Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
For example, the storyline where Christopher Daniels is holding something over Kazarian in order to make him work with Daniels disappeared. Now we are to believe Kazarian is ripping on the guy who's been his closest friend with no real explanation? Too quick a departure for my taste.
The focus on Garett Bischoff remains too important for someone of his short career. If we could see evidence that Bischoff was either a great worker in the ring right off the bat or really charismatic, then it would be understandable but we see little evidence of that yet. He tries hard but hey, so do a lot of guys and they aren't pushed as main event stars. He's just not there yet and to treat him like he is hurts him, the product and the fans.
Still, the good news was that there was some good wrestling and promos on the show. Austin Aries vs. Zema Ion was entertaining. The Bully Ray-Robert Roode dynamic shows a lot of potenial. ODB and Eric Young remain an entertaining distraction from the more serious storylines.
Onto my thoughts:
We open with Garett Bischoff arriving at the Impact Zone, promising that he isn't going anywhere. As a way to establish his heart, that's fine.
Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair and Gunner come to the ring for their usual promo. Bischoff says that he asked Sting to give them a mystery partner tag against Gunner. My first reaction was disbelief that Sting would give Bischoff anything but since it gives Garett a chance to show up his dad, I could see the motivation. Of course, Gunner's partner is Kurt Angle, who's reason to be here was because Gunner doesn't respect his father. He's a heel so that's fine.
Backstage, we see Sting psyching himself up and calling himself Bobby. I am guessing this is so we start to see the Joker side of Sting playing mind games with Roode in the next few weeks. Sting's mic work has been so entertaining of late, I am fine with that. Eric Young shows up and teases he has a big question for ODB. If Young and Santino Marella are ever in the same scene, Les Thatcher's head may explode.
Then we had ODB and Young defeat Gail Kim and Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Tag titles. If the belts meant something, I'd be ranting away at this, but the reality is that they mean less than the TV title. The match wasn't much as it was more a backdrop to build heat for the Kim vs. Rayne bout at Victory Road and Young proposing to ODB. I can only imagine the insane segments TNA will milk out of that one. The crowd was really into the silliness.
Joseph Park (aka Abyss in real life) showed up and began several asking questions about the disappearance of his brother, Abyss. This is like when Frank Ashmore showed up in "V" as Phillip, after his brother Martin, also played by Ashmore, died. I don't know where we are going with this, so I'll reserve judgment but Abyss played his role well enough that people questioned if it was Abyss or not.
We had some good promos from Bully Ray and Austin Aries. I was hoping to see more from the trio with Roode but no such luck.
Aries vs. Ion was a good, short match until the DQ finish. While I question putting them in the ring together prior to the PPV, you can argue that it built up the issue between them as we get closer.
We then had a good in-ring promo from Bully Ray with Sting coming out to set up a title match against Roode. I've been watching Ray since he started in 1992 on Long Island and I don't think there's ever been a time he's been more on in his career ever. Just incredibly great heel work out of him and that's with whatever restraints he has on him from the company. I can really see WWE trying to bring him back down the line as he's got experience, a good look and comes off like a veteran, something a lot of that roster doesn't have anymore.
Sting gives Bully his title shot, and Ray is appreciative. Roode loses his mind obviously. Ray and Roode have a good back and forth match until the James Storm run-in. Again, as a means to build Storm vs. Bully, it's fine but when you have a DQ followed by a no contest, you start to roll your eyes. I'm not pushing for all clean finishes but space the screwy stuff apart. Part of the problem was, as I said, they did way too much on one show.
I don't think there was any doubt who was going to win the top contenders match between Crimson & Matt Morgan vs. Robbie E & Robbie T. Obviously, TNA is teasing a Crimson heel turn. The segment was fine was for what it was.
AJ Styles' promo in the ring was really, really good, putting over his longevity with the company and the issues with Chris Daniels and Kazarian. When Kazarian came out and started ripping on Styles for being so trusting and that's why people turn on him, I was scratching my head since the entire point of the angle was that Daniels was forcing Kazarian to act this way. The idea that Styles wasn't going to rely on friends anymore and instead rely on an a**hole was an interesting way to bring Anderson back. Let's hope this chapter is a little more memorable than his most recent run.
The main event mystery tag was as good as it was going to get. I thought Gunner, Angle and Hardy all did a really good job. Garett being in the top spot sort of jolts me out of being emotionally invested, as it's just too great a leap for him to be in that top role. But, everyone did their best to make it work and you have to see that as proof of their strength as workers. Gunner in particular has really had an awesome few months.
Overall, it wasn't a great show or a terrible show. It was just there. Had they focused on a little less and had one really long, strong match, it may have been a more memorable show overall but in terms of building towards the PPV, it was OK.
Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com and can be followed at www.twitter.com/mikepwinsider. He suggests "Monsters in the Movies" by John Landis for your reading pleasure.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
