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Austin Aries defeated James Storm in an exciting back and fourth opener to the show. Disappointedly there were a few hiccups here and there, but overall it was enjoyable and you could forgive those minor errors. For the finish Bobby Roode ran in and threw 'The Cowboy' into the ring post before chucking him back into the ring to be Brainbustered and successfully pinned by AA. The crowd were into the bout from start to finish, which is hardly surprising considering you had the solid Storm and Aries.
Hulk Hogan and Sting came out and reminded us of what happened last week when they both agreed that 'The Stinger' would team with Bully Ray at Bound for Glory to take on Aces & Eights. The Tag Champions Christopher Daniels and Kazarian then joined them and tried to convince Hogan and Sting to cancel their Tag Team title defence on Sunday so they could use Kurt Angle instead of the untrustworthy Bully.
Bully Ray himself then joined them and admitted that while Angle was a better wrestler, they needed a brawler not a wrestler heading into battle against Aces & Eights. He also convinced 'The Hulkster' to book a match with him and Sting versus Daniels and Kaz to prove that he could be trusted. All men involved in the segment were on good form on the mic.
Hernandez bested AJ Styles in a fair match up. As expected Styles put in a decent effort, while Hernandez was okay. Hernandez grabbed the win with a big shoulder barge after AJ was distracted by Chavo Guerrero at ringside. For me a shoulder barge (even one from the huge Hernandez) seems like a bit of a feeble finisher, especially to put away a former World Champion like Styles.
X Division Champ Zema Ion rightfully complained that he had no match for BFG, since there was no competition good enough for him. This cued Rob Van Dam's entrance, who then revealed that Hogan had given him the choice of opponent for this Sunday, and guess what? He'd picked Ion. He also sealed his decision with a swift jumping spinning kick to Zema's head. I'm really hoping the X Division strap holder isn't buried at BFG, a win against RVD (even a fluke one) could really help boost him and the title, which both really need at the moment.
Christopher Daniels and Kazarian won via disqualification versus Sting and Bully Ray in an enjoyable and solid tag bout. Sting and Bully dominated the first third, but the tag champs soon came back and had Sting reeling until he made the hot tag to Bully. 'The Stinger' in homage to Team 3D then ordered him to "Get the table!" So Bully complied and powerbombed Daniels through it for a satisfying and exciting end to the match.
Brooke Tessmacher beat Gail Kim in a worthy effort by both women. I wasn't expecting anything great here but it proved to be a far better contest then I predicted as both Knockouts provided a fun back and fourth match up. I'll give most of the credit to Kim and her usual solid performance, but Tessmacher looked decent in the ring (bar her botched finisher to Kim) and is showing improvement. Afterwards Tara attempted to apply a Widows Peak to the champ, but Brooke turned it around and instead hit a Tess-Shocker on her BFG foe. To be honest I can't see the Knockout title match on Sunday topping this.
Backstage Bobby Roode and James Storm began fighting until King Mo appeared from nowhere to split them up. I can't say Mo's adding anything to their BFG match for me personally.
Jeff Hardy won via DQ versus Bobby Roode after 'The It Factor' low blowed Hardy in front of the referee. The main event itself had been a solid one, with a good display from both wrestlers. I wasn't really expecting much less from these two.
After Hardy managed to thwart a chair shot from Roode (actually the ref grabbed the chair from Bobby, Hardy then applied a Twist Of Fate) Aries joined him with a page from a supposed TNA script with what he was apparently meant to come out and say, but he didn't want to and threw it away.
Aries went on to admit that since becoming World Champion the TNA management had asked him to embrace the fans and act a certain way, they basically wanted him to be "who he had to be as the World Heavyweight Champion." But he'd finally had enough, enough of being told what to do and enough of the adulation and special treatment Hardy receives form the fans and management. As Jeff went to then leave the ring, AA took him out with his signature Brainbuster. It should be a great match between them at BFG.
Overall it was another solid Impact, with all the matches being worthy efforts, and the worst being watchable at least. The promo from Aries (with his usual high standard mic work) at the end was also a step in making his feud with Hardy a bit more intriguing and personal, which it needed in my opinion. Roll on Bound for Glory, should be a good 'n I reckon.
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