#1
I couldn't wait to write about this show. What a fantastic 2 hours of professional wrestling! I can't remember the last time i was so into a wrestling show like this week's episode of TNA iMPACT. There were so many factors as to why, but i think it had to mainly do with the show's expert pacing.
iMPACT started with great wrestling and finished with AMAZING wrestling. Furthermore, both the Bound For Glory Series and the new X-Title Tournament were treated to a good amount of air time for their respective contests and on a whole, each match delivered. What i really liked, especially from the BFGS this week is that each match was a different style of wrestling. For example, RVD and Anderson provided a technical bout, while Rey and Joe had a physical, hard-hitting encounter. What i liked even more was that Samoa Joe, a guy who has not been doing all that much in 2012 and was buried in last years BFGS, is now is getting more and more over every week with competitive losses and dominant wins. Both X-Title qualifiers had standout moments that had me very excited (and i will get into each of these moments a little later on.) Finally, the main event started slow, but had a PHENOMENAL finish. This is what happens when you put 4 of the best wrestlers in the world in a Tag Championship main event. Just a tremendous outing that i recommend everyone watch ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V26AX5RIkIw ) (Start at 1:11:54).
But i do believe this match needs to be watched within the context of this episode to fully grasp how good the mainevent AND TNA impact was this week.
(ONLY READ THIS NEXT PART IF YOU HAVE WATCED IMPACT IN IT'S ENTIRETY)
Kaz turning on AJ was a swerve i NEVER saw coming. Thanks to a couple of backstage segments that continued to build throughout the show, i think most of us were convinced that Kaz was being blown off this feud and his reasoning made perfect sense. How dare he be lied to for all these months by Daniels! However, when he hit AJ with that chair shot and re-sided with Daniels to win the Tag Team Championship, i was completely shocked!! But, when i thought about it, Kaz's decision again made perfect sense as a heel: "I was lied to, but dammit! I WANNA BE A TAG CHAMPION AGAIN!!" FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC!!! This continual reconciliation between logic and TNA storylines makes every performer's action have meaning and impact (excuse the pun). This, WWE, is how you execute a swerve! Just tremendous stuff.
The rest of iMPACT? It was television that continued to build upon every storyline currently in existance. We had an simple, yet very effective promo from Roode and Aries concerning their World Title match. We had a series of short segments with Dixie and the new Miss Lynch that filled in the gaps with regards to the AJ/Dixie storyline. We had Madison interact with Garret Bischoff so to continue to tease the audience with the possibility of her "secret crush". We had Joe Park announce he wants to fight Bully Ray in 2 weeks AND We had Gut Check segment with the unexpected/AWESOME return of Joey Ryan to potentially continue his "blurred realism" storyline with Tazz. All these segments had perpose and each one had a positive influence on future storyline directions.
#2
While the structure of this show was awesome, TNA took things one step further by announcing important matches, interviews and storyline cliffhangers that compel me to tune into iMPACT next week. For the past few weeks, you can really tell TNA management is committed to making the most of going live. While TV ratings haven't changed all that much, going live has provided a much more energetic crowd and a much more motivated locker room. This determination to bring TNA fans captivating television definitely manifested itself in the promotion of next week's TNA impact. The beauty of the announcements involving next week's show was that they weren't just focused on 1 main event storyline in TNA like WWE tends to do. The No. 1 wrestling program in North America usually relies on the continual promotion of a singular storyline thread (be it Vince Returning, a new GM, a main event match we have seen many times etc) and expect the show to draw primarily because of it. On TNA iMPACT, we had a mixed bag of important events taking place next week that make the ENTIRE SHOW seems important to watch. Case in point: announcing James Storm vs Jeff Hardy in a BFGS match as the main event is HUGE! I don't think i have ever seen these two massive stars collide in a TNA ring before one-on-one! Even more so, Daniels accusation of AJ impregnating Miss Lynch was very effective in forcing audiences to wonder "Is Daniels telling the truth? What will AJ say next week? What does Dixie think? Did Dixie know this all along?" But most importantly, we have other events taking place next week that concern the mid-carders as well. Chris Sabin returns to talk about his recent injury in the Ultimate X match last week and Gail Kim finally gets her Knockouts Championship rematch against Miss Tessmacher. Thus, the overwhelming hooks for next week's show are deeply implanted in all facets of TNA's programming.
