Bryan Staebell
Impact Recap
The go home show for Bound For Glory was a fairly by the numbers affair capped off by a tremendous promo in the final segment.
During the contract signing for the BFG main event Bully Ray pulled out a passionate, brilliant promo that did a better job telling the story of the match than anything TNA has written throughout. He took something iconic (the Dusty Rhodes “Hard Times” promo) and turned it on its head. Realizing that not everyone watching would be familiar with a segment from 1985 he wisely began by telling the story of that promo. Then something truly inspired happened. He told the “Hard Times” story from the perspective of the heel who put people in the babyface’s spot of being broken physically, mentally or financially. It provided Bully with the framework to roll out his greatest hits as TNA Champion and effectively answer his ongoing question “Do you know who I am?”. He’s the man who took Jeff Hardy out in a cage. The man who beat the Icon Sting and as a result guaranteed he’d never compete for the TNA title again. He’s the man who ran Chris Sabin back to the X division and Hulk Hogan out of the company. He’s the man who promised to send AJ Styles home empty handed…no contract, no title, no nothing. The reason this worked so well is that you believed him. It also managed to finally put some focus on what exactly AJ Styles’ character is supposed to be right now. TNA has seemed content just letting Styles get by on being Styles and not trying to have his contract situation make a lick of sense. This segment cleared it up a little. Styles is, in essence, betting it all on himself. He needs to win the title to secure his future in the company. Once he has the title in his possession Dixie Carter will have no choice but to meet his contract demands (the great flaw of this is that they never firmly established that Dixie was low balling him on the contract before this). If he loses…he has nothing. No leverage, no future and no hope. And he’s facing the man who has been crushing dreams all year. That’s an effective story. It’s a shame they didn’t come up with it until the last minute.
There was another fine promo segment on the show between Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode. It was nice to see them acknowledge that Angle beat Roode at BFG 2 years ago. Bobby Roode used that match as a line to point out the last time Angle was relevant and the beginning of Roode supplanting him as the top wrestler in the world. It’s always hard to try and make Angle the underdog but Roode pointed out enough facts (Angle hasn’t done anything of note in a long time, Roode being the longest reigning champ) that it, at least, made Roode look on Angle’s level. Eventually Bad Influence interfered allowing Roode to lock Angle in the crossface and making him tap out. Roode vowed to make Angle tap again at the PPV.
Bully Ray beat Magnus after Sting inadvertently distracted the ref allowing Bully to low blow Magnus. Sting had come out to stop Bully from using a chain on Magnus. Magnus, obviously, didn’t see it this way. Post match Magnus was frustrated with Sting and explained that he was tired of not being allowed to succeed or fail on his own. Sting told him he’d be alone at BFG. I don’t know if Magnus is turning or not…and I don’t know if he should or not…but at least either way will make sense.
Samoa Joe beat Chris Sabin with a choke. Match was good. Post match all the other Ultimate X participants ran in. Hardy busted out a ladder to tease that he’d bring his specialty into play on the PPV. Ladders are supposed to be illegal in Ultimate X but the threat of there being another way to get the title down (and providing Samoa Joe a believable way to win) while promising all those crazy ladder spots Hardy does…the tease worked here.
Robbie E managed to win a 4 way against Daniels (who he pinned), Hernandez and Eric Young. These are, of course, half of the participants of the BFG pre-show gauntlet to decide who will move on to face Storm and Gunner for the TNA tag titles on the PPV. The win allowed Bro Mans to secure the spot of the last team to enter the gauntlet match.
Gunner beat Knux. The story here is that Bully Ray doesn’t care about Knux and Bischoff and they’re just now figuring this out. Gunner did some good power spots but there wasn’t much to the match.
The show long story this week was Dixie Carter offering $50,000 and his spot in the TNA title match at BFG for any wrestler who could take out AJ Styles. This actually worked fairly well. Styles took some stiff shots from various heels throughout the show but always made his own comeback and was standing tall at the end. The money ended up being thrown back in Dixie’s face. She then scrambled to collect it all in a pretty funny visual.
They teased that no matter which Knockout walks out with the title at BFG…Lei’D Tapa is coming to kill them all. It was also announced that Ethan Carter III (who appears to be playing Dixie’s entitled nephew) will make his debut at Bound For Glory. In what for that will be in…I have no idea.
Bound for Glory Preview
It’s been a long time since we’ve had a live TNA PPV to look at.
Bully Ray vs. AJ Styles in a No DQ match for the TNA Title
Dixie made this No DQ after Impact (of course). These two had one match against each other back in 2011. They had arguably the best singles match of Bully’s career:
Making it No DQ allows for the shenanigans of whatever is going to happen with the other Aces and 8’s guys and perhaps the return of Ken Anderson…but it also lets them just go wild and frees Bully Ray up to do what he does best. Given that they had such great chemistry in their previous match, and that they’ll go all out in this spot…I expect a really good match here. Even with some fan apprehension about Styles and how to react to his character…Bully is the best heel in the business and he’ll get them to react. Picking a winner is harder than you’d think here. The babyface should overcome on their biggest show…but Styles real life contract situation clouds that somewhat. As does the fact that Bully is phenomenal in his role. That said I don’t for a second think they won’t put the title on AJ even with his contract coming up at the end of the year. The first several Bound For Glory’s had feel good endings that were quickly undone by rematches after the fact.
Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode
When Angle and Roode faced off in the main event of the 2011 Bound For Glory PPV they were faced with a couple of challenges. The show was running long and Kurt Angle was very injured. They still cobbled together a decent match…but one that didn’t have enough time to tell the story they were attempting (that Roode lost a great match because Angle cheated). This year they get a chance at a redo. Both guys teased wanting to submit the other in this match. I would put strong money on Angle getting that job done here. The bottom line is that Angle is going to go out and try to put on a classic…and Bobby Roode is one of, if not the, best opponent for him to pull it off with in the company. Even through all of his injuries and aging…it’s rare that Angle goes into a match where he’s not the best worker involved…but that’s the case here with Roode IMO. And that should add up to something pretty great.
Sting vs. Magnus
Two weeks ago I would have been sure Magnus wins here and they’d do the Icon endorses the protege post match deal. Today I’m not so sure. There’s really two ways this can go…and both work going forward. Magnus can beat Sting and they can hug it out…or Sting can win and Magnus will turn on him. Magnus has been losing more than his share lately so the first option would probably do him the best in the short term. Long term might be a different story. It’s easier to get to the top as a heel (even though I think Magnus has made a fine babyface). Throw in that Sting might be leaving for real at the end of the year and the best plan for Magnus may be to get caught by the veteran here, destroy him post match…and then be the one to end his TNA career come December. Both stories (Sting “making” Magnus, Magnus destroying his idol) could be good going forward. As for the match…it won’t be workrate good but Sting should have the crowd at least. The important thing here is that, regardless of finish, Magnus moves another step up the ladder.
Manik vs. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jeff Hardy in an Ultimate X for the X Title
I expect this to be great. They’re going to get time, they have some of the best wrestlers in the company (stunt match or otherwise), and I the Impact tease of ladders coming into play tells me that they realize what this match should be…some of the most exciting guys they have killing each other with great offense. The trick to an Ultimate X match is that the less time the wrestlers spend trying to retrieve the prize…the better the match is. They have two of their smarter guys when it comes to match layout here (Aries and Joe) so I think they’re going to nail this one. As for the finish…they can always do “Jeff Hardy wins a big match” to please the crowd (and probably elevate the X title in the process) or they could find a way for Joe to win and have him go back to dominating the division and (also elevating the title). The guy who should be winning though is Chris Sabin. The story going forward would be Sabin desperately trying to hold on to the X title until Destination X 2014. That story has promise for both the title and his character. This could steal the show but the stunt nature of it probably leaves that to Angle/Roode in the end.
James Storm and Gunner vs. ??? for the TNA Tag Titles
The pre show will feature a 4 team gauntlet match to determine the challengers. Bro Mans, Bad Influence, Eric Young and Joseph Park and Chavo and Hernandez are the options. In reality it comes down to Bad Influence and Chavo/Hernandez. If Bad Influence moves on…you’re going to get a good match here. If it’s Chavo and Hernandez…you’ll get a forgettable match. In a perfect world Daniels and Kaz win the gauntlet, then take the TNA tag titles on the PPV. Unfortunately TNA seems to really love pushing Chavo and Hernandez despite the crowd not caring about them. The tag titles have become completely unimportant…Bad Influence would immediately elevate them. Hope for the best, fear the Chavo.
ODB vs. Gail Kim vs. Brooke for the Knockouts Title
They ended up going with the girls they had that can work so this won’t be as bad as it could have been coughVelvetSkycough. Lei’D Tapa will be coming out to destroy someone at some point.
The debut of Ethan Carter III
They announced that Ethan is coming to BFG. They haven’t said what form that will take. If it’s his debut match you’ll be hard pressed to find an opponent for him. It’s always hard for unknown guys to get over in spots like this. That said…the card did need another match so whatever they would do here is better than a Lei’D Tapa/Velvet match I feared they were booking towards.
The top four matches on this show (5 if Bad Influence wins the pre show match) look strong from a match quality standpoint. The show lacks a true “big time” match though. Angle/Roode is the closest to that and that was decided on at the last minute. They’re relying on the unknown for the bottom of the card with the debut of EC3 and a Lei’D Tapa run in. There’s also the question of what’s going to happen with the Aces and 8’s. TV would indicate they’re done helping Bully Ray…but that could be a swerve. We could see past fired members pop back up. I would expect Ken Anderson’s return here. If I had to guess I’d say we’ll see the group come to help Bully only for Anderson to return and run them off. Clearly what they would have liked was for Hulk Hogan to come down, tear off his shirt and have the heels run into his fist…but unless there is a big rouse going on it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
Random Scribbles
Something funky is going on with the TNA taping schedule. They’ve cancelled or suspended sales to some future Impact dates. They still have the 10/24 (and 10/31 show) Impact taping in Salt Lake City and the 11/7 (and 11/14 show) taping in Cincinnati. Then they don’t have anything set until the 12/27 taping in Philadelphia. That Philly taping is meant to be for the 1/2 and 1/9 Impacts. All of February TV will be taped in England. That leaves them with 6 weeks in November and December they need to tape…somewhere.
Magnus and Mickie James broke up. I only mention it because it probably puts the final nail in the coffin of her re-signing with the company. It’s tragic that they finally gave her a fantastic character just as she was walking out the door.
