in the most famous scene in wrestling until Hogan vs. Andre, jumps off the top of the cage with the Superfly Splash, completely crushing Muraco. That still looks great today, and some credit needs to go to Muraco. He was starting to sit up when Jimmy hits him, but after the Splash Muraco is DEAD.

Mick Foley, Sandman, Tommy Dreamer and Bubba Ray Dudley were in attendance that night and all have said this was what made them want to be a wrestler. I can easily see how that would be the case, as there was nothing like this beforehand. Snuka was flying through the air and crushed Muraco, which still looks incredible today. It’s stuff like that which you can only see in wrestling, which is what makes it great.

For some reason on the replays they keep stopping it right before the splash hits.

Albano, Muraco’s manager, says that Muraco is hurt but he’ll be fine and he’ll be back because he’s awesome. Albano rants again a bit because that’s what he does.

Sika vs. Rocky Johnson

The Samoans have the titles and the Soul Patrol wants them. Sika pounds on him to start but misses a charge and Rocky grabs a sunset out of nowhere for the shocking pin. Johnson and Atlas would get the titles in about a month.

Invaders vs. Butcher Vachon/Israel Matia

The Invaders are undefeated and are masked men from Puerto Rico. We’ll say #1 starts with Matia. The Invaders would be faces here I think. Off to #2 and Israel is in trouble. The masked men tag in so fast that I’ve completely lost track of who is who. Off to Butcher (Mad Dog’s brother and Luna’s dad) who gets in a shot at I think #1 to send him to the floor.

#2 has better luck so Butcher tags in Matia while Matia isn’t paying attention. We get a few instances of the tag that the referee doesn’t see which is an old standard way to get the crowd going. The heels cheat some more until the tag brings in #2. A double dropkick puts Matia down and heel miscommunication allows #1 to hip toss #2 onto Israel for the pin.

Rating: D-. What a mess! It seemed like they had no idea who was supposed to be in control here for the most part, which defeats the purpose of what came off like it was supposed to be a squash. The Invaders didn’t last long but #1 is more famous for likely murdering Bruiser Brody.

Andre says he’s got the Samoan tonight. Not much for him to say this week.

Afa vs. Andre the Giant

Afa jumps him before the entrances and the pain begins soon after. Andre kicks him in the head and sits on him for the pin in less than a minute. Total dominance.

Overall Rating: D+. Classic moment aside, this was a pretty uninteresting show. Most of the stuff is watchable but at the same time there’s nothing in the ring that is anything great. I’m sure you’ve seen the cage dive a few thousand times and while it’s cool to see it in context, there’s not much here to see otherwise. Watchable show but it’s nothing worth going out of your way to see. The company needed a shakeup and that would happen in about three months.

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Bound For Glory 2011
Date: October 16, 2011
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s the major show of the year for TNA and I can’t say I’m as excited about it as I was for last year’s. It should be good though as we have two major main events. Now that’s part of the problem: one of them is Sting vs. Hogan. They couldn’t have a good match 14 years ago so what are you expecting from them here? Other than that the rest of the show looks pretty solid. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about exactly what you would expect: a highlight package with everything leading up to the double main event.

The dark match was the tag title match with Mexican America retaining. Well at least the title didn’t change hands on a dark match. To be fair it was streamed free on the website so anyone could see it.

X-Division Title: Brian Kendrick vs. Austin Aries

I’m not sure if I’d have gone with a rematch for Kendrick so soon after Aries too the title from him. They have the garage door style lifting wall for the guys to come through. The fans are way behind Aries here. The crowd looks good here. They fight over a wristlock to start as we get a good feel for the crowd here with the loud Austin Aries chant. Tazz talks about how this crowd isn’t like most and that’s an understatement.

Things speed up a bit as they hit the mat. Aries goes to the floor so Kendrick is like PORKCHOP and dives onto him in a huge spot. Back in Kendrick gets caught in an STO and Aries loads up the Pendulum Elbow which blows the roof off the place. Kendrick counters and hammers away but the fans are all over Brian since this is the ultimate smark town. This could become a problem tonight.

They try what looks to be a rollup but Kendrick falls to the floor. Aries hits a HUGE suicide dive to fire the crowd up even more if that’s possible. Back in Aries tries the brainbuster but Kendrick knees his way out of it. They go up on the ropes but Aries talks to the crowd too much and gets caught in a top rope Sliced Bread for two as Aries grabs the ropes. They head to the apron and Kendrick tries it out there again but gets dropped onto the apron and then the floor. That and the brainbuster in the ring gives Aries the clean pin at 10:27.

Rating: B-. Can’t complain much here band this was what I was expecting for the opener. You can’t ask for much more than a cruiserweight match to start things off, but I’m hoping the show stays hot throughout the rest of the match. The right idea is to have things like this for later on in the show when you need to fire the crowd back up, but in Philly I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Keep that in mind: all rules about crowds are thrown out the window tonight.

The Knockouts are with some kids in the back and Karen comes in and she’s not happy. Oh ok they’re Kurt’s kids. The kids leave and Karen freaks out as always. Karen is refereeing the Knockouts match tonight. That means Madison wins tonight. Traci has to stay in the ring unless Karen is in danger.

We recap RVD vs. Lynn which is over Jerry being jealous or something. It’s Full Metal Mayhem which means TLC with pins. Can’t argue with putting this match on in Philly.

Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam

Technical stuff to start but they’ve probably got a lot of time. There are only 8 minutes on this card and I can’t imagine that Hogan vs. Sting will break ten minutes. Rob takes over early and tries Rolling Thunder but Lynn pops up with a kick to the face. Tornado DDT is countered but the suplex is as well. The psychology here is solid and we hit a stalemate. They try a cross body over the top and that doesn’t work right, drawing half boos/half silence from the crowd.

We’re on the floor now and Van Dam tries a moonsault off the apron but misses and might have hurt his knee. Lynn brings in a ladder but Rob sends him in and gets a chair. He takes too long though and Jerry hits a baseball slide to send it into the face of Van Dam. Van Dam gets a spinning cross body onto Lynn onto the chair for two. The surfboard dropkick with the chair in the corner gets no cover. Rob does however get a ladder so the crowd is pleased.

The fans chant ECW and the ladder is splashed with Lynn under it for two. The fans never stay silent for long in this city. It’s something I wish you could hear in more cities too. Rob does a springboard moonsault over Lynn which appeared to be intentional. No idea what the point of that was other than to have Lynn hit him with the chair to take over. Lynn misses a senton backsplash onto the ladder and Van Dam takes over again.

Van Daminator misses so Lynn pelts the chair at him. Lynn gets a German for tow and Lynn is down more from it than Rob is. Lynn gets suplexed onto a ladder which is a lot more effective, so I guess American > Germany. Lionsault onto the ladder gets two for Rob. Rob tries one of his rolling moves but Jerry jumps off the middle rope and they collide at the same time. Lynn goes to the floor to get another ladder and I have the same question as Tazz: how many ladders do you need?

The second ladder is put up against the railing and Lynn tries a sunset bomb, resulting in Rob’s head slamming into the railing. FREAKING OW MAN!!! Lynn has a big bump under his eye. Van Daminator gets two. Rob sets up the Van Terminator with a ladder over Lynn’s face and it’s enough for the pin at 13:16. So Lynn can get up from a Van Daminator after two seconds but he can’t move after about 30 seconds of sitting in the corner?

Rating: B. Good match but it’s going to be overrated because it’s Lynn vs. Van Dam. This was more about the weapons and the violence than the whole psychology which was the standard of their old matches. The fans were of course into it because these guys used to be huge in ECW like 10 years ago. It was entertaining though and that’s the point of these matches.

They hug afterwards, meaning I guess it’s cool to cost Van Dam a title shot. I guess he doesn’t seem to mind or whatever.

We recap the triple threat which is all about getting the world title shot or something. It’s the first I’ve heard of that but they’re talking about it which is the right idea. Joe went crazy and hurt Crimson once Joe was mathematically eliminated from the BFG Series so Morgan went after him for being a bully. Hence the triple threat.

Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan vs. Crimson

New music for Crimson. I’m not digging it. Joe tries to get both guys to fight each other but they beat him up instead. Joe is wearing red and blue tights while the others are both in white. Morgan’s continue to be way too small for him. Crimson hits the floor against his wishes and Joe takes down Morgan with ease. Crimson tries to steal a pin off a Morgan side slam but just gets one.

The non-Samoans are sent to the floor so Joe tries a huge suicide elbow. Morgan steps to the side so Crimson takes all of it. As Crimson gets up and brawls with Joe, Morgan goes up and dives onto Crimson from the top. Not a good few seconds for the red one there. Back in Crimson suplexes Joe and Morgan tries to steal the pin. We’re into the triple threat formula here and that’s all fine and good.

The non-Samoans slug it out and Morgan takes him down, only for Joe to trip him up and pull him to the floor. Crimson’s leg injury is fine by the way, despite him having it on Impact. Joe loads up the MuscleBuster on Crimson but Morgan comes in to break it up. I’ve never gotten that. Why wouldn’t he let Joe take Crimson out? Anyway Crimson sends Morgan to the floor and Crimson hits the spear on Joe for the pin at 7:15.

Rating: C. Not much here and this was something you could have seen on any Impact. To be fair though, there was no real heat on this match as it was all about pride or whatever. I mean, we have to have the TV Champion fighting Scott Baio in his underwear so we can’t have the TV out there. It’s TNA though so titles mean less and less all the time other than the world title. This was probably going to be the weakest match on the card and it was certainly watchable.

Ray says he needs no introduction and talks about himself anyway. He buries Philadelphia, talking about how he’s never liked it here and he’s used the idiot fans for years to get where he is. This was really needed because Ray would have been the crowd favorite otherwise.

Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson

Anderson charges the ring and we start fast. Remember that this is a falls count anywhere match. Anderson tries to control early but Ray kicks his head off and puts Anderson down. Is there a reason why Anderson wears his shirt in his matches anymore? Ray chops him haRD in the corner (not good enough for all caps but decent) as Anderson’s hair is uh….weird. Anderson goes to the floor and takes a sign which has to be loaded. Yep there’s a metal sign in there and Ray goes down in a heap. Dead end sign and it goes over Ray’s head again.

