What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Impact Wrestling on 9/22/11. So, how would TNA continue to build up the Bound for Glory card? Well, let's find out and start the review.
We open up the show with Sting, who's wearing a Hulk Hogan shirt. He talks about his match with Ric Flair last week and getting a match against the Hulkster at BFG. Sting tries to get a Hogan chant going until the actual Hulkster arrives. He says this match won't happen since he isn't medically cleared. Sting shows clips of Hogan's attacks on Sting. Of course, because a man hobbling to the ring and using a steel chair means his back is 100%......destroyed. Hogan starts to talk about how Sting was never better than Hulk and he can't win. Sting talks about not delaying things anymore and wants the match tonight, but Eric Bischoff interrupts. Bischoff says Sting is out of line. Sting takes this news by....punching him in the face. This was amusing, but after watching Hugh Jackman give Dolph Ziggler an Adamantium Punch, just falls a little short. Some pretty basic build up for the BFG match. I really don't want to see this match, but I might as well accept the fact it's going to happen, regardless if they end up paralyzed or not. I wish both guys the best because I don't want to see a tragedy happen.
Backstage where Karen Jarrett continues to be a terrible heel boss type. You're not deserving of the title Vince McMachongina. Anyway, Karen informs Mickie James and Tessmacher of their Queen's Qualifier Match coming up next and tells Tessmacher to stop the stripper act. Once they leave, Karen tells Traci Brooks to stop showing off her cleavage until Kaz shows up and defends his wife. Well, it's about time he start doing something about this. Then again, if you were Kaz, wouldn't you have a bigger beef with Bischoff, Karen, or Traci? He of course has a problem with Bischoff since he tapped that ass (in the realms of kayfabe). He has a problem with Karen who is mistreating his wife, but I would be more pissed off at Traci. She walks around like a freakin' whore and sluts her way to get a job. How is this marriage still in tact? Now, I am aware this is all kayfabe, but TNA has established in the show that Kaz and Traci have some sort of a relationship. In other words, either continue the relationship on screen or don't bring it up at all. Look at all the plotholes in all of this? It's just a mess. Oh, and Jeff Hardy arrives to talk to more people later tonight. I'M HYPED!!!
Match #1: Mickie James vs Tessmacher in a Queen's Qualifier Match
Jeses tap dancing Christ, TNA. Why don't you just give Tessmacher a dildo while you're at it? It's basically reaching that point with her character. This wasn't a good match, but it was harmless. What do you think people. Who's worse in the ring, Kelly Kelly or Tessmacher? The finish comes when Mickie hits the Delayed DDT and wins the match cleanly. Mickie now joins Velvet Sky in going up against Winter at the PPV.
Winner via pinfall and moving on to BFG: Mickie James
On location shot of Anarquia wanting to get a tattoo of Mexican America. I'm pretty sure TNA has used every Mexican stereotype imaginable for the course of the year. I hear that next year, they will be working on all Japanese stereotypes for 2012.....stay tuned.
Match #2: Austin Aries vs Jesse Sorensen for the X Division Championship
This match showed in so many ways why Aries is the superior talent of the X Division while Sorensen is unbelievably green I've talked about how Sorensen brings a football to the ring every week and him not doing anything with it. During the match, Aries took the football and did a Deion Sanders end zone trot and a Heisman pose. See, THIS is what you do with a prop, not just bring it to the ring because you used to play quarterback in high school. That would be like Metaknight bringing his sword and not using it. In other words, either do something with the prop or get rid of it. I just don't see anything special out of Sorensen at the moment. I've seen more personality out of tree stumps than I have from Sorensen. Kid Kash showed up during the match and mocked Jesse. At some point, Jesse actually uses his prop and throws the football at Kash. Kash tries to get involved, but the ref holds him off. During all of this, Aries hits a dropkick on Sorensen and gets a roll up victory. What was that? Sorensen is nowhere near ready for a title, but you also don't make your current champion look like he needed luck to beat Sorensen. Reckon, Aries is a heel and heels are always booked this way, but Sorensen? I understand the booking decision since TNA is high on Jesse, but I personally don't like it. I think the best way to go was to have Sorensen go the distance, with Aries picking up the clean win. It would have showed how superior Aries is while it shows the potential of Sorensen. One of the good things after tonight is Jesse will continue to work with Kash while Aries will focus on a more deserving opponent down the road.....I hope. Sorensen should be working with talent like Kash to make him look good and shouldn't have been thrown in a championship match. This all happened way too soon.
