Impact
Date: June 4, 2004
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

I found this online and had always wanted to do it so here you go. This is the debut episode of Impact, still coming from Orlando and on Fox Sports Net at I believe 3pm EST on Friday afternoons. TNA still hadn’t even had a three hour PPV yet and I doubt Victory Road had even been announced yet, meaning we’re still in the days of the weekly two hour PPVs. Jeff Jarrett is currently champion, having won the title just two days earlier. Let’s get to it.

They still have the six sided ring here.

Team Canada vs. Amazing Red/Sonjay Dutt/Hector Garza

Team Canada is Petey Williams, Eric Young and Bobby Roode. Another very different idea from this point is the time limit on screen. Non-title matches only have ten minute time limits and title matches get thirty minutes. If the match goes to a time limit draw, a judge will decide the winner. The Canadians all bail to the floor to start and there’s the triple dive. We start in the ring with Eric Young (with BIG bushy hair) getting beaten up by Amazing Red until the Canadians take Eric out.

Roode pounds away on Red as the power member of the Canadians, getting two off an elbow. There’s also an ESPN style bottom line, running down results of recent TNA PPVs. Petey gets two off a middle rope bulldog and Coach Scott D’Amore gets in a cheap shot of his own. Back to Roode for a nice suplex before knocking Dutt and Garza out to the floor.

Red comes back with a simultaneous headscissors to Roode and DDT to Young, allowing for the hot tag to Garza. Roode takes him down with a tilt-a-whirl powerbomb as everything breaks down. Red gets two on Roode off a springboard hurricanrana but Petey snaps off the Canadian Destroyer to take Red out. Roode’s Razor’s Edge is countered into a hurricanrana by Dutt, setting up a corkscrew moonsault from Dutt for the pin.

Rating: C. This was fine for an opener with most of the guys busting out all of their dives. It’s the standard formula of throwing some fast paced guys out there to open up a show and it still works as well as anything else. It’s always fun to see how big starts like Roode got their starts as he looked good here.

We recap Jarrett winning the title in the first King of the Mountain match.

Tenay and West talk about how awesome TNA is and introduce a highlight package from their first two years. This includes Toby Keith in TNA…and that’s it. Apparently more highlights are coming next week.

We run down the card for Wednesday’s show.

Shark Boy vs. Abyss

Sharky goes after Abyss and bites his way out of a chokeslam. A high cross body is caught in an easy slam before the Black Hole Slam ends this quick. Total squash for Abyss.

Popeye hugs Shark Boy. Yes the same Popeye you’re thinking of.

Tag Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Kid Kash/Dallas

AMW is challenging. The idea is Kash and Dallas have been ducking the only team they know can take the titles but tonight they’re out of places to run. The winners here have to defend against the winners of a fan poll next Wednesday night. Kash and Storm get us going with the Cowboy taking him down by the arm. Off to Harris for a clothesline and bulldog for two but Dallas makes the save.

Back to Storm who gets caught in a hot shot, allowing for the tag off to the big man Dallas. We take a break and come back with Storm superkicking Kash down, only to have Dallas make the save at two. Kash goes to the corner and climbs onto Kash’s shoulders but misses the moonsault, allowing for the hot tag off to Harris. A cross body and clothesline get two each on Dallas as everything breaks down. Dallas loads up Storm in a reverse Razor’s Edge before flipping him down onto his back for a frog splash from Kid but Harris spears Kash down. Dallas kicks Harris in the face but Storm rolls him up for the pin and the titles.

Rating: C+. Basic tag formula here with a title change to give the show some historical significance. AMW continues to be the best team ever in TNA as they have that chemistry that you only see in great teams. Kash and Dallas were just placeholder champions until AMW stopped their singles stuff over the last month or so.

Video on the World X Cup.

Here’s Dusty Rhodes who is acting as the judge in case matches go to the time limit. Dusty talks about tradition and drops names like Thesz, the Funks, the Briscos, AJ Styles and Ron Killings. Not quite the same level but nice idea. Now on to Jeff Jarrett, who slapped tradition in the face when he won the title back earlier this week. Cue Jarrett (West: “The thirty time NWA Champion!”) who says he used to look up to Dusty but that was twenty years ago when Dusty was in the twilight of his career.

If Dusty needs the $200, there are better ways to get it than standing here in Jarrett’s ring. Jeff speaks in cowboy terms, talking about how Dusty is John Wayne and Jeff will give him five paces to get out of Dodge. Dusty slaps him with the cowboy hat and beats on the champion, only to have Jeff come back and load up the guitar until Ron Killings makes the save. Jeff cracks the guitar over Killings’ head but BG James and Konnan make the real save with James swearing vengeance.

Video on the X-Division.

There’s a fourway match for a shot at Kazarian’s X Title. Vince Russo, director of authority, won’t say who the fourth man is.

Chris Sabin vs. Michael Shane vs. Elix Skipper vs. AJ Styles

Styles is a mystery man, revealed about twenty seconds after Russo wouldn’t reveal him. This is his first of about 85 returns to the X-Division. It’s a wild brawl to start as thankfully we don’t have tags in this. Shane and Styles are the only ones left in the ring and AJ does that sweet drop down into a dropkick spot, only to be taken down by a springboard missile dropkick from Sabin.

Skipper kicks Sabin down for two but Shane is back up with forearms. A wheelbarrow suplex puts Skipper down again as the fans are all over Shane. AJ pulls Michael out to the floor but gets suplexed down for his troubles. Skipper slams Sabin for two but gets caught in an Edgecution for two for Sabin. Chris escapes a rollup from AJ and gets two of his own off a springboard tornado DDT.

Shane is back in with a belly to belly on Sabin but gets crotched by AJ, allowing Elix to walk the ropes into a hurricanrana to send Michael to the floor. AJ sends Sabin to the floor and hits a big flip dive to take Skipper down as well. Shane loads up a superkick to Sabin, only to have AJ springboard in with a sunset flip, only to roll through into the Styles Clash for the pin and the title shot.

Rating: C+. Nice insane X-Division match to show off what the X-Division was all about. Styles winning was pretty obvious but that doesn’t make it a bad thing. He’s one of those guys you have to showcase on the first TV show and they did a great job at it here. It’s also still weird to see Sabin as just another guy.

Kazarian comes out for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a solid show actually. They covered a wide variety of stories and parts of the company as well as building up for future shows. That’s a really good job for a debut show, but the fact that they had two years of material already helped them out a lot. Good stuff here though and much better than I was expecting.

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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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TNA Weekly PPV #13
Date: September 25, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay

So after last week’s near disaster we’re back to Tennessee for more of TNA’s early nonsense. This week our main event is Jarrett vs. BG James to keep up the feud that no one is really interested in but it’s Jarrett’s company so there’s not much else you can do. Other than that we’ve got Lynn vs. Killings again, although this time for the X Title. Let’s get to it.

We open in the back with Siaki and Lynn brawling due to Sonny costing Lynn the world title last week.

Tenay and West run down the card.

Sonny Siaki vs. Jerry Lynn

Siaki is a more generic heel now and isn’t dressed like Elvis anymore. Red takes him out before Siaki can eve get to the ring with a senton followed by a shooting star off the apron. They head inside where Siaki comes back with a flapjack and neckbreaker for two, only to have Red snap off a pair of kicks. The Amazing one shrugs off some shoulders in the corner to hit a reverse tornado DDT for two more.

Red charges into a backdrop to send him to the floor though, allowing Siaki to drop him onto various metal things. Somewhat geeky manager Mortimer Plumtree is watching from the ramp. Back in and Siaki gets a few near falls off a belly to belly suplex before putting on a quick bearhug. Red fights out and seems to leave a leapfrog a bit short. Oh wait he landed on Siaki’s back on purpose to turn it into a sunset bomb for two. Red hits a kind of STO off the middle rope but misses some kind of a dive off the top, allowing Siaki to hit a kind of neckbreaker for the pin.

Rating: C+. Good opener here with power vs. speed which almost never fails. Red was a flip machine which is fine, as Siaki played the heel role well at this point. I don’t remember Red being around much before this so seeing him was a nice surprise for the fans. He would be a big cult favorite for a long time.

Post match Jorge Estrada pops up on the stage and says before tonight is over, he’s getting Siaki’s Elvis gear. I’ve heard of worse reasons for a feud.

In the back, Ron Killings is beating up Amazing Red, shouting that he’s getting rid of the X-Division because it devalues the world title.

We recap America’s Most Wanted (Harris and Storm) winning the tag belts last week.

Tag Titles: James Storm/Chris Harris vs. Brian Lee/Ron Harris

This is a tables match and Harris/Storm aren’t known as AMW yet. For the sake of simplicity, only Ron Harris will be referred to as Harris here. The challengers jump them to start and only one person has to go through the table for the win. It’s Lee pounding on Chris to start but Chris comes back with a backdrop and clothesline to put both guys on the floor. Chris dives on Lee but gets caught, only to have Storm dive as well to take everyone down.

Another brawl breaks out as the tables haven’t been a factor yet. Harris pounds Chris down before it’s back to Lee for more slow pounding. Harris slides in a table and sets it up in the corner but Storm makes the save. After Storm is sent out, Harris powerslams Chris down instead of sending him through a table because Harris isn’t that bright. He does the same thing with a suplex and it’s off to Lee for some of the worst elbow drops you’ll ever see. He basically pulls his elbow up before hitting Chris’ chest.

Lee misses a top rope knee drop and Chris makes the tag off to Storm. Everything breaks down and Harris is knocked to the floor. Lee is sent to the apron but manages to clothesline both champions down. AMW fights up and knocks Lee off the apron through a table which I don’t remember being set up to retain.