They fight on the floor and a fan throws a beer on Ray. Anderson gets two on the floor and they go up the ramp. Anderson is infinately more entertaining when you let him stop wrestling. Ray reverses a suplex on the stage for two. Ray grabs the mic and talks about New York but Anderson beats him down and says this is Philadelphia. They head into the back and Ray hits a piledriver onto the concrete for two. Anderson gets choked with a red chair.

Back into the arena and they’re near the Spanish announce area. That has to be a copyrighted brawling area. Anderson takes part of the railing away and slides it into the ring but Ray beats him down and sets up a table. There’s another set up on the floor as well. Ray gets backdropped onto the railing and it’s bent.

Anderson goes up and misses the swanton onto the railing, allowing Ray to hit the Bubba Bomb (why is it not the Bully Bomb?) for two. I thought that was the ending. Anderson gets in a trashcan shot and loads Ray up onto the table on the floor. He goes up and channels his inner Jeff Hardy. There’s the huge Swanton BUT THE TABLE DIDN’T BREAK! FREAKING OW MAN!!! A Mic Check onto the table finally ends this at 14:28.

Rating: C+. This is one of those matches that was fun to watch. It wasn’t technically good or anything but if you’re expecting it to be you’re totally missing the point. This was a fun weapons match, although I kind of question having two of them on the same show like they did with Lynn and Van Dam. Decent match here and rather entertaining.

Bischoff is talking to a referee and says it’s a big night. It’s implied that the referee is in Immortal’s pocket. Eric says Hogan has to win and Sting has to be taken out for good. It’s revealed that Jackson James, the referee, is the son of Bischoff. This is treated as a shock by the announcers.

Knockouts Title: Winter vs. Velvet Sky vs. Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne

Karen is referee and Winter is champion. The crowd is WAY into Velvet. Winter is in a coat of some kind and Angelina is in a pink corset. Karen looks good in her referee stuff and Madison gives her the tiara. They have to tag here and it’s Winter vs. Mickie to start. Winter controls early but Mickie snaps off the slick rana in the corner and a neckbreaker puts Winter on the floor.

Madison comes in sans tag and tries to slap Mickie or throw something in her face but it doesn’t work. They’re playing up the Karen factor a lot here as the fix is in or something like that. Mickie goes to the floor and Velvet comes in. I guess it’s lucha tag rules. Velvet hits a bulldog but Karen ties her shoes instead of counting. Velvet and Mickie have to fight but shake hands first.

Both get rollups but Karen won’t count for either of them. The fans are all over this in a hurry. They slug it out for a bit with no real purpose because Karen isn’t going to count. Winter and Madison pull them to the floor and that’s a tag in a way I guess. Madison is in there finally and make that all four are in now. The good girls take over and the fans aren’t going to stick with this much longer.

Mickie vs. Winter at the moment but Mickie won’t cover because there’s no point to it. She beats Winter down but argues with Karen, allowing Angelina to give Winter blood. It gets loaded up but Mickie ducks, sending the blood into Karen’s eyes. I typed that before it happened. There’s the jumping DDT and here’s Traci. Things totally break down and Velvet hits the double underhook X Factor to win the title at 8:45.

Rating: D+. They wanted Velvet winning to be a huge moment and it just wasn’t. There was so much going on here and most of it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before so this wasn’t much to see. Winter’s second reign was about as worthless as her first but at least there’s the title reign for Velvet which has taken forever to get to. Not the big moment they were looking for though.

Kaz doesn’t know who to cheer for in the I Quit match but he hopes Daniels sees the light after it’s over.

We recap Daniels vs. Styles #4895 which is about Daniels being way too excited about beating him on a fluke and turning heel on him, setting up an I Quit match.

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

It sounds like new music for both guys. AJ has another new remix. This is I Quit. There’s also no pyro for anyone tonight so far. The guys have the mic here and it’s a brawl to start. Daniels is asking if it’s over about 30 seconds in with a choke on AJ. AJ hooks a bridging Indian Deathlock and Daniels says no. We’re in that place in the match where they’re trying for fast submissions but no one believes it’s happening yet.

AJ hits his leapfrog/drop/dropkick spot and we head to the floor. AJ hits a flip dive and both guys are down. They find a tool box and Daniels tries to stab AJ with a screwdriver. The maiming attempt fails and they fight to the apron where they botch some kind of a suplex move. The screwdriver is stuck in the buckle. AJ has pink on his tights for breast cancer awareness month. Nothing wrong with that.

AJ still won’t quit so Daniels busts out the BME to AJ while he’s on his knees, making it more like Shadows Over Hell (Delirious move). Off to a half crab and of course AJ doesn’t quit. A spin kick is blocked and Daniels gets a backbreaker. There’s no eyeliner on Daniels either which is a weird look. He’s in tights instead of shorts too. It’s chair time and Chris sits down on it with the bar over AJ’s throat. Styles is bleeding over the top of the head, right around his hairline.

Daniels says everything AJ has in TNA will belong to him and he never wanted to hear AJ say I qu….”oh no I’m not saying it.” The fans chant for him to shut up and Daniels lets up for some reason. He looks into the camera and talks to Wendy (AJ’s wife) and says take the kids out of the room because they shouldn’t see their father murdered. Yeah this isn’t overkill at all.

AJ gets fired up and hits the backflip reverse DDT. Styles Clash fails and Daniels misses the BME. He shouts DIE AJ but runs into the Pele and the Clash. So….how does this make Daniels say he quits? AJ picks up the chair but grabs the screwdriver instead. And Daniels quits to avoid the pain ala JBL vs. Cena in 05. He quit at 13:52.

Rating: C. I’m not a fan of these matches because the ending is either the heel giving up after being hurt for a few seconds or giving up before something big happening. I wasn’t into this and the fans weren’t really either. I think they were going for a big ending and emotional moment but it never got to the level they were hoping for.

As AJ is leaving, Daniels jumps him and plants him with Angel’s Wings on the ramp, meaning this is going to continue.

We recap the final two matches on the card but here’s Jeff Jarrett.

He yells about Jeff Hardy and says no one here wants anything to do with Hardy. The fans chant for Hardy as Jarrett buries the city. He calls out Hardy and here he is with new music. They brawl with Hardy only saying a few words and it’s a brawl. This isn’t a match. Security comes out to break it up but Hardy gets free for a bit as happens in most brawls. That happens with both guys more than once. The agents come in and we get a D’lo chant. Hardy is left in the ring and poses to his music.

We recap Hogan vs. Sting. I’m shocked this isn’t the main event. The recap covers like a year and a half which is all about Hogan stealing the company from Dixie and Sting trying to get the control back for Dixie because it’s her’s.

Now the announcers talk about the match and how big it is.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sting

This is a “fight” remember, so Hogan is in an Impact Wrestling shirt and black tights. Dixie Carter is in the audience. If Hogan loses, Sting and Dixie get control of the company. Sting is in his Hogan shirt again. Jackson James, Bischoff’s son, is the referee. Before anything of note happens, Hogan waves out someone and it’s Flair. Dixie isn’t happy. And they lock up. We get a headlock in this “fight”.

Hogan Hulks Up and there goes the bandana. Sting throws off the Hogan shirt too. The fans sound into it so points for that. Hogan puts on a neck crank and we look at Dixie again. It’s in a rest hold so no complaints there. Hogan keeps crotch chopping. All Hogan so far with him sending Sting to the floor so Flair can pound away a bit with chops and a low blow.

All Hulk still as he hammers away on Sting on the floor. There’s some kind of object given to Hogan by Flair and Hulk pounds away with it. Sting is busted and Hogan struts and WOOs. Sting fires back and Hogan is in trouble. He keeps going to the floor to chase Flair and this time gets the object from him. Flair tries to warn Hulk but he can’t get away in time. Hulk is busted.

There’s the splash and down goes Flair. Hogan takes another splash and Hogan is down in the middle of the ring. Here’s the Scorpion and Sting gets it on full. He sits down on it and Hogan taps out right in front of the referee…..and he rings the bell for the submission at 9:49. The fans are not happy….like at all.

Rating: D+. The ending hurt it a lot but the fans were WAY into this. Tis is a fine example of a match where the match wasn’t the important part. However, there was nothing important to see here and the ending didn’t work at all for the most part. Keeping it short was good but Eric’s son wound up meaning almost nothing at all.

Immortal runs out for the beatdown with the chairs and Abyss is watching from behind the stage. Eric sets for a chair shot but his son takes the chair away. Down goes the son and Hulk is getting up. For no apparent reason Hulk turns face and beats up Immortal. Hogan and Sting clean house and Flair takes the brunt of the beating. Bischoff is cowering in the corner.

Hogan and Sting go back to back and stare each other down. They don’t shake hands but Hogan beats up Bischoff. This makes absolutely NO SENSE but the fans are more into it than anything ever in TNA. Hogan says he’s back and kicks Bischoff out of the ring. Hogan and Sting stare it down again and Sting wants Hogan to pose. They play to the crowd and that’s about it.

We recap Roode vs. Angle and I think you know the drill here.

TNA World Title: Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle

It’s 10:36 when the bell rings so they have about 20 minutes or so, barring them going right up to the hour. They head to the floor for a few seconds and Angle kicks him low on the way back in. Angle is coming in with a legit hamstring injury. They go to the mat and Angle works on a gutwrench. The fans are all behidn Roode. The American hits a German on the Canadian and make it three of them, getting a two count.

Kurt sets for the moonsault but Roode suplexes him off and Kurt lands on his head. The fans went SILENT after that. Kurt seems to be ok as they slug it out. Roode hits a forearm and some clotheslines to take over. Blockbuster hits for what looked to be three but they’ll call it two. Belly to belly gets two for the champ as does a DDT. Angle Slam is countered into the spinebuster (no pop at all for it) for two.

Angle does the run up the rope suplex for two. They’re really just using signature stuff here instead of a longer match. Roode grabs the Crossface out of nowhere and Kurt can’t reach a rope. Angle teases tapping but he grabs the ankle to escape the hold. Now Roode is in the submission and teases tapping but reverses right back into the Crossface in the middle of the ring. Angle reverses again and is put in the hold on the other arm this time. Kurt rolls through into the Slam for two.