Winner via pinfall and still X Division Champ: Austin Aries
Backstage where RVD and Mr. Anderson are going over their plan against Bully Ray and Jerry Lynn tonight. Now, I'm aware of RVD's lifestyle, but was he completely baked tonight? Watch this scene and tell me RVD isn't on some illegal substance. Damn, with the Hardy angle, I'm almost waiting for RVD to talk about how much of a addict Hardy is. Like RVD is one to talk. Hey, RVD might enjoy that lifestyle, but at least he doesn't go into wrestling matches high as a kite. Another on location with Mex America. They are now in a tattoo parlor getting a tattoo. The guys tell the ladies to buy some tequila while Anarquia confuses he has a fear of needles. You know, I would be willing to buy this.....if it weren't for the fact Anarquia has about as many tattoos as CM Punk. Come on, TNA. The audience isn't blind. So, they are waiting for someone to arrive until Ink Inc shows up and attacks. Jesse Neal takes out Hernandez, which is totally not believable while Shannon Moore is working on Anarquia. Hernandez is sent through a table and they prepare to give Anarquia a personal tattoo. So, are we supposed to cheer for Ink Inc? I understand what TNA was going for here, but Ink Inc come off as total heels. They do a sneak attack and talk the way heels would. To make this scene even stranger, Ink Inc hasn't shown up on TV in over 3-4 months. Talk about pulling that one out of your ass. You know what? I just don't care anymore. I guess you can pencil in Mex America vs Ink Inc for the Tag Titles down the road. Back in the Impact Zone where Hardy is talking to Matt Morgan in a backstage scene. Morgan lectures Hardy for all of this screw ups, but he will give him a second chance since Morgan had a past addiction to pain killers and understands what Hardy is dealing with. He did state if Hardy screws this up, he will hunt him down. More of the same stuff they have been building with Hardy's character. Again, if Hardy stays clean, this could be an interesting storyline, but that's a big IF.
Another backstage scene where RVD is taken out backstage. I have to think Bully and Lynn did the attack, or RVD was so toasted that he went through a table (I believe I can fly *crash*). Neither one would surprise me. We come to ANOTHER backstage scene where Hardy is talking to Kurt Angle. Angle talks about how nobody wants Hardy with this company anymore. Hardy says he can take the criticism, but Angle isn't one to talk about having problems. Angle gets angry at this and list all of his accomplishments while Hardy feels Angle is only saying this since he takes of him as a threat. Angle just laughs and walks away. Seriously, Angle has no right from a realistic stand point to lecture Hardy about drug use when Angle can't even learn to call a freakin' cab when he's too drunk.
We are back in the ring where Angle invites Robert Roode. Angle says he will be going up against Christopher Daniels tonight. Roode says Angle is a great wrestler, but he has worked his entire career to get to this spot and he will make sure he wins the world championship at BFG. Angle thinks he has the upper hand when he invites James Storm to the ring to talk to Roode, but Storm turns the table. Storm ends up challenging Angle to a match for later tonight. Storm was great during this scene. I've always been a fan of Storm's work. He really is the most under rated talent in all of professional wrestling since he's spent the majority of his career as a tag team wrestler. I hope this is the start of Storm having a good singles career in his own right.
Match #3: Bully Ray and Jerry Lynn vs Mr. Anderson in a Handicap Match
Because of the RVD attack, this turned into a handicap match. I really didn't like this match. There was just too much bulls*** going on. Anderson hit Mic Check, but Lynn dragged his feet under the ropes. There was also Stupid Referee Syndrome during this match. The ref clearly sees an eye poke and a punch to the balls, but elects to do nothing. Again, fix this damn choreography. The match ends when ref gets distracted, which allows Bully to use a clothesline with his chain. Really? That doesn't look like it would be the ultimate KO move. A chained up fist, I can buy that, but this looks ridiculous. No wonder people can't take Anderson seriously when he takes dives like this. Oh, at two more matches set for BFG, which were announced via commentary by Mike Tenay. With the way Tenay calls action, you can easily miss this. Anyway, it will be Anderson vs Bully and RVD vs Lynn. No word on the official matches yet since I can see both matches being gimmicky. This will be the point of the show where I get some IWC smark to correct me since they read all the spoilers in advance. I don't like spoilers on this show and I ask that nobody spoils this stuff until it has been addressed on TV. I only say that since TNA did some of the tapings in advance and probably have most of the card determined, but I haven't bothered to look at them. So far, this evening has been really boring. Come on, pick up the pace!!!
Winner via pinfall and retarded referee: Bully Ray and Jerry Lynn
Did anyone catch the BFG video package? They build Sting vs Hogan as "only one must survive". Consider how over the hill these guys are, really bad choice of words. It seems we are ready for the Roode/Daniels match, but Daniels arrives in street clothes. Daniels says he won't face Roode tonight because he has nothing left to prove since he beat AJ Styles a few weeks back. Are you serious? Nothing left to prove? Big talk coming from a guy who's basically a cruiserweight wrestler and nothing more. He takes a couple more jabs are Styles until AJ shows up. AJ says he's sick of Daniels gloating about this while Daniels claims he's better than AJ. Styles wants a rematch, but Daniels declines and says it's pointless. This eventually breaks down and both start to fight. Security shows up, but as you would've guessed, they do nothing. Who hires these people? Anyway, we are back from commercial and they are both still fighting. They destroy the Direct Auto Insurance panel in the back. Why was that even there? Just seems like a stupid place to put a panel. I understand sponsorship, but these are more forced than a Michael Bay film. I might have to call wrestling logic on that spot. They get back in the ring where Kaz shows up and tries to play peacemaker. This goes on for a while and it seems like everything is ok, but Daniels kicks AJ in the balls and runs away. You would think this would be all for this scene, but TNA wants to milk more out of it. They go backstage where Kaz and Daniels argue some more. By the way, notice the really bad editing job during this rant. I know the show is taped, but you can at least try to make it so that isn't noticeable. Eventually, Kaz starts talking to AJ who is still selling the nut sack kick. They talk about how Daniels always gets an ego with these sort of things and this is the same old Daniels. This scene ends with AJ showing shots of him almost vomiting into a garbage can. Hmm.....was this a metaphor for how the show has gone tonight? Seriously, why did they show that? We don't want to see people vomiting. That's disgusting. Some people might find this interesting, but I have no interest in Styles vs Daniels. A few reasons. One, we have seen it twice this year, so why a third time? Second, this feud has been done way too many times during TNA's tenure. And third, this feud is always the same. Daniels always plays the heel while AJ plays face. What's so exciting about that? Especially when Daniels makes Alberto Del Rio look like Rowdy Roddy Piper in terms of a heel. Again, IWC loves him, but his personality sucks and Daniels gives me no reason to be excited when he's nothing outside of his wrestling ability. Oh, and Hogan talks about unveiling a bombshell on next week's show. This is all the build up they would do for next week's show. That totally makes me what to watch next week's show, right?