Rating: D-. Not only did the match suck, but did we really need a gimmick to protect RON FREAKING HARRIS and Brian Lee? TNA is trying to push AMW as a big deal but they can’t even get a clean pin over these two lunkheads? Last week there was the mess with the ropes and now they have to have a tables match? Is Ron Harris’ spot THAT important? The match sucked too as the tables were barely a factor.

Post match Harris beats up the champions and puts Storm through a table. Security comes out to break it up until Don Harris, Ron’s twin brother, comes out for a staredown. The champions are a complete afterthought here, and we get the last thing we need here: ANOTHER guy named Harris.

In the parking lot, Bruce gets into a fight with a handicapped woman named Sara the Ticket Lady. Can we please end this character already?

Here’s Ron Killings to complain about how bad of a town “Trashville” is. Truth complains about rats and says the fans wouldn’t like them in their bed. That’s either a stupid line or a REALLY clever insider lingo joke but we’ll go with the former. He’s also not happy with the prejudice going on around here because he hasn’t seen Ricky Steamboat since he won the title. Truth doesn’t like not having merchandise or a private dressing room and as he’s starting to complain about the X-Division, here’s BG James.

James talks about a posse in his pants and their time back in the WWF where James stood up for Truth with the boys in the back. They go back and forth with stupid lines and the brawl is on with BG taking over. BG says that just unlike Demi Moore and Tom Cruise, he can handle the Truth. Next.

Brian Lawler and his girlfriend April argue about nothing in particular. At least I think they do as you can hear JB hyping up the card to the live crowd in the background. I mean he’s drowning out the interview.

AJ Styles vs. Low Ki

This is 2/3 falls and the winner gets a shot at the X Title. Feeling out process to start as AJ cranks on the arm before they head to the mat for a headlock by Styles. Back up and Low Ki escapes the wristlock and chops away, only to be taken down by an atomic drop. Low Ki sends him to the floor and hits a running flip attack off the apron to take over again. Back in and a hard kick to AJ’s back gets two and it’s back to the chops to the neck.

AJ crotches him on the top rope and hits a backbreaker/gutbuster combo to take over again. A nice dropkick in the corner gets two for Styles but Low Ki comes back with some chops. Off to a chinlock with AJ’s knee in Low Ki’s back for a few seconds before a double clothesline puts both guys down. Back up again and Low Ki hits what we would call the Disaster Kick for two before putting on the seated Dragon Sleeper for the submission and the first fall.

The second fall begins with Low Ki being sent throat first into the middle rope and clotheslined down for two. A delayed suplex puts Ki down and AJ pounds away. Styles hits a standing enziguri to put Low on the floor, but as he heads out, Low Ki kicks Styles in the head. AJ slams him down onto the ramp to break another Dragon Sleeper before we head back inside. A sunset bomb is countered by Low Ki but AJ keeps rolling into a sunset flip for the pin and the second fall.

AJ poses so Low Ki kicks him square in the jaw to send him to the floor. Once they’re both on the floor, AJ takes out Low’s knee before firing off kicks to the knee back inside. They both go up to the middle rope and after the Styles Clash is broken up, AJ comes off with a shin breaker to Low Ki. Off to a modified spinning toe hold but Low Ki rolls through it for two. Low Ki rolls through a powerbomb into a rana for two but can’t hook the Dragon Sleeper again. After a somewhat botched rollup attempt, AJ hits the Clash for the pin and the title shot next week.

Rating: C+. Not bad here but the lack of selling got annoying after awhile. I’m still not a fan of Low Ki at all as the kicking drives me crazy, but at least he threw in some ranas here to keep things fresher. AJ getting back into the X Title picture was a solid idea as he and Lynn had the best matches in the company so far. Not bad at all here.

Jarrett says he’ll eliminate Hall, Waltman and BG to get the title that he wants.

Elix Skipper/Brian Lawler vs. Scott Hall/Syxx-Pac

Skipper slips while trying to moonsault into the ring. Lawler makes sure to cover up his girlfriend’s body during the entrance. Pac and Skipper start things off with Elix getting a crotch chop for his efforts. Hall gives Elix one of the same, sending Skipper into such a rage that he misses a spin kick. A second attempt connects with Pac’s jaw and it’s off to Hall vs. Lawler. Hall throws the toothpick at Lawler, sending him out to the floor in a fit. Back in, more stalling, more yelling at the girlfriend.

Off to Skipper again before Lawler has any contact at all. At least he earned his paycheck tonight. Anyway Elix gets pounded down and chokeslammed for two before bailing to the floor. Some double teaming by the heels allows them to crotch Hall on the post and it’s off to Lawler for some biting and punching. A suplex puts Hall down and it’s off to Skipper for a top rope ax handle.

Hall puts Skipper down with a belly to back suplex but let’s look at Lawler yelling at Don West for talking to April. Off to Syxx who cleans house. An X-Factor gets two on Skipper with Lawler making the save. Everything breaks down and Pac misses the Bronco Buster on Skipper. Lawler and Hall fight as Elix goes up top, only to dive into the X-Factor for the pin.

Rating: D. These matches with the big stars are getting to be insufferable. They’re sloppy, by the book and really dull all the way throughout. I have no idea why Elix Skipper was involved in the match here but at least he was someone young and different from the regular “stars”. Nothing to see here at all.

Post match Jarrett runs out to beat down Hall and Pac.

AJ implies that he wants a ladder match for the title.

Bruce comes out and calls himself the only woman in TNA. Sara the Ticket Lady comes out and yells and that’s about it.

Kid Kash vs. Jorge Estrada

Feeling out process to start with Estrada taking over with an armdrag. Mortimer Plumtree is watching again as Jorge headscissors Kash down and clotheslines him to the floor. Jorge leaves a suicide dive WAY short and lands on his head in a SICK crash. Back in and Kash takes over with a double springboard backsplash for two back inside. Estrada thankfully doesn’t have a broken neck and comes back with a hiptoss and a standing shooting star for two.

Jorge goes up but Kash shoves the referee into the ropes to crotch him down. A top rope rana brings Estrada down but Kash charges into an elbow in the corner. Kash pokes him in the eye and hits a DDT for two, only to have his rana countered into a powerbomb for two for Jorge. Estrada busts out the TCB (Taking Care of Business), a big flippy dive for the pin.

Rating: C. Just a battle of the flips here which is about what you would expect from a show like this. Estrada isn’t bad and Kash is Kash so the match was entertaining but the lack of selling continues. This is another match which was here to give us the post match stuff because we need our Elvis developments.

Estrada demands his suit back and we see Siaki burning it in a barrel.

We recap Siaki costing Lynn the world title last week.

X-Division Title: Ron Killings vs. Jerry Lynn

This is a lumberjack match and all of the lumberjacks are X-Division guys. Killings tries to bail to the floor early but Low Ki sends him back inside. Back in and Lynn pounds away with a bunch of right hands before bulldogging Truth down for two. Truth bails to the floor again for the same result, only this time he manages a top rope shoulder to take over. Now it’s Jerry getting thrown to the floor for a stomping by Kash. AJ, the only X guy not at ringside, is on the stage with a ladder.

Back in and the challenger gets two off a backbreaker and the same from a powerslam. That works so well that Truth hits another one before putting on a front facelock with his feet on the ropes. Lynn comes back with a reverse DDT and a powerbomb for two more but Truth stops him cold with a low blow. Low Ki is annoyed and yells at Killings, so Jerry rams them together and hits a TKO to retain the title.

Rating: C-. So let me make sure I’ve got this straight. Truth is feuding with the X-Division, so his first match in the feud is against the champion. He loses there, so now he goes down the division to fight lower level talent, all while being the World Champion? Does this sound as stupid to anyone else but me? The match wasn’t great but it was better than last week’s mess.

West hypes up the show for next week.

BG James vs. Jeff Jarrett

Main event time. BG says he’s Jeff’s second mountain and he can’t be negotiated. BG shoulders him down to start and pounds away with right hands. The shaky knee gets two but Jeff comes back with an enziguri to take over. Roadie fires off the juke and jive as we hear about them being together in the WWF back in 95. Out to the floor for some chair shots from James to knock Jeff into the crowd.

Jarrett gets in some chair shots of his own to take over and we go back to ringside. Jeff slams him into the announce table and pounds on the back and face with the chair some more. Back inside we go for the running crotch again in 619 position and a sleeper by Jeff. James fights up after two arm drops and puts on a sleeper of his own, only to be suplexed down by Jarrett.

Both guys are down now which is likely a good thing given the ample gut that Road Dogg has on him at the moment. Back up and James takes over with right hands but the referee takes a shot to the head. Jeff wedges a chair between the ropes but goes face first into it instead, giving James two. Elix Skipper and Brian Lawler come out to help Jarrett but Jeff nails Lawler by mistake, giving BG two more. The referee gets rid of the cronies so Jeff can hit James with a chair for a near fall. BG hits the anal rape pumphandle for two, only to have Skipper and Lawler run in for a DQ.

Rating: D. Could this have been any more overbooked? At the end of the day this BG James/Jarrett/Lawler stuff is completely uninteresting and I’m still not sure why they’re even fighting. The match was your standard Attitude Era brawl and the match was nothing of note. The X Title match really should have gone on last here.