Back to the ankle but Roode kicks him off and hits the spinebuster to still not much of a reaction. The crowd just does not care after the Hogan vs. Sting stuff. Fisherman’s suplex gets two. The dueling chants start up and Kurt hooks the ankle again. Angle Slam is countered into an armdrag as the fans are starting to get into this a bit. Angle gets the referee in between them and kicks Roode low. There’s another Slam and it only gets two again.

Time for more rolling Germans but Roode reverses into the Crossface again, this time on the left arm which is the one that I think it’s been on more often than the right one. Roode’s face is really bad when he’s got these holds on. Kurt’s arm is under the ropes so the hold is broken. Spear gets two for Angle. I’m so over the move I can’t stand it anymore. Angle goes up for something but jumps into the Crossface. Kurt escapes and tries the Slam but Roode tries the Fisherman’s into another Slam and Kurt grabs the rope….for the pin at 14:20. Oh….oh no they can’t be doing this. Roode’s arm was under the ropes too.

Rating: C. The ending cripples this. It wasn’t a classic before that but the ending hurt it more than I can comprehend. The match was so based on having finishers escaped and kicked out of and all that stuff which was the vast majority of the match. Not horrible but man, that ending is actually standing and it’s over. That CRIPPLED things.

Overall Rating: B+. The ending to this show brings it way down. I mean WAY down. There isn’t a truly bad match on the whole card but there isn’t a classic either. Still, it’s a very good show and worth checking out, but the ending to the main event hurt this like nothing else. There was zero point to having Angle go over there and he was helped out by the trainer post match so maybe he was legit hurt. I’m in awe over that ending. The rest of the show was solid though and Hogan’s illogical heel turn is fun stuff. Worth seeing, but prepared to roll your eyes at the main event.

Results
Austin Aries b. Brian Kendrick – Brainbuster
Rob Van Dam b. Jerry Lynn – Van Terminator
Crimson b. Samoa Joe and Matt Morgan – Spear to Joe
Mr. Anderson b. Bully Ray – Mic Check through a table
Velvet Sky b. Winter, Mickie James and Madison Rayne – Sitout facebuster to Rayne
AJ Styles b. Christopher Daniels – Daniels said he quit
Sting b. Hulk Hogan – Scorpion Deathlock
Kurt Angle b. Bobby Roode – Angle Slam

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 17, 2013
Location: Cox Business Arena, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s the go home show for Bound for Glory and the card is almost entirely set. The focus of the show will likely be just polishing everything up and giving us the hard push to Sunday. Odds are we’ll also get some development on the Dixie Is Evil story which seems to be where we’re headed after the big show. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s events with Angle returning and Sting angering Magnus by getting the pin in their tag match.

Here’s Dixie to open the show, flanked by two goons with one carrying a briefcase. She talks about being an artist like Michelangelo but she has to deal with a redneck like AJ Styles slinging paint everywhere. This coming Sunday is going to be her masterpiece but she what if AJ doesn’t make it there? The fans chant WE WANT HOGAN as Dixie offers a $50,000 bounty to anyone that can keep AJ out of the main event of Bound For Glory.

This brings out Bully and Brooke with Bully saying that he took out AJ last week so he’d be glad to do it again for the $50,000 (clearly fake money in the briefcase). Cue Magnus to say that 12 men over 3 months fought for a chance to be the #1 contender, but now the title shot might go to whomever takes out AJ Styles tonight.

Magnus starts a Dixie Sucks chant and says that $50,000 is a lot of money to him, but he’ll fight Bully Ray right here tonight for free. Ray praises Magnus and says that Sting believes in him, but Magnus hasn’t proven himself yet. He’s a disappointment, just like everyone else in Oklahoma. Magnus drops him with one punch and Ray bails to the floor. The match is on for later tonight.

Ray gives Bischoff and Knux a pep talk. Things seem to be ok and if Knux needs Ray’s help in his match with Gunner tonight, just throw up the signal.

Christopher Daniels vs. Robbie E. vs. Hernandez vs. Eric Young

The winner of this gets the final spot for his team in the gauntlet match on the preshow with the winning team getting a title shot at the PPV. Robbie and Young get us going but Young tags in Hernandez for the slingshot shoulder to E. Robbie brings in Daniels who has to escape the over the shoulder backbreaker but gets caught in the choke suplex for two. A cheap shot from Robbie takes Hernandez to the floor before he comes in legally and gets two off a middle rope elbow.

SuperMex comes back with a double clothesline to take down Daniels and Robbie, allowing for the tag off to Eric. Daniels and Robbie get in an argument (despite not being a team), allowing Hernandez to do the running clothesline from the ramp. Hernandez misses a splash in the corner and falls out to the floor before Eric suplexes Daniels down. Robbie makes a blind tag in and pins Daniels off the top rope elbow from Young at 5:18.

Rating: D+. This might as well have been a tag match until the ending which is about all you can expect out of something like this. Odds are we’re getting Chavo and Hernandez vs. Gunner/Storm because that’s the least interesting match out of the options available. Nothing match but it wasn’t too bad.

AJ fights off Jesse Godderz.

Here’s AJ to the ring with something to say. He talks about Dixie being desperate by sending everyone after him because she knows he’s winning at Bound For Glory. She’ll pay after the PPV but tonight, he isn’t running and hiding so come get paid. This brings out Knux and Bischoff but AJ jumps them as they come in. This brings out James Storm and Gunner to clear the ring with Storm staring AJ down but letting him go.

Gunner vs. Knux

Bischoff immediately grabs Gunner’s leg to give Knux the early advantage. Gunner comes back with a hard clothesline and pounds away, only to be sent into the middle buckle to stop him cold. Another clothesline puts Gunner down before Knux drives him into the corner. Gunner finally slams him into the corner before a double clothesline puts both guys down. Storm spits beer in Bischoff’s face as Gunner makes his comeback and hits a decent fallaway slam on the big Knux. He can’t hook the Gun Rack so Knux gets two off a cross body of all things. Knux calls for Bully, allowing Gunner to spear him down for the pin at 5:03.

Rating: C-. Knux looked decent here, but why aren’t Knux and Bischoff at least in the gauntlet match on Sunday? It would at least give them something to do and add to the match a bit. A four team gauntlet isn’t much to see but it could be worse I guess. As long as Gunner doesn’t become the 194^th wrestler to use the spear I’ll be ok with him.

Chris Sabin is going for the bounty.

Knux and Bischoff want to know where Bully was. It’s going to be interesting the next time he wants their help.

We recap Lei’D Tapa’s attacks on the Knockouts.

Gail Kim suggests an alliance with Brooke to take care of Tapa but she’s not interested.

Video on the Ultimate X match.

Sabin asks a security guard if he’s seen the not-so-Phenomenal AJ Styles but finds Joe instead. Joe threatens him with violence both tonight and Sunday so Sabin backs away.

Chris Sabin vs. Samoa Joe

Joe takes him into the corner to start but gets poked in the eye to slow him down. A flurry of punches take Sabin down in turn and there’s a running elbow into the standing enziguri. Sabin bails to the floor to avoid the running boot in the corner before firing off chops and punches with Joe selling nothing at all.

Sabin tries to bail but Joe grabs him on the ramp, only to have Chris slam him onto the steel. Joe dives back in to beat the count at nine and catches a charging Sabin in a release Rock Bottom out of the corner. A boot to the chest and the backsplash gets two for Joe but Sabin comes back with a springboard tornado DDT for two. Not that it matters as Joe grabs a quick Koquina Clutch for the win at 5:17.

Rating: C. Nice match here to preview the big title match on Sunday but a bit more high flying would have helped. Granted these aren’t the best choices for flying given that Sabin is a heel and that Joe is fat, but it wasn’t a bad match at all. Sabin is rocking the heel character so at least his world title reign was only mostly worthless.

Post match Aries, Hardy and Manik come in for a big brawl. Hardy pulls in a ladder, allowing Manik to dive onto Aries and Sabin.

Bad Influence goes after AJ but he holds them off with a fire extinguisher.

Ethan Carter III debuts at Bound For Glory.

Bully Ray vs. Magnus

Non-title of course. Feeling out process to start with Magnus grabbing a headlock for early control. Ray shoves him away but gets clotheslined, allowing Magnus to go up top and get crotched as we take a break. Back with Ray throwing Magnus down and posing a lot before missing a big elbow drop. They’re going very lightly here so far.

Magnus wins a quick slugout and clotheslines Bully down to speed things up a bit. A big boot puts Ray down and the top rope elbow gets two. Magnus charges into the referee by mistake so Ray gets the chain, drawing out Sting for the save. The referee throws Sting out, allowing Ray to low blow Magnus for the pin at 10:42.

Rating: D. This was really boring stuff and the ending was never in doubt. Obviously you can’t put anyone over the world champion three days before the biggest show of the year but it did advance the Sting vs. Magnus story a bit more. I’m guessing they were going slowly to avoid any injuries for Sunday, which is a constant problem with go home shows.

Magnus isn’t pleased with Sting but they don’t come to blows.

Post break Magnus yells at Sting for getting in his business. Sting says he’ll be alone on Sunday.

We run down the BFG card.

Here’s Angle with his first comments since being back. Kurt says it’s good to be home before talking about Bobby Roode being great. He even reminds Angle of himself about five years ago. However, Roode is just one of the great ones at the moment rather than being one of the best of all time. When Roode starts messing with Angle’s legacy, that makes it personal. This brings out Roode to says he’s ok with not being Kurt Angle. Roode says he wanted to be Kurt Angle years ago but now, Angle hasn’t done anything at all.

The only thing Roode remembers Angle doing recently was beating Roode two years ago at Bound For Glory. That was Roode’s wakeup call and the reason he won the world title which he held longer than anyone, including Angle. Roode says he’ll win on Sunday but Angle says he’ll make Roode tap. Roode sucker punches Kurt and here’s the rest of EGO to send Angle shoulder first into the post. Angle gets put in the Crossface to damage his shoulder even worse.