#3
I guess the only nit pick i had for the show was Gut Check. Not the entire Gut Check segment, just the end result. I loved the realistic discussion between talent coordinators and legends over the future stock of this Taeler Hendrix. The backstage conversation between Tazz, Pritchard and Snow felt natural and they brought up some very valid points: "Do we really see Taeler Hendrix as a future PPV draw?" "Will she get better?"
Everything was fine until they got to the ring for the Gut Check Announcement. Taeler was provided a "Kick out" promo that was meant to convince the judges that she is worthy of a TNA contract. Instead, she kept repeating over and over that she was hungry, she wanted to "fight" and that she "wanted this" in a high-pitched nasally voice. Last time i checked, something as annoying as this promo was usually kept for a developmental promotion. All in all, her performance last week and her performance this week came off as VERY minor league and i didn't beleive she was worthy of ANY contract.
The crazy thing was that Bruce Pritchard agreed with me. Being the final man to "convince", Pritchard went on a tirade about how he liked her but "didn't love her", how she was green and inexperienced, "rough around the edges" and how she is "NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME YET".....but he ended up giving her the contract anyways.....WHAT THE HELL??! If she is not ready for pimetime, why would u even think about bringing her up from OVW , where she has been for years!? It feels as though this promo was done for dramatic effect to make people like me think she was not going to get a contract. But still, Pritchard made logical points that were not followed through. This annoyed me, but it certainly didn't detract from the awesomness that was this week's episode of TNA iMPACT.
Match Results:
Match No.1:
Rob Van Dam
def
Mr. Anderson via pinfall for 7 BFGS pts
Rating: ** 1/4
Comments:
What i liked about this opener was that it was evenly matched throughout the whole contest. There were no massive momentum shifts, which gave RVD vs Anderson a real competitive edge to it. Good mat wrestling to start and lots of near falls in this one (on a side note, I've always loved RVD's drop toe hold/pinning combination...does this move have a name?). Overall, this one was a bit messy in execution. Some pinning sequences were a bit off and few moves lacked the crispness found in the main event. Regardless, the match told a good story that complemented the BFGS structure so i can't totally complain.
Match No. 2:
Sonjay Dutt
def
Rubix via pinfall to qualify for the Destination X, X-Title tournament
Rating: ** 1/2
Comments:
The first of two X-title qualifying matches was a real "barn burner". The returning Dutt showed a little ring rust early as it took a little time for he and Rubix (mix between Amazing Red and Rey Mysterio) to get into the appropriate grove. Once they did however, there was no stopping the TNA veteran and the new comer. The finish made this match for me and was electric in execution. Dutt's tilta-whirl DDT was executed and sold to PERFECTION, and Dutt's Moonsault into a double foot stomp was ridiculously innovative and breathtaking to watch. The crowd counted the 3-count and i was a happy wrestling fan by the end of this. Good job by TNA in bringing back old, recognized stars into the X-division. With the loss of Aries, this division needs a bit of star power. One can only hope that Low-Ki and others return next week but time will tell on that one! On the whole, good job by both these guys!
Match No. 3:
Samoa Joe
def
Bully Ray via submission for 10 BFGS pts
Rating: **
Comments:
I had high hopes for this match. But I'm not confident in saying i was completely satisfied. I felt as though these two lost the crowd in the middle of the match as Joe threw himself to the outside mid-way through for no real reason. Joe's punches aren't the best in world and his offense was somewhat basic, but there was still enough here to like. The crowd was into this one from the start and were all over Bully Ray. Bully stalling in the first few minutes of the match. Bully having the crowd in the palm of his hand was very reminiscent of Ric Flair from the late 80's. The little things made this match for me such as Bully working over Joe's arm (something we rarely see Ray do) and the announcers talking about how Joe is a "dangerous man" in the BFGS because of his ability to get extra points via his "submission expert" arsenal. The ending was predictable as Joe Parks came down to distract Bully for the submission loss. But unlike last week, Joe Parks delivered a convincing post-match promo, laying down a challenge to fight Ray in 2 weeks. Bully's screams of "he (Parks) slapped me in the face!!!" coupled with Park's great delivery made this match and the post-match antics meaningful and memorable.