Post match Hall and Syxx-Pac come out for the big brawl but Truth evens the odds and Jarrett and company stand tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. These shows are all suffering from the same problems: the overbooking of the main event and the lack of anyone caring about people like Lawler and BG James. Now I will give them this: they’re logically setting up feuds and stories with what looks like a six man tag set up for next week. The X Title stuff is WAY better than anything else but it’s not enough to get you through a two hour show.

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TNA Weekly PPV #16
Date: October 9, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay

Things are starting to pick up around here and we have a new story with the guy in white attacking Killings. If my memory is correct, that will start a story that lasts for months to come. Other than that tonight we have Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles for the X Title in a ladder match for the second time in two weeks. Also if we’re lucky, we might get more Brian Lawler! Oh and Chris Rock is here for some reason. Let’s get to it.

West and Tenay hype up the show.

We look at the man in white attacking Killings last week.

It’s supposed to be time for the opening match but here’s Ron Killings instead. Truth does some basic “your sports teams suck” stuff so the fans tell him he’s overrated. He says the man in white is the mystery partner in a six man tag later tonight and that’s not cool with the champ. Don West of all people cuts him off, saying that Truth isn’t telling the truth. It was ok when Killings came in last week to jump BG and Syxx-Pac but it’s not cool when someone jumps Killings?

We get a clip from the end of last week’s show and Killings says West just screwed up. Compared to him, West is just a pebble on the beach so Truth wants Syxx-Pac, James or the man in white. Cue James and Syxx-Pac with the former talking about drinking Coronas and how we don’t live in a perfect world.

Curt Hennig walks out, apparently the mystery partner for later tonight. Hennig says he doesn’t like the Truth and Pac says they’re going to do to Truth what his mama should have done years ago. The three come to the ring and here are Jarrett and Lawler for the big brawl. Our heroes clean house and the heels retreat. BG wants the match right now so here’s a referee.

Curt Hennig/BG James/Syxx-Pac vs. Jeff Jarrett/Brian Lawler/Ron Killings

BG and Jarrett get things going but Curt gets the tag before there’s any contact. Mike is immediately running through Curt’s career resume which is one of his trademarks anymore. No contact until about a minute in when Curt hits a single right hand to knock Jeff into the corner. Hennig runs Jeff over and chops Jarrett’s partners down for fun. Back in and Jeff fires off right hands of his own followed by a Hennig neck snap to Hennig, earning him a right hand for gimmick infringement.

Jeff is sent to the floor again as Lawler is freaking out. Back in and it’s Lawler vs. Syxx-Pac with Brian missing a cross body but coming back with a powerslam. Off to the world champion who gets punched in the face by BG but nips back up, only to walk into the big right hand to put Truth back down. Back up and Truth does the splits to avoid a clothesline and hits the ax kick for two. Jarrett comes back in but misses his running crotch attack on the ropes, only to have Truth come back in to keep control.

Lawler gets the tag and drops BG with a neckbreaker for two and it’s back to Jarrett again. Jeff walks into a clothesline and it’s hot tag to Syxx-Pac. Kicks abound but the Bronco Buster hits a boot between the legs as Pac plays some Ricky Morton. Truth powerslams him down and it’s back to Jarrett with a suplex for two. Really basic stuff at the moment and it’s not exactly thrilling. Back to Lawler for a chinlock but Pac fights up with something resembling a Sky High.

The real hot tag (minus the heat) brings in Hennig and house is cleaned. BG chases Jarrett up the ramp with a chair as Lawler hits Hennig low to put him down. A guillotine legdrop gets two as Pac makes the save and gets two of his own on Truth with the X-Factor. Lawler takes out the referee and here’s the man in white, now with Mr. Wrestling III written on the back of his jacket to powerbomb Truth down. The PerfectPlex is enough to pin Truth.

Rating: D+. It wasn’t the worst match in the world and it definitely picked up near the end, but this was a bad sign for the main event picture. At the end of the day, these guys aren’t moving well at all and the matches range from passable at best to boring and sluggish at worst. This wasn’t horrible but at nearly fifteen minutes it went on WAY too long.

BG James is out cold in the back with a pipe next to him.

We look back at the X-Division Title match last week with Jerry Lynn getting “cheated” out of the title, only to have it handed back to him in a decision that screwed over the heel.

Here’s X Champion Jerry Lynn with something to say. He challenges Sonny Siaki, the man that cost him the title last week, to a match on the next show. Cue Sonny who says let’s do it right now. Jerry charges up the ramp but gets thrown off the stage, getting his leg caught in the barricade. Tenay talks about Jerry’s history of knee injuries and we hear Lynn say “not again.” We do the stretcher job as this eats up a few minutes.

Syxx-Pac apologizes to Low Ki over insulting him last week. Low Ki is about to respond but AJ Styles comes in to say that he’s beaten Low Ki four times so he should be Syxx-Pac’s favorite wrestler. AJ leaves and Low Ki and Syxx-Pac agree that Styles is a jerk.

Tag Titles: Spanish Announce Team vs. America’s Most Wanted

Storm starts with Jose and they flip around a bit until James hooks a cross armbreaker of all things. Jose comes back with a dropkick to the knee and something resembling an inverted figure four, only to have Storm grab a nearby rope. Storm comes back with a hurricanrana but Joel comes in with a missile dropkick, only to be speared down by Harris. Jose goes up but gets shoved down onto Joel onto the floor. Harris follows up the shove with a BIG plancha to take both Maximos (the SAT if that wasn’t clear) out.

Back in and AMW double teams Jose, only to have Joel crotch Storm to break up something off the top. A moonsault/neckbreaker combo (think the Motor City Machine Guns’ Skull and Bones but with a moonsault) gets two on Storm but James comes back with a freaky spin into a Downward Spiral for two. Off to Harris for a big tilt-a-whirl powerslam, good for two on Jose. Things settle down a bit and Jose gets two of his own off a tornado DDT.

Joel powerslams Harris and everything breaks down with a moonsault getting two on Storm. James comes back with a big old superkick for a delayed two but a Maximos double team takes the Cowboy down. A guillotine legdrop gets two for Joel but he dives into the Catatonic, only to have Jose break up the pin. The SAT loads up the Spanish Fly but Storm makes the save, setting up an overly complicated double powerbomb into a whip Rock Bottom for the pin to retain the belts.

Rating: B-. This got a bit too sloppy at the end but I’ll take whatever I can get for tag team wrestling int his company at the moment. As has been the case for weeks now, AMW is the only good team around and they’re just looking for some decent opponents. The Maximos aren’t great but they’re better than anyone else AMW has gotten to face so far as champions.

Here’s Chris Rock for the first big celebrity appearance for the company. He says TNA is the best wrestling in the world and invites anyone to come prove it’s not fake….and that’s it. Literally he was in the ring for 30 seconds.

Kid Kash vs. Ace Steel vs. Low Ki vs. Tony Mamaluke

This is a 15 minute iron man match for no reason whatsoever. Steel is most famous for training CM Punk and Colt Cabana and comes out to what would become Abyss’ music. During the entrances, we see a sign saying Totally Nuke Al-Qaeda for what has to be the tenth time tonight, but it’s been in various different places. It’s either a group of fans or a plant by the company for whatever reason. Mortimer Plumtree comes out to do commentary.

We start with the usual multi-man spots where it’s so clear they’re working together that it takes away almost all of the illusion from the match. Low Ki pounds on Kash in the corner as the other two fight in the middle of the ring. The pairings trade off as armdrags abound, setting up a standoff. Mamaluke dropkicks down Low Ki and Steel followed by a double abdominal stretch, only to have Kash springboard in to break it up.

Kash snaps off some hurricanranas before nearly breaking Steel’s neck on a third. Low Ki and Steel head to the floor where Kash hits a huge dive to take both guys out. Naturally Mamaluke dives onto the three of them, putting everyone down on the floor. In a stupid looking move, Kash and Low Ki get up on opposite sides of the apron and springboard at each other for a double clothesline. Steel and Mamaluke come in with legdrops for a double pin, giving them a fall each.

The fans are behind Low Ki as Ace pounds him in the corner as the match slows way down. We have under eight minutes to go as Kash hits a fisherman’s buster on Mamaluke for a pin, leaving Low Ki as the only person with no pins. Mamaluke and Kash head to the floor as Low Ki’s springboard is almost caught in a fireman’s carry, only to roll down into an armbar for a submission for Low Ki, giving us a fourway http://buysoma.net tie. I guess we’re supposed to assume Mike meant pins and submissions when he said you could only win by pin.

Kash slams Mamaluke off the announce table, bouncing him off his head. Low Ki hurts his ankle on a springboard so Steel spins his leg around to work on the leg even more. Five minutes left now as Tony and Kash fight on the floor. Low Ki gets a rollup for two on Steel with 4:20 to go. A Kash powerbomb gets two on Tony with four minutes even left. Everyone knocks everyone else down for the next minute. Steel breaks up a Kash Boston crab and we have two minutes left.

Everyone is moving slowly now so this isn’t exactly thrilling. Kash and Ki chop it out on the floor but head back in with 1:00 left. Steel hits a running corner dropkick on Ki with 30 seconds to go. Mamaluke hooks a Russian legsweep off the apron and into the barricade to take out Kash. We’ve got 15 seconds left as Ki hooks his leg choke on the ropes followed by the spinning springboard enziguri, but Steel falls into the ropes. Ki pulls him back into the ring with two seconds left. Ki grabs a rollup but Plumtree trips him up to give Steel a pin, even though the bell ring before the referee was even on the mat.