Here are Dixie, AJ and Ray for the contract signing. Ray signs and says he’ll keep it simple: AJ can’t beat him no matter what he does on Sunday. He talks about Flair vs. Rhodes from 1985 and the Hard Times that Dusty talked about Flair putting wrestling through. Ray has put wrestling through hard times over the last year by getting rid of Sting, Sabin and Hogan. Ray is going to put AJ on hard times and send him back to the trailer park in Georgia, where AJ’s family probably won’t be waiting. He’s the Darth Vader of professional wrestling and AJ isn’t Luke Skywalker.

AJ says he appreciates Ray’s story but he’s no Ric Flair and AJ is no Dusty Rhodes. This is the future instead of the past and Ray doesn’t deserve to compare himself to Bully Ray. AJ has to win on Sunday because he has nothing to lose. He has to win to make Dixie beg and take everything away from Bully Ray. AJ signs but Ray says he takes it back. He’s not putting the title on the line but he will take the $50,000 right now. Ray swings the chain but gets hit with the briefcase. AJ throws the money at Dixie and her security so a staredown can end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The show did a good job of selling what Bound For Glory has to offer, but the show really doesn’t have a flare to it. This Sunday’s show feels like any other show but it happens to be the biggest show of the year. Nothing on it feels really special and the big moment is going to be what? Hogan returning? After nearly four years of sitting through him, two weeks of no Hogan doesn’t make a return mean anything. Decent show tonight but it doesn’t change how I feel about Sunday at all.

Results

Robbie E. b. Eric Young, Hernandez and Christopher Daniels – Robbie pinned Daniels after a top rope elbow from Young

Gunner b. Knux – Spear

Samoa Joe b. Chris Sabin – Koquina Clutch

Bully Ray b. Magnus – Low blow

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 10, 2013
Location: Cox Business Area, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

We’re at the finl TV taping before Bound For Glory, meaning we have tonight and next week to go. The main stories coming into tonight are Hogan being gone and AJ Styles challenging Bully Ray for the title in whichever order you pick. Last week saw a lot of the midcard being filled in for the show so perhaps we’ll get even more this week. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Dixie to open things up. She talks about someone leaving last week and how we’re never to mention that person’s name again. Dixie doesn’t need anyone to tell her what to do, not even Stephanie LeVesque or Eric Bischoff. As for AJ Styles, last week he snuck back into the arena after she threw him out, so tonight Bully Ray can put him in any match he wants.

Before Dixie can go anywhere else, here’s Sting with something to say. Dixie sucks up to him a bit before saying that even he is under review at this point. Sting suggested Hogan for the GM spot in the first place and now he’s making matches for Bound For Glory on his own. Therefore, tonight it’s Magnus/Sting vs. Bad Influence and if the good guys lose, neither are on the pay per view. Good luck!

Austin Aries says he’s a professional wrestler and doesn’t need to hide behind a crowd like Jeff does.

Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy

Feeling out process to start with Jeff taking Aries down but not being able to do anything more than that. Aries comes back with an armdrag to take Jeff to the mat, only to have to fight out of a headscissors. A dropkick to the back of Jeff’s head gets two and a bulldog out of the corner gets the same. Jeff comes back with the sitout jawbreaker and a headscissors to send Aries to the outside. A clothesline off the apron drops Aries as we take a break.

Back with Jeff missing a charge in the corner to give Aries his first real advantage. Jeff is sent to the outside for a BIG top rope ax handle to the head to send him sprawling across the floor. Another ax handle sends Jeff into the barricade and we head back inside. Jeff avoids a missile dropkick and starts his comeback, only to get caught in a neckbreaker.

Aries goes up top again and connects with the missile dropkick but its running cousin is countered by Jeff’s raised boots. Jeff clips Aries over but can’t get the Twist. Whisper in the Wind drops Aries but he crotches Jeff to break up the Swanton. A super brainbuster is enough for the pin at 14:18.

Rating: B. Really solid main event style match here with both guys using their big moves throughout because that’s all they could do to hurt the other guy. Hardy losing clean is still a pretty big deal as he’s still the biggest start TNA has, so points to Aries for such a big win. Good stuff here and one of TNA’s best matches in awhile.

Post match here’s Samoa Joe to congratulate Aries on his win. However, there’s some bad news for Aries as well: he’s entering the Ultimate X match at Bound For Glory as well.

The Bro Mans make fun of each other for their bad losses but Jesse says he’s getting rid of their biggest problem next. They TOTALLY get chicks too bro.

Joseph Park and Eric Young are going on a road trip to Bound For Glory. They immediately stop because ODB has a match tonight.

Jesse Godderz vs. ODB

We’re immediately in the comedy match formula as Jesse, Robbie and Eric are shoved face first into ODB’s chest. A rollup gets two on Jesse but Robbie trips up ODB to give Jesse control. Eric and Robbie fight up the ramp and into the back and here’s Lei’D Tapa to run over ODB for the DQ at 2:00.

Tapa lays out ODB with a fireman’s carry into a Stunner.

Knux and Bischoff yell at Bully for ruining the club. Ray blames Anderson for the troubles because Anderson stopped protecting the title. Knux says Anderson didn’t have to piledrive Anderson the stage which Ray seems to agree with. Ray says the two of them can prove how great they are tonight by beating AJ Styles. The lackeys seem pleased.

Magnus thanks Sting for their confrontation last week. Sting says Bound For Glory is the biggest show of the year and it’s been very good to him over the years. This year it’s going to be good to Magnus.

Bad Influence doesn’t like being interrupted (Kaz: “You cannot see the Wizard!”) and insist Roode’s induction into the EGO Hall of Fame will be amazing.

Here are Daniels and Kazarian in powder blue and neon orange tuxedos and top hats respectively. They’re dressed in the colors of the Mafia to show what frauds they are. Speaking of frauds, other Halls of Fame have their own frauds, but EGO isn’t one of them. Therefore, here is the man that once got busy in Tim Horton’s bathroom: Bobby Roode. There’s a big wooden throne for Roode to sit on and a nice portrait of him standing next to it.

Kazarian has slaved over a hot computer all week to produce a video for him. It’s a completely over the top video with various people praising Roode with absolutely no audio editing whatsoever. Not a bit. Daniels says that unlike Sting, Roode deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Roode is indeed the prime minister of suave and debonaire, so please stand for him right now.

Roode thanks Kaz and Daniels but gets all choked up halfway through. There’s one person that needs to be honored above everyone else though: Bobby Roode himself. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame unlike Kurt Angle, who hasn’t done anything at all lately. Where is Angle now? Before Roode can answer that, here’s Angle live in person, looking more chiseled than he has in years. Bad Influence both get suplexes and Roode loses a shoe bailing from the ankle lock. Obviously it’s Angle vs. Roode at BFG.

Roode is furious post break.

Velvet Sky vs. Brooke Tessmacher

Velvet has taped up ribs but still does the bouncing entrance. Sabin blocks the pigeons though. This is for the title shot at BFG, which apparently will involve Gail Kim as well. Brooke goes for the bad ribs but gets taken down by a shoulder block. Velvet stomps her down in the corner but misses a charge, allowing Brooke to fire off a kick to the bad ribs. A Russian legsweep stops Brooke’s comeback but hurts the ribs again. Velvet is sent to the floor for more work on the ribs but comes back with a clothesline and bulldog for two. Sabin offers Velvet some tips, only to cause her to get rolled up for the pin at 3:52.

Rating: C-. Believe it or not this wasn’t too bad. Brooke does her job well enough but she’s out there for her looks and that’s about it. The interesting thing out there was Velvet’s selling, as she did a better job with the rib injury than almost anyone I’ve seen in months. Not a bad match at all.

Ethan promo. He’s still coming.

We run down the BFG card.

Bad Influence vs. Sting/Magnus

If the Mafia loses, they’re off Bound For Glory and lose their contracts. Daniels peppers Magnus with forearms to start but gets caught in a qucik suplex. Off to Sting for a double back elbow to Daniels and a hiptoss to Kaz. We get some miscommunication between Sting and Magnus to give Bad Influence control as we take a break. Back with Bad Influence in control on Magnus and Kaz getting two off a dropkick.

The fans still want Sting but get Daniels driving Magnus down with a knee to the chest for two instead. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Kaz gets two off a slingshot legdrop. He spits at Sting to allow a non-tag change off to Daniels. Off to another chinlock but Magnus fights back with right hands and a running clothesline. Hot tag brings in Sting to clean house before Magnus hits the top rope elbow on Kaz to set up the Cloverleaf, only to have Daniels make the save. Everything breaks down and Sting hits the Death Drop for the pin on Daniels at 11:00.

Rating: C. This was fine but was more about the angle than the match. Magnus being upset by Sting getting the fall due to his own mistake is a fine idea and sets up the PPV match well enough. I’m hoping they put Magnus over at BFG as Sting doesn’t need the win, but there’s a good chance that’s where they’re going.

Dixie offers AJ a big check to walk away but Styles says he can’t be bought and rips up the check.

AJ Styles vs. Knux/Garret Bischoff

Ray takes Tenay’s commentary spot. AJ starts off fast and beats up Bischoff like he’s the son of an executive that has no business being in the ring with a multiple time world champion. AJ drops a knee and pounds away in the corner but Garrett makes a blind tag off to Knux. Styles is dropped throat first over the top rope and catapulted throat first into the middle rope for two. Back to Garrett for a lot of posing and a butterfly suplex for no cover.

Knux comes back in but misses a middle rope legdrop. Everything breaks down and AJ hits the springboard forearm on Knux. After miscommunication from the bikers, AJ gets a very awkward looking rollup (looked like a powerslam minus the power or the slam) for the pin on Garret at 4:43.

Rating: D+. This is a match where the result was never in doubt but that’s the way things should have gone. AJ gets to look good while taking out the champion’s lackeys, setting up BFG a little bit better. That’s what this story should have been the entire time, but if we have to sacrifice a good build for the sake of getting rid of Aces and 8’s then so be it.

