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Bound For Glory is looking better than ever after tonight. And by the way, my guess is Trish Stratus as Bobby Roode's manager at BFG.
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I enjoyed Samoa Joe’s shoot-style promo. He’s right. That title has been used mostly as a political tool. I thought Christian had a legit tile reign, but I suppose it can be argued that TNA did it because WWE wouldn’t. The exchange between Joe and Christian was great, and I do agree that Joe should get the next title shot. Than again, he should have had the title match scheduled for BFG.
Nice brawl with Styles/Daniels and LAX. This steel cage match should be one worth seeing.
Coming up, Angle speaks. Where’s Christy?
The 8-man X-division match was fine. And did Jerry Lynn really get called an “old man?†That’s Russo for you. As for Nash’s promo, there was good and bad. The good: saying that the X-division is at a low. Fortunately, it looks as if we’ve seen the last of the Jackass stuff. The bad: his BFG announcement. All I can say is that he’d better not be involved in the battle royal match himself!
DITR vs. Killings/Hoyt was fine for what it was. Hoyt’s still with TNA? (Being in California, I have no access to Xplosion) Apparently, Diamond is done with this lovable loser team.
That’s it? Just about a couple of minutes? Angle’s interview was really short, in my opinion. I was expecting him to say a lot more. However, I still say he’d better watch himself. As I’ve said, if he does something in TNA that eventually ends his career, he’s the only one he can blame.
The ladder challenge was OK, and it was good to include several deserving stars a chance to possess the title in hopes of a title match. That highspot from Brother Runt onto Raven and Abyss was pretty cool.
A very good episode of TNA Impact this week. Hopefully, next week’s show sells BFG in a seriously big way!
Overall Grade: B+
Ken Kibby
Benicia, CA
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If you didn't like Impact tonight there is something wrong with you.
Started out strong with a great Samoa Joe promo that hopefully sets him up for a title shot fairly soon. His intensity was just right, not over the top.
Follow that with the intense brawl between LAX and Styles and Daniels and the hits keep coming. They continued the build to their cage match very well.
The 8 man cruiserweight tag was good although short. The interplay between Sabin and Jerry Lynn was interesting. Does this foreshadow a future turn by Sabin? If it gets Jerry Lynn back in the ring it's ok with me. I can do without the reemergence of Nash though. I just don't believe he'll follow through with anything that will put the X guys over.
Overall, I don't pay that much attention to the video packages, but I thought the James Gang segment playing off the past between Jarrett and BJ James was interesting, and the intensity of Rhino not wanting to talk about anything but his match with Christian was great. And in the other video that meant something, were those Trinity's cans in Roode's face or whose?
The tag match with the Diamonds in the rough was just there. Those guys haven't been pushed enough for me to care about whether or not they break up. Although a teaming of The Truth and Elix Skipper could bring them both back up.
The Angle interview was good, but I really don't get much out of him Poor mouthing WWE. I'm not a huge WWE fan, but while it made sense for guys like Cage, The Dudleys, and Rhino to do it, because of either lack of pushes or being treated poorly on the way out the door. For Angle to do it given his career their seems forced, not real.
Finally, The Ladder /Challenge /between Christian and Samoa Joe was really good. Can't believe they gave that for free. The ending even was ok. It kept them both strong. You really can't say 1 beat the other. Cage got the belt down, but Joe took it away before he could get off the ladder. The other guys running in made sense to further set up the PPV.
Overall, although not their best, still an excellent show by TNA.
K. Stone
Union City, TN
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Thats it?? That was the interview? I did not hear one bit of negativity towards Vince McMahon or WWE... That was a major let down, not only was it about a minute long but it did not seem very special as it was nothing new from Angle except admitting on TV he was addicted to Vicodin... I was expecting him to shoot hard on Vince based on what I had read, and was pretty disappointed in that... Anyway, the show overall was awesome I thought, from the beginning big-time brawl between LAX and AJ/Daniels. To the strong 8 man tag, and Joe/Christian interview. I liked that they appear to be doing something with Killings and Skipper because they are underituilized in their current form. The main event ladder "challenge" was some real good stuff, and the brawl at the end was great and made me want to see more at Bound for Glory. Looking forward to the next few weeks of Impact for the first time in a while.
Keith Iorio
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The opening segment was ok. The fight between LAX and Styles/Daniel was the highlight of the show for me. It showed great intensity and had real meaning behind it unlike the rest of the show which seemed like filler material. The sting segments were lame. It is a shame how underutilized Ron Killings is. The X Division match was average. The Angle interview was a serious tease in the end as I was expecting more. Something like the HHH interview years back about being held back, instead we got pieces of material. He seemed genuine about what he said though. Samoa Joe I don't understand why he would have a ladder match and bust his ass for a title that is NOT EVEN HIS!!! The booking of Samoa Joe amazes me these days, its like jealousy in TNA and they WANT to destroy his heat. Then OUT OF NOWHERE a Team 3D promo to end the show. I just don't know...So I stick to ECW.
Chris Glavin
Ambler, PA
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I think TNA has made me excited to be wrestling fan again. I'm not drinking the kool aid, I'm having it injected into my veins. Only thing that sucked was Joe leaving with the title again.
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Wow is all I can say about this weeks Impact.
Thoughts:
1. The Kurt Angle interview was great especially his words to Vince McMahon.
2. Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe - great impact match with a strong ending. The "chase" for the title is getting a little old (kind of like the WWE/F 24/7 hardcore thing a few years back) but this weeks was better done than the others.
3. The X division has been cold forever and remains that way. The Nash thing was ok (liked the "new generation X" t-shirt) but it was still the weakest part of the show. The only possible shining point was a potential Jerry Lynn vs. Chris Sabin match down the line. That may give the X division the spark it needs.
4. It is nice that they are doing something with Elix Skipper. He is a solid talent that has rarely been properly used in TNA.
5. The LAX - Styles/Daniels brawl was decent and is showing a nice build to their Bound for Glory cage match.
Here is the deal, the last TNA PPV I purchased was Sacrifice 2005 and I have not bought a TNA PPV since because nothing has really interested me. I purchase at least 1 PPV per month (WWE or TNA) and for the first time in over a year I am choosing TNA. This decision is mainly because of this show - its strong storylines - the strong Bound for Glory card and Kurt Angle.
If TNA continues with this type of strong showing, I will be purchasing TNA PPVs instead of WWE PPVs.
Oh and also my wife, who can't stand wrestling (I make her watch it occasionally) turned to me afterwards and said it was a pretty good show. If TNA wanted to reach non wrestling fans, they did a great job of it this week. And she'll actually be watching it with me next week, only this time I will not have to drag her kicking and screaming.