Rating: D. Matches like these are the kind of indy nonsense that gets on people’s nerves. I have zero idea what the point was in making this an iron man match other than it sounded good on paper. Surviving a fifteen minute match doesn’t prove you’re tough as anyone should be able to last that long. There was no flow, no story, and a botched ending on top of that. Terribly booked match, but I’m sure I just don’t get REAL wrestling, right?

Here’s NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler because there’s a TNA car in the minor league race. He tries to get us to care about a race but here’s Miss TNA Bruce to interrupt. Bruce makes jokes about Hermie driving a car and demands that he pick a career already. This brings out Jeff Jarrett to insult Sadler and demand a bigger name to drive the TNA car. Sadler makes fun of Jeff for not having any titles but says he respects Ron Killings. He asks if Bruce is a man or a woman and a brawl is on, drawing in Jarrett and BG James for the save. Horribly stupid segment and no one cares about Sadler.

Ron Harris/Sonny Siaki vs. Chris Michaels/Rick Michaels

GET DIFFERENT LAST NAMES ALREADY! This is a #1 contender match between two teams that haven’t teamed together in the company before. Harris and Siaki jump the Michaels to start and take it to the floor. We start with Rick vs. Siaki as Tenay tries to get us to care about Rick’s accomplishments in the indys. Off to Chris vs. Ron with Harris pounding away in the corner. We’re definitely in squash territory here. Chris gets in some armdrags to bring in Rick, only to be thrown down by Ron.

Back to Siaki as this slow destruction continues. Rick comes back with a quick neckbreaker before it’s back to Chris, only to have Harris send him into the barricade. Siaki pounds on Chris a bit more inside but Rick gets the ice cold tag to clean a bit of the house. Sonny hits something resembling a Samoan drop on Chris but Harris breaks up the pin. He tells Siaki to hold Michaels up, only to kick Sonny in the face by mistake, giving Chris the fluke pin.

Rating: F. We just sat through seven and a half minutes for a screwy ending with one team we’ve never seen before beating another team we’ve never seen before. West tries to call this the biggest upset ever in TNA, but it makes the winners 1-0 and the losers 0-1. How is that an upset? On top of that, we’re now in week three of an angle for RON HARRIS. Was there NO ONE ELSE on the roster that could have done this story???

Post match Ron and Sonny slug it out until Don Harris makes the save and beats up Sonny. Just get to the Harris Brother reunion so no one can care again.

Bill Behrens comes out to say that Jerry Lynn can’t wrestle, so the title is vacated. However, due to legal requirements, there will be a title match so it’s Ace Steel vs. AJ Styles for the title in a ladder match instead. Jerry will get a title match with rules of his choosing upon returning. Low Ki comes out to cry foul on the Plumtree interference.

Plumtree and Steel come out to insult Ki and dear goodness I do not care. Plumtree mentions Low Ki trying to beat up Tammy Sytch, which is a reference to a recent indy show that maybe .3% of the audience will have heard of. Ki calls Plumtree a nerd and here’s southern hick Bob Armstrong because there aren’t enough freaking people in this segment. Armstrong makes Ace and Ki for the spot in the title match.

Low Ki vs. Ace Steel

Steel goes right for Ki’s knee like anyone would as this looks more like a UFC fight than a wrestling match. Note that I didn’t say a good UFC fight but a UFC fight nonetheless. Plumtree gets in a chair shot to the bad leg behind the referee’s back to send him to the floor. Armstrong and Behrens say the match is over and Ki wins by DQ.

Armstrong says the X-Division has been a mess since the beginning (not really but thanks for burying the most popular thing you have) so anyone in the X-Division can come out here and be in the ladder match for the title. Well why in the world not.

X-Division Title: Ace Steel vs. Jose Maximo vs. Joel Maximo vs. AJ Styles vs. Kid Kash vs. Tony Mamaluke

The Maximos pull out ladders as AJ suplexes Mamaluke. Everyone goes to the floor for a big springboard shooting star from Styles. Back in and AJ hits the moonsault into the inverted DDT on Joel before taking Jose down as well. There’s a brainbuster to Kash before AJ sends Steel into the barricade. The ladders are finally brought into the ring but Jose dropkicks Mamaluke off the ladder for the save.

Everyone is hit with or sent into a ladder until it’s down to Steel hanging AJ in a tree of woe on a ladder for a baseball slide. Kash rides a ladder down onto AJ as the Maximos are back inside. There’s no flow or anything to this so expect a bunch of random spots for the rest of the match. Joel gets crushed between two ladders in the corner and Styles gets suplexed down by Mamaluke. Kash superplexes Steel down and goes up the ladder, only to be shoved down with ease.

After more brawling, Kash knocks Tony off the ladder but tries a moonsault onto Steel and Jose instead of grabbing the title. Well he never all that bright. AJ rams his shoulder into the ladder to knock it to the floor but completely misses the Maximos he was aiming at. Tony is holding his arm and is likely injured. Styles and Kash both set up ladders and go up, only to be joined by the Maximos.

The Spanish Fly is blocked by Kash so he “hits” a “tornado DDT” on Jose, meaning he grabbed him and kind of fell backwards, driving the top of Jose’s head into the mat. Mamaluke goes up and the ladders collapse before Kash can powerbomb him down. AJ goes up and gets shoved right into the referee who wasn’t needed anyway. Kash dives off the top onto Joel for no apparent reason as Jose and Styles fight on the ladder. AJ rides the ladder down onto Jose who was crushed under both AJ and the ladder.

Kash dropkicks the ladder to take out Mamaluke and Steel, putting everybody down. Joel goes up with Kash and hits a C4 off the ladder followed by a sunset bomb from Styles to Ace, leaving Tony on top. Tony can’t quite hit a tornado DDT on Styles as this mess needs to end. Steel and Joel are fighting on the floor and AJ tosses Mamaluke out to join him. Styles superplexes Kash down and goes up, but here’s freaking Syxx-Pac to suplex him down, climb up and take the title.

Rating: C-. It doesn’t matter. That’s the title of this entire show: it doesn’t matter. These six guys were all working hard, but the match was such a mess and WAY too dangerous to make it work. On top of that, it doesn’t matter though because Syxx-Pac gets to come in and win the title in 30 seconds. That’s what WWE would do with Hornswoggle and it was just as stupid. Horrible way to end things here.

Next week, you guessed it: LADDER MATCH!

Overall Rating: D-. Again, IT DOESN’T MATTER. That iron man match? Didn’t matter. The six guys killing themselves for fifteen minutes? Didn’t matter. The Michaels guys winning? Didn’t matter, as the focus is still on Ron Harris. This was like the brainchild of one of those fans on the internet that drives you crazy and has no idea how wrestling actually works. We had meaningless gimmicks added to matches, stories being ignored for the sake of throwing everyone into one match, and a big SWERVE at the end because why not. This was awful with very little to remember at all. Horrid show.

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Not like Kane, but rather…I mean a guy in a mask who runs in and messes with stuff until running off again.  It’s been used for decades and works quite well every time.  There are a bunch of simple stories like that which can do wonders for the booking, but instead we get the same four ideas or so (how many times can we have the corrupt authority figure, the guy wanting RESPECT and turning heel as a result, “tough love” or the automatic rematch clause?  How often do we get anything beyond an offshoot of one of those ideas?) with people caring less and less each time.

Use some old ideas and freshen things up a bit.

Interesting note: apparently I wrote this up back in May and hit save to draft instead of publish.  I never have been the best tech guy.

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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TNA Weekly PPV #15
Date: October 2, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay

We’re back here after a long absence on my part for two more of these things. The main stories tonight are AJ getting an X Division Title shot and what looks to be a tag match between Sean Waltman/BG James/Scott Hall vs. Brian Lawler/Jeff Jarrett/Elix Skipper. The company still isn’t all that interesting but maybe things will pick up soon. Let’s get to it.

After Tenay runs down the card to start, here are BG James and Syxx-Pac to open things up. BG is here tonight to take care of business but he wants to talk some smack first. They’ve done that before though, but it’s a new day here in TNA. Gay jokes abound and BG wants to fight Jarrett and Elix Skipper right now. James rhymes a lot and says that if Ron Killings is the future of wrestling, the future is grim. Killings may be the future, but BG and Syxx are the past and present.

Waltman says Low Ki isn’t ready for a match against Killings tonight because it should go to one of them. Both BG and Syxx want Killings, more commonly known as the Suntan Superman. BG says they’re white Kryptonite and says the theme from Cops, asking what Killings is going to do when they come for him. Here’s Killings (world champion) to say he thinks the two of them are crazy. Truth says they want the title and the fans chant overrated. Killings makes racial references to set Pac off, who wants a fight right now.

This brings out Jeff Jarrett who wants to know where Scott Hall is for the six man tag tonight. BG says Hall isn’t here but Jarrett has no business complaining about anyone. Jeff says we’ll make the six man a handicap match, allowing Skipper and Lawler to come in through the crowd for the beatdown. The good guys clear the ring and stand tall in just a few seconds though.

Tenay talks about new cable providers carrying TNA.

The announcers run down the card for a few moments.

Amazing Red vs. Shark Boy

The fans are behind Sharky as we get a technical sequence to start. Elix Skipper jumps in on commentary, ranting about being taken out of the main event. The main event is now BG/Syxx-Pac vs. Jarrett/Lawler. Shark Boy works on the leg for a bit and gets two off a neckbreaker. Mortimer Plumtree, generic corporate manager, is watching from the stage. A one knee Codebreaker puts Red down and a missile dropkick is good for two. In a surprising power display, Shark Boy gorilla presses Red out to the floor.