Post match Ray comes in and whips AJ with the chain before backdropping him onto the ramp. Lots of trash talk ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was one of their better shows in a good while with a nice mix of action, storylines and comedy. As usual, it’s remarkable how much better things get when there’s no Hogan around for his way over the top drama. It’s also nice to see the PPV main event getting some direct focus which has been lacking for such a long time. Good show this week which is a good sign.

Results

Austin Aries b. Jeff Hardy – Super brainbuster

ODB b. Jesse Godderz via DQ when Lei’D Tapa interfered

Brooke Adams b. velvet Sky – Rollup

AJ Styles b. Knux/Garrett Bischoff – Rollup to Bischoff

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume I at Amazon for just $4 at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 3, 2013
Location: Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

We’re still in Arkansas and the main story is still Dixie Carter vs. Hulk Hogan, despite us only having three more Impacts until the biggest show of the year. Tonight is about Hogan’s decision on whether or not to join Dixie’s side in whatever she thinks she’s doing. If we’re lucky we might even get Bully and AJ in the same ring for the first time for the build to their match. Let’s get to it.

We open with the customary recap of last week’s events.

Here’s AJ to address the crowd. He can appreciate Hogan trying to come out here last week and smooth things over, but then Dixie Carter came out and showed her true colors. AJ isn’t here to talk about Dixie or Hogan though. Instead he wants to talk about his opponent at Bound For Glory. What a refreshing idea. He knows exactly who Bully Ray is: the man that he’ll beat at Bound For Glory for the world title. Styles doesn’t have a contract right now and hasn’t even looked at the world title in over a year. He’s coming to get what’s his at Bound For Glory, but here’s Bully Ray to object.

Bully says Dixie is in AJ’s head because AJ is just hoping to win. If AJ was really in the game, he would know that he’s going to win rather than just hoping. AJ doesn’t have to worry about Dixie in San Diego though, because Bully will give him all he can handle. Look at what Ray has done to people like Hogan, Hardy or D-Von. What do you think he’ll do to a guy like Styles? AJ knows who he is: the man that beat AJ in a last man standing match two years ago. AJ has one thing Ray wants: he wants to take Styles away from the fans. Bully is sick of hearing the fans chant AJ, and there’s the chant again.

Styles says that Bully is just like Dixie Carter, but Ray takes that as a compliment. Dixie is a millionaire and a somebody while Bully is a millionaire and the World Heavyweight Champion. Ray goes OFF on AJ, ranting about how he’s going to beat AJ into the ground and send him back home to his trailer, wife and three kids. AJ thinks Ray is going to get killed in his match tonight against Samoa Joe, which is a surprise to Ray.

Magnus is going to run the EGO gauntlet tonight.

Dixie has AJ escorted out by security but he leaves on his own so he doesn’t have to breathe the same air Dixie is breathing.

Kenny King/Chris Sabin vs. Manik/Jeff Hardy

Austin Aries is on commentary. Manik and King get us going with Kenny taking him into the corner for some choking by Sabin. Chris comes in legally but the double team doesn’t work as King is caught in a springboard hurricanrana to send him into the corner. Off to Jeff to speed things up and hit a middle rope splash on King for two. Back to Manik for something resembling an octopus hold on King before rolling him up for two. King’s cut from last week has busted open again.

King snaps Manik throat first across the top rope before bringing Sabin back in for a basement dropkick. Manik is tied up in the Tree of Woe so Sabin can stand on his crotch for some torture and a two count. Back to King for some right hands before Sabin comes back in for some choking in the corner.

Chris runs into a boot in the corner and a middle rope dropkick (Aries: “Right in the brain stem!”) puts Sabin down. Hardy comes in off the hot tag and cleans house with the sitout gordbuster on King for two. Sabin breaks up the Twist attempt on King as everything breaks down. Manik sends Sabin to the floor and hits his double chicken wing gutbuster on King, setting up the Swanton for the pin at 7:07.

Rating: C+. This was fine and set up whatever match we’re going to see for the title at Bound For Glory. Kenny King doesn’t really fit into the three former world champions against the X-Division Champion but it’s not the worst idea in the world. It could bring some blood into the division which has been anemic for years now.

Post match Sabin goes after Manik but Aries makes the save. Austin asks for a four way match with Manik, Sabin, Hardy and himself for the title at Bound For Glory.

Sting and Hogan have a legends powwow about what Hogan should do. Hulk declares Dixie worse than Bischoff before a girl delivers a gift from Dixie. It’s a watch, the same one that Dixie gave Sting as a retirement gift. Hogan: “She is worse than Bischoff. He never gave me anything.”

We look at EGO jumping Magnus last week. Later in the night Sting asked Magnus what happened. Magnus says they’re in his head and he wants all three of them on his own next week (tonight). He’s icing his knee but says it’s just tweeked.

EGO vs. Magnus

It’s a gauntlet match with Daniels up first. Magnus jumps Daniels in the corner but Chris comes back with elbows to the neck. Daniels gets shouldered down and asks for a breather, only to get kicked in the ribs for his efforts. Chris goes to the throat to slow the Brit down before bulldogging him throat first on the top rope. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Daniels can’t hit Angel’s Wings. Magnus comes back with a clothesline but jumps into the Koji Clutch. He’s right next to the ropes though so Daniels goes up for the BME, only to land on Magnus’ bad leg. The Falcon’s Arrow eliminates Daniels at 3:55.

Kazarian is up next and Magnus doesn’t wait for him to get to the ring. We take a break and come back with Kazarian raking the eyes to escape a press slam. A dropkick puts Magnus down again for two but he comes back with right hands out of the corner. Magnus punches him down and drops the top rope elbow for two. He goes up but gets kicked in the chest, only to roll through Fade to Black into the Cloverleaf for the submission at 12:37 total.

Last up is Bobby Roode but Kaz clips Magnus’ knee and crunches it in between his own legs. Roode goes after the leg as we take a break. Back with Roode still working on the knee like a smart heel would. Roode can’t get a figure four, allowing Magnus to fight up and hit another Falcon’s Arrow for a quick two. He tries the Cloverleaf again but can’t sit down on it like he should.

Bobby punches at the bad leg to escape but gets shoved off during a superplex attempt. Magnus misses the top rope elbow and gets caught in the Crossface. Just as he’s about to make the rope, Roode pulls him back and puts on an ankle lock with a grapevine for the submission at 23:08.

Rating: B-. This match was more long than good but the idea was right. You can’t have Magnus beat all three guys in a row on a bad leg so the ending was the right call. This came off a bit like Benoit vs. Angle at the 2003 Rumble where Benoit didn’t so much get beat as much as he got caught. Very good showing by Magnus here which is what he needed at this point.

Magnus is mad post match but here’s Sting with something to say. The Brit won’t listen to reason so Sting says let’s go to the back and talk about this. Magnus says no with all due respect because he’s had enough. He says everyone in the Mafia sees something in him but it’s not really there. Sting, Joe and Kurt all passed the challenges given to him but Magnus has failed every time.

Sting tries to calm him down but Magnus says he doesn’t need another pep talk. Magnus says this is a results driven business but he’s not getting the results. Sting talks about needing the one big match and he got it with Ric Flair but Magnus cuts him off. He saw the Flair match with his own eyes and has been watching Sting his whole career. Magnus was one step away from Bound For Glory but now who puts him on the map? Sting says he’ll do it at BFG and they shake hands.

Aries has a present for Hogan too: vegan vitamins. Maybe even a prayer or two would help Hogan make the right decision. Aries talks about Hogan doing the right thing over his entire career and says tonight is all black and white.

Video on Hogan’s history in TNA.

Sabin won’t be at ringside for Velvet’s match tonight because he has to focus on his match at Bound For Glory.

We recap the gauntlet match.

EGO celebrates their win by singing their version of Roode’s theme song. They’re happy because Magnus is off somewhere crying. Also Roode is going to be the first inductee into the EGO Hall of Fame with the ceremony next week. It’s going to be a black tie affair with everyone dressed to the nines. Kaz: “Let’s make it to the tens!”

Brooke Tessmacher vs. Velvet Sky

Winner gets a title shot at BFG. Before the match here’s Lei’D Tapa to destroy Velvet so no match.

We get our first clip of Ethan who appears to be at a Hollywood store shopping but doesn’t seem impressed. We can’t see his face.

We recap Gunner and Storm’s run as tag champions.

Bound for Glory card.

Video on Angle’s career.

Samoa Joe vs. Bully Ray

Joe is apparently one of AJ’s Band of Brothers, because if there’s one thing TNA needs it’s another group. They shove each other around to start with Ray running his mouth too much and getting shoved out of the corner. Joe pounds away in the corner but misses a knee drop, only to put on the standing choke. Ray escapes and grabs the chain, only to have Hebner take it away so Ray can hit the Samoan low.

Back with Ray clotheslining Joe down but missing an elbow drop to give Joe a breather. Joe comes back with a kick to the face and a middle rope kick to the chest for two. The referee gets crushed in the corner as Joe hooks up the Clutch. Ray taps but there’s no referee, so naturally he lets go of the hold. Ray gets the chain around his hand and hits a middle rope ax handle, only to get caught for the DQ at 10:20.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and I have no idea what it was supposed to accomplish. Ray taps out and then loses on a DQ, so what in the world does this do for Bound For Glory? Nothing match here which is the last thing they needed to do for the world title match.

Post match Ray shoves the referee and sends Joe into the announce table. He pulls back the mats for a piledriver on the floor but AJ makes the save and celebrates with the fans.

Here’s Dixie to tell us we don’t know anything about business. Hulk Hogan however does know a little bit about it so please come out here and let’s take care of this. Hogan looks annoyed as Dixie says she can take him to the next level. He thanks her for the watch and talks about always wanting to be part of a power couple in this business. While it’s an amazing offer, he’s quitting. Hogan throws down the mic and walks away, leaving Dixie on her knees begging, because you can’t have Hogan on a wrestling show without worshiping him right?

Overall Rating: C-. This show did a good job of filling out the Bound For Glory card, but as usual there’s WAY too much of a focus on Hogan. Ray vs. Styles got its first bit of development and it lasted about five minutes before we got back to Dixie vs. Hogan for the REAL story. Hogan left but I’ll believe it’s for real when he’s not at Bound For Glory or the Impact taping after. Just like lat year the world title isn’t the focus of the show at all but in this case there isn’t another match to focus on which is making these final shows really dull to sit through. The lack of Aces and 8’s helped a bit though.

