By Garrett Kidney
July 12, 2012
Orlando, FL
July 12, 2012
Orlando, FL
- And we have the first big progression in the Bully Ray/Joseph Park feud. For the first time they've suggested that Abyss and Joseph Park are one and the same. The blood being the trigger to release Abyss was a really nice touch and the match was really well executed in terms of Park's offense seeming like a fluke (which was the word of the night for last nights show) but with him credibly hurting Bully Ray at the same time. It'd be a bit of a waste at this stage to do the big Abyss/Bully Ray match at any other show but Bound For Glory (and I'd hazard a guess that most of TNA's big angles will be blown off then) so it'll be interesting to see how they keep this going for another couple of months. Bully Ray trying to prove Park is Abyss should be fun.
- Joe/RVD was a little disappointing. They worked hard and tried to get the submission story but they just didn't mesh all that well. It was a good effort that just didn't click. Interesting that Angle later in the show during one of the backstage videos said that he wouldn't be going gung ho for submissions so it's nice to see that they're drawing focus to the different strategies to exploit the points system and then contrasting how they can also backfire.
- There is usually a direct correlation between the length of a segment revolving around Claire Lynch and it's quality. When it's quick and snappy (like Daniels revelation a couple of weeks ago) it's fine and usually acts as a good cliffhanger, but the longer you give them out there it just dies. Claire was fine this week (mostly because she didn't have anything to do) but the more exposition the worse this angle gets. I'm a little more willing to forgive it as the matches it's resulted in have been great (and I do still want a PPV rematch for Angle and Styles vs. Kaz and Daniels) but they've got to limit the amount that it can fail. Thumbs up to the crowd for chanting Jerry though.
- A nice win to give Zema some credibility as champion. He's been treated so inferior to Aries for the last couple of months (like the rest of the bare remains of the X-Division) that he needs to be built up (especially if the big Sorensen/Ion match is in the not so distant future). Ion vs. Sorensen could be the first real feud the X-Division has had in a long time. Darsow looked alright but still nothing special. I'm interested to see who they're bringing in full time. Rubix and Sonjay should definitely get contracts, and I would say Kenny King but he hasn't looked great in his appearances so far (though the potential is more than there).
- Good, strong promo first promo as champ from Aries with the crowd (who weren't great last night) going absolutely nuts for him. He gave the distinct impression that him winning the title actually meant something in the grand scheme of things. Problem is Storm/Roode should still be the direction for Bound For Glory so the title has to get back on Roode. I'd hold off until September to switch the title back to Roode to give Aries' reign at least a little substance. Roode was great in this segment. He lost the World title, his prized possession, and it looked like the end of his world, it looked like he hadn't slept since Sunday and was in the middle of a mental breakdown. What a novel concept, somebody who cares about losing the title.
- Good Knockouts title match. Tessmacher is still a little inexperienced but she more than makes up for with with athleticism and hard work. Gail still carried the match but Tessmacher looked really good. Hogan distracted a little on commentary (and really didn't say that much) but this was a fine effort from both ladies. I hope we get a little more variety in the division with Tessmacher as champ, Sarita for example would make a great challenger for her.
- The Angle/Anderson match was good. Not as good as Hardy/Storm from last week but a solid effort with clear frontrunners in the BFG Series emerging (even if the number of matches people have wrestled is rather different so far). With the BFG Series being mixed in with Open Fight Night again next week I hope they learn from last months and don't try and cram too much else onto the show and just end up with another bunch of short, forgettable matches.
- I'm interested to see what they do with Roode and Aries next week. They're teasing a match, but that'd be a tricky one the handle as neither man should be losing before Hardcore Justice. Hopefully it'll be more angle than match next week.
- We had the first meaningful follow up to the Aces and 8's attack since last month outside of little teases. It was another in a series of good cliffhangers to end the show on, but the entire angle pretty much hangs on the reveal (which obviously won't (and shouldn't) come for another while). Their attack looked much better than the first one at least.
Closing Thoughts
A solid show with two standout segments (Joseph Park and Bully Ray, and Aries and Roode) and the rest of the stuff was decent, nothing great but nothing that bad (besides maybe the Styles segment).