Shark Boy dives onto him to keep the crowd fired up as Skipper keeps ranting about giving someone a beatdown. Red can’t quite avoid a second dive but a third one sends Sharky into the announce table to give Red control. Back in and Red hits a BIG flip dive, nearly missing Shark Boy at the same time.

Both guys head back inside with Shark Boy hitting a middle rope Jackhammer of all things for two. Red comes right back with a middle rope neckbreaker for two of his own. A nice Dead Sea Drop (Diamond Dust) gets a delayed two on Red but a second attempt is countered into a reverse DDT. Red goes up for a quick twisting moonsault and a standing shooting star for the pin.

Rating: C. Take two guys and let them fly around for awhile. Red may fly higher, but he was definitely the sloppier of the two. Shark Boy is much better in the ring than he was given credit for as he’s mainly known as a gimmick guy. The fans were into it though and that’s the point of an opener.

Post match Skipper comes in and lays Red out. Security is beaten up too.

Video on Ron Killings vs. Jerry Lynn from last week, setting up Killings’ war with the X-Division.

Low Ki wants a piece of Syxx-Pac, even though he has a world title match tonight. He’s ready for Killings and is taking the title tonight. Heaven help us if he does.

We’re supposed to have a #1 contenders match for the tag titles but here’s Ron Killings to interrupt. He wants to know what Low Ki is smoking and thinks there’s a conspiracy. Truth demands the match right now so here’s the challenger.

NWA World Title: Low Ki vs. Ron Killings

Killings throws him around to start but Low Ki takes out the leg to send Truth to the floor. Low Ki follows him out but gets sent into the barricade over and over. Ki comes back with a kick and climbs onto the barricade, only to be kicked in the jaw, sending him into the crowd. They fight up to the stage with Low Ki sending Truth into the cages by the entrance. Truth whips him into the side of the ramp and crushes Low Ki with an anvil case to take over.

We head back into the ring with Truth getting a pair of two counts and stomping Low Ki down into the corner. An ax kick puts Low Ki down for two as Plumtree is watching again. Truth cranks on the arms but but Low Ki comes back with something like a Pele kick. The comeback doesn’t work though as Truth pounds him down in the corner again. Another kick to the face puts Truth down again for two as the fans are entirely behind the bald guy.

Low Ki fires off more kicks but walks into something like a Downward Spiral before it’s back to a double armbar. This hasn’t been all that interesting so far. A powerslam puts Low Ki down for two but Truth misses a 450 to give Low Ki an opening. Low Ki hits a spinning springboard kick to the face but can’t make a cover. A running forearm gets two on Truth and it’s off to a Dragon Sleeper on the ropes but it only lasts a few seconds.

Back up and Truth takes it to the corner for a kneeling Muscle Buster, good for two. Low Ki blocks a Stunner and hooks the Dragon Sleeper again, only to have Truth fight out a few seconds later. Truth goes up but gets caught by an enziguri, crotching him on the top. Low Ki goes up for a superplex but gets caught in a sitout front superplex to retain the title.

Rating: C. This picked up a good bit at the end but I couldn’t get into it for the most part. Truth is just kind of there at the moment as champion and the war against the X-Division isn’t doing much for me. Low Ki isn’t a guy I care for most of the time and the title never felt like it was in jeopardy here.

Post match a guy dressed all in white comes in and beats down Truth.

Tenay hypes NWA house shows.

Spanish Announce Team vs. Flying Elvises

The SAT’s are Joel and Jose Maximo and the Elvises are Jimmy Yang and Jorge Estrada. The winners of this get a tag title shot in a week. Joel takes Estrada down and hits a dropkick to the side of the head for two. Estrada comes back with something resembling a Stunner for two and it’s off to Yang. Both Maximos come in and get caught by spinwheel kicks to keep the Elvises in control. Joel gets in a shot to the face and makes the tag off to Jose who gets two off a suplex.

Back to Estrada who takes over on Jose as Plumtree is watching yet again. The Maximos hit a double dropkick for two on the now legal Yang as this match is falling apart. Joel and Jose hit a bad looking sequence with a dropkick each into a sitout powerbomb by Jose for two. Yang comes back with a great looking moonsault press for two as Sonny Siaki is watching from the ramp as well.

Yang enziguris Jose down and it’s hot tag to Estrada who suplexes Joel down and gets two off a Lionsault. Jorge misses a guillotine legdrop and everything breaks down. Yang clotheslines Jose into a sunset flip for two and here’s Siaki on the apron for a tag. Jorge goes to tag him but Siaki drops to the floor, allowing the Maximos to hit a Doomsday DDT for the pin and the title shot.

Rating: D. This was a huge mess and not a good sign for either team. It was a bad looking spotfest with no flow to it whatsoever, but that’s no excuse for the match to be bad. Red and Shark Boy had the same kind of match to open the show but it was light years better than this mess.

Jerry Lynn jumps Siaki in the back for costing him the world title shot. AJ Styles comes in to help Siaki in a double team. They throw Lynn into an anvil case and AJ dances on top of it. It’s as disturbing as it sounds.

Sonny Siaki vs. David Young

Young is most famous for losing something like 100 straight matches. Siaki scores with right hands but gets slammed down and backdropped for his troubles. Sonny bails to the floor for a bit, only to have his face slammed into the apron. Young, a decent sized guy, hits an Asai Moonsault followed by a hurricanrana back inside for two. Siaki comes back with something resembling a slam into a Diamond Cutter for two to take over as the match slows down.

Young is tied up in the Tree of Woe for a running shoulder to the ribs for two as Siaki is in control. David grabs a quick northern lights suplex for two but Sonny takes him right back down with a standing flip legdrop for two of his own. Sonny suplexes him into the corner for two but Young comes back with a spinebuster, apparently his finisher, for no cover. Instead David goes up and misses a moonsault, allowing Siaki to hit the Money Clip (reverse Cross Rhodes) for the pin.

Rating: D+. Nothing special here as Siaki is much better on the mic instead of in the ring. The problem is without the Elvis bit, Siaki is really just a generic heel with nothing all that special in the ring. Young was a guy with a look and some nice high spots but he doesn’t have that it factor that makes you want to watch him. Nothing match but it wasn’t bad.

We get a far too dramatic video on last week’s tag title tables match.

Ron Harris and his new partner Ashley Hudson, an Aussie that I’ve never heard of before, say they’ll win the titles. Ron tells his brother Don to remember their pact.

Tag Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Ron Harris/Ashley Hudson

Oh jeez Storm has guns now. Hudson starts with Storm in a slap off followed by a chase scene around the ring. Back in and Storm slaps Hudson in the back of the head before it’s off to Chris Harris for some double teaming. We get Harris vs. Harris, only to have Storm hit a missile dropkick on Ron followed by a high cross body from Chris for two. Chris spears the legal Hudson down before bringing Storm back in to pound away in the corner.

Hudson finally comes back with a clothesline to bring in Ron for some corner stomping. Some running clotheslines have Storm in trouble before it’s back to Hudson for some choking. Back to Ron for a big boot and a side slam but Storm avoids a charge in the corner. Hot tag brings in Chris as everything breaks down. The Catatonic (spin out Rock Bottom) gets two on Hudson but Ron accidentally kicks Hudson down, giving Storm the pin.

Rating: D. This was long and dull. I don’t know what the appeal of Ron Harris and whatever partner of the week he has is, but just get us to the Harris Brothers reunion so no one can care about it and we can move on. AMW is good but they’re the only decent team in the tag division and it’s really showing.

Post match Ron beats Hudson and Chris Harris down. Don Harris comes out to break up the fight and stares his brother down before punching him in the face to stop Ron.

Jerry Lynn is banged up.

X-Division Title: Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles

Jerry is defending and this is a ladder match. AJ goes right for the bad neck with forearms and a snap across the top rope to take over. Jerry comes back with a dropkick but is easily taken down by a neckbreaker. It’s ladder time with AJ laying Jerry on top of the steel for a slingshot hilo. The ladder is catapulted into Jerry’s face but AJ wants a chair instead of the title. Jerry dropkicks him off the apron before baseball sliding the ladder into AJ’s face for good measure.

Lynn’s climb for the belt is quickly stopped so he shoves the ladder straight into AJ’s head to put him down. The ladder is set up in the corner but AJ counters a whip to send Jerry into the steel. Jerry blocks a tornado DDT off the ladder but AJ slams him down and climbs the ladder, only to get taken down by a sunset bomb. A clothesline puts AJ down as the Plumtree stuff continues. AJ comes back with a Death Valley Driver into the ladder and a springboard legdrop to crush the bad neck even more.

Styles goes up but Jerry easily pulls him back down as Sonny Siaki comes back down to ringside. The distraction lets AJ break up a climb attempt and both guys are down again. AJ dropkicks Jerry down off the ladder and the fans are getting into this again. Styles bridges the ladder between the ring and the barricade but Lynn escapes a slam and suplexes AJ onto the ladder.

Back inside again and Jerry goes up, only to have AJ shove the ladder over, sending Jerry into the referee. They fight over a chair until Jerry sweeps AJ’s leg out and hits a Fameasser onto the chair. AJ is busted open and Lynn pounds at the cut with a violence you don’t often see from him. Jerry still can’t get the title down though as AJ tries a powerbomb, only to have the champion counter into a hurricanrana.

Both guys slowly climb up and they slug it out on top with Lynn hitting something like a suplex to take both guys down. Jerry goes up again but this time he catches a diving AJ with a midair clothesline. Lynn climbs the corner but has to dive onto Siaki instead of staying on Styles. AJ hits a huge springboard dive to take Jerry out, landing almost entirely on Lynn’s neck. AJ goes up and pulls down the title to win.