Results

Manik/Jeff Hardy b. Chris Sabin/Kenny King – Swanton Bomb to King

EGO b. Magnus – Ankle lock

Samoa Joe b. Bully Ray via DQ when Ray hit Joe with a chain

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Impact Wrestling
Date: September 26, 2013
Location: Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

We’re less than a month away from the biggest show of the year and somehow the top heel is Dixie Carter. Bully Ray is busy with the rejects known as Aces and 8’s while AJ Styles is being called Mr. Marginal by a woman famous for having a husband named Surge and tweeting a lot. But remember, everything is FINE in this company. Let’s get to it.

We open with the usual recap of last week’s events.

Dixie Carter arrives and blows Sting off, basically telling him to stay out of her business.

Here are Bully and Brooke to get things going. Bully says it’s not easy to take the words out of his mouth but Dixie did it last week. He’s been up every night wondering how he can beat AJ Styles since AJ won the Series. Now it doesn’t matter though as Dixie is inside AJ’s head. AJ should be kissing the ground Dixie walks on for making him phenomenal. Ray stops to ask if we know who he is and here are the remaining Aces and 8’s.

Knux does the talking and says the same thing he said last week: Ray needs to stop thinking about his ho and start thinking about his bros. Ray says he’s the president and the rest of their patches should just say lackey. They need to fall in line and remember what he did to the former members of this club. Tonight it’s Main Event Mafia vs. the three of them and if an Ace loses, they’re out of the club.

Joseph Park is shaving while singing Sweet Caroline when Eric Young and ODB come in. Eric says Park needs to use a safety razor to prevent the civilians in the back.

Bro Mans/Gail Kim vs. ODB/Eric Young/Joseph Park

This is a result of Robbie getting beaten by both Young and Park in a combined 12 seconds last week. The girls start but it’s off to Robbie vs. Joseph before there’s any contact. Robbie can’t slam Joseph so Park slams him down for one instead. Jesse and Gail slow Joseph down before the Mans send him into the buckle. Jesse hits a good looking dropkick and avoids a seated senton from the big man. Robbie’s middle rope elbow gets two but Park comes back with something resembling a Samoan drop.

The referee misses the hot tag to Eric and it’s Gail in to get in some cheap shots. Back to the guys who are clotheslined down by Joseph, allowing for the hot tag to Eric for some house cleaning. Everything breaks down and ODB sends Gail to the ramp. Robbie pulls back to hit ODB so she shoves his face into her chest. Eric hits a Death Valley Driver on Jesse, setting up a middle rope splash from Park, a top rope elbow from Eric and a splash from ODB for the pin at 6:26.

Rating: D. WAY too long here for the story they were telling as there was nothing going on out there. Park cleaned house, Park got beaten down, Park made the hot tag, ODB breast joke, pin. Somehow that took nearly seven minutes to get through. I’m over the in your face comedy stuff with ODB, Park and Young but they’re clearly not going anywhere.

Austin Aries says he’ll explain his future plans in the ring.

Hulk Hogan says he’ll fix everything.

Here’s Aries with something to say. He says it was just a year ago when he was headlining Bound For Glory and even though he’s not doing that this year, he’s still the main eventer. This brings out…..Kenny King? Kenny says he’s tired of hearing everything Aries is talking about when it was Kenny King making headlines last year when he became X-Division Champion. Then the headlines changed to King being ripped off by Frail Sabin. He was ready to get his belt back but then someone got in the Manik costume and stole the X-Division Title.

That would be Austin Aries, who hasn’t been the future or Generation Next (ROH reference) in about ten years. Now it’s Kenny King’s time but Aries cuts to the chase by saying he’s ready right now. King says that just like Hilary Clinton says before she takes her clothes off, “you don’t want none of this”, before decking Aries. Austin fights him off and says let’s do it right now so here’s a referee. Aries doesn’t wait and dives at King on the ramp to start the match after a break.

Austin Aries vs. Kenny King

Back with Aries pounding away on the floor before heading back inside, only to be taken down by a leg drop and caught with a jumping elbow in the corner. King is busted open BAD, likely off something on the floor. Aries comes back with chops and an atomic drop before rolling over King’s back to set up a release STO. The pendulum elbow but King spins out of the brainbuster. Aries loads up the 450 but King comes back with a super Tazplex for two. Austin shrugs it off and hits the running dropkick and the brainbuster for the pin at 5:00.

Rating: C. This was fine with both guys getting to show off a bit out there. I’m getting curious as to what Aries is going to do at the PPV as he really doesn’t have anything going on right now, though that could be said about a lot of big names. King could be worth something in the X-Division if there was enough competition to fight him.

Lei’D Tapa is coming. It still should have been Ivelisse.

Chris Sabin brags to Austin Aries about being greater than the greatest man that ever lived. Velvet still looks uncomfortable. Sabin and Velvet leaves and Aries says he’d like to test Sabin’s theory.

We recap the end of Ray/Aces and 8’s from earlier.

The Mafia is getting ready but Magnus is frustrated by EGO. Sting tells him to calm down and focus on the bikers tonight.

We get a quick recap of AJ vs. Dixie from last week.

Here’s Hogan to make everything better while also taking a bunch of money and not really improving anything. Hogan talks about being here for about four years now and being GM, meaning he’s in charge of the day to day operations of this show. You never air your dirty laundry in public, and that’s what’s happening with Dixie and AJ. The fans seem to think AJ Styles should stick around and Hogan wants AJ out here to hear that himself. No one comes out so Hogan says we’ll do this later.

Kurt Angle is back at BFG.

Someone named ETHAN is coming.

X-Division Title: Manik vs. Chris Sabin

Manik is defending and gets a quick two off a cross body. Sabin jumps over him in the corner but goes down grabbing his knee. Sabin limps around the ring and leans on Velvet for help, allowing Manik to become the stupidest man in wrestling by falling for it. The distraction lets Sabin pop up to the apron and kick Manik in the face to take over. Back in and Manik jumps over Sabin in the corner before putting on something like a Sharpshooter’s mentally disabled cousin.

A middle rope missile dropkick staggers Chris before Manik busts out kicking combination #6 and a standing flip attack gets two. Velvet’s distraction lets Chris get two off a rollup but Manik catapults Chris into the corner. Back to the same leg lock from earlier from the champion but Chris reaches out for the ropes, only to grab Velvet’s hands. He drags her inside but the distraction lets Manik counter a rollup into a pinning combination for the pin at 5:43.

Rating: C+. I just don’t get the appeal of Manik. He’s fine in the ring and does some nice stuff but I don’t get his popularity. The leg stuff was smart here and it furthered Sabin’s heel turn, but the match wasn’t much better than average. Also, wasn’t Jeff Hardy involved in this feud?

Sabin pounds on Manik until Aries makes the save. Velvet looks shocked at what Chris was doing.

Garrett Bischoff tells Aces and 8’s to keep it together. Knux is ready to go.

Kurt Angle is still back at BFG. That hasn’t changed in the last 20 minutes. Here’s the same video in case you were confused though.

EGO thinks they should be in the Hall of Fame and suggest they should make sure Magnus loses again tonight. Bad Intentions laughs maniacally but Roode just stares at them, refusing to join in. Daniels: “That’s how villains laugh. Come on Bobby.” Roode walks away. Funny stuff.

Main Event Mafia vs. Aces and 8’s

If the Aces lose, whomever loses the fall is gone. Magnus pounds away on Knux to start but Garrett comes in to be suplexed. Knux and Brisco immediately dive in for the save and everything breaks down. Cue EGO to beat up Magnus who is left holding his knee as, making it 3-2 for the time being.

Back with Sting still in trouble and Magnus not on the apron. Knux chokes on Sting a bit and it’s off to Brisco for a chinlock. Sting finally fights up and dropkicks Wes down and there’s the hot tag to Joe as the Aces are all taken down. The backsplash gets two on Brisco and everything breaks down. The Stinger Splash crushes the bikers and there’s the Clutch on Brisco for the submission at 10:07.

Rating: C. The match was ok but it illustrates the problem with the remaining bikers: even with an advantage they were trampled by a pair of former world champions. Why would anyone care if Brisco is gone? He’s done nothing at all and is just another lackey. The match was fine but the conclusion was never in doubt other than which Ace took the fall.

Post match Ray comes out and demands Wes’ cut but he won’t give it up. The fans chant NO, so Bully orders Garrett and Knux to take the cut off of Wes. They hesitate so Ray yells at them and lays out Wes himself with a clothesline and a piledriver. They’re told to take the cut off again or Ray will piledriver Brisco a second time. Knux and Bischoff begrudgingly do what Ray says. Bischoff holds the cut out to Ray but Bully wants Knux to hand it to him. Ray tells Knux to not let the people get in his head before handing him the cut. Knux and Bischoff pick up Brisco….and we need to watch Hogan walking in the back.

Hogan is in the ring to call out AJ with his double theme music. Hogan has a long term contract for AJ to sign but AJ doesn’t look happy. He picks up the pen and finally signs, saying he’s TNA’s. This brings out an overly smiley Dixie Carter who talks about why she signed Hulk. He was brought in to open doors and that’s exactly what he did. She’s very grateful but Hogan is just an employee. Dixie makes fun of AJ Styles’ accent and rips up the contract, telling AJ can get out of his ring.

AJ leaves so Dixie goes on a rant about how no one knows how tough she has it. She knows how tough it is because she’s in the 1% of people that get to make decisions like she does. Yes, they’re seriously going with this story. Hogan now has a week to fall in line and join Team Dixie or else.

Overall Rating: C. I liked the show for the most part tonight as the middle of the BFG card is starting to come into focus. The elimination of an Ace is always a good thing as they’ve been around for about a year too long at this point. The Dixie/AJ/Hogan stuff makes me roll my eyes but at this point it’s hard to complain about anything not named Aces and 8’s. Decent, but not great show this week.