Match #4: James Storm vs Kurt Angle
Damn, TNA didn't do a very good job in spacing out the matches to the backstage segments tonight. Just seemed to be a lot of moments where we had an orgy of backstage scenes with a match thrown in. I've said this in a past, but TNA really needs to find a better balance with Impact Wrestling. Anyway, this was a good match. Storm might be proving that he might have a little more in the arsenal than Roode. Don't get me wrong, I like Roode, but I feel Storm is the more complete talent. He has the better charisma, solid on the mic and has a good catchphrase. Roode is good in these areas as well, but Storm just stands out a lot better. I want to see Storm get a better role with TNA since they seem to be relying a lot of Roode. It really took a while until we saw a good match tonight. The X Division was ok for what it was worth, but nothing special. Then again, this is TNA's main event, so you know what that means? Time for more overbooked finishes. Gunner interferes during the match, which allows Kurt to hit the Angle Slam, but only a two count. Storm accidentally Super Kicks the referee, but also hits the Super Kick on Angle. He has the match won, but no referee until a backup ref makes the count, but Gunner pulls the ref under the ropes. At some point, the TNA world title got in the ring and Roode showed up as well. Everyone is out and the show ends with Roode posing with the title. What a second? What about the match? I don't think I ever heard a bell, so I guess the ruling is a No Contest. I really didn't like all the crap they threw in at the last moment, but I think Storm looked great tonight. I want to see more Storm on this show because I think he's better than Roode. The story between Roode and Angle seems to be going okay, so I can't knock on TNA for that. I do find myself very interested in this world title match, so I gotta give TNA props for doing that. I would like to see this be more of the focus than the Hogan/Sting match, and TNA seems to be doing that. So, that's a positive. Despite all the shenanigans at the end, I enjoyed this segment. Sorry about your damn luck!!!
No Contest
Overall Impression
There was a lot of dead moments while watching this show, but there was some good things despite all the joking around I did. Again, I'm just trying to have a little fun while writing these reviews. I think what hurt the show was the lack of action. There was only four matches on the show and only one of them ended without shenanigans, so I wasn't too fond of that decision. Still, there was some things I did enjoy. I like the confrontation between Angle and Roode tonight and enjoyed the main event between Angle and Storm. Again, really want to see Storm get more screen time as a big time singles competitor because he has all the tools. However, outside of these moments, there was a lot of moments where you can easily get bored with the product. There wasn't a good balance between backstage scenes and in-ring action, which hurts the show since you can easily get taken out of the show. I will give TNA credit in building up the BFG card. They announced a couple more matches and seem to be building up a few more matches like Mexican America/Ink Inc and Styles/Daniels, so I have to at least be fair in that department. It's nice to see TNA taking BFG seriously since this is looked at as their version of WrestleMania, so they should put time and energy to builld up a proper PPV card. I like the story being told with the world title match, but a lot of the other matches are stuff I'm losing interest in. I don't seem too interested in RVD/Lynn and Bully/Anderson can be interesting if it gets better build up. They still have three weeks, so too early to throw the book at TNA for not building up stronger storylines with the rest of the card. While not an evening I would recommend or a must see event, it was an evening that did its job for the PPV and that's something worth while. What would help TNA is more of a balance. I think there was a point where we had a 40 minute break in between matches. That's unacceptable unless you're dropping a major bombshell, and that clearly wasn't the case tonight. I want to see better choreography within TNA since there's too many spots where the editing looks terrible or clearly the referee can call for the bell, but doesn't because the script says otherwise. Again, pro wrestling is staged, but the idea is to make it look as non-scripted as possible, but these mistakes hurt TNA on a weekly basis. If TNA gets a little more polished, the sky would be high for TNA, but it's these mistakes that hurt them. Oh, and they need to calm down with all the interferences. Just seems to happen way too often. Then again, I should be fair since TNA had a tolerable episode this week. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review and tonight's episode. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.
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