Rating: B. Another good match between these guys but they need to move on to someone else. They’re on the verge of losing their heat as the people are going to start getting bored. At the end of the day, you can only have good matches like this for so long before the quality starts to slip. Still though, good stuff and it opens a new feud with Siaki for Jerry.

Post match Lynn goes for Siaki but AJ and Sonny beat him down. The rest of the X-Division makes the save. Bob Armstrong comes out to say that Jerry gets the title back because of the interference. There’s going to be another ladder match with AJ getting yet another shot. That’s totally bogus as there are no DQ’s in ladder matches, meaning AJ broke no rules.

Don West hypes up next week’s show. Chris Rock will be here next week filming parts of Head of State.

Jeff Jarrett/Brian Lawler vs. Syxx-Pac/BG James

Before the match BG does Scott Hall’s hey yo to a modest reaction at best. BG rambles about payback and Pac says he’s going to take Lawler’s woman but if Lawler wins, he can watch Pac and the girlfriend. After that nonsense, it’s time for the main event that almost no one cares about. Naturally it’s a huge brawl before anyone gets in the ring with people being rammed into various objects.

We finally start with Pac vs. Jarrett in the ring and there’s even a referee now. Jarrett takes over with a nice dropkick but Pac comes back with a spinwheel kick to the jaw. Jeff gets up a boot in the corner and it’s off to Lawler. The fans chant Jerry’s Kid which applies to either Jarrett or Lawler. Pac clotheslines Lawler down and brings in BG for some finger bending (seriously) and right hands. A Jarrett distraction allows Lawler to superkick BG down, followed by some fish hooking of BG’s jaws.

There’s a bulldog for two on James and Lawler demands that April watch. Brian pounds in right hands to BG’s head but a second bulldog attempt results in Lawler being crotched in the corner. Hot tag brings in Pac to clean house, including a sitout powerbomb for two on Jarrett. Both heels get Bronco Busters but the X-Factor to Lawler is badly botched. Cue Elix Skipper to lay Pac out, giving Lawler two.

Jeff hooks a sleeper on Pac but it’s only good for two arm drops. Pac hooks a sleeper of his own but gets sent into the ropes for the break. A double clothesline takes the heels down and it’s back to BG. House is cleaned and everything breaks down with BG pinning Lawler with the pumphandle slam.

Rating: D+. This was the usual from these guys: nothing special and the fans don’t care about them for the most part. I’m not even sure why most of these guys are fighting in the first place. I believe Jarrett disrespected BG’s dad and that’s about it. No one cares about Lawler and the reactions confirm that theory. It’s not a horrible match but it didn’t help the story at all.

Post match Skipper comes in for the 3-2 beatdown but Amazing Red and the SATs come out for the save. It’s a huge brawl with Killings coming out as well to help the heels to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Well I’ve seen worse, but that’s not something you want to hear about a company that’s not even four months old yet. There’s a lot of WCW in this company: the stuff in the middle and the bottom of the card is good but the main event stuff doesn’t do much for anyone. Still though, this went by relatively quickly and they’re setting up stuff for the future which is a good sign. Not a bad show here.

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So the big stories at the moment are Hogan possibly leaving after October 1, TNA possibly taking Impact off the road by the spring and Mickie James’ contract expiring and her walking away.  We’ll lump these together into one post and say…..1. This is I believe the third time in four years that it appears Hogan won’t be at Bound For Glory no matter what I believe?  At the end of the day, Hogan is probably more trouble than he’s worth.  I’d assume he’s the highest paid guy in TNA and he’s on TV about five minutes a week anymore.  I doubt Hogan is leaving forever, but I can’t imagine he won’t be at BFG.

2. Impact off the road would probably be a good thing.  It has to cost a good deal of money for them to change venues every other week and with only four regular PPVs a year, the financial burden must be weighing them down.  Yeah it’s annoying to have it in the same place every week, but if it’s what keeps them financially sound, so be it.

3. Mickie James leaving puts them at four active Knockouts: ODB, Velvet Sky, Gail Kim and Tessmacher, who hasn’t been in a match for months now.  Taryn is on maternity leave and will be gone for months.  But remember people: Ivelisse just doesn’t have what it takes to be on Impact.  All she has are looks, ability, charisma and in ring abilities, plus an appeal to the Latino demographic.  Just not worth it.

In short, TNA is in a big state of flux at the moment and it’s hard to say where it comes out.  It should be interesting though.

No Surrender 2008
Date: September 14, 2008
Location: General Motors Centre, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

Someone requested this and I needed to do a TNA show anyway so here you are. This is kind of an awkward time for TNA as the Mafia hasn’t formed yet and there isn’t a big angle going on. The main event is supposed to be a four way with Joe vs. Booker vs. Cage vs. Angle but Booker had travel issues of some sort and can’t be here. Other than that we have an MMA match because EVERYONE that watches wrestling wants to see MMA right? Let’s get to it.

The opening video talks about how some say these people are performers and how this may not be a sport. Just let us know it’s fake guys! That all isn’t true apparently and it took a lot for all four guys in the main event to get here tonight.

Oh one thing more: like I said Booker was never here. The fans on PPV were told that. The 3,500 people in the arena were left in the dark about it and were confused. Nice guys up there in TNA. This is what I mean by not thinking.

The stupid intro video is still going now and runs over three minutes. GET ON WITH THE SHOW!

Here’s Sting. Not for a match but because he wants to talk I guess. He’s on the verge of a heel turn but is still very popular because he’s Sting. Naturally we need to turn him heel right Russo? Sting talks about how good it is to be back in Canada and says he’s in the hiz-ouse. Oh sweet merciful crap don’t start talking like that Stinger. Big ovation for Sting who has to pause because of all the cheering.

He gets the winner of the main event tonight at Bound For Glory but that’s not what he’s here to talk about. Instead he wants to talk about respect. Sting keeps flubbing his lines and you can tell he’s scrambling for some reason. He goes on a rant about respect and how some of the guys behind the curtain have no respect for anyone at all. Sting compares himself to Bret Hart and says that he’s fighting for the same thing as Bret did. He’s not retiring until guys like AJ and Joe know what respect is.

We’re over 10 minutes into the show now and we haven’t even started the first entrance yet.

Christian got here earlier today. Well good to see that he didn’t get lost an hour away from his hometown.

Booker won’t be here tonight. Again, the live fans were never told about this. There was a hurricane or something like that.

Now we run down the already purchased show to waste more time.

HOKEY SMOKE IT’S A MATCH AND WE’RE ONLY FOURTEEN MINUTES IN!

Rock N Rave Infection/Christy Hemme vs. Prince Justice Brotherhood

The Brotherhood is Super Eric (Young in a bad superhero gimmick), Stone Cold Shark Boy and Curry Man in one of the dumbest gimmicks even by TNA standards. The Infection is a bad rock band gimmick that played Guitar Hero controllers and had the smoking hot Christy Hemme as their manager. Eric vs. Rave to start with Eric taking over.

Eric gets a plancha to the floor which gets two back in the ring. Lance Rock comes in which gets his team nowhere so it’s off to Shark Boy. Thesz Press takes down Rock again as the good guys are dominating. Shark Boy is the same Steve Austin parody that was on Impact the other night. Over to Curry Man who gets a pop for no apparent reason other than a potential lack of oxygen in the arena.

Curry Man tags in Christy and we’re in a comedy match officially. He shoves her off and then realizes where his head was so he offers to go back into it again. Funny spot. Off to Shark Boy and Rave. Back drop sends Shark Boy (I refused to refer to him as Sharky like West and Tenay keep doing) to the floor as momentum changes.

Jawbreaker almost gets Shark Boy a tag but Rock N Rave get something close to a 3D but into a knee instead of a cutter. Christy comes in and is dropped onto Shark Boy by Rock. Cold tag to Curry Man (I thought he was hot and spicy?) who gets a flying hip to Rock. He and Hemme dance a bit and she gets kissed. Rollup gets two but Rock drills Curry so that Christy can hit the Flying Firecrotch Guillotine (don’t ask) for two. Chummer (Stunner) to Christy and a double Death Valley Driver to the guys from Curry Man end this.

Rating: C+. Basic fast paced and fun match to start us off here which is often times the best idea to open a show. Christy was the only good thing about the Infection as she looked great as the groupie. This was just here for comedy and to warm the crowd up and it did that rather well. Good opener.

Recap of Kong vs. ODB. Kong had been completely dominant and ODB is the only Knockout that isn’t terrified of her. Naturally that means falls count anywhere. Don’t you see the clear connection?

Awesome Kong vs. ODB

Funny sign: “Kong Ate My Sign” and there’s a chuck out of it which looks like teeth marks. I’m still not sure I get the point of ODB but she got pops (put her on TNN!) so I guess that makes sense. Saed, Kong’s manager, jumps ODB during her entrance/playing to the crowd/wasting time and we’re off.

ODB fights Kong off and apparently falls count anywhere means hardcore as there’s a table. At least ODB has pants on here. We head into the crowd as this is going to be a big old brawl. Naturally you can’t see much but ODB being in blue-green helps a lot. Trash can to Kong has her in trouble. Up to the ramp where Kong tosses ODB around and gets a slam for two.

All Kong here as ODB feels herself up after a chop for no apparent reason. Thesz Press on the floor gets two for ODB. Hey let’s spank the overly large woman for no apparent reason. We get ready to use the table that they set up earlier. ODB gets a chair from somewhere and gets a shot in with it for two.