Results

ODB/Eric Young/Joseph Park b. Bro Mans/Gail Kim – Splash to Jesse

Austin Aries b. Kenny King – Brainbuster

Manik b. Chris Sabin – Rollup

Main Event Mafia b. Aces and 8’s – Koquina Clutch to Brisco

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Impact Wrestling
Date: September 19, 2013
Location: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

We’re officially heading towards Bound For Glory with AJ Styles as the #1 contender to Bully Ray’s title. The main story for tonight though is AJ having something to say to Dixie Carter’s face, which sounds to me like a war is about to start. Other than that we’re likely to get the start of the build towards Bound For Glory, which isn’t really clear aside from the world title. Let’s get to it.

Magnus is annoyed that he lost last week when Roode comes up to say it was all the Brit’s fault. EGO comes in and beats Magnus down.

We recap last week’s events.

Here’s Magnus to get us going. He talks about being sore from the end of the Bound For Glory Series, but the only thing he can think about is EGO. Magnus thinks the crowd wants nothing to do with them because this is Mafia country. He issues an open challenge to Kaz, Daniels or Roode for a fight right now. Kaz hits the ring but gets stomped down into the corner, only to have Daniels come in from behind to start the double team. Magnus fights them both off and stomps Daniels, only to have Roode make it 3-1. Sting and Joe come out for the save, followed by Sting making a six man tag for later tonight.

Video on AJ vs. Magnus from last week.

Chris Sabin congratulates Manik on challenging Hardy while talking down to him at the same time.

Manik vs. Jeff Hardy

Non-title. Sabin and Velvet Sky come out to watch the match. Feeling out process to start with both guys working on a wristlock. They head to the outside with Hardy hitting a clothesline off the apron before missing the slingshot dropkick back inside. Manik drops Hardy into 619 position before hitting a dropkick to the side of the head to take him down. A missile dropkick misses though and Jeff comes back with the Whisper in the Wind for two. Manik hits a fireman’s carry into a kick to Jeff’s head for two of his own but Jeff blocks a neckbreaker out of the corner. There’s the Twist and the Swanton pins Manik at 4:00.

Rating: C. I might be alone in this, but I don’t get the appeal of Manik. He’s not bad or anything but I don’t see the huge appeal of what he does. I won’t say he’s generic in the ring or anything like that, but I’ve yet to be excited when I hear he’s on the card. Also did we really need to see him get beaten clean in four minutes? At least it was to a bigger star though.

Post match Hardy shakes Manik’s hand but Sabin turns heel by jumping Manik from behind.

Dixie has no comment on AJ.

Sabin says Manik is disrespectful and that no one can fill his shoes. He’s going to make the fans respect him.

Knockouts Title: ODB vs. Mickie James

Mickie is defending. ODB easily turns back a sneak attack and pounds away on Mickie but gets dropkicked down for two. Mickie charges into an elbow in the corner but she pulls ODB down off the middle rope to take over. A spear puts Mickie down for two more and there’s the fall away slam to send Mickie to the floor. She wants a timeout but trips ODB up, catching her inside the ring skirt as we take a break.

Back with Mickie getting two off a neckbreaker and catching a charging ODB with a boot to the jaw. A hurricanrana out of the corner is countered into an ODB powerbomb to put both girls down. They slug it out with ODB taking over and putting Mickie down with a clothesline. Back up and a suplex is good for two on the champion but she catches ODB with a spinning kick to the face to take over again. Mickie loads up a tornado DDT out of the corner, only to have ODB counter it into the Bam for the pin and the title at 10:55.

Rating: C-. The match was ok but how many times can we have the same pairings over and over again in this division? Mickie is apparently leaving after this match, so who in the world is ODB supposed to fight now? Velvet? Brooke? Are either of them even active wrestlers at this point?

Eric Young and Joseph Park (sipping chocolate milk) come out to celebrate but the Bro Mans have something to say. Robbie calls it the weirdest threeway in history but Joseph Park goes off on them, saying they’re embarrassments. If he wasn’t wearing a suit right now, he’d be ready for a fight. Eric says he’s not in a suit so let’s have a match.

Eric Young vs. Robbie E

Eric wins in 6 seconds with a rollup.

Robbie wants Park and calls him an unpleasant name, ticking Joseph off. The match is after a break.

Robbie E vs. Joseph Park

Park wins in 6 seconds with a rollup.

The Bro Mans beat up Eric and send Park into the steps, blood is drawn, Park goes Abyss and cleans house. Park really should see a doctor about how easily he bleeds. That can’t be good.

Video on Bully Ray vs. Anderson from last week with Anderson being piledriven on the stage to write him off TV.

We look at AJ vs. Magnus again.

Here are the Aces and 8’s for the first time tonight. Brooke is in chaps, half a swimsuit and is being pulled along by a chain. Not exactly PG but it’s working to say the least. Ray says this is a great night, even though Anderson isn’t there. The champ asks the people if they know who he is. He’s Bully Ray if you weren’t clear, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Ray says he has to thank someone special, which winds up being Brooke. He couldn’t have kept the title without her but the guys aren’t happy with that idea. Wes and Garrett complain about this because they’ve been with Ray since day one. Ever since Brooke came along, the champ’s priorities have been way out of whack. Ray says he loves Bischoff but shoves him into the corner, telling him to never stand up to Ray again. If they stand up to him again, Ray will slap them in the face.

Knux asks if that goes for him too because he’s been here for a year and a half. Ray has a big mouth and maybe Knux is the man to shut it for him. After a year and a half they had 25 members or so but now it’s just 4. The club is falling apart and for what? Club business? It’s been Bully Ray business for a year because Ray is breaking the first rule of the club: bros before hoes. Ray shoves Knux away but bails when Knux steps up to him.

Sting says the Mafia is down to three with Angle gone and Rampage training, so Magnus needs to stay focused. Joe says it’s time for revenge and Magnus is ready to go.

Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. Gunner/James Storm

If Chavo/Hernandez win, they get a title shot, presumably at BFG. Chavo says he isn’t cleared to wrestle tonight so it’s Hernandez against Gunner instead.

Hernandez vs. Gunner

Hernandez runs Gunner over to start and drapes him ribs first over the top rope. The over the shoulder backbreaker gets two on Gunner and Hernandez hits the run down the running dive from the ramp to the ring for two. Gunner counters a suplex into a slingshot suplex to put Hernandez down again. A slam puts SuperMex down and Sheamus’ Irish Curse (Rock Bottom backbreaker) is good for the pin for Gunner at 4:17.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t awful actually but I have zero interest in seeing Chavo and Hernandez on the same planet, let alone on the same team, ever again. They’re just not interesting at all and they never have been. Nothing much to see here, but it would imply another team gets the shot at BFG, thank goodness.

EGO vs. Main Event Mafia

Daniels pounds away on Joe in the corner to start but charges into a Rock Bottom out of the corner. Off to Kazarian who has about as much luck with Joe chopping him into the corner and walking away from the cross body out of the corner. Magnus gets the tag and hits a modified Hart Attack for two on Kaz. Sting comes in and sends Kaz into the steps as the dominance continues. An atomic drop has Kaz in trouble but EGO double teams to take over as we go to a break.

Back with Sting fighting out of a headlock but getting clotheslined down for two. Daniels hooks a chinlock and stops a Sting comeback, allowing a slingshot legdrop from Kaz to get two. We get the always fun spot of Sting powering over to the corner but EGO distracting the referee so the tag isn’t seen, keeping Sting in trouble. Sting finally gets over for the hot tag and brings in Magnus as house is cleaned.

Sting is back in to take out Bad Intentions with a double clothesline but Roode grabs a DDT to put him back down. Joe comes in with his snap mare to set up Magnus’ elbow for two as Daniels save. I actually thought that was it. Joe hits the suicide elbow to take out Kaz but Daniels’ charge is caught in a Sting backdrop. The Stinger Splash sets up the Deathlock, only to have Roode grab the ball bat. Magnus takes the shot for Sting, allowing Roode to get the pin at 14:30.

Rating: C+. This started off looking like it was a thrown on main event but there were some awesome false finishes in there that had me actually surprised. The two stables fighting up to BFG is better than what it could have been with Mafia vs. Aces, but I don’t like them pushing the idea of Magnus being on a losing streak. That’s a step backwards for him.

Here’s AJ’s big speech to Dixie. He talks about how he’s been here since day one to try to make this an alternative for people who wanted to see wrestling. Then one day Dixie Carter’s dad bought her a wrestling company with no experience or effort at all. Then Dixie started bringing in MMA guys and people who wanted a two year vacation before going back to where they came from.

It’s because of stuff like that that people like Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal and Low Ki aren’t here anymore and it’s why the X-Division guys have all left. Not that it matters as no one in the back respects Dixie anyway. Despite what the internet says, he doesn’t have a contract right now. There’s one guy of the TNA originals left and he’s going to win the world title at Bound For Glory so he can make Dixie Carter beg and then pay.

This brings out a sad Dixie who says AJ must mean everything he says. As president of the company, she has to be accountable to everyone from the investors to the fans to AJ. She owes him an apology….for letting him stay around as long as she did. He’s just a fish in a pond that’s way too big for him and the Phenomenal One is a marketing gimmick she created.

She can’t remember the last five star match AJ had and with everything he’s done in front of and behind the camera, he’s lucky to even be the marginal one. Without Dixie’s dad’s paycheck, AJ would be living in a trailer. She owns the house that AJ Styles built and he’s lucky to have ever played in it. Dixie goes to leave and AJ tells her to put the mic where it belongs. She grabs a headset and says cut off his mic and cut the lights because the show is over at 10:58.

Overall Rating: C. This show started the build for Bound For Glory which is a good thing as there was only one match established. However, the Dixie stuff makes me cringe as it looks like it sets up a power struggle between Hogan and Dixie which is about as uninteresting an idea as I can think of. Still though, some good stuff here tonight mixed with story development is a good thing so this show passes well enough.

Results

Jeff Hardy b. Manik – Swanton Bomb

ODB b. Mickie James – The Bam

Eric Young b. Robbie E – Rollup

Joseph Park b. Robbie E – Rollup

Gunner b. Hernandez – Rock Bottom backbreaker

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Impact Wrestling
Date: September 12, 2013
Location: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s yet another special tonight with No Surrender, which is a pretty meaningless name since none of the matches have anything to do with surrendering or not surrendering. The card however is pretty big with the semifinals and I believe the finals of the BFG Series. Given hos screwed up this Series has been though, they might find a way to hold the finals of the Bound For Glory Series after Bound For Glory. We also have Anderson challenging Bully Ray for the world title. Let’s get to it.