Match No. 4:
Rashad Cameron
def
Mason Andrews via pinfall to qualify for the Destination X, X-Title tournament
Rating: **
Comments:
An ok match from the two newcomers. The worst of the two X-Division matches on this show but still worth having on TV. What got me was that the wrong guy won this match. I thought Andrews (a mix between Maven and Shelton Benjamin ) was outstanding in this contest and, if anything, Cameron (a bigger/stoner version of Kofi Kingston) brought the match down. But i do understand why Cameron advanced: the guy had charisma when he talked and charisma goes a lot further than acrobatics. Regardless of my feelings towards Rashad, both competitors delivered tremendous plancha dives to the outside. However, Andrews took to cake here, with a somersault plancha into a 450 splash. Like the previous X-Division match, the action came together at the end with Andrews delivering a picture perfect top rope hurracurana from a vertical jump. But at the end of the day, Cameron picked up the win. On a side note, i really appreciated the post-match interviews at the end of each of the X-Division matches. Usually, these types of performers are purely used as utilities on a wrestling broadcast that execute high flying spectacles so to wow the fans. On this episode, TNA decided to give these new (or in the case of Dutt, old) competitors a chance to develop their character and talk about the possibility of being the next X-Division Champion. Smart pro-wrestling: You begin to get your new talent over by developing their characters AND you begin to get over the importance of the X-Title all in one segment! Great stuff TNA!
Match No. 6 (TNA World Tag Team Championship):
Christopher Daniels and Kazarian
def
AJ Styles and Kurt Angle (c)
to become the New TNA World Tag Team Championship
* Match of the Night*
Rating: ***
Comments:
My first *** rating for Wrestling's Weekly Rope Break! I was looking forward to this match all week after hearing all the great things that came out of their match at Slamiversary a few weeks back. It's funny when you hear rave reviews for a particular combination of wrestlers: you automatically start critiquing their matches n a different light. You begin to look for things that support everyone's claim. 3 minutes into this match, i was looking for this amazing match and couldn't find it. The start was a tad clunky with lots of stalls. However, in retrospect, this had a lot to do with Kaz playing a babyface role and Daniels stopping to talk to Kaz about what was going on every few seconds. Enforcing Kaz's possible babyface turn was crucial in the playing out of the finish so, in the end, i was totally fine with it considering how effective the finish was. It wasn't untill after the break that the match REALLY got going. AJ played a great babyface in peril after Daniels took over. Then Kurt Angle got the hot tag and suddenly, the match became magic. I don't know how Angle keeps doing it, but he is still a MACHINE in that ring. Everyone played their role in the finish to perfection and EVERYTHING looked amazingly crisp and professional here. When you thought the finish was loosing pace, out of nowhere, AJ would springboard into the ring with a flying clothesline. The crowd was going balistic and then the air was taken out of the arena when Kaz hit AJ with the chair. What a swerve! Daniels and Kaz regained the Tag Titles and Daniels delivered a great post-match heel promo proclaiming he and Kaz as the best team in the world, and announcing the father of Miss Lynch's unborn child: AJ STYLES!! Just great pro-wrestling that made sense, was exciting to watch and had an ending that was shocking, yet ridiculously captivating.
Final Comments:
If you can't tell by now, i completely LOVED this show. Episodes such as this one make me proud to be a wrestling fan. Every match on the show had something to give, the main event lived up to its hype, every current storyline got time and was expanded upon and there is a TON of stuff to look forward to next week.....How can i NOT be a content wrestling fan??! Thumbs up TNA, thumbs way up!!
Bound for Glory Leaderboard:
1st) James Storm = 36 pts
2nd) Samoa Joe = 27 pts
3rd) Kurt Angle = 10 pts
4th) Mr. Anderson = 9 pts
5th) Rob Van Dam = 7pts
4th) Mr. Anderson = 9 pts
5th) Rob Van Dam = 7pts
Magnus = 7pts
Jeff Hardy = 7pts
The Pope = 7pts
9th) Daniels = 5 pts
10th) AJ Styles = 0pts
Robbie E = 0pts
Rob Van Dam = 0pts
Bully Ray = 0pts
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