The fans want tables. I wonder if they’ll settle for just one. Kong reverses a slam into an attempted Awesome Bomb but another counter by ODB. It winds up failing as Kong continues taking over. Kong goes up but gets caught in a powerbomb as Saed’s distraction fails.

ODB out to the floor where Saed hammers away. Apparently ODB took the burqa (scarf over the face) off on Impact and Saed isn’t happy. The less fat one fights her off and tries to come off the top but jumps into a chokeslam. Ok scratch the chokeslam as it’s a splash in the corner and a spinning backfist.

Instead of covering though she and Saed set up another table in the corner. ODB gets a shot from her flask (as in a drink) as West says she needs some Liquid Courage (doesn’t sound bad right now. When’s their next show anyway?). She spits it in Kong’s face which doesn’t mean anything as a spinebuster through the table from Kong ends this.

Rating: D+. It’s ok but it’s another of those silly “hardcore” brawls that WWF perfected in the late 90s. Definitely not a bad match but these two got kind of boring to see fight over and over again. Saed never really clicked that well and I’m not sure I got the point of her other than as an aide to Kong. Not bad but pretty weak overall.

The absolutely gorgeous Lauren is with Christian who says this is TNA, not the Hills. Uh, ok? OH! The Hills was a really bad reality show on MTV at this time. Totally forgot about that and it gives me hope for Jersey Shore dying soon. He’s a wrestler that has sacrificed everything for this business and he owes everything he has to it. It all started an hour from here and everyone told him he’d never do it and never make it to the top which he proved wrong. Tonight is more important than when he won his first two world titles because tonight it’s at home. Great stuff here. Generic, but great.

We recap Team 3D vs. Abyss/Morgan. This is during the Abyss loves pain thing which went on for like a year and stopped being interesting/making sense about three days in. He’s been in an institution for six months and is in control of his violent urges now apparently. Morgan is there just because he wants to be I guess.

Team 3D vs. Abyss/Matt Morgan

Abyss has the gray mask on now. Abyss vs. Ray to start us off. Wow that sounds awful beyond words. Mike points out how rare it is to have the Dudleys being at a weight disadvantage which is rather true. Ray with a Rock Bottom for two. Off to D-Von and we actually hear that Abyss has been a world champion. You never hear about that anymore and I’m not quite sure why.

Morgan and Abyss take over so the Dudleys say they’re out of here. Morgan goes after them and the fight is on again. Back in the ring and D-Von works over the knee of Abyss. Off to Ray who does the same which makes me think they’re needing a nap already. The fans, again, want tables. Morgan comes in and the fight is finally on.

Not much of a match so far as this is a lot of laying around and bad brawling. Morgan takes D-Von down with a big shoulder block as this finally speeds up a bit. Morgan does Old School to massive booing. He dives off the top to hit D-Von with a cross body which gets the crowd behind him again.

Morgan sets for the Hellavator on D-Von but Johnny Devine, the associate of Team 3D, pops Morgan with a chair from behind for two. Everything is already broken down if you didn’t get that yet. Double clothesline takes down 3D and brings in Abyss. Shock Treatment to Devine and hits ten punches in the corner to D-Von. Odd sight for some reason.

In a very impressive spot the Dudleys manage to get a Doomsday Device on Abyss. That was incredibly impressive. Morgan saves and Abyss is up seconds later. Chokeslam to D-Von gets two. Abyss picks up a chair but can’t manage to swing it. D-Von gets it but has it punched into his face by Morgan and the Black Hole Slam ends it.

Rating: C. Eh this wasn’t too bad. It’s the Dudleys vs. some random pairing so it’s kind of hard to really get into it. Morgan had so many random partners (ok so it was more like two) that it was hard to differentiate between them. Nothing special here but it wasn’t anything horrible so we’ll say it’s right in the middle.

Post match Ray cracks Morgan with a chair and does the same to Abyss but Ray puts the chair in Abyss’ hands and I think you know what the idea here is.

Various friends of the people in the X Title triple threat say their friend will win. It sounds like the beginning of a really stupid puzzle.

X–Division Title: Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Petey Williams vs. Consequences Creed

Let’s get this over with as it’s a random EVIL Muslim against two other guys. Williams is champion coming in. Creed is some big time American hero character like Apollo Creed. Williams is the home country favorite and gets a modest reaction. Rhaka Khan is with him for some reason. Sheik hits the floor early so it’s Williams vs. Creed.

Earl Hebner is the referee so we get the YOU SCREWED BRET chants. Bashir back in now and it’s your usual mostly entertaining spot fest for awhile now. Big dive by Creed takes both guys out and then he celebrates with the fans who likely should hate him. Two minutes in and the fans think this is awesome already. Williams gets a slingshot Codebreaker on Creed.

This is so spotty it’s unreal. By spotty I mean it’s do this move then go onto the next one. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but at the same time it’s not as fun as it should be as it could be better structured. This is because of Shane Sewell being an overly fair referee so it’s supposed to just be Creed but Bashir said there was something fishy going on and it’s a triple threat.

Williams takes down both guys and the fans are into him. Basically the idea is that if he hits the Canadian Destroyer the roof will go off. A double one doesn’t work as both guys realize they have a guy helping them break it up and break it up with ease. Bashir gets a middle rope suplex on Williams but Creed dives in with a double guillotine legdrop for two. Destroyer to Creed is teased but Creed counters.

Williams gets a Sharpshooter to Bashir and of course we reference Montreal because EVERYONE wants to hear about that again right? That nearly 45 seconds of selling by Creed might be more than the whole match combined. The selling here is really quite bad and that’s what’s hurting it a lot. With all this lack of selling why should I buy into the moves? As I say that Williams gets the running Destroyer (flip Piledriver) and Bashir steals the pin and the title.

Rating: C+. It’s ok, but the problem with TNA is the same that WWE had: why in the world should I care about these lightweight matches? There’s no story to it other than a referee that has nothing to do with this match. It’s just there. There were some nice spots and some cool moves, but this match came and went and I’m not going to remember it in fifteen minutes or so, which is the truth of almost every X Division match that doesn’t have AJ in it. The same is true today and that’s not good.

Samoa Joe, the world champion, is here, over an hour into the show.

We recap the Knockouts Title match between Wilde and Love. Angelina is a witch and wants the title. That’s about it.

Knockouts Title: Taylor Wilde vs. Angelina Love

If nothing else Velvet looks great in more or less a bikini bottom. Oh and they have Cute Kip with them to annoy me. Wilde has one of those annoying videos where they show clips of her coming to the ring while she comes to the ring so you can never tell which is which. Wilde gets on the mic and says she isn’t going to be against three people tonight and brings out Rhyno. I get why I’ve never heard her talk otherwise.

Big brawl to start with both chicks landing punches and rolling around on the mat. Well you can’t argue they’re not giving the people what the want. Traci Brooks comes out to watch the match and take notes. She’s in charge of the division here for no apparent reason. Out to the floor where Velvet drills Taylor with a makeup kit to give Angelina the control. Angelina runs Taylor’s eyes along the top rope. It would help if there hadn’t been a clear 8 inches between her face and the rope but take what you can get I suppose.

Taylor comes back a bit and attempts a suplex from the middle rope. Love counters into kind of almost a bad Gordbuster off the middle rope to take over again. Taylor gets a quick rollup for two. She kicks Angelina’s head off and Kip comes in. Rhyno Gores him as Velvet gets on the apron and then knocked off so a Northern Lights Suplex ends Angelina.

Rating: D+. Pretty weak little match here but it wasn’t completely awful. This was another match when Angelina was still pretty bad in the ring. She would get a lot better, but that doesn’t mean that there was heat on any of these matches, because there certainly was none to be seen here.

We recap Lethal vs. Dutt in the Ladder of Love match. Both love So Cal Val and Val is tired of being in the middle of it. Lethal proposed to her and told her either she stop associating with Dutt or he’s gone. The solution of course: a ladder match to get her, whatever that entails. In other words, a single match is supposed to determine her feelings for one of these guys. What a freaking witch.

Oh and I almost forgot: these three were supposed to be the modern Hogan/Savage/Liz. Let that sink in for a minute.

Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt

Aww they both brought flowers. If nothing else we can look at Val in a blue dress. Oh and if you can’t see the turn coming from a mile away here, you’re blind. Ladder of Love sounds like a really bad reality show that gets a big rating on network TV. It’s of course a big gymnastics exhibition to start us off. And now that we’re into a big feud and gimmick match, we’re told that Salinas has been attacked by Jackie in the bathroom and is gone for the night. How riveting.

Dutt is sent into the ladder early on as Lethal has dominated the entire time. Lethal gets a back drop onto the ladder which is bridged between the barricade and the ring to half kill Dutt. Lethal goes up but Dutt gets a springboat to get onto the ladder and make the save. The fans think this is awesome. Not entirely true but it’s getting there. Lethal puts a ladder on top of a ladder so it would be like a T if the vertical ladder was closed.

Sonjay crotches Lethal and West says Lethal is wearing a ladder as pants. Lethal gets caught in a Tree of Woe with his head in a ladder so Dutt hits a baseball slide to more or less kill him. Dutt gets some chairs because that’s what heels do I guess. Out to the floor now where Lethal can’t get a powerbomb onto a ladder but Dutt can get a neckbreaker onto said ladder.

This is pretty good stuff so far. West: We should put a woman on the line every time! Naturally Lethal can get back in almost immediately and we have a pair of ladders set up now. Lethal manages to get stuck laid across two ladders so Dutt hooks a camel clutch on top of the ladders in a pretty cool looking visual.