We see the four finalists arriving before looking at a video of all four guys saying what this means to them.

We also get a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald about fighting families to hype up Anderson vs. Ray.

Here are Ray and Tessmacher to open things up. Ray talks about how his family haven’t been seeing eye to eye as of late and blames it on Hulk Hogan. This brings out Hogan in a blue shirt to talk about quivering livers and thanks SpikeTV for letting us have this big show for free. Hogan says Ray needs to be getting ready for his showdown with Anderson and not even think about Bound For Glory yet. Ray wants Anderson out here right now to say it to his face so here’s Ken, though he passes Hogan’s outstretched arm.

Ray says the Aces and 8’s are stronger than Hogan will ever been. All Anderson has to do is apologize and this all ends. Anderson says Ray is right and that he was out of line…..and he can’t wait to get out of line again tonight. He decks Ray to send him to the floor and says he’ll be the new world champion tonight. Hogan says the title match is a last man standing match for absolutely no apparent reason.

Bound For Glory Series Semifinals: Austin Aries vs. AJ Styles

It’s win or go home here as the points are officially a non-factor now. Feeling out process to start with Aries dropkicking AJ to the floor and dropping him with a top rope ax handle. Back inside and Aries misses a missile dropkick so AJ takes him down with a dropkick of his own. Aries bails to the floor but he avoids a slingshot plancha from AJ. Austin loads up the suicide dive but charges into an AJ forearm to put him down. They head back inside to fight over a suplex and we take a break.

Back with Aries still trying to hit the brainbuster but opting for some shots to the head instead. AJ comes back with some forearms and his AA into a backbreaker for two. Styles loads up the Clash but Aries grabs the rope to escape. Now the slingshot plancha takes Austin out but he manages to break up the Superman forearm, knocking Styles face first into the apron.

Aries loads up another suicide dive but AJ pops back in with the forearm, though Aries stopping in place so the move could connect looked bad. Another Styles Clash attempt is countered into a hurricanrana but AJ gets a boot up in the corner to block a running dropkick. That’s fine with Aries as he hits it in the other corner instead. AJ blocks the brainbuster again but just like the dropkick, the second attempt connects for two.

There’s the Last Chancery but AJ won’t tap so Aries pounds in knees to the head. AJ avoids the 450 but Aries lands on his feet. A running dropkick misses and Aries lands on the ropes, allowing AJ to hit the Pele to stun him. AJ goes to the ropes for a middle rope Styles Clash to send him to the finals at 15:38.

Rating: B+. This was FUN as both guys countered everything until Aries couldn’t get past the huge arsenal of Styles in the end. That middle rope Styles Clash looked great and there was no way he could kick out of it. Aries will have a big match at BFG and he’ll deserve it, but AJ was just a step better here.

Sting gives Magnus a pep talk and the Brit says he’s tired of being the future.

Bound For Glory Series Semifinals: Bobby Roode vs. Magnus

Roode gets a jobber entrance and Magnus is back in the shorts instead of the tights. Bobby must be ticked off at the lack of respect because he jumps Magnus from behind and takes it to the floor to send Magnus into the barricade. Back in and a quick belly to back suplex gets two for Roode and a regular suplex gets the same. We hit the chinlock as this has been one sided so far.

Back up and Magnus blocks an O’Connor Roll and takes Roode down with a forearm. He catches Roode diving off the ropes in a very modified Falcon’s Arrow for two but Roode goes to the eyes. There’s the spinebuster for two on Magnus but the Brit breaks up a superplex and hits the top rope elbow for two. Roode can’t hook the crossface and gets caught in a Texas Cloverleaf but Roode finally makes the rope. Back up and Magnus blocks a fisherman’s suplex into a jackknife cover for the pin at 7:00.

Rating: C. This was ok but nothing more than that. Magnus got beaten up too much in the beginning and it made the comeback better, but Roode tapping out would have been better. Magnus looked like he couldn’t win with a big move and had to steal a win instead of looking dominant. Still though, not bad and it got the job done.

Roode is freaking out when Bad Influence comes in to calm him down. Bobby blames Hogan and says if he can’t go to the finals, no one is.

Hogan gives Manik a pep talk. Manik wants a shot at Jeff Hardy tonight and his wish is granted. Dixie comes in and asks to talk to Hogan alone. Apparently Rampage and Tito are off the show for fear of the November 2 PPV getting messed up.

Ray doesn’t know what’s happening to Aces and 8’s but he thinks the cronies want Anderson to be President and world champion. He yells at Knux, Brisco and Bischoff, saying he did everything and brought Anderson into the fold. Ray thinks they’ll do the right thing and hopes they feel the same way about him.

We recap Anderson vs. Ray, which is due to Ray blaming Anderson for losing the title to Sabin. Ray then said Tito Ortiz was the only man he needed and Anderson was annoyed at Ray acting like a dictator.

TNA World Title: Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray

Last man standing with Ray defending. Anderson jumps Ray on the ramp to start and takes Ray into the ring for a whip into the corner. The champion is sent back to the floor as this is one sided so far. Ray is sent into the announce table and barricade so he hides behind Christy, complete with Hemme’s top opening (it’s similar to Lita’s outfits in the Rated R Superstar era) but the power of tape saving her.

Bully gets in a cheap shot and sends Anderson into the steps before asking Brooke for a chair. It takes forever to get there and Anderson gets in a shot to the ribs to take the chair away. He blasts the champion in the back and pounds him back into the ring. Ray goes up but gets hit low, allowing Anderson to hit a rolling senton. The fans are COMPLETELY behind Anderson here and him telling himself to get the tables makes them cheer even louder. Even Tenay is cheering for Anderson.

Ray takes him down with a boot to the face and gets in a chair shot of his own. The table is set up in the corner as we take a break. Back with Ray yelling at Hebner but Earl yells right back at him, looking like a heart attack is imminent. Ray shoves him into the buckle to knock him out but walks into a Mic Check onto the chair to lay him out. There’s no referee though so Ray gets up and hits a Bully Cutter to lay both guys down.

Cue Bischoff, Brisco and Knux to stare at Ray before stalking Anderson. Before they touch him, Brooke comes in with a low blow. Ray bosses them around and a Shield TripleBomb lays Anderson out. Ray helps Hebner up but Anderson is up at nine. Anderson comes back with right hands but Ray drops him. Why the referee isn’t counting Anderson when he’s down is anyone’s guess. Ray knocks Anderson out with the chain, drawing blood. Anderson makes it up to his feet AGAIN but staggers in front of the table in the corner. A spear through the table is enough to retain the title at 17:30.

Rating: B. This match did something that is the best sign you can have in wrestling: they had me believing that something was possible when there was no way it was going to happen. The crowd was WAY into Anderson here and that’s a good sign for TNA. They need some fresh blood at the top and it’s been awhile since Anderson was up there. Good stuff here but the crowd carried a lot of it.

Anderson is taken out on a stretcher but Ray chases him down and rips the cut off his back. A piledriver on the stage gets rid of Anderson, probably until BFG.

ODB is excited about the change to be Knocked Up Champion next week.

Here are Storm and Gunner with something to say. Storm wants to drink and Gunner wants to fight so why not do both things? James wants some opponents so here are Chavo and Hernandez. Chavo talks about how Storm is the second greatest tag team wrestler in TNA and how Gunner is the second strongest man in TNA. Guerrero wants a match so Gunner accepts it for next week. If the non Champions win, they get a title shot.

Bound For Glory Series Finals: Magnus vs. AJ Styles

Winner gets Bully at Bound For Glory. AJ takes it to the mat with a headlock takeover and does it again since it worked so well the first time. Magnus comes back with a quick suplex and we hit the chinlock. Back up and AJ drop toeholds Magnus into the buckle as Tenay runs down a Bellator card. They slug it out with AJ taking over but Magnus avoids a knee drop. AJ does the same with an elbow drop and gets two off a small package. Cue EGO to attack both guys at about 4:30 to lay everyone out. The bell never rang to end the match. Referee come out to break it up as we take a break.

Back from a break with the two guys slugging it out. No explanation, no restart, no Hogan announcement. Nothing at all as the match just keeps going which is probably the right idea. AJ wins a slugout but Magnus blocks the Superman Forearm before getting two off a Falcon’s Arrow. AJ counters the Cloverleaf into Undertaker’s Hell’s Gate but he has to raise his shoulder to avoid being pinned and the hold is broken.

The Pele gets two on Magnus and there’s the Calf Killer but Magnus hangs on forever and finally makes the rope. Back up and Magnus counters a spinwheel kick into a spinebuster for two. Magnus loads up a superplex but AJ knocks him down three times in a row. The Spiral Tap is enough to send AJ to Bound For Glory at 15:11.

Rating: B. The EGO thing was completely unnecessary but the match was solid either way. Did anyone really think this wasn’t how the Series was going to end though? That’s the one thing TNA needs to work on: telegraphing their major moments. The Series seemed tailor made for Styles to win from day one and that’s exactly what happened. Still though, very good showing from Magnus and that’s what he needed here.

AJ thanks the fans and Magnus, seemingly reaffirming his face status. He got a lot of replies about what he said a few weeks ago, but he didn’t hear from Dixie Carter. Dixie needs to be here next week because AJ has a lot to say to her.

Overall Rating: A-. Questionable ending aside, this was a great show. When TNA cuts out most of the nonsense, they have the ability to put on some very entertaining shows. The problem is most of their regular shows just aren’t that good and you can really see that when they give an effort like they do on these specials. BFG is set though and that’s the good thing, even though the main story has been Hogan vs. Ray for months now.

Results

AJ Styles b. Austin Aries – Middle rope Styles Clash

Magnus b. Bobby Roode – Jackknife pin

Bully Ray b. Mr. Anderson – Spear through a table

AJ Styles b. Magnus – Spiral Tap

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