By Garrett Kidney
July 5, 2012
Orlando, FL
July 5, 2012
Orlando, FL
- Great start to the show. Bully Ray feeling the need to declare to the world that he's now on Twitter was great (and his first tweet has been retweeted nearly 1300 times). It's nice that they're finally developing the Joseph Park charcter and there's obviously intrigue as to how they're going to handle the match next week. Park continues to be really awesome in his role now standing up for himself rather than being the meek, mild mannered lawyer. I kind of groaned when they started the Joseph Park angle because it seemed to be another character destroying Abyss' story but I'm happy to have been so, so wrong.
- I hate when somebody goes a really long time unbeaten and then once they're beaten once they're easily beatable. It happened with Joe and it's happening with Crimson now. They did try to tell the story that he was too desperate to get the win but I don't think that came across. Good, short, explosive match which has become Devon's specialty (which is a shame because the man is a master at working a crowd and I'd like to see him get something of a little substance to work with).
- Really, really great use of Sabin to get heat on Roode. Interrupting Sabin like that just came off as a classless move which fits Roode character perfectly. I'd love to see them do a Sabin/Roode feud when Sabin is ready to return because I'd hate to see Sabin continue to be pigeon-holed as an X-Division guy when he could contribute a lot more. I hope Sabin's surgery and recovery go well, and this was a really good idea.
- Flip Cassanova was pretty terrible. He was athletic and his stuff would've been cool if it had come off but he was all over the place. Darsow was nothing special but I feel sorry for him having to take some of those stiff shots from Flip. Flip is lucky he has a second chance to make an impression at Destination X because I don't think he would've gotten another look based on his performance last night.
- The Knockouts tag match was little more than a set up for next week's title match. It's nice to see Tara given a little more time to shine than she's gotten in recent months. I'd like to see them begin to lay the seeds for Tara to turn on Tessmacher, that'd make a great Bound For Glory title match.
- Nice to see them move away from the Claire Lynch stuff this week to focus on selling Styles/Daniels at Destination X. Strong promo from Styles to put over him getting some revenge on Daniels through the Last Man Standing stipulation (and it was nice to see them tie in last years feud). Last year Styles and Daniels under delivered at Destination X and Bound For Glory for a number of reasons so I hope they can get it right at Destination X, which I can't see why they won't.
- Only vs. King was a step up from the previous X-Division match but still a step down from last week's. King looked great (and it looks like TNA may have plans for him) and Only looked OK. However King winning on IMPACT is just wrong, all he should do is be squashed (if past precedent is anything to go by anyway). It's good to see them bringing in the losers at Destination X as the more Rubix we get, the better.
- I loved the Storm/Hardy match. Everything that's great about the BFG Series as a concept was on display. A highly competitive match between two of the top stars in the company with a really hot crowd and a clean finish, in a match that actually mattered. Great stuff and a great match. I love how they're treating these matches as a big deal by hyping them a week in advance and giving some promo time towards putting them over. More of this kind of stuff will make me a very happy camper.
- Not much done to hype the Angle/Joe match but their confrontation from 2006 still gives me goosebumps after all these years. The Destination X card looks really, really great on paper (definitely better than last years), and considering the last two PPV's and the improved IMPACT Zone crowds recently I'm rather confident they can deliver. Nice to see them have a lot of stuff for next week especially another big BFG Series match.
- The main event segment did a great job of trying to convince people Aries can win the title. Roode backs down again and then gets outmanoeuvred when he goes for the cheap shot, getting over the idea that Aries is one step ahead of Roode. I'd like them to do another month of Roode and Aries to ensure Aries doesn't fade into the background with Roode moving on and the BFG Series ongoing.
Closing Thoughts
A rock solid go home show that got all the important stuff right and set up next weeks show in the process. The X-Division guys were the only real disappointment but they weren't that bad.