Lethal manages to flip Dutt over so he crashes to the mat. Jay’s foot is caught in the ladder though so Val comes in to help him out. Dutt gets in her face until Lethal helps her. While he’s checking on her Dutt tries to get up the ladder. Lethal chases him and naturally Val hits him low so that Dutt can get the win. They make out post match.

Rating: B. Rather fun match here with both guys hammering each other rather well. The ending was of course about as predictable as anything you could ask for but the buildup to it worked rather well. This more or less ended the interaction between these two and Dutt never meant anything anymore.

JB talks to Angle about the problems with Booker who isn’t here tonight. Angle says Joe’s name will never be in the same book as his. Christian sucks too because he’s from Canada. Oh and he remembers Jarrett too because they have to be joined at the hip every 8 seconds.

We recap LAX vs. Beer Money and their apparent hardcore match last month which looks rather softcore to me. Beer Money messed up Homicide’s eye with a beer bottle so Hernandez says a lot of incomprehensible things to be all tough.

Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. LAX

This should be pretty good at least due to the talent in there. It’s the only thing that either guy in LAX is good at so this is as good as it’s getting. Beer Money is still kind of new here apparently and just won the titles last month. LAX has Hector Guerrero (Eddie’s more talented and dead ringer of a brother) with them. Jackie is with Beer Money to make things all the more annoying.

Storm has one of those football helmets with drinks in it. Homicide and Roode start wich Roode running early. I still don’t see the future world champion in him that everyone else claims to see and I’ve always found Homicide overrated so this isn’t exactly ideal conditions for me. Homicide jumps him but runs into a shot to the eye for Roode to take over again.

Hernandez makes a blind (ironic no?) tag in and drills Roode with a slingshot shoulder block. Jackie’s distraction lets the champions take over so that Hernandez can be beaten down. Off to Storm as we hear about how awesome Beer Money is. Hernandez almost gets a powerbomb on Storm but Roode gets a chop block to take him down. Double suplex has SuperMex in trouble.

Does anyone else laugh at a referee named Slick Johnson? The fans like LAX despite Roode being Canadian. The champions keep Hernandez from tagging out and call Homicide a very bad word and flip him off. Homicide gets a tag that is so hot that I missed the reaction to it. Have some enthusiasm there fans. DDT from the second rope gets two on Roode.

Spinebuster gets two for Roode as Hernandez saves. Everything breaks down with LAX in control here. Hernandez backdrops Homicide over the top and out to the floor to take out Roode. A big dive by Hernandez doesn’t happen since Storm spits beer in his face. Hector and Jackie get into it on the floor. A beer bottle shot by Homicide misses Storm.

Big dive by Hernandez takes out Storm so we’re back to Homicide vs. Roode in the ring. They counter finishers for a bit until the Gringo Cutter drills Roode for no cover. Gringo Killer is blocked by powder from Jackie (I guess the white stuff on his face is undetectable or something) and a Fisherman’s suplex from Roode ends Homicide in a rather short match.

Rating: D+. I didn’t like this one at all for some reason. An 8 minute tag title match feels far too short for some reason. There was zero heat from the crowd on the tags or the big spots at all which hurt it a lot also. The champions never seemed to be in anything resembling danger at all which hurt it a lot. Pretty weak match here and it didn’t click at all.

We recap Frank Trigg vs. AJ for one of his two matches in this company. Since he’s now a wrestler, this is an MMA match. No word on why they’re fighting, but they certainly are. It isn’t helping Trigg that he’s nearly a dead ringer for Angle.

Frank Trigg vs. AJ Styles

Yeah because this is going to work very well. Trigg gets on the mic and somehow he’s managing to kill this crowd even further. He cuts one of the most painfully generic heel promos I’ve ever heard while holding the American Flag. SHUT UP AND GET THE HECK ON WITH THIS!!! The fans don’t care so of course Trigg keeps talking. FINALLY AJ gets out here to breathe some life into this place.

They’re doing five minute rounds here to make it all the stupid. I don’t watch wrestling to see MMA. If I wanted to see that I’d watch MMA! Why is that so complicated for so many wrestling companies? Are we supposed to buy that AJ would have a chance at all against Trigg in a legit MMA fight? You can only win by knockout or tap out here.

Naturally, Trigg owns AJ for the most part here, making AJ look completely weak and that there is no skill at all in wrestling. Nice job TNA. We hit the floor for a bit where AJ looks even stupider. Trigg gets about his 9th takedown in maybe two and a half minutes as the fans are clearly getting restless. What a great way to use one of the best guys on the roster!

The fans want wrestling to the shock of no one that thinks these things through. What’s TNA”s next great move? SHOW THE FANS CHANTING THAT! AJ has hit maybe two punches the whole time. The fans are booing the living heck out of this. LOUD Fire Russo chant now as Trigg spanks AJ after about the 112th takedown. The announcers try to say that Trigg is gaining respect for AJ or something like that. AJ gets an armbar to end the round and the bell rings so everyone thinks AJ won by tapout but it’s just a rest period instead to further tick the fans off.

The second round starts….and AJ accidentally hits Trigg low for a no contest. OH FREAKING NO! We really sat through six minutes of this nonsense to get to this? WOW. AJ hits the floor to be all ticked off. The fans chant THIS IS BULL as everyone is right. AJ wears Trigg out with a kendo stick post match to half booing/half cheering as this continues but it also was the awful ending. Trigg hasn’t been seen since.

Rating: P. As in PAY ATTENTION WRESTLING BOOKERS BECAUSE FANS DO NOT WANT TO WATCH FREAKING MMA ON A WRESTLING SHOW!!! GET IT THROUGH YOUR FREAKING HEADS ALREADY!!! This was awful and made AJ look awful in case you couldn’t tell.

AJ shouts at the announcers that he’s a wrestler and that he doesn’t do that stuff. Holy shooting Batman!

Joe says that he’s like an animal with enemies closing in on him from all around. He talks about how he has no respect for Sting who has nothing to do with the main event. He talks about how Sting is never at any of the house shows because he’s here for the fame and not for the hard work. Good stuff here from the fat man.

Overly dramatic video about the world title match which is a triple threat with the challengers qualifying. And remember, the fans DO NOT KNOW Booker won’t be there. He’s in the video too so it’s not really helping things.

TNA World Title: Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle

Each guy gets a brief video and then their actual entrance. It’s coming off like they have too much time on their hands which is odd as they had a good deal of matches and the tag title match was short. Sting comes out after Joe and the fight is on in the aisle! Could they make it any more obvious that this is the main event of BFG? AJ comes out to pull Joe off as we waste some more time.

Now we do big match intros. The introductions started almost ten minutes ago once these are done. The Instant Classic is a great nickname. Angle gets double teamed to start with Christian hitting a jumping back elbow off the middle rope. The idea is that Booker was supposed to more or less make it an unofficial tag so Angle is in trouble. Joe and Christian square off in the middle which I guess is supposed to be epic but it just isn’t.

Christian slaps him and the fight is on. Leg lariat takes the Canadian down as Angle is still down. There’s the bald guy and Joe grabs the Clutch out of nowhere which West thinks is a cover for no apparent reason. Ankle lock to Christian after Christian saved Angle. What a jerk! Angle suplexes Christian over the top and there goes the Canadian’s knee.

We hit the chinlock now as we’re really hammering in that whole waste time thing. Christian gets up and crotches Angle on the post before hitting a cross body on Joe for two. Angle pops back up as I guess his Olympic balls aren’t hurt by hitting a post. He gets a German on Joe and then snaps up the ropes to hit a belly to belly on Christian. Unprettier is blocked into another German as this is going very, very quickly and not in the best way you would think of.

Joe starts busting out Germans to Angle. Christian gets out of the MuscleBuster. Tower of Doom looks pretty good and Joe gets two on both guys. You would think that would somehow be more than three but not quite I guess. Angle tries to get a German to Christian off the apron to the floor but Christian counters into the Pendulum Kick. Angle grabs the ankle and jumps over to get it on in the ring.

Christian saves so he gets an ankle lock. Angle is like screw it and puts it on both guys at once. MuscleBuster to Christian but Angle distracts the referee so there’s a delayed cover for two. Joe hits a huge corkscrew tope con hilo to take out the challengers on the floor. It’s a cool looking move but I really want this match to end and soon. Back in the ring Angle gets the Slam to Joe and Christian adds a splash and the Unprettier but Angle pulls out the referee.

Angle drills the referee and everyone is down. Totally unprotected chairs shot to the head of Christian and Joe set up the ankle lock on Joe. I hate those things as they add nothing at all to the match and can hurt people badly. At least get a hand up or something guys. Jarrett comes down and drills Angle with the guitar, allowing Joe to hit a MuscleBuster to get the pin on Angle and retain. Jarrett raises Joe’s hand to end the show.

Rating: B-. Good match for the most part but the pacing was way off for the vast majority of it which hurts it a lot. There more or less was no building part or beginning part with the vast majority of the fifteen minutes feeling like one really long ending sequence. It’s not bad at all and some of the spots are good, but it’s more or less a throwaway match which isn’t what you want to end a PPV. Also Joe was about as obviously going to win as possible here.

Overall Rating: D. This show took me four days to get through. The wrestling is weak, the matches are forgettable at best and it’s a long commercial for Bound For Glory. The main point of this show seemed to be Joe making sure he got to Sting at BFG and everyone else just making sure they had spots there. This is a show that if you didn’t see you would miss absolutely nothing. The ladder match is pretty good but it’s absolutely nothing worth going out of your way to see. Totally boring show but not completely bad. Watch it if you can’t sleep.

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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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